Lead a Horse to Water

In this episode I chat to Karen Luke about her most recent study linking horse welfare and behaviour with rider safety and satisfaction. Karen is a lifelong horse enthusiast and horse owner who is currently completing a PhD where she is investigating the relationship between horse welfare, rider safety and rider satisfaction. She has expertise in ridden horse behaviour and training and has authore...

Do you have shaping issues? It's an intense element of our training with horses, part art and part technique. Do you reward the slightest try and feel that your behaviours are getting nowhere? Perhaps you get frustrated and cross with yourself. Enjoy this episode and please share it with your friends. Find my courses via trudidempsey.carrd.co and my website www.equine.training

Sooz Foster and I whizz through our thoughts in a taster episode on shaping. Check out our courses at understandhorses.com and find me at www.equine.training and Sooz at soozequine.co.uk

In this episode I talk about the awesome Understand Horses Live and my less stress workshop in the summer as well as answering questions on wearing your 'brave pants' and why horses may continue to 'mug' you. I close with a quick look at reward prediction error. You can find all my courses, my website, Ko-fi and social media accounts via trudidempsey.carrd.co For those wanting to read about reward...

In this episode I chat to Gabriel Carreira Lencioni about his love of horses and his recent projects looking at pain assessment in horses. Gabriel recently graduated as a Veterinarian from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he took part in research groups on animal behaviour and welfare and developed a project on automated pain assessment in horses (you can read about it here https://...

In this episode I was joined by the wonderful Cheryl Kolus. From Colorado, USA, Cheryl is a veterinarian who specialised in behaviour, working with shelter animals (primarily cats) and with pet owners to help them better understand their dogs and cats and manage or resolve unwanted behaviors in their pets. She and her colleagues even published research on cat clicker training. Although no longer i...

Sooz joins me for a natter about our recent live workshops. We hit some big topics Including the ethics of novice clicker trainers! Of course we return to our favourite topic, reinforcement routines, and much more.  You can find Sooz Foster CHBC AAB for dog training at https://www.tarkadogtraining.co.uk and for horses at https://www.soozequine.co.uk   Join me at ko-fi.com/leadahorsetowat...

Welcome to Season 3! A new season of interviews, deep dives into training and behaviour and some giggles when Sooz joins me! In this short episode I consider the greats that went before me and wonder why women often look to men for coaching. If you would like to support the podcast I have created a Ko-fi account where you can come and join me as I look at my students and personal training strategi...

Science continues to inform us about the nature of horses and old accepted ideas of herd leader (alpha stallion and mare) have been reconsidered. This is not a scientific stroll but a practical chatty episode about horses exhibiting behaviours that might be considered as 'leadership' qualities or dominance along with the assumption that there is a 'pecking order' in horse herds.  Thanks to Jo and...

In this episode I talk about the last day with my lovely Moralejo (Moo). If this subject could be difficult for you PLEASE don't listen. If this episode helps anyone then Moo and I will have given one last service to horses and their carers. Love to you all, take care of yourselves. For help with end of life decisions this is a good starting point https://www.equine-endoflife.co.uk/end-of-life-opt...

This episode is a meander through the concept of being kind to each other. In the world of horses there can often be conflict and it has lead me, in the past, to be less kind to the human in the horse-human partnership. I try to do better and we could probably all do better and with this in mind I ramble through some wonderful responses to a recent social media question I posed about how to be kin...

 A relaxed natter with the lovely Kate Blackmore about her new venture- Equischolars! Kate Blackmore is Head of Welfare at the Conquest Centre , equine behaviour consultant with Equilogical and founder of Equischolars – stewards of the   horse. Kate started volunteering at Conquest in 2012, became a groom, RDA GI, yard manager, deputy manager before going onto study for her behaviou...

In this episode I'm joined by my wonderful colleague Dr Hannah Donovan  a veterinary surgeon and a certificated clinical animal behaviourist (CCAB) for equines, dogs and cats. Hannah talks to me about her journey to becoming a vet and behaviourist and how horse owners, vets and behaviourists are coming together to share modern understanding of horse behaviour. Hannah and I share some tips for...

