5 Benefits of having a System in your Training

Sometimes people think positive reinforcement doesn’t fit into a system because this training method is horse-centered.

They figure since every horse and every situation is different, it’s impossible to create a system. You know what? It’s true that every horse, every training and every trainer is different.

If you focus on what every training, every horse and every trainer needs and what they all have in common, you have the fundamentals to create a system. That’s what I’ve been looking for the past decade and that’s how I discovered the Key Lessons in positive reinforcement horse training. They derive from those fundamental pillars I will explain here.

Benefit #1 Clarity

With a system comes clarity and with clarity you know where you are in your training and where you want to go.

Benefit #2 Goals

Now you have clarity it’s easy to set goals and get results in your training.

Benefit #3 Action

When you have clarity  and goals in your training you know what your action must look like! Instead of taking different approaches at the same time, now you know exactly what step comes first. This is setting yourself (and your horse!) up for success!

Benefit #4 Meaning

With clarity and a goal comes meaning, especially if you base your goals on you values. What values are important to you in training? Horse first? Results first? Fun first? Welfare? Clear communication? What values are in your top 5 for horse training?

#5 Momentum

When you have action and clarity you get momentum in you training. We all know how awesome that feeling is!

There are two more benefits! You don’t think these 5 are enough?

Join me in this free webinar to hear more about HippoLogic’s training system. Click here to get an email with the link to our online classroom.

Free discovery session with Sandra

Want to hear more about HippoLogic’s training system in person? Book your FREE Discovery Session to get a glimpse of a new future with your horse. In this 60 min conversation we’ll explore:

– Your hopes and dreams and goals so that we can see what’s possible for you and your horse
– Where you’re now, where you want to go and which path is right for you
– What’s holding you back so you can make a plan to get these hurdles out of your way.

At the end of the call I’ll give you some ideas and advice for your next steps and if it looks like a fit, we can explore what it looks like to work together.

To get started, simply book your free session here.

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 my newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website.

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Join me in this free webinar to hear more about HippoLogic’s training system. Click here to get the link to our Zoom meeting.

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What would you like to see in a horse community?

I am playing with this idea for a long time and I finally found the courage to take action!

Currently I am doing market research to see what equine clicker trainers really want from their online horse community.

My dream is to create a supporting learning environment where horse owners can learn everything they want to know, develop their skills and get feedback on their videos, have a place where they will be encouraged to try out new approaches and be cheered on if they reach their goals. (I am already looking forward to cheer these action takers on and support them on a daily basis, create video courses and more.) But…

do they want that?

What do you want?

What would you like to see in a membership?

Can you please help me? I came up with 12 short questions about what you would like to receive in a membership. It will only take a few minutes.

I’ll appreciate your feedback. Click here to go to the questionnaire.

Free discovery call with Sandra

If you want to get to know me or have a question about clicker training your horse, you are stuck and want a tip to move on? Book your free discovery call. Plan your call in my calendar.

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.

Follow my blog on Bloglovin

 

6 Steps to Start Riding with Positive Reinforcement (1/6)

‘How do you implement clicker training under saddle?’, is a question many equestrians ask themselves. The answer is simple: the same way you implemented it from the ground.

This can be very challenging because, once we are in the saddle, we have to deal with so many unconscious rules, habits, norms and thoughts about riding that interferes with successful clicker training.

This makes it extra hard to use positive reinforcement successfully under saddle. We are not aware of the many traditions we actually have and how much of those are in straight contradiction with positive reinforcement training.

Become conscious of your training expectations

When you started to teach your horse Key Lesson Table Manners or Key Lesson Targeting, your first session was maybe 10-15 treats (clicks) long. That’s less than 5 minutes! Then you stopped and gave your horse a break, right? You know can achieve so much in 5 minutes or less.

Once you mounted you maybe expect yourself to be in the saddle for 50 minutes or even for an hour. The length of a normal riding lesson. Now you have let go of that idea, if you want to become successful implementing R+ under saddle when you start. On the ground you didn’t start with an hour of clicker training (hopefully), so why do this under saddle?

Your training sessions, now your riding sessions, need to be fun, sweet and short for your horse. You need to stop training a particular exercise when your horse gave his best. That can be achieved in a few clicks already.

