April 14, 2021 | Reprinted courtesy of the Santa Fe New Mexican
In 2014, Jaxx, a 16½-hands-high thoroughbred gelding, arrived at The Horse Shelter not knowing that he would soon be living his best life. Jaxx was surrendered when his family could no longer take care of […]
Shawna Karrasch works with an experienced horse
In this video Shawna is working with Nico, who is a veteran of the Reverse Round Pen. As we advance with the work in this part of the training, we focus on refining movement and transitions. With the use of […]
Shawna Karrasch works with her young filly Henley
This video is about getting started with the Reverse Round Pen. What is that exactly? Just that – a round pen in reverse! Made with cones and poles, the horse is on the outside of the ‘pen’ and the […]
Shawna Karrasch works with four-year-old Jett
In this video Shawna is teaching Jett to liberty lead. In Positive Reinforcement, that is defined as leading without the help of equipment, instead using your body and movement. No halter, no lead rope, no target.
Jett is a four- […]
We’re so glad we can continue to connect with all of you through virtual events! The next ones on the schedule are Thursday, October 29th when Shawna will be a guest at the Positive Equine Conference, based in the U.K. and on Friday, October 30th she will be speaking (virtually) at the CHA […]
Shawna Karrasch was featured in the CHA: Time to Ride, Half Pass and Positive Reinforcement Training podcast!
Click here to listen to her segment on positive reinforcement and more.
Read more about all of the guests on the episode, and listen to the full show here.
Being able to read your horse’s body language and facial expressions are one of the most important aspects of successful positive reinforcement training. Because we are looking for and reinforcing calm and relaxation, it is vital that we know what those emotions look like. Conversely, we need to be able […]
Hi Guys, Shawna here! I am often asked about the feasibility of combining positive reinforcement(R+) and negative reinforcement(R-). It is not a simple answer. Some people have referred to this practice as combined reinforcement, but this is not a scientific term or construct. I think the thing we need to […]
Did you know that Shawna does a podcast on equine clicker training? It’s a great way to hear Shawna discuss popular topics in positive reinforcement training, and even get questions answered! If you go to the website, https://www.horseradionetwork.com/shows/equine-clicker-101/, you can leave a voice message for Shawna that will be […]
Last week we started talking about Karen Pryor’s ‘Ten Laws of Shaping’, and what those look like in terms of real-world examples. The second guideline identified by Karen Pryor in her book, ‘Don’t Shoot the Dog’, is as follows:
“Train one aspect of any particular behavior at a time; don’t try […]