Some clicker trained horses can get into the habit of stopping dead when they hear the click or their marker. From a trot or canter, this can cause the horse to slam on the brakes, bracing and hollowing as they stop. This can cause problems for the horse physically and is uncomfortable to ride. In […]
Prevent Your Horse Stopping Abruptly When You Click Read More »
Horse agility is great for despooking, body awareness, variety, exercise and fun with your horse. This video shows how I work with horses at different stages in their agility training through a variety of obstacles. I’m training using positive reinforcement, which means that I use rewards for my horses, and I’m working at liberty. Weaving
This video continues the exercises from P1, where we were increasing relaxation in groundwork. Now, we’ve working on reducing tension and rushing when riding lateral exercises. (Watch P1 first) Tension when riding is common and is shown through behaviours such as rushing, resisting, tail swishing, ear-pinning, napping, spooking and getting anxious or, in the case
The key to good training is getting motivation and relaxation in balance. With reward-based training (clicker training), it’s usually easy to get high levels of motivation, but that can get TOO high, meaning you lose relaxation. When your horse tries too hard, they often throw all their behaviours at you, rush through exercises, can’t stand
Stuck for groundwork training ideas? Want to build your relationship, improve your horse’s fitness and have fun without riding? This is the video for you! I love working my horses from the ground as it’s such a lovely way to communicate and work together. I enjoy finding exercises that build their strength, fitness and body
5 Things to Train When You Can’t Ride Your Horse 🐎Groundwork Inspiration! Read More »
In-hand work includes teaching collection and lateral exercises from a leading position, both at liberty and with a lead rope. So, step one is ensuring that your horse leads well (this is often missed and causes lots of in-hand work problems!). Leading with connection means that you and your horse are walking together, staying in
Getting Started with In-Hand Work: Leading with Connection Read More »
What does it look like when your horse says, “no”? Do you then stop that activity completely? What does it mean to ‘have a conversation’ with your horse? This video shows a simple exercise with a lot going on! Sophie is working with her horse, Lily, clicker training her on a new water obstacle that
Understanding Choice, Communication and Having a Conversation with Your Horse Read More »
Obstacles provide great challenges to improve your horse’s confidence and body awareness and the archway, hoop or curtain is a common obstacle in horse agility, trail classes and TREC. This video shows you how to introduce it to your horse in a way which is gentle, fun and builds your relationship. Spooky horses are scared
How to Start Training the Archway/Hoop/Curtain for Despooking and Body Awareness Read More »
Healthy movement is key to a sound and happy horse. Engagement is part of healthy movement, necessary for keeping your horse sound and comfortable. Our domestic horses get such limited movement, even with ample turnout, compared to their wild counterparts, that we need to help maintain their physical fitness through training. In order to train
What is Engagement? Try These Simple Exercises to Understand It. Read More »
Controlling the shoulders is important for so many exercises such as turning, circles and lateral work and improving connection with the shoulders improves your ridden communication as well as your horse’s balance and body awareness. Horses who lose balance or connection with the shoulders will often be heavier on one front leg than the other,
Moving Your Horse’s Shoulders When Riding (for balance, bending, circles, lateral etc) Read More »
If you’re looking for a fun and varied way to improve your horse’s fitness, proprioception and connection, horse agility and obstacle training could be just the thing for you. I love to work with obstacles because they give you and your horse a clear, focused task to figure out how you’re going to get around,
Horse Agility for Despooking, Body Awareness and Fun! Read More »
Although we never want it to happen, accidents sometimes do and if the saddle slips it can easily panic the horse, making a bad situation much worse. Luckily, there are things you can train to help your horse understand that it’s nothing to worry about and even that he should stop quietly if the saddle
How to Teach Your Horse to Stay Calm and STOP if the Saddle Slips Read More »
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