The final short Christmas bonus episode discussing how to develop good cue discrimination in complex liberty movements. This was in response to a call out for questions following the previous episode on Stimulus Control. In this episode we discuss Anne's fabulous question. Our new Train Clean interactive online workshop (back chaining) at the end of January is available to purchase from Trudi Demp...

In this second of our short Christmas bonus episodes discussing how to create a behaviour of sending your  horse to a distant place. This was in response to a call out for questions following the previous episode on Stimulus Control. In this episode we discuss Lisa's wonderful question. Our new Train Clean interactive online workshop (back chaining) at the end of January is available to purchase f...

A super short Christmas bonus episode discussing how to develop a solid stand and wait for your horse. This was in response to a call out for questions following the previous episode on Stimulus Control. In this episode we discuss Drea's great question. Our new Train Clean interactive online workshop (back chaining) at the end of January is available to purchase from Trudi Dempsey Equine Trainer a...

Another wander through some of the crucial theories surrounding clicker training. Errorless learning sounds too good to be true- what it is all about? Stimulus control was the topic of our last weekend Train Clean deep dive and as usual there were some interesting results. Friend and colleague Sooz Foster joins me again as we take these topics down some interesting rabbit holes. High fiving cats a...

Sooz Foster and I recorded this episode amidst our live in person training weekend at Nine Acres equestrian in Norfolk. We dive into the detail on reinforcement routines (loops, procedures, practices...) in a light-hearted episode!  Train Clean Stimulus Control Event   https://www.facebook.com/events/168407405378673

In this episode I speak to colleague and friend Maisie Wake. We discuss trick training, the ethics and methods. What are tricks and should we train them? Maisie is an Equine Massage Therapist and a behaviour consultant for both equines and chickens. She is a supporting member of IAABC, and a member of the Equine Behaviour and Training Association. She is also currently in training to be an animal...

Dear listener, Season 2 is upon us! Episode 1 of the new season (episode 16 as we go) is ready for you. Larri is not only a good friend but an amazing horse person. We recorded this episode earlier in the summer when I visited my old boy Moralejo (Moo) who is on retirement livery at Larri's amazing track livery Horse Haven - Holistic Livery and Ethical Training.  You can find Larri  on F...

A question that came up on one of my recent R+ training course Q and A sessions was just too good not to answer publicly. Thanks for such a great question Sara...what do you do when your horse appears not to hear the click? In this final episode of the season I consider this scenario and offer some solutions. What do you do when your learner doesn't react to the bridge in the way you expected?&nbs...

In this episode I talk to friend and colleague Lauren Fraser, in the main, about CAT and having compassion for horse guardians that are transitioning from traditional methods. A couple of LaHtW rabbit holes and the off tangent. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  Lauren is an experienced horsewoman, who has worked professionally with horses since 2006. Prior to her current specialization, L...

Lately there has been a growth in the UK of trainers and groups labelling themselves as LIMA. What is LIMA and what is its impact on my work as a trainer and behaviour consultant? From the IAABC (iaabc.org) “LIMA” is an acronym for the phrase “least intrusive, minimally aversive.” LIMA describes a trainer or behavior consultant who uses the least intrusive, minimally aversive strategy out of a set...

Starting out with positive reinforcement training? This episode delves into the pointers and pitfalls that are common when starting out. In this episode I'm joined again by Clare Young of Kindly Equine . Clare is studying the NAC behaviour qualification and I'm really pleased to announce she has been accepted on the MSc at Edinburgh university to study clinical animal behaviour. Find the podcast o...

In this episode I natter to Clare Young of Kindly Equine (see below for links to FB and Insta) about getting started with positive reinforcement. It's a great chat and we did go on a little longer than planned but I've left it whole as I think it works well. Hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed recording it, there will be further digs into the world of the new trainer in future episodes. ...