I just added a link to Leslie’s blog, to my Links page. Here’s the description from the site:
“In this blog you can follow how Leslie’s approach is helping horses coast-to-coast and gain insight about how to work with horses through “feel and release”. We will post photos, audio clips and video clips as they become available, including highlights from Leslie’s 2009 Horsemanship Seminar tour, and from clinics with trainers in her program. You can also catch other news from Leslie and Diamond Lu Productions.”
There are several photo essays on the site already, each with [more...]
On the DressageDisgrace.com site there is a discussion about some videos which have been posted as representatives of the ‘right way’ to do dressage. The idea is to identify riders who are not using rollkur as a regular part of their training program and support them. Interestingly, one of the videos posted was of a rider who has taken a stand against rollkur. YET, the horse still showed signs of the same disconnection seen in the rollkured horses. What gives?
This is my theory. What really is the difference between “deep and round” and “hyperflexion”? [more...]
Right now, I don’t know if I’m inspired or just plain envious. Lovely horses, ridden beautifully. This was an interesting video because it begins with a rider on a 3 year old horse who had just been ridden a few times. The horse is calm and relaxed and quite frankly looking “like a million bucks”. Clearly not the average 3 year old! So that is the envy part.
Part of me questioned asking ’so much’ of such a youngster. Was the neck too shortened? But the proof is in the pudding. The video continues showing the same horse a couple months [more...]
In Whole Heart, Whole Horse , through stories about his days as a kid working for the “Old Man” as well as people he’s met through years of doing clinics, Marks brings the process of building trust between the horse and rider to life. As is typical for Mark’s books, this is not a ‘how-to’ book. Having tried to write something of a how-to book I can appreciate his desire to avoid that. So instead he focuses on our attitude and though processes which I know have a huge impact on our success (or lack thereof) with horses.
Mark sold me [more...]
When I was first introduced to clicker training some 10 years ago one of the books that was a real mind alterer was “Don’t Shoot the Dog” by Karen Pryor. Although the title would suggest that the book is somehow about dog training, it isn’t. It is about practical applications of reinforcement in any training situation. Or, really, any of our relationships, even with people. Over the years it has been one book I have recommended frequently.
Karen has just released a new book called “Reaching the Animal Mind.” Now, I admit that I have not [more...]
Recently, Dr. Deb Bennett posted this excellent essay on the forum at her Equine Studies Institute site. Here are just a few quotes to entice you to read the whole thing.
On the horse’s fear:
“Why this is, is that horses, more than most other creatures, embody their feelings and thoughts: they ‘body them forth’. No horse that spooks and runs away does it because of effort by his muscles, even though effort by his muscles is what moves his legs. A horse runs away because he is frightened: the adrenalin is pumping: the thoughts are not focused on any task [more...]
This morning I received an email from Jane Savoie about her Freedom from Fear DVD set which has just been released. I congratulate Jane on this achievement! I know Jane has made it her life’s work to help people have happier more enjoyable relationships with their horses and I want to support her work. To find out more about her program click here.
In her email she also included a link to a clip from the video. In the clip she demonstrates a little bit about how she uses clicker training to help train horses who [more...]
This video features the work of Peggy Cummings. It has a lot to offer in terms of finding a balanced seat and feel and showing how these factors can really influence the horse’s relaxation and balance. There are concepts that are near and dear to my heart so it was a pleasure to see the same ideas reiterated with different words. There were a few before and after examples in which these changes were demonstrated. This is a good video watch for those who are working on establishing these most fundamental of basics in themselves and in their horse.
There were [more...]
Jane Savoie (photo by Susan Sexton)
I had the honor of being interviewed by Jane Savoie about my experiences with clicker training. Jane maintains a wonderful website called Dressage Mentor which is geared toward helping dressage riders address the problems they are having with their horses and riding. A very hot issue for her members is the matter of fear… fear of losing control, fear of falling off, fear of getting seriously hurt by their horses…the list goes on.
In the interview we talked a lot about fear and ways of using clicker training to improve safety. What [more...]
