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In the middle of May, two of my students came to my farm in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales for 3 days of hacking-lessons. They both have young, green horses and wanted some support and guidance to keep everyone confident when out and about. It was a brilliant 3 days (despite the howling wind!) and everyone achieved so much. Myself included, because I rode Freckles, who’s young and green himse...
Read moreShe’s Got a Ticket to Ride! Does your horse line up for you at the mounting block and then stand patiently while you sort out your stirrups and girth? Many horses don’t, often because they haven’t been trained in a way that makes it clear to them what behaviour is wanted. Or perhaps they’ve been trained to do it differently. For example, racehorses start to move before the ...
Read moreTop Tips for Hips “I can’t believe how much these small changes influenced Maurice!” said Rachael at the end of her riding lesson with me. Like many riders, Rachael finds it hard to release her hips and follow the horse’s movement. If you find this to be a problem too, or have a tight lower back, watch this extract from her lesson with me when we visited Portugal in Februa...
Read moreA calm, relaxed, yet keen, horse is what we’re all searching for, but if you’ve had much to do with horses, you’ll know it’s not easy to get!! Horses are prey animals who are naturally quite spooky because running first and thinking later has kept them alive for thousands of years. How can we use our training skills to change this evolutionary pattern and help make them cal...
Read moreJust back from another fab clicker training trip to Portugal and this one was even better because some Clix College members came, too! This video shows some highlights of the week, using clicker training in a wide range of situations. Big thanks to Sophie for organising and hosting it and also to everyone who I met and worked with – you made it a fantastic week Keep an eye out for the Portu...
Read moreThis video shows how I built up to removing Zee’s headcollar easily and calmly. It’s a great example of how clicker training can help equines overcome fear without any need for force or drama. It’s an excerpt from a presentation I did on how I’d been training the Zonkeys at the Snow White – A Pony Tale Premiere. If you haven’t seen them yet click here to watch: ...
Read moreThe long-awaited Snow White – A Pony Tale is finally here! A tale of love, passion, attempted murder, drama and HORSES! LOTS of horses! This quirky take on the original tale involves all my own 7 horses in place of the dwarves and the brilliant Rebecca Townsend and Rosie Howard joined us with their incredible trick-trained horses, too! I think many of you will recognise Robert Blane, our han...
Read moreSnow White – A Pony Tale is premiering this weekend so we’re all gearing up for that right now! Here’s a sneak preview of the oh-so-famous apple scene, (although with a slight twist on the usual version…) with a sneaky peek at some behind-the-scenes training. All Snow White’s 7 horses in the film (all my horses!) were completely trained using clicker training ...
Read moreTraining with the 2 stripey girls has been going really well. This video was taken after I’d been clicker training them for about 2 weeks. They have 2 behaviours solidly on cue and we’ve all learned some interesting lessons regarding zonkey and human behaviours! Watch and see how we’ve been getting on!
Read moreIt occurred to me that clicker training horses requires you to be both learner and teacher simultaneously – you’re always learning how to be better balanced, co-ordinated, use new technques and so on, while at the same time teaching your horse new behaviours. To be a great horse trainer requires self awareness, honesty and perception. You must hold together the dreams of where you̵...
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