Equiosity

This is a fun episode. We begin with foot care and the connection to lateral work. The lesson I describe is especially useful if you have a horse who struggles to pick up his feet for you. Instead of trying to fix a broken behavior, I share with you a different way of teaching your horse to pick up his feet, one that uses body part targeting. I’ll let you listen to the episode to find out what the...

In November Dominique and I spent an afternoon catching up and talking about a wide range of topics. We talked together for over four hours so obviously that conversation is going to be divided up over several episodes. In Part 1 Dominique gets us started with a question about breaks. We talk about trailer loading, familiarizing horses to new environments, the Microshaping strategy and the criteri...

This is Part 3 of a three part conversation with Michaela Hempen and Carmen Heritier. In the spring of 2024 Carmen sent her three year old quarter horse mare, Malu, to Michaela for three months of training. Malu was like a sponge. She soaked up all the lessons. In this episode we contrast what it was like to work with a well prepared young horse who likes people with that of restarting Michaela’s...

This is part 2 of a three part conversation with Michaela Hempen and Carmen Heritier. In the spring of 2024 Carmen sent her three year old quarter horse mare, Malu, to Michaela for three months of training. In Part 1 we introduced Carmen and Malu, and then Michaela talked about the early steps in her training. Malu was a well-prepared horse, so the training flowed along. Part 1 ended with a questi...

Michaela Hempen has been a guest many times on this podcast. We began in Episode 27 with single-subject design and then Michaela introduced us to Blondie, the mare who was the subject of the research project she did on cribbing. We’re returning to Blondie again in this conversation. Michaela will be contrasting her experience restarting Blondie under saddle with that of Malu, a three year old quar...

In this episode Christa shares effective strategies for bringing horses and children together. She reminds us, among other things, to play. So many riding programs normalize brutality by teaching children you have to “make your pony mind”. They are told to hit their pony to make him go. In this episode we describe alternatives. We imagine what children growing up with clicker training represents w...

This episode is filled with Celebrations. We’re celebrating our 300th Episode. That’s quite a milestone. And we’re celebrating the publication of “Kenyon Bear’s Christmas”, Book 4 of the Kenyon Bear children’s books. What better way to celebrate than to talk with Christa Culbert. Christa created the illustrations for Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. She is also a horse person and a creative teacher. So ma...

I’ve just published the newest book in the Kenyon Bear series of children’s book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. This week we’re talking with the illustrator, Christa Culbert. In case you’re wondering what this has to do with horses, the answer is everything! In this week’s podcast we talk with Christa about art, animals, imagination, clicker training, and teaching children about horses. Christa starts...

We’re talking about advanced training. What makes something an advanced behavior, or an advanced topic or concept? When people say they want to attend an advanced seminar, what do they mean? What are they looking for? In part 1 we looked at this question from the perspective of the lessons we are teaching our horses. I made a case for advanced training is just the basics done very, very well. We a...

We’re talking about what how we would define an advanced skill or topic. What makes something advanced? In Part 1 the focus was on our horses and the lessons we teach them. We explored what it means when we say advanced training is just the basics done really well. Is that indeed the case, or is there something more to advanced training? In this week’s episode we turn the spotlight onto the handle...

In this three part series we’re considering what makes something an advanced behavior, or an advanced topic or concept. When people say they want to attend an advanced seminar, what do they mean? What are they looking for? In Part 1 we explore this question from the perspective of what are we teaching our horses. I make the case that advanced training is just the basics done very, very well. Added...

Breaks are good for learning is something we hear a lot. Certainly we all know that no matter how much you are enjoying an activity there comes a point where you need to stop. You need to refresh mentally and physically. But what constitutes a break? Think about for yourself. When you need a break from work, what does that look like? Sometimes we might see you collapsed in a heap on your couch wat...

This week we’re talking about breaks. We’ll be talking about what breaks are and how you teach them. We’re also talking about the many uses breaks serve - including some very important ones for the handler. Breaks aren’t just for our horse’s benefit. We’ll go back to the very first steps in the training where the handler is using protective contact. The barrier makes it easy to give breaks. So hor...

This is Part 2 of a Two Part Conversation. Last week we followed up on our previous conversation with Michaela Hempen on horse welfare. Dominique shared some useful resources and I shared a goat story. The goat story leads to a discussion of when and how to step in should you encounter rough handling. It’s never a comfortable situation, or an easy decision. To provide a counterbalance to what can...

For this conversation Dominique and I both wanted to follow up on our previous conversation with Michaela Hempen. We were talking about horse welfare. Dominique shared some useful resources that you can use to assess your horse’s physical welfare. These included Anja Beran’s Train Your Eye DVD, the horse grimace scale, and the equine discomfort ethogram. It can be uncomfortable to stand up for our...

This conversation was prompted by an event that occurred just before the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of the top dressage riders had to withdraw because of a video that showed her whipping a horse during a training session. The video came out just as Dominique and I were planning our next podcast recording. Dominique said her social media feed was filled with posts discussing the video....

This conversation was prompted by an event that occurred just before the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of the top dressage riders had to withdraw because of a video that showed her whipping a horse during a training session. The video came out just as Dominique and I were planning our next podcast recording. Dominique said her social media feed was filled with posts discussing the video....

Episode 289 Michaela Hempen and Anita Schnee Feldenkrais Work Pt 3: The Role of Visualization in Riding Instruction For the past ten years Michaela has been studying with a Feldenkrais Practitioner, Nathalie Van Cauwenberghe. In the previous episodes Michaela described some of the riding challenges which the Feldenkrais work has helped her to solve. Nathalie does not speak English well enough to p...

This week we’re continuing our conversation with Anita Schnee and Michaela Hempen. Michaela has been our guest on this podcast many times. She’s talked to us about the research project she did on cribbing, about single subject design, and more recently about how animal welfare is assessed. When it comes to horses Michaela and I share a love of beautiful movement, so she also joined us when we talk...

Michaela Hempen has been a frequent guest on this podcast. She has talked about her cribbing research, single subject design, and more recently about how animal welfare is assessed. When it comes to horses Michaela and I share a love of beautiful movement, so she has also joined us when we talked with Anja Beran, the classical rider whose work inspires both of us. For the past ten years Michaela h...

This week we’re continuing our conversation with Dr Susan Friedman and Rick Hester. In this episode we begin with a question to Susan: Is the teaching standard known as Lima the same as the hierarchy of behavior change procedures that Susan has written about? Susan provides an historical perspective for the LIMA acronym, and for many of the other labels people have attached to training.

This week we’re continuing our conversation with Dr Susan Friedman and Rick Hester. Dr Friedman has been a frequent guest on this podcast. She is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She is pioneer in the use of Applied Behavior Analysis in the handling of captive and companion animals. Her interest in developing scientifically sound, ethical standards for...

This is Part 1 of a three part conversation with Dr. Susan Friedman and Rick Hester. Dr. Friedman has been a frequent guest on this podcast. Most of you I’m sure already know Susan. But just as a reminder, Susan is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She is a pioneer in the use of Applied Behavior Analysis in the handling of captive and companion animals....

This is part 3 of our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter from the University of West Virginia and one of her graduate students, Abbie Cooper. Abbie has been comparing behaviors that were trained with either positive or negative reinforcement when they are placed under conditions of extinction. What happens to behavior when training goes sideways and the individual is no longer getting reinforce...

This week we’re continuing our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter and one of her phd candidate students Abbie Cooper. Last week Abbie looked at a study in which she compared positive and negative reinforcement - what happens to behavior when training goes sideways and the individual is no longer getting reinforced for actions that had been producing consistent, desired results. This week we’re...