It is so fabulous to see the interest in positive reinforcement training for horses getting more popular! My two clinics in Ontario this year were fabulous and one even had a waiting list. How cool is that! Here are some pictures from those clinics. They were great fun and I look forward to returning in the fall ( the one clinic is already full for the intermediate two days but still room in the intro clinic day - contact Kendra) . The date for the other Ontario clinic is still to be decided but be sure to drop me a message if you are interested and I'll put you in touch with the organizer. 

Pictures from Ottawa Clinic - thanks to Ellie OReilly for these great pictures of everyone.

Playing with Equispeak letter 'Fc'

 A great group of ladies!

 How to get off the pedestal - using targeting

 Some horses love getting...

Happy 2018!  I hope this new year brings you lots of positive adventures and look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones too in my travels . It looks like it will be a busy year.

I have had some time these past couple of weeks to reflect. I should have been writing modules for the online course but my head was not clear enough for that (yes I got that nasty bug), and it was too cold to do any real videoing for the course.  So, while I sorted through years of paperwork, I allowed my thoughts to wander.

I have been a teacher for many years and have taught many different things, not just clicker.

Whether by circumstances or temperament I was always driven to learn. In my childhood, I had almost no access to riding instructors but I read everything I could get my hands on. This was partly because of my lo...

I’ve been playing with some "new to the horse world" ideas. I know, I know...so what else is new!

It has been a treat this summer to have a young lady interning with me who had a fabulous coach in the dog training world. So of course we started to play with how to do horse things in more of a dog way... why wouldn’t we? After all we are out-of-the-box thinkers to start with, so why not go way out?

You always see the horse agility videos where the horse is fairly close to the handler. In the dog agility world there seems to be two styles: the close and the far. We wanted to play with seeing if we could build distance in the work that most horse people do up close.

Eggo already knew his mat work and I could send him to a mat from a fair distance, so we started playing with going around an object to get to his mat....

Not sure it is politically correct to make a wish on Canada’s birthday, but if I did make one, my hope for the next 150 years is that horse and all animal training becomes more aware of the animal’s intelligence and treats them as the sentient beings they are.

Another thought re: wishes and hopes is that one should be careful what one puts out to the universe. I am happy to report that this was going to be my year to decide the future of how my training was going to proceed. Was I going to put myself out there more and hope the world was ready? Or just play at home in my own little world?

Well, it seems that perhaps the tipping point is starting to happen. I’ve given five clinics in different parts of the country this year so far and interest for more this fall and I may even get to Australia and Europe next ye...

There is a Beatles song that keeps running through my head: “Eight Days A Week”…and even though I spent eight days away from home, it wasn’t enough time to spend with all the amazing people and horses (and ponies) I had the pleasure of introducing to EquispeakTM and the clicker training.

The weather certainly didn’t cooperate, but the humans and the animals most certainly did. Everyone embraced the work and stood by me in times of technical computer issues (many thanks for that and yes a new computer is on its way!)

I gave three clinics during the six days and a couple private lessons as well, so no wonder I was a bit tired when I arrived back home, but we were on “horse time” so the days just flew by.

In the new format for the clinics, I give the participants a set of behaviours that they can take away and use...

I will admit, thanks to a friend, that I almost (ALMOST but not really) wish that snow and winter would stay a bit longer. Why on earth would I want that? Well I’ve discovered kick sleds.Now don’t get too excited about me actually doing exercise in the snow and cold. My kick sled is not human powered!

My, now coming four-year-old mini, Eggo was finally ready to really hook to something and start really driving.

I’d put in lots of preparation. I’ve also trained him differently than my other driving ponies. I’ve tried to use positive reinforcement and cue transfers to shape his learning without any negative reinforcement. I must say I’m quite pleased with the results and I think Eggo is too!

This first video shows some of the behaviours I teach all my guys. They come in handy for teaching many other behaviours th...

I thought it was finally time to write about my clinic in Denman Island that happened last year! It is almost time for this year’s clinic and there is one spot left for anyone interested. Definitely one of the best times of my year, so why don’t you join us and find out what I mean!

At this clinic we all get to play with Cynthia’s fabulous donkeys. Now we usually get some horse folk who come but are skeptical about how working with a donkey can compare to working with a horse. They are small and so should be easy. Well it doesn’t take long for the donkeys to first win them over because they are so cute, but it also doesn’t take long for them to find out that they are stronger and much more particular about their training. The people come away with a new appreciation and a better set of skills then a lot of peo...

I hope you all had a great holiday season and have great plan for 2017.

I will admit I did hibernate or at least try to for a few days of our rather cold spell (minus 40!!) and had a few days battling one of those nasty bugs, but all in all it has been a great start to 2017. I have an exciting new announcement, but it’s not quite ready to unveil yet!

I have several clinics planned this year in BC and Ontario and even one in Newfoundland! So, if you are wanting more info on these or would like to plan one in your area please contact me. I will also be having the five-day intensive here again in July featuring my clicker superstar school masters for those who would like to see where clicker training can take you or just spend five days enjoying the positive world of clicker training.

I’m going to cheat just a tad...

A big part of my dream for many years is finally realized. My farm’s boarders are now ALL clicker trainers. It is so cool to go out to the barn and hear clicks and see food delivered and horses praised. There is no tension in the barn, no negative thoughts, just happy positive interactions going on. I’m also delighted to have a couple younger boarders who have embraced the work and are doing a fabulous job with it.

It has been fun to see the horses learn from each other. One of the boarders asked if I had been playing with their horse (like I have time, with 12 of my own…lol), as he was offering hind leg lifts, but the owner had never taught them. I said “Don’t you know they talk at night?” I wasn’t joking…I’m sure they do! Many people who come out to visit and have a look at the work have commented on the dif...