We are delighted to announce our first CT Instructor, Claire Waldron! Claire has really impressed us with her dedication to learning and practicing Connection Training techniques. She has worked extensively with her horse, Segura (see below), and her two troubled rescued ponies, Hope and Valiente. She has also worked with a local rescue centre and […]
From Rescue to Ridden with our First CT Instructor! Read More »
This video concludes the series exploring Panksepp’s emotional brain systems in horses. These brain systems are found in all mammals and are at the core of how we understand and train our horses. The systems are: SEEKING, CARE, PLAY, FEAR, PANIC, RAGE and LUST. To view the whole series from the start click HERE. You
Panksepp’s Emotional Systems in Horses: Conclusion Read More »
The job of the LUST System is pretty obvious; it drives animals to mate and reproduce. But what does it mean for our domestic horses? And what does it mean for us in terms of training? If you’ve ever dealt with the variability of a hormonal mare or trained a stallion to be calm and
Getting It On! – 7. The LUST System Read More »
Horses are naturally peaceable animals in the wild. So why do we see so many aggressive behaviours in domesticity? In this video, I explore many facets of the RAGE system – does dominance exist in the brain? Why do horses resource-guard? What elements of the RAGE system are triggered through training? The wonderful clips in
From Frustration to Fury – 6. The RAGE System Read More »
Lily was found as a stray wandering the streets of the city of Leeds with a foal at foot. Luckily, Hope Pastures rescue centre was called to help out. They both arrived at the centre very frightened about everything but the foal soon built trust, confidence and joy and was rehomed successfully shortly after weaning.
Build Trust with a Rescued Pony Read More »
Thank goodness there are wonderful people across the globe rescuing horses, ponies and donkeys in need. The first stage is supporting physical recovery. The next stage of emotional recovery can be a longer and trickier process and is where Connection Training can really make a difference. Hope and Valiente were two severely neglected ponies in Spain.
Training Rescued Ponies: From Fear to Fun Read More »
So far, I’ve looked at the feel-good brain systems of SEEKING, CARE and PLAY. Now it’s time to delve into the more aversive brain systems, starting with FEAR. Horses, as flight animals, have strong FEAR systems. This comes out in training as anxiety, spooking, bolting and more. So, what’s actually going on and how can
Run For it! – 4. The FEAR System Read More »
Young horses can find wearing a halter and leadrope pretty scary at first and can panic and pull back and fight against it. Which is exactly what this lovely 3 yo mare was doing… Until reward-based training made it clear and fun for her! It was a bit of a challenge – I was given
How to Teach Your Horse to Lead Read More »
In this video, I look at the PLAY system, what play is to horses and how you can use it in your training sessions to make your training more effective and joyful for both of you. This builds on the SEEKING and CARE systems covered in previous videos. You can watch all the videos in
Having Fun – 3. The PLAY System Read More »
Rescued equines need plenty of help to build trust in humans, whether they’ve never been handled or have suffered abuse. Reward-based training is the best tool I’ve ever come across for doing this and I’ve worked with hundreds of rescued horses over the years. Even so, these two stripy girls challenged my training… Zambi and
Zonkey Training: Touching the Un-handleable Equine Read More »
There’s often a particular horse who drives the search for finding another way to train and connect and overcome problems. For me, that horse was Toby. He started showing lots of problem behaviours early on in our relationship such as bolting, bucking, refusing to jump, not loading and so on. He really pushed me to
Problems to Performance – Hannah and Toby’s Story Read More »
Getting connected in the saddle is a combination of using rewards to teach your horse behaviours and help him to understand your cues and aids as well as improving your own seat and balance, which your horse responds to naturally. For example, you can encourage and reward your horse for relaxing, lowering his head and
Riding with Connection: The Rider’s Seat Read More »
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