This is part two of our celebration of the one year anniversary of my on-line clinics. We’re marking the occasion by getting together with some of the people who are regulars in the clinic coaching sessions. Last week you met Connie Dwyer, Taylor Culbert, Dr Claire St Peter, Amy Stevenson, Muna Clough, Jennifer Koning, Marcy Ingram, and Svenja Sawinski. This group represents a wide range of experience both with clicker training and with horses. But everyone is an expert in their own...

We’re celebrating the 1 year Anniversary of my on-line clinic series with a three part panel discussion. We’re joined by some of the regular attendees of the on-line coaching sessions. The group represents a wide range of experience both with horses and with clicker training. They bring a fresh perspective to our training discussions. At the in-person clinics the training discussions continue over dinner. That’s a part of the day that I very much enjoy. We talk about what we did with...

This is Part 3 of a part conversation in which the topics were inspired by the discussions in my on-line clinics. In this episode we return to a subject we have explored before - reinforcement strategies. We talk about management solutions when training is not yet in place. And then a big topic: what does "feed for position" mean? This is a big topic because it takes us straight into our ability to influence a horse's balance. We also talk about the conversation that emerges between...

We begin this episode by talking about lots of ideas for activities you can work on during mud season. When space is restricted, you can still move forward in your training. In fact, sometimes those restrictions actually work to your advantage. We move from mud season to “Happy Faces”. When you’re trying to interpret what a horse’s ears are telling you, context matters. In this episode we share several stories that highlight why “Happy Faces” is a foundation lesson.

This is Part 1 of a three part conversation. Dominique is once again choosing topics from my on-line clinics. We begin with a question from an individual is doing a wonderful job with her very tall horse. A year ago he was scaring her by rearing and striking out. Now they are a fun team to watch. I love how soft his expression has become. Grown-ups and head lowering have played an important role in creating this change. She was asking about what she should do when her horse offered...

Lucy Butler is a special education teacher in a high school. In the 2021-2022 school year Lucy was given the task of working with all the students who were repeating their freshmen year of high school. Lucy has been a guest on our podcast several times before. She’s been sharing her classroom experiences with us. This year Lucy has another cohort of freshman class repeaters and she’s also co-teaching math classes. During the Christmas break she gave us a progress report. In Part 1 she...

Lucy Butler is a special education teacher in a high school. In the 2021-2022 school year Lucy was given the task of working with all the students who were repeating their freshmen year of high school. Lucy has been a guest on our podcast several times before. She’s been sharing her classroom experiences with us. This year Lucy has another cohort of freshman class repeaters and she’s also co-teaching math classes. During the Christmas break she gave us a progress report. In the math...

In Part 3 of our conversation with Dr Joe Layng he describes symbolic aggression in pigeons and the “prisoner’s dilemma” solution that leads to the development of cooperation between two birds. The social interactions were not trained by the experimenter. They emerged from the non-social components that the birds were taught. These studies have many implications for those of us who work with multiple learners. Joe’s descriptions of these studies also gives us the basis for understanding...

I am delighted that we are starting out the New Year with a conversation with Dr Joe Layng. Dr Layng is a behavior analyst who has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments. In Part 1 of our conversation Joe defined contingency adduction and shared several fascinating experiments that were done with pigeons. Pigeons showed self awareness by passing the mirror test. They...

I am delighted that we are starting out the New Year with a conversation with Dr Joe Layng. Dr Layng is a behavior analyst who has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments. In Part 1 of our conversation Joe starts out by defining what contingency adduction is. He uses several studies that were done with pigeons to help us understand this concept, beginning with a study using the...

This is the second half of a conversation Dominique and I had recently that was centered topics that emerged during a recent live coaching session that’s part of my on-line clinics. Last week we talked about how you can use the food delivery process to increase your awareness of your horse’s balance. That awareness then leads to subtle suggestions that kindly, gently help your horse to release tension and find his own functional good balance. In this episode we talk about feedback. So...

This week begins a two part conversation with Dominique. Dominique is asking about topics that emerged during a recent live coaching session that’s part of my on-line clinics. She was struck by a comment I made about using the food delivery to feel in your hand how a horse is balanced. This was an idea that was new to her. She was very aware of how you can use the food delivery to monitor a horse’s emotional behavior, but she wasn’t tuning into using the food delivery to evaluate a...

