Horse Training Course: Part 1 The Engagement Zone
The engagement zone. If you ever thought there must be a better and easier way to train your horse, this training series by Kate Fenner is designed for you! Get the tools and confidence you need to educate your own horse. The articles will walk you through specific...
Horse Training Course: Part 4 The ‘Head Down’ Lesson Made Easy
The Head Down Lesson. Have you ever had your horse do the perfect imitation of a kite on a lead, or have you had to try to bridle that convincing giraffe impersonation? If so, stick around because in this step-by-step guide, you can learn how to train your horse to...
Horse Training Course: Part 5 Learning to Give Part 1
If you ever thought there must be a better and easier way to train your horse, this training series by Kate Fenner is designed for you! Each article walks you through specific lessons and how to teach them. From stress-free trailer loading, to handling head-shy...
Horse Training Course: Part 6 Learning to Give Part 2
Give to the bit. If you ever thought there must be a better and easier way to train your horse, this training series by Kate Fenner is designed for you! Each article walks you through specific lessons and how to teach them. From stress-free trailer loading, to...
Horse Training Course: Part 7 Long-Reining Part 1
If you ever thought there must be a better and easier way to train your horse, this training series by Kate Fenner is designed for you! Each article walks you through specific lessons and how to teach them. From stress-free trailer loading, to handling head-shy...
Horse Training Course: Part 8 Long-Reining Part 2
If you ever thought there must be a better and easier way to train your horse, this training series by Kate Fenner is designed for you! Each article walks you through specific lessons and how to teach them. From stress-free trailer loading, to handling head-shy...
Facts and Myths in Horse Training
Have you ever trained your horse to do something completely by accident? Unfortunately, when we do teach something by mistake it is rarely a behaviour that we want. I’ve seen a number of horses that have been taught to rear by mistake, but few that have been taught...
Why Does my Horse… Buck? (And How to Avoid it)
Most riders have experienced a bucking horse at least once in their riding careers and, for the majority of us, once is more than enough! Bucking is such a dangerous behaviour, it is important that we understand how and why horses start to buck and how we can stop a...
Why does my horse… Put the tongue over the bit?
Sometimes, horses get their tongues over the bit. When this happens, the tongue may loll out of the mouth in a very unsightly way, and all hope of achieving a good contact or communication line with the horse’s mouth will be lost. In horse racing, it is believed a...
Why Does My Horse… Rear?
Why Does My Horse Rear? If you have a horse that rears, you will know that it is very dangerous behaviour and, as such, it is important to know why your horse rears, how your horse learned the behaviour and what you can do about it to prevent it from happening in the...
8 Reasons to Train Your Own Horse
Have you ever looked at your trainer riding your horse and wondered ‘why can’t I do that’? Or wanted your horse to do something, such as load on to a trailer, only to have to get someone else to help you out? If the answer is yes, the problem may be the fact that you...
The Confident Horse
The confident horse. We talk a lot about confident riders, about losing our own confidence with horses and about strategies to re-gain confidence, but what about the horse’s confidence? Surely that’s just as important. After all, our horse is the other half of the...
Why Does My Horse… Spook?
Why does my horse spook? Most of us have been on, or at least seen, a horse spooking (some call it shying), and many of us have experience with horses that can have massive spooks, spin around and run away. Others, whose behaviour may not be as exaggerated, can seem...
6 Ethical Ways to De-spook Your Horse
Horses are flighty and suspicious by nature but they can also easily get used to (habituate to) things that would normally cause them fear. A thorough understanding of the learning mechanisms which result in habituation has enabled Dr Andrew McLean from Equitation...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 10 (Final): The Training Principles
The Standardbred's Track-to-Hack Journey Part 10 (Final): The Training Principles Welcome to the last article in the Unharnessed Potential series, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds when they retire from a...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 9: Andy’s Equitana Experience
Welcome to Part 9 of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds when they retire from a racing career. The previous article marked the completion of Andy’s re-training, according to...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 8: The First Outing
The First Outing. Welcome to Part 8 of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds when they retire from a racing career. In the previous training article, Alistair explained...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 7: Training the Lateral Movements
Training the Lateral Movements Welcome to Part 7 of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds when they retire from a racing career. In the previous training article, Alistair...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 6: Refining the Canter and Jumping
Refining the Canter and Jumping Welcome to Part Seven of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds that retire from racing. In this article series, Alistair McLean from the...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 5: Consolidating the Basics
Consolidating the Basics Welcome to Part Five of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds that retire from racing. In this article series, Alistair McLean from the Australian...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 4: Moving on Under Saddle
Under Saddle Welcome to Part Four of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds that retire from racing. In this article series, Alistair McLean from the Australian Equine Behaviour...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 1: Settling in
Settling In. We’re all excited to have Ideal Guy, aka ‘Andy the Standy’, at the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre (AEBC). It is with great pleasure that we join the fantastic cause of documenting the re-training of the Standardbred from harness racehorse to saddle...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 2: Ground Work
Ground work. Welcome to Part 2 of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds that retire from racing. In this article series, Alistair McLean from the Australian Equine Behaviour...
The Standardbred’s Track-to-Hack Journey Part 3: Backing
Backing your horse. Welcome to Part Three of the Unharnessed Potential project, an education and awareness campaign to promote the re-training and re-homing of Standardbreds that retire from racing. In this article series, Alistair McLean from the Australian Equine...