Lead a Horse to Water

As a young horse trainer I was very aware of creating situations where the horse could 'guess' the behaviour- we called it anticipation. Back in those days I didn't know about using reward based training but anticipation was a great way to create a willing and enthusiastic horse. Sadly some of the old ways haven't been passed on- in some cases that's a good thing, in others I t...

Videos showing behaviour professionals sitting out bucks and rears gain thousands of likes, why? Above all other areas of equestrianism shouldn't behaviour be seen for what it really is and not used as a social media magnet? Or maybe I'm old and jaundiced!

We owe every animal in our care the ability to know how to interact with our world and us. That requires some basic training. I rarely see the basics done well or even at all. My courses at www.understandhorses.com and www.iaabcfoundation.org

I've had a tiring few weeks and my poor brain and body hurt. How might it feel for our horses when they are tired and we ask them to perform behaviours when training? Taking note of changes in behaviour might help us spot problems early. This is part 1 of my summer shorts 2024, if you have questions you'd like answering in another short episode message me!

This time on the podcast I'm joined by friend and colleague Dr Robin Foster. For a very long time I've wanted to dip into Panksepp's work on emotions, which in some small way has been adopted by the clicker training world, and finally I got to chat with Robin. We STILL didn't get to valence...I think another chat is needed soon. I hope you enjoy Robin's this thought provoking chat. Robin Foster ha...

In this episode I was again joined by the fabulous Heather McManamy of Equus Integratus. Our focus was on bridleless riding but the skills we discuss go so much deeper than riding. Heather shares some great resources on her website https://equusintegratus.com/ on Facebook and Instagram Articles and videos can be found here https://equusintegratus.com/resources/videosarticles/

In this episode I had the great pleasure of talking to Annabel Holmes, The Equine Ecologist a mum, ecologist and passionate horsewoman based in the Cotswolds. Growing up on a nature reserve in Suffolk, Annabel later went on to study Ecology, starting her career splitting her time between a feed company, and later in agricultural botany during the holidays. After university, while working in ecolog...

In this episode I am thrilled to talk wild and feral horses with the wonderful Samantha (Sam) Couper PhD. We delve into Sam's back story right up to her present day training with her own horses and her work as a behaviour consultant. Sam is Board Chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a group dedicated to compiling citizen observations of the Onaqui wild horses in Utah, USA, in the pursuit...

In this episode I chat to Polly Smeath about rope halters and controlling horses when leading. Polly has an extensive background in the world of horses, a passion that has woven throughout her life since childhood. Born into a family with a history of racehorses, Polly's earliest memories include a vivid encounter with a tall, dark brown horse at the age of two. Her journey as a "pony mad youngste...

Sooz Foster joins me again and this time we're talking self control. We consider horses and dogs, whether they can have self-control and how we can build build patterns to help. You can find Sooz these days at https://soozdogtraining.co.uk/ or come and join me training at her new club https://www.dreamsdogclub.co.uk/ Or catch us both presenting at Understand Horses Live in July https://www.und...

I was thrilled to be able to talk to Dr Eduardo J Fernandez on the podcast. Not only is he an amazing applied behaviour researcher but he is great at putting some of the more technical definitions into easy to understand terminology. Our discussion centres around training as enrichment but there were also some rabbit holes and side stories that we delved into. Eduardo J. Fernandez is a Senior Lect...

In this episode I had a fabulous chat with Heather. We had aimed to look at what draws people to more 'glamorous' 'from different world' trainers but it turned into a wonderful introspective (well certainly for me, I hope Heather enjoyed it too). We ask how to be credible. What are our insecurities How to collaborate and build connections. If you are a trainer, a coach, a consultant, a business wo...

In this final (for now) episode on cues I look at transferring cues which is great if you want to tidy up your complex cues or change your original cue for something more appropriate. Please share these short episodes and let me know if you've tried any of my suggestions for improving your cues!

What to choose as a cue? Physical, verbal, tactile? What is clear, easy to use, easy to replicate?

Rebeccah Baylis is one of my fave students, we talk in this episode about a session that felt quite sticky at the start but ended well. Do you know when it might be acceptable to push on a little further? Should we always stop at the first sign of resistance? It's definitely a training conundrum. Find Becky and our shared events in 2024 at https://littlegreenstables.com/

Discrimination Knowing what to do to get reinforced- the best friend of stimulus control (part 3) and discriminative stimulus (part 2). How can you help your horse know what a cue means? Please enjoy and share, Trudi

Stimulus Control In this third short on my continuing theme of cues I'm looking at how 'clean' our cues are. Stimulus control is an essential part of developing cues, it helps us create a clear language that reduces the chances of frustration. I share the 4 criteria of stimulus control and what we need to consider right from the get go in terms of cues.

What to do when? Does your horse know? Do you think you know what your cues are? Does your horse agree? This short episode builds on the previous and looks at the idea of a discriminative stimulus- do you know what your SD is and does your horse agree?

I've done cues before but have we ever 'done' cues...this is the first part of a deep dive into cues. Send me questions and thoughts to trudi@equine.training and share this episode with your friends. More soon, Trudi

What to do when things go wrong with targets and how to train a follow target, great questions sent in by a listener.

Failure is scary, so much that we might allow failure to stop us doing what we enjoy (horse training). Be brave, embrace the fear!

Reducing anxiety by playing with the temporal gap (aka what I call temporal tinkering) needs shaping the same as every behaviour. In this summer short I answer a question or two posed by one of my current course students. If you have any questions drop me a message or email trudi@equine.training

Can labels be useful in horse training? Labels are used everywhere in life and often to the detriment of the label wearer. Take a listen to this short episode and drop me a message if you have ideas for future episodes.

In this, my second Summer Short episode, I consider how we can know if something is awesome or BS and does it matter as long as you and your horse are happy and healthy? Might be a bit controversial but I opened my mouth and out came me! Ideas for other Summer Shorts can be emailed trudi@equine.training

In this, my first Summer Short episode, I look at the human side of the training equation. Training can take it's toll on both sides of the learning partnership and I often address this for our horse/dog but this time it's all about the human. How can you reduce your own stress and lack of motivation. Ideas for other Summer Shorts can be emailed trudi@equine.training