Something To Trot About

Anxious animals need to move, and when do I feed for picking up feet?

In this episode, I talk about letting horses and dogs move forward when they are anxious and asking for help if you need to.  I also discuss forgiving yourself if you get scared or frustrated and resort to harsher methods, and describe why I feed Zephyr for keeping his foot ON the ground when I'm teaching him to pick up his feet. 

The Geekiest Episode So Far

In this episode we discuss shaping a behaviour to address anxiety in crossties, NRMs vs Positive Interrupters, Primary vs Secondary Reinforcers, and more =)

Itchy Face Rubbing? Egos? Building Confidence?

Egos in animal training? Or is it anxiety? How can we build confidence in people and in animals? What will I do about that itchy colt who wants to rub his face on me?

Halters, Puddles, and the Tools in front of you

What kind of halter am I using and why? Are rope halters bad? How can you train your horse to confidently walk through puddles? When you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. 

Help, Arousal, and Resource Guarding

I found a fantastic person to help me with Zephyr! I also talk about optimal levels of arousal for learning and resource guarding aka food aggression.  

Setting Zephyr up for Success

Zephyr is having trouble transitioning from walking in-hand to being ponied. I talk about lumping vs splitting, the language we use to justify punishment, and how fear affects how we train our horses. 

What are my actual goals?

Zephyr is learning about grooming, and I am learning about taking my time. 

Nipping Colts, Suppression, and Extreme Viewpoints

What happened with Zephyr nipped me? What is suppression? Why is promoting extreme views so damaging?