Equiosity

This is part 1 of a conversation with Michaela Hempen and Lucy Butler about their visit in August to attend Anja Beran’s 12th International Workshop held at her stable in Bavaria. Both Michaela and Lucy have been guests on the podcast many times before. Michaela is well known for the research project she did on the operant control of cribbing. With her own horses she has been using my work to help make Anja’s beautiful riding more accessible. This year Michaela helped interpret Anja’s work for a group of clicker trainers who attended the workshop. Lucy was one of the people in that group. I asked Lucy about her first impressions of Anja’s work. She described the facility and some of the horses she watched. Many of these horses are with Anja because she was their last chance. They were on their way to slaughter. These were young horses who had been crippled by inappropriate training. Anja’s work not only shows that good riding doesn’t have to harm horses. It can heal them.

Equiosity Episode 342: Horses for Future Jane Myers and The Equicentral System Pt 2 This is part 2 of a conversation Jane Myers on the equicentral system and pasture management. This episode comes from the archives of my Horses For Future podcast that I produced from 2019 to 2021. The podcast explored what horse people can do to help in the climate change crisis. 
Think of the green plants in your horse's pasture as tiny solar panels. The 
plants create sugars which they send down into their roots. But they 
aren't just nourishing themselves. The sugars are transferred to fungi
and bacteria in exchange for minerals the plants need.

When a pasture is overgrazed, plants can't develop deep root structures. 
They don't have enough "solar panels" left to do the work. The fungi and
bacteria die off, and the soil deteriorates.

We can turn this around with better pasture management. It's a win-win 
situation. Our horses become healthier as we sequester more carbon in 
our pastures. The Horses for Future podcas

We’ve just finished a three part conversation with Dr Susan Schneider that was centered around the climate change crisis. In that conversation I referenced my Horses For Future podcast. This is a podcast that I produced from 2019 to 2021. It explored what horse people can do to help in the climate change crisis. The premise is a simple one. Horse people can make a difference in the climate change crisis. We can sequester carbon!

Think of the green plants in your horse's pasture as tiny solar panels. The 
plants create sugars which they send down into their roots. But they 
aren't just nourishing themselves. The sugars are transferred to fungi
and bacteria in exchange for minerals the plants need.

When a pasture is overgrazed, plants can't develop deep root structures. 
They don't have enough "solar panels" left to do the work. The fungi and
bacteria die off, and the soil deteriorates.

We can turn this around with better pasture management. It's a win-win 
situation. Our horses become healthier as we se

This is Part 3 of a three part conversation with Dr. Susan Schneider. Dr.Schneider is the author of “The Science of Consequences”. For the past eight years Dr, Schneider has made climate change her primary focus. Dr. Schneider is on the faculty at Western Michigan University and serves on its Climate Change Working Group. She also serves on the Tools of Change Landmark Peer Review Panel for Climate Change, and on the board of the nonprofit Green Driving America. Now if you are wondering why a podcast about all things equine is talking about climate change, here’s the connection. Horses are grazing animals. That means that collectively horse people own, manage, make decisions about a huge amount of land. What we are learning is healthy pastures help to contribute to healthy horses. Healthy pastures also contribute to biodiversity. Healthy pastures come from healthy soils. Improved soil quality absorbs more water which helps to reduce flooding. Healthy soils also sequesters carbon. So horse peop

This is Part 2 of a three part conversation with Dr. Susan Schneider. Dr.Schneider is the author of “The Science of Consequences”. For the past eight years Susan has made climate change her primary focus. Her work on climate change and sustainability includes outreach, community projects, organizing, academic and nonacademic publications, and extensive public speaking.  As Senior Scientist for the sustainability nonprofit Root Solutions, Dr Schneider helped design projects and coauthored two chapters in its 2022 guidebook, Making Shift Happen: Designing for Successful Environmental Behavior Change.   Recent outreach includes a podcast for the Union of Concerned Scientists.  Schneider’s award-winning book for the public, The Science of Consequences, covers basic learning principles, their role in nature-nurture relations, and their broad range of applications, including sustainability.  Schneider is on the faculty at Western Michigan University and serves on its Climate Change Working Group. She also ser

In this three part series we’re joined by Dr. Susan Schneider is a behavior analyst. She is the author of “The Science of Consequences” which many of you may have read. Normally when we have behavior analysts as guests we talk about academic subjects such as schedules of reinforcement. In this case I wanted to talk to Susan about what horse people can do to help mitigate the climate change crisis. For the past eight years Susan has made climate change her primary focus. Her work on climate change and sustainability includes outreach, community projects, organizing, academic and nonacademic publications, and extensive public speaking.  As Senior Scientist for the sustainability nonprofit Root Solutions, Dr Schneider helped design projects and coauthored two chapters in its 2022 guidebook, Making Shift Happen: Designing for Successful Environmental Behavior Change.   Recent outreach includes a podcast for the Union of Concerned Scientists.  Schneider’s award-winning book for the public, The Science of

