This exercise is great to build your horse’s confidence over a wide range of fences, no matter what types of fillers you’ll encounter! I’m working with India on generalising her confidence to jump first time, even as the jump changes and I add spooky objects around it. We’ve spent loads of time prior to this […]
De-Spooking Your Horse Over Jumps Read More »
Along with all the more ‘serious’ stuff I do with my horses, I love to teach tricks. They’re just a lot of fun and they make me smile. Because they’re easy, stand-alone behaviours, my horses seem to love them, too. They become something we just love to do together. For that reason, they become an
Trick Training: How to Teach ‘Catch’ Read More »
I love working with all the different characters in my herd and making their training as fun as possible. This compilation shows me working on liberty loading with my horses, building their joy and confidence around the horse box. It’s fun to get creative like this but finding the fun in your training (for both
Liberty Loading Fun Read More »
If your horse knows a behaviour on the ground, it’s a simple process to transfer it to the saddle; you don’t need to teach it again from scratch. The basic steps are: 1. Think about cues you can use both on the ground and in the saddle to help your horse understand what you’re asking
Transferring a Cue from the Ground to the Saddle: Rein-Back Read More »
When thinking about training steps, we tend to think in, well, steps. You complete step 1 and then progress to step 2 and so on. This is logical for our human brains but isn’t actually the best way to train our horses (or ourselves!). The problem with progressing in steps is that you repeat the
How to Make Steady Progress With Your Horse Read More »
Lunging is a great exercise for your horse that I use regularly for: > Teaching horses to remain calm and focused in faster movement > Building strong voice cues for transitions > Creating motivation for forwards movement > Staying connected at greater distances and higher energy > Shaping a horse’s movement to be balanced and
Why and How to Lunge Your Horse Read More »
I have practiced Pilates for many years now after discovering the benefits after a serious riding accident in which I badly damaged the soft tissue in my neck. My body became very stiff and I was carrying a lot of tension because of the inactivity, the feeling was awful as I was only 21 but
Pilates Alignment for Riders Read More »
Rowan used to be very head high, tight in the back and toss her head a lot in movement. I used the target to teach her to stretch and lengthen through her spine and now we’re beginning to use it to teach her to change her balance to a more collected position, too. When working
Using the Target to Change Your Horse’s Balance Read More »
All of us at CT talk about relaxation a LOT, but what does that actually look like when you’re training a horse? This video shows exactly what we mean by relaxation, why it boosts the connection between you and why you’re always reinforcing emotions as well as behaviours. This emphasis on relaxation is one of
How To Get Relaxation In Training Read More »
When you discover the power of using a target to train a horse, it is amazing. You can use it to teach a horse to lead, to stay, to load, to stand tied. The list goes on. As the title of Shawna Karrasch’s book says, “You Can Teach Your Horse to Do Anything”. The target
Stop Using A Target Now! Read More »
Do you ever find that you lose connection with your horse during transitions? That his head comes up or he hollows his back? Or maybe that he rushes or blocks? Or perhaps you just feel tense and out of sync? These are all really common as transitions can be tricky! Here are my top 4
Staying Connected Through Transitions Read More »
It’s every horse owners nightmare when their horse gets ill or injured. It’s bad enough seeing your wonderful horse in pain, but it’s even worse when you have to fight to treat him for it. It’s common to need several people to manage or use a twitch or always need sedation for medical procedures, which
Training For Medical Procedures Read More »
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