Tranquilo’s First Outing

Sharon Madere and I have been investing time into preparing 2 year olds, Tranquilo and Bailador, for riding in the trailer.  We did this over the course of a month or so in several sessions.  We first ensured that they were happy to get on and get off.  Check.  Then...

Working with a Suspicious Mare – It Takes the Time it Takes

June 9 notes. “You really should be documenting this process!” says my wise amiga, Sharon Madere. Although the progress has been slow, we are miles ahead of where we were back in February.  Of course, I should have kept a daily journal.  It would have been...

Working with a Suspicious Mare – When Food isn’t a Motivator

In February, 2018, I started working with an 11 year old mare named Corazona.  Prior to this point she had been a brood mare.  However, this year she is not pregnant.  Seeing as she is a very nice horse, athletic and sensitive, we decided, although we have a bit of a...

Starting a Young Colt with Clicker Training

In April of 2017 I purchased a yearling Andalusian colt who I named, Tranquilo.  He’s kind of my last ditch effort to have the horse of my dreams before it is too late.  At this writing he’s a coming 2 year old and I could not be more proud of this young...

Why I’m OK With Combining Positive and Negative Reinforcement

This evening I read a post on HippoLogic titled “The Difference between Positive and Negative Reinforcement” by Sandra Poppema.  It inspired me to share some of my own thoughts on this subject. After explaining (accurately) the scientific difference Sandra...

My Book Gets a Shout-Out

Mary Hunter, over at stalecheerios.com, wrote up a really lovely review of my book on her website.  I so appreciate when people really ‘get’ the message.  Here’s a quote from Mary’s review: “Sharon Foley’s underlying philosophy is that...