Our guest this week is Anita Schnee. Anita is a Feldenkrais™ practitioner who has joined us many times on this podcast. During the recent conversation we recorded with Dr Brennan Armshaw and Dr Claire St Peter (episodes 324 and 325), I kept thinking - I wish we had invited Anita. Well, it turns out Anita was listening. Anita offers Awareness Through Movement classes twice a month via zoom. After listening to the podcast I did with Dr, Armshaw, the introduction to Anita’s next on-line ATM lesson was built around his work. That conversation generated all kinds of fun connections for Anita. In last week’s episode much of the focus was on what happens in the body when there’s an injury. Dr. Armshaw uses electromyography biofeedback to help people recover from injury. The Feldenkrais™ work also provides a pathway towards recovery. In this episode we’re going to switch the focus to look at why starting small is so effective. In her introduction to the Feldenkrais™ work from last week’s episode Anita

Our guest this week is Anita Schnee. Anita is a Feldenkrais™ practitioner who has joined us many times on this podcast. During the recent conversation we recorded with Dr Brennan Armshaw and Dr Claire St Peter (episodes 324 and 325), I kept thinking - I wish we had invited Anita. Well it turns out Anita was listening. Anita offers Awareness Through Movement classes twice a month via zoom. The introduction to her next on-line ATM lesson was built around Dr. Armshaw’s work. It was sparking off all kinds of fun connections. I loved Anita’s introduction to that evening’s class. Of course, I wanted her to join me in a conversation, so here we are. We begin with a much better description of the Feldenkrais™ work than I provided during Dr. Armshaw’s podcast. Dr. Armshaw uses electromyography biofeedback to shape at the level of the activation of individual muscle fibers. Compared with his starting point we are all massively lumping! What interests me in this is what can be achieved when you start smal

This week we are joined by two behavior analysts. Dr. Claire St Peter is the chair of behavior analysis at the University of West Virginia. She has been a frequent guest on this podcast. We are also joined by Dr. Brennan Armshaw, who also teaches at the University of West Virginia. Claire is a horse person so she’s able to bridge the world between behavior analysis and horse training. Dr. Armshaw has not yet been drawn into the world of horses, but his work is of great interest to me. As we learned, in Part 1 Dr. Armshaw takes starting small to a whole new level of smallness. He shapes at the level of individual muscle fibers firing which he measures with surface Electromyography. Surface electromyography records the electrical activity of targeted muscles. Dr Armshaw has been using surface electromyography biofeedback to improve outcomes for patients undergoing physical therapy. This may seem a long way from horse training, but given the number of injuries horses people sustain plus all the in

This week we are joined by two behavior analysts. Dr. Claire St Peter is the chair of behavior analysis at the University of West Virginia. She has been a frequent guest on this podcast. We are also joined by Dr. Brennan Armshaw. Claire is a horse person so she’s able to bridge the world between behavior analysis and horse training. Dr. Armshaw has not yet been drawn into the world of horses, but his work is of great interest to me. We have talked a lot about micro shaping in these podcasts and the importance of starting small. Dr. Armshaw’s work makes us all seem like lumpers. Using Surface electromyography, he has been training responses at the level of the firing of individual muscle fibers. His research brings new insights into how starting small can create the huge results we see.

We want to start small. That’s an important part of loopy training and constructional training in general. You begin with a small, simple, easily achieved response which means you are starting with a high success rate resulting in a high rate of reinforcement. This is great from your horse’s point of view. Very little effort yields consistent goodies. From our point of view we want to start small but we don’t want to stay small. Staying small means you are staying stuck in the narrow end of the funnel. Instead of the behavior expanding through gentle nudges, you are stuck in a tight cylinder. In this episode we look at different strategies for breaking free of the narrow cylinder so your training can expand into ever more complex behavior.

Dominique and I spent a very hot June afternoon recording this three part conversation. In the previous episode we talked about the weather because when it’s over a hundred degrees, it’s hard to think about anything else. We shared what we do to keep our horses comfortable in this extreme heat. We also talked about neck ropes. I described what you can use them for and how you introduce neck ropes to your horse. We ended with the neck rope evolving into a trailer loading lesson and then into ground driving. At the start of this lesson Dominique is asking about the difference between handlers who are absent versus handlers who are light. This leads to a discussion of riding on a release versus riding on contact. We talk about the difference between describing what an experienced riding is doing to influence her horse versus describing the process that got her to the result you’re admiring. We also talk about mounting blocks and how to teach your horse to line himself up next to the mounting block.

It’s hot. The day we recorded this conversation it was 105 degrees (Fahrenheit) where Dominique lives. My area was positively balmy by comparison. It was only 94 degrees. So the weather is what we both wanted to talk about and more specifically how do we manage our horses when the temperatures are so extreme? We aren’t authorities on horse care. We’re just two horse owners who worry a lot about our horses’ well being. In the first half of this podcast we exchange ideas about how to deal with extreme temperatures. Hot weather leads to talking about something else that’s very current for me and that’s ticks. The first half of our conversation is about management. The second half is all training. I describe how to introduce a the use of a neck rope. Working in a neck rope is a great stepping stone towards riding. It also evolves into a lesson that helps prep a horse for riding in a trailer, and for ground driving.

