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How to create a training session: part one
Happy after our session. I’ve had numerous conversations lately about how to structure a good training session. While the initial mechanical skills of training are fairly simple to learn or be coached...
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Rumi: A new horse at Idle Moon
Several months ago, when my vet was here to sedate Tarot for a hoof trim, she told me a story about an Arabian colt that was born on her farm. Silver spent his first four years growing up in her...
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Teaching horses to stand still by allowing a flight response
How many times have you heard the phrase, “You better make him stand still!”? It reflects a common belief system in the horse world; if your horse is afraid of something, the clippers, fly spray, a new...
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“We don’t know what the horse has learned, we only know what we’ve...
Last week I demonstrated how to set up a training session so a horse can learn to stand still around something that scares them even when allowed to spin, trot or canter away as an initial response. I...
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A new year at Idle Moon Farm : 2014 : Balance
Yesterday morning as I watched Rumi cantering through the snow, totally relaxed with an even cadence, I thought how lovely it would be to ride him. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about riding him...
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Rune, a new foal at Idle Moon, imprinting and the future….
Five weeks ago, Glasswing’s foal, Rune, was born. Sara and I were there at her birth to towel and dry her off, dip her umbilical stump in iodine and make sure she found Glasswing’s udder for her...
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How to Train Your Foal: birth to six weeks
Rune is my first foal. She’s far from my first horse and I’ve been a professional animal trainer for almost fifteen years now, but a first is a first, no matter your other experience. So, after she was...
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Scratching: a primer
My last post about Rune outlined the details of our relationship and training in our first six weeks together. I assumed most people know foals are born “itchy” and love to be scratched more than...
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Transformation
When you see magic portrayed in books and movies, it is often used as a short-cut around reality. You can clean up a room with a wave of a wand or turn a man into a goat to pull your cart. This sort of...
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Allow your horse to be a masterpiece
When I adopted Aesop, I was looking for a horse who could be a good teacher. He appeared open, calm and, just as important, he had rather flat movement. I didn’t want a horse who was terribly athletic...
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Hocus Pocus: shape-shifting into healthy movement.
This spring I was lucky enough to purchase a horse who I loved many years ago but thought I would never own. Hocus Pocus is a tall, black and white, Saddlebred/Friesian cross who was mine to train from...
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Sistine and Faa
The first time I saw Sistine and Faa, mare #9668 and foal #9669, I had a full three days of students scheduled, lots of chores to finish and a very tight schedule. I was taking a quick coffee break and...
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Collaborative hoof care
As long as I have had Tarot, I have had him sedated for hoof care. Between his deep fear of unfamiliar people and his past life history of tension and fighting over just having his feet lifted and...
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Hocus Pocus: a new body organization on the longe and in-hand
Earlier this summer, I welcomed Hocus Pocus, a horse I had known many years ago, back into my life. He was on his way to becoming unsound so I immediately set out to change his unhealthy, habitual...
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Djinn
When I named Djinn, I had no idea how completely she would embody her name. I like to name my horses so that they can be represented by one simple symbol, a charm I can hold in my hand. For Djinn, that...
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Constructional or Pathological uses of energy?
One of the basic tenets in my work is: “Don’t steal from the horse’s flight response.” It means that even though it’s easy to get a horse to move off at a trot or a canter by shaking a whip or tossing...
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Do you know how to measure your horse’s overall balance?
Last year I went to an incredible, multiple day biomechanics lecture series with Jillian Kreinbring of JK Inspired. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jillian is both an academic and a practiced...
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A new venture!
Aesop and I both practicing being spellbound. Magic works both ways. When I started writing Spellbound years ago, it was more of a way to hold myself accountable to regular work and to have an online...
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What’s in a trail ride? Making use of objects to cue learned behaviors and...
Earlier this winter, I did a lot of hiking out in the 100 or so acres behind our farm. There was plenty of soft snow and it wasn’t demanding on cold muscles like accurate arena work. It was a good way...
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Protected: Try this at home: Teach a barometer behavior
This post is password protected. You must visit the website and enter the password to continue reading.Filed under: horse clicker training, Try this at home
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