Part 3 of our conversation with Dr. Joe Layng explores the societal consequences that occur when degrees of freedom are restricted. If you have ever found yourself wondering what leads people to join extremists groups and to commit acts of violence, Joe’s discussion of degrees of freedom will give you great insights on the dynamics involved. You might be thinking this topic doesn’t belong in a podcast about horses, but consider the experience so many in the positive reinforcement training...

This is part 2 of our conversation with Dr Joe Layng. Dr Layng has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments. In part 1 we began our discussion of degrees of freedom with a description of an experiment that was done with pigeons. The pigeons were given an electric shock every time they pecked a key, but instead of avoiding the key, they continued to press it. And in fact, if they...

This is part 1 of a three part conversation with Dr Joe Layng. To begin I should say that Dr Layng is not a horse person. This conversation is going to cover a lot of important concepts, but for the most part we won’t be talking specifically about horses. I asked Joe to talk to us about degrees of freedom. This is a topic that I have heard Joe talk about several times and every time I have the same reaction. This is something we need to understand more clearly. It is relevant not just...

We’re continuing our conversation with Ann Edie. Many of you will know Ann already. She’s Panda’s person. Panda is the mini I trained to be a guide for Ann. In this episode we talk about Ann’s full size horses. We meet Ann’s Arabian Magnat. I always referred to Magnat as a one in ten million horse. In Part 1 Ann described what it was like to ride him and the training that created these magic carpet rides. The link between ground work and riding is highlighted. Positive...

I was asked recently: “Do clicker trainers ride?” This question confused me at first. Of course, we ride! I wrote a book about riding, and I have produced DVD lessons, on-line clinics and other resources that look directly at riding. But then this person went on to say that the clicker trainers in her area don’t seem to ride. She was wondering if it was just too complicated to ride with positive reinforcement. Hmm. I know that these days there are many variations on the theme in terms...

We continue to explore the connection between tickling rates and playing with horses in Part 2 of our conversation with Raven Hickson. Raven is a behavioral neuroscientist. She’s just finishing her PhD. She’s been studying social play behavior in a rat model of neuro-development disorder. Raven comes from an applied animal background. Her bachelor’s degree is in Animal Science from Cornell. Her focus was on neurobiology and behavior and psychology courses. She interned over two summers...

What is the connection between tickling rates and playing with horses? Find out in the conversation with Raven Hickson. Raven is a a behavioral neuroscientist. She’s just finishing her PhD. She’s been studying social play behavior in a rat model of neuro-development disorder. Raven comes from an applied animal background. Her bachelor’s degree is in Animal Science from Cornell. Her focus was on neurobiology and behavior and psychology courses. She interned over two summers as a zookeeper...

This is part two of an afternoon’s conversation with Taylor Culbert. Taylor is a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. She is writing her dissertation on 17th century animal performances in Europe, looking specifically at how cultural narratives about animals shaped the ways that humans and animals responded to one another. In Part 1 we began with stag hunts and some surprising revelations about animal intelligence. It was a...

Taylor Culbert is a PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She is writing her dissertation on 17th century animal performances in Europe, looking specifically at how cultural narratives about animals shaped the ways that humans and animals responded to one another. When she isn't writing, Taylor works part-time training horses at a rescue in upstate NY. Taylor is enrolled in my on-line clinics so I’ve been getting to know...

This is the second half of our conversation with Christa Culbert. Christa is an artist, a horse trainer, and an educator. She is pursing a career in the horse world, and dreams of starting a classical dressage clicker training horse rescue someday. Christa has been participating in my on-line clinics so I’ve been watching her progress with her two older horses. In this episode she introduces us to Huck, a horse she rescued when he was so lame he could barely walk. We talk about the...

In the recent Dressage Camp one of the standouts for me during the introductions were how many of the participants were working with older horses. It was so good to hear how many people were choosing to rescue older and often unsound horses. They wanted to know how they could help their horses, so clearly this was a great topic for the podcast. I invited one of the Dressage Camp participants, Christa Culbert, to spend the afternoon with us in conversation. Christa is an artist, a horse...