This is Part 3 of a conversation with Muna Clough. I’ve wanted to have Muna on the podcast for quite a while. She’s a participant in my on-line clinics along with her Irish Draft cross, Frank. One of the first videos she sent me showed Frank rearing up at her and then snaking his head around and biting at her legs. In the more recent videos Muna has been teaching a calm Frank lateral work. The change in their relationship has been an absolute pleasure to watch. I wanted Muna to share with us the process she’s gone through to create this transformation. I can make suggestions, but we have an ocean separating us. It has been Muna who has done all the training. She’s created the changes that we’re seeing. In this episode we talk about the principles Muna has used to guide her choices with Frank. These principles let you weave a strong safety net under a horse. I’m always so appreciative when people share their training stories. It’s very much a pay it forward system. There’s always someone listeni

This is Part 2 of a conversation with Muna Clough. I’ve wanted to have Muna on the podcast for quite a while. She’s a participant in my on-line clinics along with her Irish Draft cross, Frank. One of the first videos she sent me showed Frank rearing up at her and then snaking his head around and biting at her legs. In the more recent videos Muna has been teaching Frank lateral work. The change in their relationship has been an absolute pleasure to watch. I wanted Muna to share with us the process she’s gone through to create this transformation. I can make suggestions, but we have an ocean separating us. It has been Muna who has done all the training. She’s created the changes that we’re seeing. I’m always so appreciative when people share their training stories. It’s very much a pay it forward system. There’s always someone listening who is where they used to be with a horse. Sharing what worked, what they learned, the process they went through to get where they are today - all of that helps t

This is Part 1 of a conversation with Muna Clough. I’ve wanted to have Muna on the podcast for quite a while. She’s a participant in my on-line clinics. She has an Irish draft cross named, Frank. One of the first videos Muna sent me showed Frank rearing up at her and then moments later snaking his head around to bite at her legs. In the more recent videos Muna has been teaching Frank lateral work. The change in their relationship has been an absolute pleasure to watch. All of the coaching has been through emails and the monthly coaching sessions. I can make suggestions, but we have an ocean separating us. It has been Muna who has done all the training. She’s created the change that we’re seeing. I wanted Muna to share with us the process she’s gone through to create this transformation. It’s all well and good for me to say clicker training works. When you’re struggling with a horse, you can feel really trapped. When you hear from someone like Muna whose horse started out with very similar behavi

This is part 2 of our conversation with Ken Ramirez. For over thirty years Ken was the executive Vice President overseeing animal care and training at the Shedd Aquarium. He is now the Executive Vice President and chief training officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. Those are impressive sounding titles, but they don’t come close to describing Ken’s talent as a trainer and teacher. Dominique and I were delighted to be able to spend an afternoon with Ken shortly after this year’s Clicker Expo. Dominique had a long list of questions for Ken relating to a talk he gave at the Expo. In this episode the discussion centers around treatless clicks, keep going signals, clickless treats, and end of session signals.

You know you’re in for a great conversation when the guest for this week’s episode is Ken Ramirez. For over thirty years Ken was the Executive Vice President Overseeing Animal Care and Training at the Shedd Aquarium. He is now the Executive Vice President and Chief Training Officer of Karen Pryor Clicker Training. Those are impressive sounding titles, but they don’t come close to describing Ken’s talent as a trainer and teacher. Dominique and I were delighted to be able to spend an afternoon with Ken shortly after this year’s Clicker Expo. Dominique had a list of questions about keep going signals, treatless clicks and end-of-session strategies. We begin with why Ken describes advanced training as the basics done really well. Ken shares some great stories and then we jump into a discussion of keep going signals.

This is Part 5 of a five part series with Dr. Susan Friedman. Susan is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She is well known around the world for her very popular on-line course: How Behavior Works: Living & Learning With Animals). She has co-authored chapters on behavior change in five veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 17 languages. She shares many of those articles on her web site: behavior works.org It’s a great resource for all of us who want to learn more about the natural science of behavior. Susan is a member of the clicker expo faculty. Her presentations at the March Clicker Expo prompted this conversation on schedules of reinforcement. In Part 1 Susan reviewed with us the basics of fixed and variable schedules. She ended with a question about how you get behavior to vary when you are using a continuous reinforcement schedule. We carried that question over into Part 2. In Part 2 we took a deeper dive into continuou

This is the fourth in a five part series with Dr Susan Friedman. The general topic is schedules of reinforcement. Susan is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. She is well known around the world for her very popular on-line course: How Behavior Works: Living & Learning With Animals). She has co-authored chapters on behavior change in five veterinary texts, and her popular articles have been translated into 17 languages. She shares many of those articles on her web site: behavior works.org It’s a great resource for all of us who want to learn more about the natural science of behavior. Susan is a member of the clicker expo faculty. Her presentations at the March Clicker Expo prompted this conversation on schedules of reinforcement. In Part 1 Susan reviewed with us the basics of fixed and variable schedules. She ended with a question about how you get behavior to vary when you are using a continuous reinforcement schedule. We carried that question over into Pa