Therefor you need a back up plan: What will you do, if your horse accomplished your criterion? I will address that in the next blog (Key Lesson for Riders #2 Training Plan).

Key Lesson for Riders #1: Learning Theory

You have to study the principles of learning and motivation in order to get the best out of your riding. In my online home-study program I explain these principles and how you successfully implement them in your training and riding. Knowing them is one thing, using them in your daily training is another. They are called Key Lessons because they are the Key to your Success!

Learning Theory is based upon what science calls operant conditioning:

Here are 3 of the most important tips that will help you implement the learning theory under saddle.

Tip 1 Implementing the Learning Theory

In order to train your horse you have to know as much as possible about horse behaviour, their natural needs and it also helps to know about their physiology. This helps you to set your horse up for success.

Example: Study *) has proven that whither scratching help calm a horse under saddle. This works better than neck patting.

Tip 2 Implementing the Learning Theory

Know what is reinforcing to your horse. If you know about the natural behaviour it’s easier to guess what is reinforcing for them. We are generally reinforced by things as compliments, money or chocolate cake, horses are not.

They are grazers, herbivores, and since that is their normal diet choosing something they like to eat naturally will be a good primary reinforcer.

My horse Kyra was born in a nature reserve and when I got her, 3 weeks after she was captured, she didn’t eat apples, carrots or extruded dinner grains. So I had to find other reinforcers to train her. Since she was also terrified of humans approaching her, scratches as reinforcements where off the table, too. First I had to find out what she liked.

Tip 3 Implementing the Learning Theory

You have to know what your horse considers punishment.

If you think you reward your horse with neck patting, like you probably have learned from your riding lessons, think again: If you get more of the desired behaviour it was reinforcing, but if it didn’t it was neutral. If you get less of the behaviour it was punishing according to your horse.

Knowing the difference between reinforcers and punishment will greatly help you succeed in training.

Example: we all know mugging horse behaviour. Some horses kick their stall doors in order to… Yes, what do they want?

And what usually happens? They get what they want: attention or food.

We think we deliver a punishment by shouting at them, but if the behaviour is not decreasing there is something that is actually reinforcing the door kicking (attention or their breakfast). I have an excellent shaping plan to get rid of mugging behaviour and door kicking.

Let’s recap the basics of setting yourself up for riding with positive reinforcement:

• Use the learning theory
• Know what your horse finds reinforcing
• Know what your horse considers punishing
• Keep your sessions short and give breaks after accomplishing a criterion
• Become aware of your expectations (‘riding needs to be an hour long’) and other customs or habits you have (‘the horse is only one treat allowed after the ride’) that will interfere with an optimal learning set up for your horse (short, sweet sessions that are easy enough to understand, yet challenging enough to keep your horse engaged).

I hope this blog gave you some valuable insights. If it did, please share this blog with your friends.

Join our Community!

• Are you looking for professional positive reinforcement advice?
• Do you want an affordable program?
• Do you want to turn your equestrian dreams into reality, but you don’t know where to start?

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to one or more of the above questions look into one of the online programs HippoLogic has to offer.

Join our community for online positive reinforcement training tips, personal advice and support in training your horse.

Shape the community

If you’re interested to become a member of the HippoLogic tribe, please tell me what you want in this short questionnaire. Thanks a lot!

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 my newsletter (it comes with a gift) here: HippoLogic’s website.

Start for free!

Book a free 60 minute Discovery Session to get a glimpse of a new future with your horse. In this conversation we’ll explore:

• Your hopes and dreams and goals so that we can see what’s possible for you and your horse
  

  Your Key to Success

• Where you’re now, where you want to go and which path is right for you
• What’s holding you back so you can make a plan to get these hurdles out of your way.

At the end of the call I’ll give you some ideas and advice for your next step and if it looks like a fit, we can explore what it looks like to work together.

Simply check the best time for you in my online calendar and click to reserve your free call today.

Follow my blog  on Bloglovin

Sources: Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Horses to Wither Scratching and Patting the Neck When Under Saddle Zoë W. Thorbergson,Sharon G. Nielsen,Rodney J. Beaulieu &Rebecca E. Doyle

Hurdles of clicker training instructors

I did a little research and asked positive reinforcement trainers ‘What is your biggest struggle or concern?’ Why are not more people into clicker training their horses? Here are some answers I got.

