The Willing Equine

It's not uncommon to see horses appearing grumpy or offering behaviors seemingly out of control when the trainer is just learning to implement an R+ focused training program. This can make it look like the horse is not having a very "positive" experience and is frustrated, and at it's worst can become dangerous. Often times the cause for these issues is the human's understanding of the "Language" they are speaking with their horse, especially when it's a new one! Training with R+ is a different language than with traditional training, is not as simple as just adding a click and some food. - In this episode we dive into one reason why it's different, some changes you can make to help your horse, and briefly introduce some ideas that I recommend EVERY horse owner/trainer/and caregiver dive into further if they wish to train with R+. ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

Left brained, right brained, introverted, extroverted, lazy, friendly, stubborn, playful, dominant, submissive, gentle, sweet, rude, competitive, mean, sassy, funny.... Do any of these describe your horse? What's their personality type? Who are they? What are they born with and what develops over time? ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

In this episode I get a little more personal and talk about my journey to developing TWE. The ups, the downs, the challenges, and how I arrived here ... I hope this episode is inspiring to anyone who has their heart set on a dream but isn't sure how they are going to get there.

Let's be real, horse ownership isn't all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, there's a LOT of responsibility and stress that goes along with caring for these beings we love so much. In this episode I answer a listener's question about being responsible for a horse during tough times ... how to prepare for those inevitable medical bills and extenuating circumstances... And what to do when you really want to have your own horse but aren't sure you can support them should anything come up. ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

It's a question I get a lot... How do I work safely with food rewards with a horse prone to founder, gaining weight, or that really needs to get into shape but has zero motivation to do so. Well... Here you go! This episode is all about how I help horses stay healthy and get into shape with positive reinforcement and using food rewards. ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

Let's talk about stress. Let's talk about "negative" and "positive" stress. Let's talk about chronic and acute stress. Let's talk about how it impacts training, and whether or not training with positive reinforcement creates less resilient horses. In this episode I cover a LOT of ground. Including how R+ doesn't automatically = ethical training, and how I help my horses be safer and more confident horses. It's definitely one of the longest episodes I've done, I apologize for that, but I think it's worth it. ;) ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

Story time! This episode is the recap of a real life "walk the talk" moment with one of my horses that happened all in a single day. When I'm talking about not using punishment, giving the horse the benefit of the doubt, approaching behavior issues from a whole horse perspective, how trust is built and maintained, deepening your relationship with your horse, recovering from mistakes, letting go of control, giving the horse a choice.... I mean ALL of it... This episode is my recap of me walking that talk and what that looks like on a day to day basis. And WHY it's so important. ✦ www.TheWillingEquine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

In this episode I answer a listener's question about how to interact with horses that aren't your own, in a positive way! I discuss four different ways you can do this, briefly address the idea of respect (not in the way it's typically talked about 😉), and also talk about the struggles of trying to communicate with people about possible changes for their horses. ✦ www.TheWillingEquine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

Wouldn't it be nice if we could clicker train people? I mean, technically.. there's the science for it and it does work (look up TagTeach), but I don't think the other horse owners at the barn would take kindly to you clicking and giving them gummy bears haha. BUT, we can use the idea of shaping plans and reinforcing approximations of behavior with positive reinforcement for both ourselves, those around us, our students, and even the other people at the barn.. and without it being "weird" or requiring a lot of work on your part. In this episode I talk about the ways we can use positive reinforcement and shaping plans to modify our own behavior, become better trainers, enjoy our own training more, have better relationships with our human learners (students), and more! ✦ www.TheWillingEquine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦

Until recently, horse training has been rather localized. If you wanted to learn how to train a horse, you found a nearby trainer. If you wanted to become a horse trainer, you went to work for a local horse trainer. Unfortunately the number of R+ focused trainers is still rather limited, and so there isn't always a nearby trainer you can learn from. In this podcast I talk about how it's still possible to become a horse trainer or learn how to train your horse with an R+ focus ...even when there are no like minded trainers nearby. ✦ www.TheWillingequine.com✦ Instagram.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ YouTube.com/TheWillingEquine ✦ Facebook.com/TheWillingEquine ✦