Tierisch Menschlich

“If a horse is capable of doing what you ask, it is up to you to ask in such a way that he will do it. Once you understand that the answer to your horse’s problems is in finding your own mistakes, you are on the way to finding the correct solutions.” ~Mary Twelveponies

“Dressage in many ways is inherently vague to a horse. The journey is important to humans, but it is the destination that is important to the horse. They ‘get’: “Go there”, but it I don’t think they really care about whether they got there in their best shoulder-in or not… So all the time spent getting totally excited when they …

“One of the most vital lessons I’ve learned about horses also applies to teaching. In order to be an effective teacher, you need to build from the ground up. It’s important to have – and encourage – a structure.” – Kalley Krickeberg

“In all the time I’d known the old man, I had never once seen him offer advice to anybody on how they should be handling their horse, even when the slightest bit of information from him could have helped tremendously. It was the same reason why he had ignored the thoroughbred that was acting up in the barn at the …

I want my interactions with my animals to be light, responsive, and fun. There are times when it isn’t that way or there are some pieces missing – some times an animal is used to being heavy with people and we have to teach them to be responsive. So here is what I keep in mind now when I work …

“But you will find out what I’m talking about is a way of life. Only you know how much effort you want to put behind it. How important it is to you to get these things done. If you are satisfied with yourself, you don’t have to satisfy me or satisfy John Doe, as far as I’m concerned. If you …

“You must realize the slightest change, the smallest try that a horse makes. You know and he knows you know. When you feel him start to position himself to turn around or back up, or whatever, recognize this so you can REWARD his effort and build on it. DON’T MAKE THE HORSE DO ALL THE WORK. He shouldn’t have to …

My mind has been busting at the seams with ideas lately through working with so many different animals. One of my “Aha!” moments which has been manifesting for quite some time now is working on our quality (comfortable, relaxed, balanced, lack of brace) of transportation (walking a dog on a leash, leading a horse, riding, etc.). Okay. So if you have …

I’ve been thinking about this so much lately: the moments where something big happens (a drastic change, a huge success) seem to just come as if it was the most natural thing in the world. There were all of these steps that lead up to it. Once we come to that moment where something big happens, it often feels like …

One of the keys to really being able to start something with animals is being selective with advice and knowledge and then getting creative with it. I try not to roll my eyes when someone says, “I use positive reinforcement” or “I use negative reinforcement” or, or or… Just using one is not effective and I’ll tell you why: balance …