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View the blog archive below. Stayed tuned for new blogs in 2025!


Chance Demonstrates the Power of Positive Reinforcement
So I have to apologize for being absent for so long. It seems that winter has finally ended and I can put the hip waders used to make my...
Mar 26, 20142 min read
Hind Leg Lifts
To shape a hind leg lift for hoof cleaning, I use the same basic idea as I did for shaping the front leg lift. This time I will place my...
Mar 18, 20142 min read


Hoof Care Made Easy
So, how do you start getting your horse to offer to hold up a hoof? Here are the videos that go with my article in the March/April issue...
Feb 19, 20144 min read


A Positive Approach to Picking Up Hooves
I really hope you had time to have a look at the video links I posted last week. I would love some feedback on what you thought and felt...
Feb 12, 20142 min read


Different Approaches to Picking Up Hooves
I hope you spent a few moments thinking about what kind of problem solver you are. If you are looking at clicker training perhaps you are...
Feb 3, 20142 min read
What Type of Problem Solver Are You?
This week, in preparation for the upcoming article on improving your horse’s ability to lift and hold up his hooves, in the March/April...
Jan 26, 20142 min read


Last Blog of 2013
I can’t believe another year has come and gone. Time really is going faster, or maybe it just gets faster as you get older. Yet another...
Dec 30, 20131 min read


Volunteering Behaviour
I’m not sure about your weather, but the weather here a very short few days ago was a balmy 40 below with the wind chill, but this being...
Dec 16, 20133 min read


Deworming Prep: Part 2
I was surprised not to get any comments on the video in last week’s post. It caused quite a stir on Facebook! Maybe everyone is too busy...
Dec 10, 20132 min read


Deworming Prep: Part 1
Let’s look this week at how clicker training can help every day issues like deworming. Is your horse easy to deworm or does he run at the...
Dec 1, 20133 min read


My Mother Dresses Me Funny: Part 2
After a week’s worth of practicing you should be ready to bet that $100! Once this ‘going to the target’ behaviour is solid and...
Nov 18, 20133 min read


My Mother Dresses Me Funny: Part 1
Seems winter is upon us, here in Alberta at least, and that means the daily chore for some of us of blanketing. Being inherently lazy or...
Nov 11, 20132 min read


Cue Transfer: Part 2
I hope you all had fun playing with transferring the head down cue from the lead to a lifted hand. Now let’s look another cue transfer. I...
Oct 21, 20132 min read


Playing with Head Down and Cue Transfer: Part 1
Now that you have head down using a lift of the lead rope, make sure it is solid…that you get head down promptly every time you lift the...
Oct 14, 20133 min read


Head Down: Part 2
I hope you have all tried the up for down method and are having some success. There are usually three ceilings that the horse will stop...
Oct 7, 20133 min read


Head Down: Part 1
With clicker training, we teach head down a bit differently. Head down is taught by lifting up on the lead rope. At first, this seems...
Sep 30, 20133 min read


Happy Faces: Part 2
By now you should be both smiling and having an even better time, so now we need to look at generalizing this behaviour just like all our...
Sep 24, 20133 min read


Happy Faces
The next foundation lesson is called Happy Faces. Whether it is yourself doing the smiling or being on the receiving end of a smile,...
Sep 16, 20133 min read


Mat Work and Trailers: Part 2
I hope you played with mats and moving them to different locations last week and worked a bit on building duration as well after your...
Sep 10, 20133 min read


Mat Work and Trailers: Part 1
Trailer loading, just like any other behaviour we would ask our horses to do, must have had been taught before we can ask, and expect,...
Sep 3, 20132 min read


Mats and Horse Agility
More things to do with your mat work! Once you start thinking differently about how you train the possibilities are endless. Take for...
Aug 26, 20134 min read
Using The Same Exercise To Solve Opposite Training Problems: Part 2
Last week we looked at the ‘no go‘ horse. So now how did this same exercise help sort out the ‘no whoa ‘horse? Once again, we discussed...
Aug 19, 20133 min read


Mat Work: Part 2
Hopefully you had some fun and success playing with targeting to the mat, but possibly you have one of those horses who has some issues...
Aug 6, 20134 min read


Mat Work: Part 1
Why on earth would I want to teach my horse to stand on a mat? At first glance, it seems like an easy enough thing to do, and perhaps it...
Jul 29, 20134 min read
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