How to become a Top Horse Blogger

When I started blogging I never would have thought that one day I would get an award for my blog. Here is my story.

How I started blogging

I started this blog in 2009 when I got Kyra, my feral 11 month old filly. Fresh out of the wild- well a nature reserve to be precise- and grown up without human interference.

When my friend gave her to me (that is a story for another time) I had no idea if I could tame a wild horse or, if I could, how long it would take me. I was willing to give it a year and see what would happen. It was the perfect opportunity to start documenting this adventure for maybe a future book or something.

Online training logbook

So I started this blog as an online training journal and it was called ‘From feral filly to Success Story’. I wrote in Dutch and only a handful of my horse loving friends read it. I made a summary every month of our achievements. Read the summary of our first month of our training diary that I left on my blog.

After a few months my interest in blogging about taming and training a wild horse faded because there was no reinforcement. In other words: I had no readers.

I kept using my training journal (that was very reinforcing). I kept track of our progress and made a list of our achievements every month.

Blogging break

After a year of blogging I stopped and almost entirely forgot I had a blog. A few years later I emigrated to Canada. I became a stay-at-home mom. I felt often very lonely without my social network, so I became very active on the Internet answering questions about positive reinforcement (clicker) horse training.

After a while I noticed I was repeating myself all the time. Everyone seemed to ask how they could use clicker training more effectively and everyone seems to have the same basic problems. I wondered how could I help horse lovers more efficiently?

Reviving my blog

I could use my blog! Then I could refer to a certain blog post that contained an extended answer to their problem! I wouldn’t have to write the same answers over and over. That’s how I started blogging about clicker training horses in December 2014.

Overcoming my blogging struggles

When I picked up on blogging in 2014 I pushed myself to write in English. It’s not my first language and at first it was quite a struggle. In the beginning it felt that I had to use Google translate every other sentence to look up a word. When I saw the word I remembered it again. Writing was a very slow process.

I learned a lot about writing,  getting my blog out there and delivering content on a regular basis.

That’s what I did: I blogged and blogged and kept blogging, even though in the beginning I only had a handful of readers. I felt writers block, uninspired and fearful at times, but I kept going. Even though it’s rare that someone gives my blog a ‘like’ (the little star at the bottom) or comments on it. Did you know it is very reinforcing for a blogger to get a comment? Maybe next time you read a wonderful blog, leave a comment or click the little star.

Slowly my blog grew and I got my first subscriber, and another one. I blogged twice a week and that is a big commitment. Setting deadlines helped to keep me going.

Achievement

I also love the achievements WP gives: they let you know when your ‘stats are booming’, when you’ve published one hundreds blogs and so on. Last week WordPress gave me an achievement: I started this blog 8 years ago! Wow! I had no idea! Thanks WP, that is so nice of you to let me know.

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com 8 years ago. Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

How HippoLogic became a Top 75 Horse Training Blog

Then I got another surprise! In January 2018 my HippoLogic Facebook business page was tagged in a Facebook post of Feedspot. Curious what that was all about, I found out my blog had been awarded with a Top 75 Horse Training Blog. Wow! I didn’t know I was nominated, so this was a huge surprise!

HippoLogic is Awarded Top 75 Horse Training Blog

[Quote from Feedspot:] “CONGRATULATIONS to every blogger that has made this Top Horse Training Blogs list!

This is the most comprehensive list of best Horse Training blogs on the internet and I’m honoured to have you as part of this!

I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world.”

So this is how my blog became a Top 75 Horse Training Blog. Writing one blog at the time! And I kept going for 4 years, I will keep going to serve you.

I am curious about the stories behind the other bloggers in this Top 75.

Please check out the 74 other horse training blogs! There might be some blogs out there that you want to know about: Feedspot Top 75 Horse Training Blogs

Share YOUR story

Do you have an amazing story to tell about something you never dreamt of achieving? Please share your success story in the comments, I would love to read yours! If you don’t want to share and you like my story just click the little star so I know you’ve popped by and enjoyed my time with me.

Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I improve human-horse relationships. I reconnect you with your inner wisdom (you know what’s right) and teach you the principles of learning and motivation, so you become confident and knowledgeable to train your horse in a safe, effective and FUN way. Win-win.

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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Be creative in horse training. Here is how

In horse training we often have to be creative if we encounter resistance, fear, frustration or if something else is just so much more reinforcing than you. You have to be even  more creative, if you want to come up with a force free and horse friendly training solution. Here are some tips that can help you become creative.

Occupy your conscious

Occupy your conscious so your unconscious can come up with a solution. Do something completely different. Go draw a horse or colour a colouring sheet. I made one for you, see the download at the bottom of the page.

Listen to yourself

Talk your training problems over with a good friend. When you hear yourself talk you can put things in perspective and come up with a solution.

If that doesn’t work, your friend might have a solution for you or you can ask yourself: ‘What advise would I give if it wasn’t me, but a friend with this problem with her horse?’

Have fun

If you are not looking to solve a particular training problem, just download my colouring sheet and relax. Have some fun.

I would really appreciate if you upload your colouring sheet and show it to me. You can send me an email info@clickertraining.ca or put a link in the comments below. I’m looking forward to seeing your creativity!