Why horse people don’t use R+ according to clicker trainers

• “I find the biggest hurdle is the food. It is so ingrained in people not to hand feed.”
• “Newbies to marker training can create cookie monsters who bite. It’s sad, but true. Every time that happens and the person tells their story anyone who hears it has a negative impression about the possibility of using something as crazy as clicker training with their horse. And they believe that it creates biters and muggers, because in reality, it can when improperly practised. So as we share the wonder and magic of this method, we also have a responsibility to make sure we keep this in mind.”
• “I think the problem is people are not patient enough. They don’t want to listen they are physical with horses. They want it quick.” 
• “We all love horses and find humans irritating, it takes a special person to be a good coach to both.”

Let’s make some changes!

How can positive reinforcement trainers and coaches overcome these hurdles? I know these are quotes, but I choose these ones because they are very common. We’ve all heard these or very similar ones, right? Here is what we can do to

• Focus on the solution (results in R+ training!), not on the problem (people focusing on the carrots). If horse people think “It’s all about treats” in clicker training I think it’s because we (‘we’ = R+ trainers, instructor or not) present it like that (almost) all the time! Let’s start promoting clicker training as a training method that gets RESULTS! That’s what other methods do: they don’t emphasize the how (coercion, aversives, sometimes even pain inflicting methods).
• Yes, novice trainers and new horse owners can create ‘cookie monsters‘. It happens and let’s not deny this fact. This is not a specific clicker training problem: it happens in all training where inexperienced people start training horses. How many horses got horrified by whips or training sticks? How many horses are head shy or don’t let them catch themselves in the pasture? (I still get giggly when I hear the word ‘catch’ because it is so much the opposite of what I do, but it is what some people have to do). Let’s focus on the amazing long-lasting results (intermediate and expert) clicker trainers accomplish!
• I think it’s a myth that clicker training takes longer than training a horse with coercion. It only takes longer if we want to accomplish 2 goals in one go: training the horse and teaching the owner new ways of training that are almost opposite of what they have learned in the past. Let’s point out how fast horses learn new behaviours and skills! (No other training method I know of emphasizes how difficult it is or can be for the person to learn this method X, Y, Z. So let’s just quit doing that.)
• I love horses and humans ♥. That’s why I got into coaching: I not only want the skills in the horse but also in the horse person. So the next horse can benefit from it too, and the next one. I hope more people will learn and start teaching learning theory and will emphasize the benefits of positive reinforcement (R+) training over traditional and natural horsemanship training (and other methods based on R-). Let’s make the world a better place and start with ourselves: Be the change you want to see in the world! You never know who you inspire!

Questions? Get a free discovery call with Sandra

If you want to get to know me or have questions about clicker training your horse or want to become a clicker instructor, book your free discovery call. Click.

 

Ultimate Horse Training Formula, Your Key to Success 

Would you like to use clicker training in your every day training, learn to use it in all situations and for all horses?

If you are ready to get the results in training you really, really want this is the Ultimate Horse Training Formula is for you. Do you want…

• a well-trained horse? Trained by you?
• more knowledge and skills to clicker train horses?
• more confidence in your training skills?

Join HippoLogic’s online training program for clicker trainers the Ultimate Horse Training Formula. In this course you will learn to train horses with positive reinforcement. You’ll improve your training skills and you’ll develop skills trainers need in order to be successful, because my specialty is to help people implement their knowledge into practice.

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.

 

How do Equestrians know it’s Spring?

Equestrians view the world differently than normal people. Here is how horse people know it’s Spring.

 

How else do we view the world differently? Share your view!

Ultimate Horse Training Formula, Your Key to Success 

Would you like to use clicker training in your every day training, learn to use it in all situations and for all horses?

If you are ready to get the results in training you really, really want this is the Ultimate Horse Training Formula is for you. Do you want…

• a well-trained horse? Trained by you?
• more knowledge and skills to clicker train horses?
• more confidence in your training skills?

Join HippoLogic’s online training program for clicker trainers the Ultimate Horse Training Formula. In this course you will learn to train horses with positive reinforcement. You’ll improve your training skills and you’ll develop skills trainers need in order to be successful, because my specialty is to help people implement their knowledge into practice.

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.

Follow my blog on Bloglovin

Is This The Reason that You don’t Clicker Train Your Horse?

