One of the participants in our last workshop was Sarah Matlock, an instructor of Applied Equine Behavior at Colorado State University. We originally met Sarah at CHATTcon (Convergence of Human and Animal Training Technologies) in Seattle in July and were lucky enough to have her come learn with us earlier […]
We just finished our final R+ Weekend Clinic and Intensive Workshop of the year, and we are blown away by all the wonderful feedback we have received from our participants. With their permission, I will share some of their comments with you here. The first is from Connie Kuusisto, a […]
Below I have included a link to a fascinating article. I think what struck me most was the benefits of FREE play. While we humans can become a bit too goal-driven, we know that utilizing positive reinforcement (R+) training with lots of freedom to choose is way more mentally productive, […]
As we bring the concepts and skills of R+ into the traditional equestrian world, one of the first confusions to arise is often, “What is truly positive reinforcement? Is using pressure to create behavior, then rewarding that behavior, a form of positive reinforcement?”
Both ‘treat’ and ‘reward’ have been used in […]
There are many reasons we want our horses to load into a trailer easily, from heading out for shows, to traveling to the vet, to going for a trail ride. The terrible fires in California remind us of one of the most crucial: our horses live in wildfire country. We’re […]
At Terra Nova, we inherited a fully-functioning equestrian boarding facility from the previous owner. Part of this community included “The Minis,” our collective title for the 4 burros, 2 miniature horses and 2 goats who live together in the Mini-Pen.
Woodstock (left), Linus and […]
We weren’t sure it would work. We love the barn swallows that return every year to nest in the Main Barn. High up. Thirty feet high, on beams and wires that cross above the stalls, aisles and grooming bays. We welcome them (they eat tons of flies!) but we needed […]
Ideally, horses trained using positive reinforcement make their own choice to participate, so we often work at liberty in many different settings. “At liberty” or “liberty work” means there is no physical constraint on the animal such as a lead line, lunge line or reins in a rider’s hand. To […]