Bad Behavior Doesn’t Just Happen

Having been to numerous shows and clinics I am often struck by how willing people are to put up with problems (like tension, resistance, taking off, bucking) with their horse as if there is nothing that can be done about them. I really do think that the reason this...

Interview with Jane Savoie

I had the honor of being interviewed by Jane Savoie about my experiences with clicker training. Jane maintains a wonderful website called Dressage Mentor which is geared toward helping dressage riders address the problems they are having with their horses and riding....

Danke’s story: solving a perplexing problem

Danke, a tall and beautiful sensitive chestnut mare, came to me for training with quite a bit of emotional baggage as a result of some unsettling prior experiences in her life. One positive was, though, she arrived quite clicker-savvy because her owner used clicker...

Teaching a horse to stand for mounting

OK I’ll be honest!! I can’t stand watching the little dance of line up horse to mounting block, he moves as soon as rider starts to get on block, so rider stops getting on and repositions the horse, and the whole thing starts over again ad infinitum. Good...

New life for a gaited show horse

This is an update on Pamela, a horse I talked about back in February. Just to remind you, Pamela is a 6 year old Tennessee Walker who had been used as a ’show horse’ prior to being acquired by my client, Michele Williams. In the previous installment of her saga I had...

Getting a horse feeling OK inside about having his feet handled

Charlie is a 7 year old TWH. His owners, Jim and Donna Dehaas, who were relatively new to horses, just happened to find me after an online search for trainers in the area. One of the problems the Dehaas’ had with Charlie was handling his feet. In fact,...