A common objective about clicker training horses is that ‘you have to carry a clicker and treats around all the time‘.

Is that what’s really holding you back or is it something else? Something fear based? Maybe you’re afraid your horse turns into a monster or becomes treat crazy and you don’t know how you would handle that.

‘You have to have treats on you all the time’

That carrying treats and a clicker is a burden, is just a matter of perspective. Horse people are carrying tools around all the time. Most of them way heavier and bigger than a box clicker (which you can replace by a verbal marker or a tongue click) and a pocket full of treats. Think of whips (riding crops or lunge whips), training sticks or heavy lead ropes to name a few.

I have treats on me most of the time. I don’t always use the treats I carry, sometimes they just go stale… Yes, that can be yucky. Everyone who found a piece of forgotten fruit or carrot in their pockets a few weeks later can confirm that. That is a disadvantage of having treats on you…

Training Results from Positive Reinforcement are long lasting

Decades ago -when I was still carrying a whip and or “carrot” stick around- my results in training could deteriorate pretty quickly when I didn’t bring my tools (to threaten my horse into coercion). We all tried to ride without a crop, only to discover just carrying one helps, right?

One huge advantage of positive reinforcement is that you teach the horse to choose to follow your cues. You make positive associations in training all the time.

Following cues turn into pleasant habits for the horse. After you trained the desired behaviour you fade out click and treats. Well trained clicker horses are used not to get treats all the time!

Once a behaviour is established and on cue you only reinforce the behaviour once in a while and that doesn’t even have to be with food. There are many ways you can reinforce a clicker savvy horse without a food reward. I find it very important to teach students the principles of learning and motivation and teach them to rely on their training skills and and not on a treat or a tool.

Afraid to loose control without training tools

I think one of the fear is that we think we loose control without treats in our pocket, but people who haven’t tried R+ or haven’t used it properly don’t realize the training is IN THE HORSE. Therefor you don’t need the treats and act like a dispenser. You don’t lose control without treats. You can fade out the clicks and treats. (Actually that is what you have to do in order to be successful in positive reinforcement training.)

Although it’s true you do have to reinforce once in a while after the behaviour is trained, but that goes for R- too. Traditional well trained horses still get whipped or kicked in their flanks once in while. Think of the many well trained horses that are ridden with spurs.

There always need to be a certain level of Reinforcement in order not to let the behaviour extinct.

 

Carrying treats or a clicker is no different from carrying other reinforcing tools. They are different tools with the same goal: not to let the behaviour get extinct.

So don’t let a small box clicker or a pocket full of treats withhold you from a wonderful relationship with your horse and excellent results in training.

Join our Community!

• Are you looking for professional positive reinforcement advice?
• Do you want an affordable program?
• Do you want to turn your equestrian dreams into reality, but you don’t know where to start?

If you have answered ‘Yes’ to one or more of the above questions look into one of the online programs HippoLogic has to offer.

Join our community for online positive reinforcement training tips, personal advice and support in training your horse.

Shape the community

If you’re interested to become a member of the HippoLogic tribe, please tell me what you want in this short questionnaire. Thanks a lot!

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 my newsletter (it comes with a gift) here: HippoLogic’s website.

 

Start for free!

Book a free 60 minute Discovery Session to get a glimpse of a new future with your horse. In this conversation we’ll explore:

• Your hopes and dreams and goals so that we can see what’s possible for you and your horse
  

  Your Key to Success

• Where you’re now, where you want to go and which path is right for you
• What’s holding you back so you can make a plan to get these hurdles out of your way.

At the end of the call I’ll give you some ideas and advice for your next step and if it looks like a fit, we can explore what it looks like to work together.

Simply check the best time for you in my online calendar and click to reserve your free call today.

Follow my blog  on Bloglovin

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…with HippoLogic’s giveaway.

If you enter the draw you can win 4 weekly online one-on-one coaching sessions.

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Good luck to you! I am really looking forward to help the winner with 4 weekly coaching sessions this Summer!

Can you imagine what you can achieve in 4 hours of coaching? What would you like to work on?

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Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I help horse owners create the relationship with their horse they’ve always dreamt of and get the results in training they really, really want.

Sign up for HippoLogic’s newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website and discover my online courses and our Membership Program that will change your life.

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