Equiosity

In May Dominique needed to move her three horses to a new barn. Over the years two of her horses had become non-loaders so Dominique was dreading the move. She knew she couldn’t wait until the last minute and hope for the best. Instead she began in March teaching her horses to load willingly, happily, voluntarily onto a trailer. Her takeaway - she loved every minute of it. Her horses all load volu...

We begin by sharing some of our takeaways from Dr. Susan Friedman's fabulous interview. If you've listened to her podcast (episode 104), you can see how yours compare with ours. This discussion led us to more "Easter eggs" and to trailer loading.

Dr Susan Friedman is our guest for this very special 2 hour podcast. Normally we would divide up such a long conversation into many parts and spread them out over several weeks so they fit better into the rush of your life. But this conversation is perfect for binge listening. We didn’t want to make you wait, especially given the topic. For this podcast we’ve shifted away from horse training, and...

In part 2 of our conversation with Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter we talk about PORTL. (Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab) Cindy Martin hosts a clinic for me at her farm in Arkansas. Mary Hunter is our co-presenter in our new Listen and Learn audio course on applied behavior analysis. During a morning’s conversation after the 2019 clinic, the discussion turned to PORTL. Mary truly is our PO...

Equiosity Episode 102: Emotions and Emotional Behavior - Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter In a conversation with Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter we discuss the “split in the church”. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to learn what that metaphor means in relation to training. It opened up a conversation about using different markers for different behaviors, jackpots, reinforcement is a process not a th...

The corona virus has forced the cancellation of all my spring 2020 clinics. I can’t get to my clinics, but at least I can share this conversation that was recorded last year at the spring Arkansas clinic. At the end of the clinic, several regular attendees stayed on for a relaxed evening visit. After dinner, I set up my computer, got out my microphone and we recorded a clinic wrap up. Joining me w...

We have reached a major milestone - our 100th Episode. to celebrate we are announcing the publication of a project we have been working on for this past year. We are delighted to introduce our Listen and Learn Audio Course - An Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis. Mary Hunter (Stalecheerios, The Art and Science of Animal Training Conference, PORTL, Behavior Explorer) is our guide through thi...

We conclude this four part series with a discussion of choice as it relates to concept training.

Last week we described some fun games that make use of concept training. In this episode we begin with the question - how do you teach concept training?

Last week we began a conversation with Vidyha Karthekiyan. If you want to learn more about her training, you can visit her web site and facebook page - the unlikelytricksters.com. There you will meet Beanie, her site hound and her two cats. From that you can correctly infer that the animals in Vidyha’s life are not horses. If you listened to last week’s podcast, you will know we are very much on t...

Concept training really lets our animals show us how smart they are. It is tremendous fun and it widens out the repertoire of behaviors you can ask for. Many of us have been introduced to concept training via Ken Ramirez and his many presentation at the Clicker Expo. He has inspired us to explore match to sample and other forms of concept training. One of the many people who has been inspired by K...

This is a very different kind of podcast. Dominique and I were at the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference. We had just come from the Saturday night dinner where I was given a very special award. After the presentation I was joined by Mary Hunter, Caeli Collins, Suzanne Kernek, Katie Bartlett, Natalie Zielinski, Michaela Hempen and Cindy Martin to celebrate. This is the recording of that...

This concludes our three part conversation with Lindsay Wood on counter conditioning. In Part 1 we began with the basics of counter conditioning which means we began with classical conditioning. In her work at shelters, that’s where Lindsay had begun, but she has been expanding her understanding of those protocols by looking at them more through an operant lens. In Part 3 we continue this explorat...

Last week we began a conversation with Lindsay Wood Brown. Lindsay is a member of the Clicker Expo faculty. She is a board-certified applied animal behaviorist (ACAAB) with a master's degree in animal behavior. She is a Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) course developer and has served as a KPA faculty member since 2012. Lindsay consults for animal shelters across the country. She previously served as the...

Lindsay Wood Brown joins us for a conversation on counter conditioning. Dominique starts us off by describing the situation she has with her easily distracted dog. The behavior she’s dealing with is something many of us have to contend with - whether it is a dog or a horse who is exhibiting the behavior. In this conversation we begin with the basics - what is counter conditioning? Lindsay describe...

In this podcast Dominique describes how she uses video analysis in her training. She adds details and some wonderful surprises in how video can be used to improve your training. This can sound like a dry topic, but it is anything but.

The January Clicker Expo was the starting point to our conversation. We talk about what is new in Loopy Training and other concepts. One thing leads to another and we ended up talking about training pop outs, note taking, habit formation and the advantage of video records.

Clicker trained horses want to play with us. That's a good thing, but there are places where a little less "Pick me! Pick me!" enthusiasm would make life easier. When you have more than one horse and you are trying to get just one out of the pasture gate, how do you deal with all this eagerness to be with you? That's the question we focus on in this continuation of our conversation with Cindy Mart...

Cushings disease is something more and more horses owners are dealing with in part because we are keeping our horses into their old age. Cindy Martin provides a comprehensive starting point for understanding this disease - what are the early symptoms, how do you test for it, manage it, what is the difference between cushings disease and insulin resistance, what on-line resources can help you?

Cindy Martin joins us for Part 1 of a three hour conversation. Cindy is a treasure. Anyone who has been on line in the clicker training community will have met Cindy. She is always there, generously stepping in to help people with their training and health care questions. In this episode Cindy shares the many resources she's found to help people manage their horses' feet.

The publication of the new, revised edition of "The Click That Teaches: A Step By Step Guide in Pictures" created an opportunity to look back over the past twenty years of clicker training. What changes have we seen in the training community? The conversation took us to errorless learning and the spring Clicker Science Camp. Check out the show notes at equioisty.com for a great PORTL example of er...

We use the occasion of the publication of the new revised edition of "The Click That Teaches: A Step By Step Guide in Pictures" as the launching point for a discussion of some of the changes we've seen in over the years in positive reinforcement training.

Dominique wants to transition two of her horses over to being barefoot. She's gathered a good team around her, and she's been learning about boots and other options that can help her horses make a successful transition. This week we're interviewing a member of that team, Miriam Braun. Miriam is a barefoot trimmer who is skilled in selecting and fitting hoof boots.

Every week I introduce the podcast by saying it is about all things equine. For the most part the conversation has focused on training. This week we’re going to broaden our focus to include a discussion of foot care. Two weeks ago we did a podcast on the training of good foot care manners. This week we are joined by foot care specialist and anatomy specialist, Paige Poss. The conversation centers...

We need your help! In our first season we did two podcasts with Dr. Michaela Hempen. In the first she explained how single-subject design studies work. In the second she described a research project she is conducting that is exploring a behavioral approach to reducing cribbing. This is much more than an update on that project. This is a request for help. Please listen to this podcast to find out w...