More Time Saving Barn Hacks (part 2)

Here are some more tips to save money, time and energy when you work at a horse barn or when you have your horses at home.

Haynet Hacks

Use Clips

Use clips to hang the nets, not knots. Saves a lot of frustration and time a few times a day. Especially when you have more than 2 horses to take care of. It is only a few minutes, but the frustration of knots that you hardly can untie (with cold hands in Winter!) and the worry your horse gets entangled in a net are not worth it.

I prefer cotton nets above the nets that are made out of polyester or similar materials.

Easy Hoop Feeder

This is a clever and time saving favourite of mine! It is an expensive one (about $50 for just the Easy Hoop) and then another $50 or so for the slowfeeder nets, but totally worth it.

Natural Grazing Posture

Depending on the circumstances you can even choose to offer your slowfeeder nets on the ground. Some things to consider are the surface. Perfect to do on gravel, hog fuel/ wood chips or in a field, not so smart for in the mud on on sand.

Take the knot out of the rope to hang the net and knot the net close. Then offer the net from the ground. This is only a time saving hack if you buy a big net that saves you offer one feeding.

House-Train Your Horse

This takes a time investment but it will safe you so many hard labour hours in the future.

Teach your horse to poop in a designated place in the stall, paddock, pasture and even in the arena. I share tips to clicker train a mule to become house trained in this video.

In another blog I share my training strategy how I house-trained Kyra in the arena.

You can even teach your horse to poop before you take him out of his stall/paddock/field so you never ever have to clean up the hallway, cross ties or poop scoop the arena. We all know we forget once in a while! We also know forgetting this a few times in a row can damage our relationship with the barn owner or other boarders (who do clean up).

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Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I help horse owners get the results in training they really, really want with joy and easy for both horse and human. I always aim for win-win!

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Ultimate Horse Training Formula

DIY Easy Healthy Horse Treats (sugar free)

We all would like to treat our horses from time to time. Positive reinforcement trainers are always on the lookout to find a special treat for their horse which they can use in training.

Kyra is an extremely picky eater when it comes to treats and she won’t eat commercial horse treats. I was very exited when I tried this recipe and discovered that she liked these right away. For Kyra this is a high value treat, so it makes it worthwhile to make.

Healthy Cinnamon Horse Cookies
The molasses is optional. If you don’t use molasses you can use an extract for flavouring, they are low-sugar treats.

Ingredients
1 ¾  cups uncooked (brown) rice / 6 cups cooked rice
1 cup ground stabilized flax
3 tablespoons cinnamon
½ cup flour
½ cup molasses (optional)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit (135 degrees Celsius). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cook the rice and let cool down.

Mix all ingredients together. It will make a very sticky dough.

Wet your hands before making little balls of the dough. This is very time consuming. If you don’t have much time you can also roll the dough simply onto the 2 cookie sheets with a rolling pin. Make it half an inch thick. Pre-cut the cookies with a pizza cutter into little squares before baking.

Bake them for 60 minutes. Turn cookies and bake for another 60 minutes. They should be crisp and not squishy. Let them cool down for several hours to harden.

If baked properly and stored in freezer or fridge, they will keep for up to several weeks.

I hope there is no need to keep them stored for weeks. My horse Kyra loves these!

These healthy cinnamon horse cookies make excellent gifts, too.

Here is the video with instructions:

Here is the connaisseur who did the tasting:

Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I improve the human-horse relationships by reconnecting you with your inner wisdom and teach you the principles of learning and motivation, so you become confident and knowledgeable to train your horse in an effective and FUN way. Win-win for horse and human.

All HippoLogic’s programs are focused on building your confidence and provide you with  a step-by-step formula to train horses with 100% positive reinforcement.

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DIY target stick

DIY Target stick for Horse Training

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Happy Horse training!

Sandra

Snacks voor Valentijnsdag

[Click here for the English version of this article]

Geven is beter dan ontvangen. Hier zijn wat lekkere snack ideetjes voor je paard voor Valantijnsdag. Deze gezonde snacks kun je natuurlijk ook tijdens je clicker training gebruiken.

Wortel hartjes ~ Ingrediënt
Winterpeen of wortel

Werkwijze
Snij met een schilmesje of je dunschiller een V-vormige geul over de gehele lengte van de peen. Snij daarna de peen in plakjes zodat je hartjes krijgt. Desgewenst kun je de vorm nog iets bijwerken.

