In this episode I am thrilled to talk wild and feral horses with the wonderful Samantha (Sam) Couper PhD. We delve into Sam's back story right up to her present day training with her own horses and her work as a behaviour consultant. Sam is Board Chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a group dedicated to compiling citizen observations of the Onaqui wild horses in Utah, USA, in the pursuit of research and public education. With the foundation, Sam teaches a course on wild horses at the...

In this episode I chat to Polly Smeath about rope halters and controlling horses when leading. Polly has an extensive background in the world of horses, a passion that has woven throughout her life since childhood. Born into a family with a history of racehorses, Polly's earliest memories include a vivid encounter with a tall, dark brown horse at the age of two. Her journey as a "pony mad youngster" began at the age of nine, marked by a memorable fall from a skewbald pony named Star Trek,...

Sooz Foster joins me again and this time we're talking self control. We consider horses and dogs, whether they can have self-control and how we can build build patterns to help. You can find Sooz these days at https://soozdogtraining.co.uk/ or come and join me training at her new club https://www.dreamsdogclub.co.uk/ Or catch us both presenting at Understand Horses Live in July https://www.understandhorses.com/understand-horses-live

I was thrilled to be able to talk to Dr Eduardo J Fernandez on the podcast. Not only is he an amazing applied behaviour researcher but he is great at putting some of the more technical definitions into easy to understand terminology. Our discussion centres around training as enrichment but there were also some rabbit holes and side stories that we delved into. Eduardo J. Fernandez is a Senior Lecturer of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences...

In this episode I had a fabulous chat with Heather. We had aimed to look at what draws people to more 'glamorous' 'from different world' trainers but it turned into a wonderful introspective (well certainly for me, I hope Heather enjoyed it too). We ask how to be credible. What are our insecurities How to collaborate and build connections. If you are a trainer, a coach, a consultant, a business woman, a horse lover...this one is for you. Heather helps horses and people learn to be...

In this final (for now) episode on cues I look at transferring cues which is great if you want to tidy up your complex cues or change your original cue for something more appropriate. Please share these short episodes and let me know if you've tried any of my suggestions for improving your cues!

What to choose as a cue? Physical, verbal, tactile? What is clear, easy to use, easy to replicate?

Rebeccah Baylis is one of my fave students, we talk in this episode about a session that felt quite sticky at the start but ended well. Do you know when it might be acceptable to push on a little further? Should we always stop at the first sign of resistance? It's definitely a training conundrum. Find Becky and our shared events in 2024 at https://littlegreenstables.com/

Discrimination Knowing what to do to get reinforced- the best friend of stimulus control (part 3) and discriminative stimulus (part 2). How can you help your horse know what a cue means? Please enjoy and share, Trudi

Stimulus Control In this third short on my continuing theme of cues I'm looking at how 'clean' our cues are. Stimulus control is an essential part of developing cues, it helps us create a clear language that reduces the chances of frustration. I share the 4 criteria of stimulus control and what we need to consider right from the get go in terms of cues.

What to do when? Does your horse know? Do you think you know what your cues are? Does your horse agree? This short episode builds on the previous and looks at the idea of a discriminative stimulus- do you know what your SD is and does your horse agree?

I've done cues before but have we ever 'done' cues...this is the first part of a deep dive into cues. Send me questions and thoughts to [email protected] and share this episode with your friends. More soon, Trudi

What to do when things go wrong with targets and how to train a follow target, great questions sent in by a listener.

Failure is scary, so much that we might allow failure to stop us doing what we enjoy (horse training). Be brave, embrace the fear!

Reducing anxiety by playing with the temporal gap (aka what I call temporal tinkering) needs shaping the same as every behaviour. In this summer short I answer a question or two posed by one of my current course students. If you have any questions drop me a message or email [email protected]

Can labels be useful in horse training? Labels are used everywhere in life and often to the detriment of the label wearer. Take a listen to this short episode and drop me a message if you have ideas for future episodes.

In this, my second Summer Short episode, I consider how we can know if something is awesome or BS and does it matter as long as you and your horse are happy and healthy? Might be a bit controversial but I opened my mouth and out came me! Ideas for other Summer Shorts can be emailed [email protected]

In this, my first Summer Short episode, I look at the human side of the training equation. Training can take it's toll on both sides of the learning partnership and I often address this for our horse/dog but this time it's all about the human. How can you reduce your own stress and lack of motivation. Ideas for other Summer Shorts can be emailed [email protected]

In this episode I chat to Karen Luke about her most recent study linking horse welfare and behaviour with rider safety and satisfaction. Karen is a lifelong horse enthusiast and horse owner who is currently completing a PhD where she is investigating the relationship between horse welfare, rider safety and rider satisfaction. She has expertise in ridden horse behaviour and training and has authored several published papers on these topics. Karen regularly presents at conferences and...

Do you have shaping issues? It's an intense element of our training with horses, part art and part technique. Do you reward the slightest try and feel that your behaviours are getting nowhere? Perhaps you get frustrated and cross with yourself. Enjoy this episode and please share it with your friends. Find my courses via trudidempsey.carrd.co and my website www.equine.training

Sooz Foster and I whizz through our thoughts in a taster episode on shaping. Check out our courses at understandhorses.com and find me at www.equine.training and Sooz at soozequine.co.uk

In this episode I talk about the awesome Understand Horses Live and my less stress workshop in the summer as well as answering questions on wearing your 'brave pants' and why horses may continue to 'mug' you. I close with a quick look at reward prediction error. You can find all my courses, my website, Ko-fi and social media accounts via trudidempsey.carrd.co For those wanting to read about reward prediction error this is a great place to start...

In this episode I chat to Gabriel Carreira Lencioni about his love of horses and his recent projects looking at pain assessment in horses. Gabriel recently graduated as a Veterinarian from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where he took part in research groups on animal behaviour and welfare and developed a project on automated pain assessment in horses (you can read about it here https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/authors?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0258672 ) . Gabriel is an IAABC...

In this episode I was joined by the wonderful Cheryl Kolus. From Colorado, USA, Cheryl is a veterinarian who specialised in behaviour, working with shelter animals (primarily cats) and with pet owners to help them better understand their dogs and cats and manage or resolve unwanted behaviors in their pets. She and her colleagues even published research on cat clicker training. Although no longer in clinical practice, Cheryl remains passionate about animal behaviour and welfare and is always...