In June Alexandra Kurland was visiting with Becky Chapman. Becky runs a training facility in Suffolk, in the UK. One evening they sat down together for what turned into a long and fascinating conversation. In Episode 1 Becky shared her early steps into the horse world. We stopped just as she was about to introduce us to Gazelle, and the drama that came with her. This episode jumps back in where we left off.

Becky Chapman is a classical riding instructor and biomechanics coach. And she is also a clicker trainer. In June she joined us for a three hour conversation that ranged over many topics. We've divided it into five episodes. In Episode 1 Becky shares with us how she got started with horses. Becky is a great story teller. Her background is one that is shared by many of us who have always loved horses and who know about the drama that horses often bring with them.

We’re continuing on with our conversation with Ann Edie. Ann is blind. She uses a miniature horse named Panda as her guide. Last week we stopped at a point where we were asking Ann about the transition from command based to cue based training. This isn’t something that is unique to using a guide horse. If you have come to clicker training from traditional training where you have been told you have to get tougher with your horse so he’ll respect you, this question will resonate with you.

We’re continuing on with our conversation with Ann Edie. Ann is blind. She uses a miniature horse named Panda as her guide. Last week Ann and I talked about why we were interested in training a guide horse. Panda’s training has turned her into a super "tour guide". She's so good at her job Ann is learning much more about the neighborhood she lives in. That’s where we stopped, so that’s where we’ll pick up in this week’s conversation.

Last week we began a conversation with Ann Edie. Ann is blind. Instead of a dog, she uses a miniature horse named.

We’ve been talking a lot about cues in the recent podcasts. There is no better way to illustrate the concepts we’ve been exploring than to talk about Panda’s training and the job she does for Ann.

As we normally do, we’ve divided our conversation up into smaller segments. This is part two of that larger conversation. We began last week with the contrast between command and cue based training. We’ll begin here with a question Dominique asked about why Ann chose Panda as her guide.

Panda is a miniature horse with an unusual job. She's a guide for her blind owner. We’ve been talking a lot about cues in the recent podcasts. I can think of no better way to illustrate the concepts we’ve been exploring than to talk about Panda’s training and the job she does for her owner, Ann Edie. This is part one of our conversation with Ann. We begin with some history and the contrast between commands and cues.

What is a desperation click? Find out in this week’s conversation.

This week’s episode focuses on antecedents. What are some of the factors that influence the behavior you are seeing? How can you set your learners up for success? Whether you are trying to solve a behavior problem, or you’re teaching a new skill, what comes before offers a lot of fertile ground for behavior change.

In the second half of this conversation we continue with the theme of cues evolve. Cues should evolve because the behaviors they are associated with are also evolving. What does that mean? Is anticipation a problem or is it a good thing? How do we stabilize cues? What is the "What Happens If . . . " game? Find out in this week's episode.

After our recent podcasts with Sarah Owings, Dominique and I had another long conversation about cues. Dominique was particularly interested in some comments I made at the end of the last podcast with Sarah about anticipation and the get ready, get set, go way in which cues evolve. We began by talking about how you can either push against some natural tendencies or learn to use them. An example was transforming grass from what is to us a distraction into a reinforcer that we can use effectively. This led us on to a discussion of rope handling.