Appel hartjes ~ Ingrediënt
Appel

Instructies
Snij de appel in plakjes. Gebruik een hartvormige koekjessnijder of een schilmesje om hartjes uit te snijden. 

 

Paardenkoekjes
Als je echt iets speciaals voor je paard wilt maken, bak dan deze lekkere paardenkoekjes. 

Kaneel Koekjes voor paarden
Zonder de melasse zijn de koekjes suikervrij en geschikt voor alle paarden. De melasse is een lekkere variatie maar niet noodzakelijk om deze overheerlijke kaneelkoekjes te maken.

Ingrediënten
300 gram ongekookte (zilvervlies) rijst
140 gram gemalen lijnzaad (je kunt lijnzaad in een koffiemolen malen of ongemalen gebruiken)
3 eetlepels kaneel
65 gram bloem
130 ml melasse/stroop (variatie tip)

Instructies
Verwarm de oven voor op 135 graden Celsius (275 graden Fahrenheit). Bekleed twee bakblikken met bakpapier. Kook de rijst maar zonder zout volgens de aanwijzingen. Laat enigszins afkoelen.

Mix alle ingrediënten tot een kleverig deeg. Maak met vochtige handen balletjes ter grootte van een knikker. Dit is erg arbeidsintensief.

Wil je sneller klaar zijn, rol het deeg dan met de deegroller uit over de twee bakblikken. Rol het deeg uit tot ongeveer 1 cm dikte. Snij de koek met een pizzasnijder of mes in kleine vierkantjes voor ze in de oven gaan.

Bak 60 minuten. Keer de koekjes om en bak nog eens 60 minuten. De koekjes moeten hard en knapperig zijn. Als ze nog een beetje zacht zijn, bak ze dan wat langer. Laat ze een uurtje afkoelen en uitharden als ze uit de oven komen.

Als ze goed gebakken zijn kun je ze enkele weken in de koelkast of vriezer bewaren. Er zitten immers geen conserveringsmiddelen in. Ik hoop alleen niet dat je ze weken wilt bewaren! Mijn paard Kyra is dol op deze koekjes (zonder de melasse).

 

Deze gezonde kaneelkoekjes zijn ook uitstekende cadeautjes voor je stalgenootjes.

 

Sandra Poppema

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How to treat your horse on Valentines Day

[Klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie]

Giving is better than receiving. Here are some horse treat ideas for Valentine’s Day. These suggestions are healthy so you can use them for clicker training too.

Carrot hearts ~ Ingredient
Carrot

Directions
Cut a V-shaped notch along the length of the carrot with a pairing knife or the top of your peeler. Then slice the carrot into hearts. Adjust the shape a bit more if you like.

Apple hearts ~ Ingredient
Apple

Directions
Cut the apple into slices. Use a cookie cutter or a pairing knife to make heart shapes.

 

Special treat
If you want to make something really special, make your own horse treats.

Healthy Cinnamon Horse Cookies
The molasses is optional. If you don’t use molasses you can use an extract for flavouring, they are low-sugar treats.

Ingredients
1 ¾  cups uncooked (brown) rice / 6 cups cooked rice
1 cup ground stabilized flax
3 tablespoons cinnamon
½ cup flour
½ cup molasses (optional)

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit (135 degrees Celsius). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Cook the rice and let cool down.

Mix all ingredients together. It will make a very sticky dough.

Wet your hands before making little balls of the dough. This is very time consuming. If you don’t have much time you can also roll the dough simply onto the 2 cookie sheets with a rolling pin. Make it half an inch thick. Pre-cut the cookies with a pizza cutter into little squares before baking.

Bake them for 60 minutes. Turn cookies and bake for another 60 minutes. They should be crisp and not squishy. Let them cool down for several hours to harden.

If baked properly and stored in freezer or fridge, they will keep for up to several weeks.

 

I hope there is no need to keep them stored for weeks. My horse Kyra loves these!

 

These healthy cinnamon horse cookies make excellent gifts, too.

 

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Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I help horse owners get the results in training they really, really want with joy and easy for both horse and human. I always aim for win-win!

Sign up for HippoLogic’s newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website and join my online course Ultimate Horse Training Formula in which you learn the Key Lessons, Your Key to Success in Clicker Training.

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DIY horse wreath in less than 30 minutes (with instruction video)

Every horse lover should have a horse wreath for on their (stall) door. This is a 30 minute (no mess) Do It Yourself project.

