Equine Behaviour, Training and Relationship Building
Yesterday was such a fun- filled day because Bo and I went to our first ever cross country training hire! It sounds funny saying that since I have had Bo for around 9 years and this is just us doing our first one, but there is reason for that. Anyway, my friend and I had …
As you may have seen on my last Instagram post here or on my last blog post (which you can find here) I’ve just started loaning Ghillie- an oversized yellow sun highland. I haven’t actually managed to spend too much time with him yet because the week he arrived he had to quarantine in a …
What a strange week last week was! I'm a bit of a planner (being a teacher and all) and so I often plan out my week in advance so I know what I'm doing when. Viewing a horse was not part of any plan I had. The week before last, a livery at my yard …
I am a primary school teacher and therefore I understand the value and importance of a suitable learning environment. This might be something you haven't considered when working with your horse, but if you think about your everyday experiences, it might change the way you set up the learning situations for your horse. For example, …
Continue reading "7 ways to create an effective learning environment for your horse"
Yesterday I had the most magical day. My friend booked us a 6 hour ride at Highlands Unbridled (you can find their website here) where we went out for a long ride across rugged terrain from woodland to tackling a 525 metre hill called Carnferg. The views from the top were absolutely breath taking. It …
Recently I listened to Olivia Towers' podcast episode which featured Miri Hackett. Olivia and Miri are two equestrians who I follow on my Instagram and I feel they have a lot of knowledge to offer. They raise important issues and I certainly feel more people should benefit from their knowledge and experience.I often think the …
My horse, Bo, is a Welsh Section D and over the years I have come to know the breed very well and I would say that it is my favourite of all. So in this post, I am going to explain 5 reasons for why I think Welsh Section D’s are the best horses ever! …
Usually, I like to post some form of informative post on my blog but this week I felt inspired to talk about a day I had as it really provoked some deep thoughts and feelings in me. At the weekend, I went with my friend to visit a yard 2 hours away as she is …
My last couple of posts have been related to the learning process in horses. I have covered the Antecedents and Behaviours and today, we are looking at the final part which is Consequences. You can find the post all about Antecedents here, and you can find the post about behaviours here. Antecedants- these are the …
No matter what discipline you do with your horse, schooling is so important to build the connection between horse and rider. Even if you are just a happy hacker, a little schooling session now and again can really improve the quality of your rides. It’s important that you get the most out of your schooling …
Continue reading "How to make the most out of schooling sessions?"
Before you read this post, it may be useful to read my previous post about antecedents which you can find here. In this post, I introduced the ABC model of learning: Antecedants- these are the things that happen just before your horse does something.Behaviour- This is what your horse actually does.Consequence- This is what happens immediately after …
Trust and understanding are my main goals when working with horses. I believe if you have these, then you are forming solid foundations upon which to build your relationship with your horse. Sometimes, problems arise in relationships which require understanding and communication to solve. I believe this is best achieved through keeping in mind that …
I am currently in my probation year as a primary school teacher right now and I have been startled at how similar teaching children and training horses is. It’s sounds weird, I know, but honestly, the same principles apply! Reward the good, ignore the bad When you are training horses in a positive way, I …
Continue reading "Why being a primary school teacher and a horse trainer are similar"
I plan to have a super fun year this year with Bo because my partner and I have plans to move away next year which means he will be staying here with my mum to retire. I’m hoping I’ll have someone to ride him now and again, just to keep him ticking over, but this …
Bo will be 20 this year and because of his age and ability, I have to be careful with what I am doing. Lunging is a touchy subject because some people will say it is useful, others will say it’s damaging. Personally, I think it depends on how you’re lunging. I feel the way that …
Continue reading "Lunging 101- 5 things you should think about when lunging your horse"
It’s been a while since I’ve posted to my blog purely because of a lack of motivation, I felt I had nothing to say and work was particularly busy. I did even consider deleting my blog for a while when I thought to myself “what’s the point?” -but I have come to my senses. I …
Today marks the first day of the Easter Holidays and I am super excited to get Bo fit for summer. I want to have a really fun summer with Bo this year and do some jumping just for fun (very low level as he is arthritic so we’ll only be jumping tiny fences), hack further …
To continue on with my liberty challenge, I started with lesson 4 which was grooming at liberty. I had Bo in the yard at Liberty and offered him a groom. On the day, Bo was pretty pre-occupied with eating the snow which was amusing but he did let me give him a little sweep over …
The weather really is horrendous right now so I’m just taking my time with these lessons for my liberty challenge. I have owned Bo for around 8 years now and I know him pretty well so I have decided to sort of do bits and bobs of lessons 1-3 together. I think if I had …
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