DOWNLOAD your colouring sheet here

Sandra Poppema

Are you interested in online personal coaching or do you want to sign up for the next  online course ‘Set Your Equestrian Goals & Achieve them’, please visit my website

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5 Tips to Expand your Horse’s Horizon

We have all encountered times when we think “Now what?” at the barn. Maybe you have already reached all your equestrian goals, maybe your horse became sick and needed rest, maybe you got injured, maybe you just bought a young horse, or a senior horse… We all need inspiration if we don’t know what to teach our horse next.

#1 Horse Agility (HA)
In HA you have to navigate your horse through an obstacle course while focusing on clear communication and positive horsemanship. Horse and handler are both on foot. Horse Agility can help build a very close relationship with your horse and it keeps your horse’s mind working constructively. Skills developed in HA are very useful in daily routines as well as in new and possibly scary situations. You can even enter online competitions these days where you send in a video.

#2 Trick Training (TT)
TT is a great way to improve the relationship with your horse. You become aware of your horses intelligence and it is a fun way to spent time together. There are many simple tricks that are suitable for horses of all ages, like smiling or playing fetch. Some exercises are beneficial and can increase the horses strength and flexibility like the classical bow or the back crunch.

#3 Training husbandry skills
If your horse already knows a lot of tricks, you can start improving your husbandry skills. Ever thought of teaching your horse how to be dewormed easily or preparing him for oral medication you might need to give him some day? Teach him to accept eye drops or ointment, practice hoof trimming, braiding, taking your horses temperature, teach him to stand in a bucket of water in case you need to soak his feet. The possibilities are endless and you never know when these skills come in handy.

#4 Trailer loading
Best way to train this is if there is no goal or time limit yet. Read here the 4 reasons to start practising trailer loading today. If you don’t own a trailer, this is worth renting a trailer for.

#5 Water training
There are so many situations in which water is involved. During the summer months you can have fun water proofing your horse. Think of soaking hooves in a bucket, hosing down your horse, crossing water (river, water splash, muddy puddles), water obstacles in HA, going for a swim with your horse, spraying your horse with a plant spray and so on.

I hope I have given you some ideas to expand your horizons. Have fun!

Sandra Poppema
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Does your horse have to “work” or does he have a “job” to do?

Work, this word has a negative association for a lot of people. “Work” has to be “hard”, “long” and involves “no fun” activities. If you are riding your horse or training him, do you refer to it as “work”? And what associations do you have with that word anyway? Think about it.

If Kyra “works” for me, it means that we are doing fun stuff, I invite her to be involved, I ask questions and she is entitled to have “an opinion” about her work. If she “complains”, that is a sign for me to be a better boss. In Dutch you refer to an owner as “boss” as well.

If she says “No” to one of my questions I want to figure out why and what I can do better in order to let her say “Yes”. My associations with the word work are “fun”, “learning” and above all it must be REWARDING in one way or the other.

I am convinced that people transfer their association that they might have with certain words to their horse. What emotions come up if I say: dentist, vet, trick training, trail riding? Are you yelling at the gate to your horse: “Come on the vet is here!”  Or: “Come on we are going on a trail ride!”

To me “work” means a lot of good things. I never say about my horse: “That’s her job. She has to do it, because that’s her job.” Kyra didn’t come to me for a job interview. So I am not convinced she wanted to sign up for whatever I have in mind. I have a lot planned in my mind. I am sure she didn’t want to hear about that when she was 11 months old. 😉

Yes, I pay my horse a good salary for doing a good “job”. She is a loyal employee and eager to work for and with me every day. If I give her a day off, she is NOT pleased. She doesn’t want to stay in the pasture when she can be working with me.

Sandra Poppema

My promised video: cantering with a flag!

Today’s filming session didn’t go as planned. First of all the barn was full of people riding their horses. Most evenings I am all by myself and I didn’t expect it to be so busy. So I wanted to do something else first, instead of riding.

Three days ago I have entered a clicker training challenge on a Dutch Facebook page. The assignment is to teach your horse to stand on two little pieces of wood. The pieces are not too big ( 20 x 20 cm) so that is a bit of a challenge. That is what I thought…

I asked Kyra to mount these blocks with her front hooves. That went excellent: within 4 minutes she stood several seconds with both feet on the two pieces of wood. Wow!

Then I saddled Kyra to make the riding video. As promised I would film us cantering with a flag if my HippoLogic FaceBook page would hit 1000 LIKES. Today my page hit the magical number and a few more. That is awesome and I am super happy! My lovely husband offered to be my cameraman, so that was a big help. Thanks!

I remember starting my FB page and I was struggling to get likes from family and friends. The 500 was a big breakthrough and I decided to make a photo shoot with Kyra picking up a flag which said ‘500 LIKES and a thumbs up’, see  here.

After riding and videoing the canter I did a second session with the blocks which took only half the time: 2 minutes. I am so proud of my clicker trained horse. Especially because my 4 year old son is also in that video and he is waving the flag in front of us while I am training Kyra to mount the little blocks. He is distracting everybody, but Kyra only pays attention to me.

At one point my son stands next to me and starts to ‘help’ me, using all the voice commands I use for Kyra (in Dutch). It is funny to watch all that is going on in the background of this clicker training video.

I almost forgot: Click here to go to my → → CANTER WITH FLAG VIDEO .← ←

Thank you for watching and if you like it, click the thumbs up button on YouTube.

Sandra Poppema