This project is suitable for children (supervised) and adults. You can make the wreath in 6 simple steps. You can find the instruction video at the end of this blog.

Supplies

• Pliers
• Tongs
• Two metal coat hangers (frame)
• Chenille stems (frame)
• Guirlande (garland 2,4 metres)
• Glitter flower decoration (eye)
• Glitter pinnacle decoration (mane)
• Ribbon (bridle)
• Wreath hanger

Instructions

1. Straighten the coat hangers with pliers.

2. Shape the hangers into a horse head.

3. Make a frame with the chenille stems to attach the guirlande onto.

4. Cut the guirlande into the length of the frame and weave it through the chenille stem frame.

5. Make an eye from the floral decoration and attach the wire to the frame.

6. Form the mane from the glitter pinnacles. Make a bridle with coloured ribbon or a golden garland.

 

Or you can make a donkey! Look at this picture from “Fans of Little Eddie and Friends” on Facebook

Enjoy!

More DIY projects:

• DIY personalize your clicker
• Quick and easy way to clean all your Velcro
• DIY reflection halter
• Make your own target stick
• DIY Healthy Horse Treats

Share your l♥ve for horses

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Happy Horse training!

Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I help horse owners get results in training they really, really want. Getting results with ease and lots of fun for both horse and human is important to me. Win-win!

Sign up for HippoLogic’s newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website and join my online course Ultimate Horse Training Formula in which you learn the Key Lessons, Your Key to Success in Clicker Training.

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Safety in Winter: DIY reflection halter

Visibility in these dark winter days is important. I made this very simple Do It Yourself reflection halter for Kyra.

Supplies
1) Halter

– Reflecting shoe laces $1 (dollar shop)

– Glue gun

Instructions

Cut the aglets off of the lace before you start.

Measure the shoe lace with the halter part you want to start with. Cut the lace at the desired length.

Take the glue gun and carefully put the glue on the halter. Push the lace until glued.

Be careful not to burn your fingers. Don’t use too much glue because it will spill.

Go to the barn and make a picture of your horses’ upholstered halter.

What do you do to increase your horses’ visibility in winter?

Sandra Poppema
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Choosing the right target stick

My DIY target stick

What criteria does a target stick need to meet to be a ‘good’ one? That depends on personal preference.

In this post I will tell you what I think is important about a target stick. I’ve seen all kinds of objects and DIY target sticks for horses on the internet, some look safe others don’t, some look handy others don’t.

If you want to know how a target stick is used, read this post.

My favourite target stick
I made my own target stick. I have experimented with different materials over the years and this is the one that I like the most, see picture on the right.

Lightweight
I prefer a solid lightweight target stick. This is important because you can hold a lightweight stick longer in your hands before getting tired. You can also work more accurately if the stick is rigid. If your target stick is too flimsy it may bend at the wrong moment and you don’t want to bump your horses sensitive body by accident. A flimsy target is harder to hold still.

I made a special lightweight target stick for my son: a soft floater glued to a whip. For this goal: working with a clicker savvy horse and only asking the horse to touch it with the nose, just to make a picture it was OK. I would not recommend it in other situations: too flimsy and inaccurate.

Safe
The target at the end of the stick has to be safe. I choose to use a floater of hard plastic so horses can’t get a grip on it if they are exploring the target stick with their lips and or teeth. I use duct tape around the bamboo stick, to prevent splinters. Tennis balls on whips or sticks or soft floaters/pool noodles are not safe if you work with mouthy horses.

The stick must be long enough

Length of the stick
I want my target stick to have a convenient length: long enough to use it to target my horses hips if I stand near the head and long enough to work with the horse while working with a protective barrier between us. But also short enough not to become too heavy after a while. You need to be able to use the target stick easily in one hand without getting tired.

Obvious/clear
The target must be easy to discriminate from the stick. It will be easier for the horse to see it and understand that it is only touching the target at the end of the stick that will earn him treats.

An obvious target makes it also easier for the trainer to have clear criteria what to reward and what to ignore.. One of the goals of using a target stick is to create distance, so the horse has to learn to touch the end. That is why you put a target on a stick. If the horse can’t distinguish the target from the stick, you are missing the point of this tool.

