The stages of Positive Reinforcement
I got these from Shawna Karrasch Click Treat Stages 1. All you can eat food bar The horse views the trainer as an all you can food bar. He may be greedy, pushy and only thinking about the food. 2. Trigger stage The horse makes a connection between the click and the treat. Mugging can still appear and should be worked on to avoid problems, but he is coming to see that there is a sequence. He may appear to get it, but will be inconsistent and easily frustrated. In reality
The start of positive reinforcement training
While I have learned a lot from horsemanship, I have been dying to add positive reinforcement to the mix. Aslan is nothing like the previous horse I worked with. She learned right from the start not to mug and a slap on her lips reminded her. She eventually learned to turn her head away when she heard the click. Aslan on the other hand.......the mugging drives me up the wall. He has a face like a rock and while he doesn't appreciate a smack, it hardly deters him either. I


Aslan: Our first day as a team
So after much though, anxiety and wondering if I am making a huge mistake, I dived in and purchased Aslan. With the timing of me discovering his advertisement, that he's been for sale for a long time and no one scooped him up, and a few other things, the whole situation makes me think that God was okaying me to go ahead. So I did. Hopefully my intuition is not wrong. Aslan might not have as much training as I would like, but he is a lovely horse, we seem to have a persona


Aslan: Our second meeting
Aslan got moved to Rimbey, however he is now with a trainer for a few days, and she offered to help me yay! Stephanie worked with him a bit and he is definitely more relaxed than he was. She did a lot of desensitizing with the stick and string; both at a standstill and walking beside. She even did the slap and helicopter technique. Clearly it helped him! She also let me know that he was turning in towards the trainer as a sign of insecurity. He is very uncomfortable with


Aslan: Out First Meeting
I met Aslan today. First impression: very laid back. A little too so when leading. He stays way behind and drags on the rope. Nice problem to have in my opinion. I hate horses that push into your space. He could use a bit more desensitization. He is very sensitive to touch in some areas. I put the saddle on and he moved away slightly. Some apprehension in his eyes and his head was up. He could use some work with the saddle pad being thrown over him repeatedly. Case