My first DIY target stick by HippoLogic

This is my first DIY target stick: a dog toy on a willow branch. It was too flimsy, too short to use for different exercises (head lowering or hip targeting), not glued to the stick so it fell off often. The dog toy was easy to grab for Kyra (because of the little bulges) and the willow was way too tasty! 😉 

Small enough
Choose a target that is big enough to notice and get touched by the horse, but small enough to be light and easy to work with. The smaller the target the easier it is to store and to take with you.

Quality
You want to invest in a stick that lasts for years. If your target stick is easy to use, you will use it often. You get used to it and therefor you want quality. That quality doesn’t have to be expensive as you can see with my target stick.

I am curious what you use as target stick. Did you buy one, or do you use an existing object (like a tennis racket) as your target stick or did you make one yourself like I did? Please share your ideas.

If you think this is a blog that someone can benefit from, please use one of the share buttons  below. Or post your comment, I read them all!

Or simply hit the like button so I know you appreciated this blog. Thank you!

Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

My mission is to improve human-horse relationships. I connect horse women with their inner wisdom and teach them the principles of learning and motivation, so they become confident and skilled to train their horse in a safe and effective way that is a lot of FUN for both human and horse. Win-win.

Sign up for HippoLogic’s newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website and discover my online course Key Lessons, Your Key to Success in Positive Reinforcement Horse Training.

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Easy way to clean Velcro or Hook and Loop

Velcro or Hoop & Loop are great inventions. It is used on many items like horse boots, blankets, bandages, breeches, bags, braces, gloves, safety vests and so on. The downside is that in the barn Velcro always get full of horse hair, hay and dirt. Everyone with horses knows that.

Cleaning
I found a really easy way to clean Velcro. Before I wash anything with Velcro on it, I first clean the Velcro and close it before I put it into my machine. I don’t want all that hay and hair in there.

Metal cat brush
One day I bought this cheap brush for my cats at the Dollarshop. My cats hates it because it is really sharp with the metal ‘hairs’.

I started to brush my IKEA sheepskins with it before vacuuming. They got really nice and fluffy again, so I started to use that brush on my fake sheepskin saddle pad. That worked great too: it got all nice and soft and fluffy again.

Then I started the brush on cleaning the brush on my vacuum cleaner and one day I tried on Velcro. Wow!

Fast, easy and cheap
This brush really does an amazing job on Velcro. I can really recommend it. I wonder why no tackshop is selling these brushes. It would be a real hit. With the metal cat brush I can clean Velcro in a matter of seconds as you can see in this video. I think I only paid $1 or maybe $2 , so it is a really good buy!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring cleaning!

Enjoy the video I made about it. Please leave a comment, thank you!

Sandra Poppema

DIY: a golden clicker

Today I am going to share a DIY project: How to turn a ordinary looking clicker into serious eye candy. After all, if you are a clicker trainer you’re using this tool daily. It might as well look pretty and reflect your personality.

Since all my tack is Havana brown with brass, I thought it would be nice to add a ‘Golden’ Clicker to my collection.

Materials:
– a clicker
– a pair of scissors
– a hobby knife
– golden duct tape
– glue gun
– trim
– wooden stick

Step 1: duct tape
First you measure the amount of duct tape you need to cover the ends of the clicker. Cut the duct tape with scissors. Don’t tear it, because the tape will get stretched and you’ll get wrinkles.

Then you measure the peace of tape for the middle of the clicker. Cover the whole clicker in tape and cut a small circle out above the ‘metal sound maker’, where the hole is. Carefully make some cuts in the circle, so you can fold in the borders nicely.

Then measure a little piece of duct tape to cover the metal ‘sound maker’ of your clicker. Stick it onto the metal. Now your clicker is covered in gold! Wow!

Step 2: Finishing touch
Use for the finishing touch some bling-bling trim and glue it to the sides of your golden clicker. Use only a little bit of the hot glue at a time. Use the wooden stick to press the trim to the clicker without burning your fingers!

Now your bling-bling eye-candy super-duper clicker is ready to use!

Tip
If you think it is too beautiful to use you can hang it on your rear view mirror in your car. I find it the best place to store a few extra clickers. They always come in handy if you’ve lost a clicker.

Instruction video
Here is my DIY Golden Clicker video about this project.
I also have saved some of the bloopers, like my cat who jumps on the table, sits in my chair and more.

Share your ideas
Please let me know if you have personalized your clicker and how you did it. I am looking forward to your creative ideas.

You can share yours in the comments below or place a link to your project.

Sandra Poppema