This episode is filled with Celebrations. We’re celebrating our 300th Episode. That’s quite a milestone. And we’re celebrating the publication of “Kenyon Bear’s Christmas”, Book 4 of the Kenyon Bear children’s books. What better way to celebrate than to talk with Christa Culbert. Christa created the illustrations for Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. She is also a horse person and a creative teacher. So many riding programs are centered around riding. On the surface that makes sense. Christa has developed a very different kind of program that is centered around the horse. Five and six year old children set up preference tests to discover what kinds of treats their horses really like. They learn about so much more than how to make their pony go. They are learning how to help their pony WANT to go WITH them. Everything is connected - children’s books, clicker training, teaching children and horses, training well, wanting the best for our horses. It’s part of every one of our 300 episodes.

I’ve just published the newest book in the Kenyon Bear series of children’s book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. This week we’re talking with the illustrator, Christa Culbert. In case you’re wondering what this has to do with horses, the answer is everything! In this week’s podcast we talk with Christa about art, animals, imagination, clicker training, and teaching children about horses. Christa starts us off by saying art is about perceiving the world in a new way. Isn’t that what we are doing with clicker training? We are perceiving training and our relationships with horses in new ways. Christa talks about the programs she has developed to bring horses and children together. It is about so much more than simply teaching them to ride. So join us in the celebration of the new book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas, and enjoy a wide ranging conversation about horses, imagination, working with children, entitlement, boundaries, and the convergence between what we’re discovering through science and what we knew as children about our animal friends.

We’re talking about advanced training. What makes something an advanced behavior, or an advanced topic or concept? When people say they want to attend an advanced seminar, what do they mean? What are they looking for? In part 1 we looked at this question from the perspective of the lessons we are teaching our horses. I made a case for advanced training is just the basics done very, very well. We agreed that identifying advanced skills is very much in the eye of the beholder. If you don’t have the needed underlying components, the task you’re trying to take on will seem like a very advanced skill. So what is an advanced skill for one individual will be just the next doable step for another. In part 2 we then considered if there is a difference in how we view advanced skills when we’re thinking about teaching our horses versus what we ourselves need to master in order to be effective teachers. Teaching well requires many skills. In Part 2 we began our list of what we would consider to be advanced skills. In Part three we added to this list beginning with a discussion of agency. One of the reasons I wanted to talk about what advanced means is I hope this helps all of us to be clearer about what we are looking for when we ask for advanced topics. If I want to advance my horse’s training, I need to be patient and recognize that moving on may mean reviewing previous steps in the training first. You’ll begin by polishing and refining the underlying components. That’s what produces the readiness for the next steps in the training. If my focus is on advancing my training skills, I’ll be looking over a wider range of topics. What do I need to develop? Is it my handling skills? Is it my own body awareness? Is it my understanding of biomechanics, or behavior analysis? What is keeping me from progressing? Our growing list of skills that we would look for in a skilled trainer may help you to identify some areas that are worth exploring.

We’re talking about what how we would define an advanced skill or topic. What makes something advanced? In Part 1 the focus was on our horses and the lessons we teach them. We explored what it means when we say advanced training is just the basics done really well. Is that indeed the case, or is there something more to advanced training? In this week’s episode we turn the spotlight onto the handler. Is there a difference in how we view advanced skills when we’re thinking about the skills our horses are learning versus what is involved in teaching those skills? As the teachers of these behaviors it seems to me that we have the more complex task. Teaching well requires many skills. Would we consider these to be advanced skills? That’s the question we’ll be exploring in this episode. We’ll consider some of the skills that we think are needed to be an effective teacher. We have our list. I’m sure you have your own. Listen to the podcast to see how well they match up.

In this three part series we’re considering what makes something an advanced behavior, or an advanced topic or concept. When people say they want to attend an advanced seminar, what do they mean? What are they looking for? In Part 1 we explore this question from the perspective of what are we teaching our horses. I make the case that advanced training is just the basics done very, very well. Added to that is anything is an advanced skill or topic at the point where you don’t have the underlying components. So what is an advanced skill for one individual will be just the next doable step for another. We consider if there is a difference in how we view advanced skills when we’re thinking about teaching our horses versus what we ourselves need to learn. As the teachers of these behaviors it seems to me that we have the more complex task. Teaching well requires many skills. Would we consider these to be advanced skills?

Breaks are good for learning is something we hear a lot. Certainly we all know that no matter how much you are enjoying an activity there comes a point where you need to stop. You need to refresh mentally and physically. But what constitutes a break? Think about for yourself. When you need a break from work, what does that look like? Sometimes we might see you collapsed in a heap on your couch watching mindless television. Other times we might see you going out for a jog, or pulling out a challenging crossword puzzle. These can all be breaks. What constitutes a break for our horses? In Part 1 we began with the early steps of introducing a horse to clicker training. The handler is working in protective contact so it’s easy for the handler to give the type of break where the session comes to a full stop and the handler steps away. We talked about using the twenty treat strategy as a way to ensure that these breaks actually occur. As training progresses, the behaviors you teach become opportunities to give your horse a break. A break is no longer a full stop to the training, but a change to a different activity. The loopy training teaching strategy helps to structure breaks into your training. That’s what we talked about in Part 1. In part 2 we talk about different strategies for working with multiple horses; the importance of giving complete information and how that plays out in training; and what playing the card game twenty-one has to do with training.

This week we’re talking about breaks. We’ll be talking about what breaks are and how you teach them. We’re also talking about the many uses breaks serve - including some very important ones for the handler. Breaks aren’t just for our horse’s benefit. We’ll go back to the very first steps in the training where the handler is using protective contact. The barrier makes it easy to give breaks. So horses are learning that the training stops and then starts up again. Frequent breaks can help a new learner settle. They aren’t frustrated when the handler stops the training, and they aren’t anxiously waiting for it to start up again. That same environmental set up helps handlers develop the skill of assessing and adjusting their training. So breaks not only serve many functions, they are important for both horse and handler. Before we begin our discussion of breaks we take a detour into equine dentistry.

This is Part 2 of a Two Part Conversation. Last week we followed up on our previous conversation with Michaela Hempen on horse welfare. Dominique shared some useful resources and I shared a goat story. The goat story leads to a discussion of when and how to step in should you encounter rough handling. It’s never a comfortable situation, or an easy decision. To provide a counterbalance to what can be a difficult subject, we switched gears to talk about training principles, rope handling and the t’ai chi wall.

For this conversation Dominique and I both wanted to follow up on our previous conversation with Michaela Hempen. We were talking about horse welfare. Dominique shared some useful resources that you can use to assess your horse’s physical welfare. These included Anja Beran’s Train Your Eye DVD, the horse grimace scale, and the equine discomfort ethogram. It can be uncomfortable to stand up for our animals. In the second half of the episode I share a goat story in which I had to do exactly that. In the podcast with Michaela, we talked about being good guardians for animals. Days after we recorded the podcast, I got to practice putting those words into action.

This conversation was prompted by an event that occurred just before the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. One of the top dressage riders had to withdraw because of a video that showed her whipping a horse during a training session. The video came out just as Dominique and I were planning our next podcast recording. Dominique said her social media feed was filled with posts discussing the video. Should we talk about it. Generally we shy away from talking directly about training that disturbs us. But horse welfare is an important topic and one we need to be talking about. So I invited Michaela Hempen to join us. We’ve just finished the conversation with Michaela on the connection between riding and the Feldenkrais work. Normally we wouldn’t have a guest do back to back conversations, but Michaela was the perfect person to ask to join us. In her day job with the European Food Safety Authority she is currently involved in providing scientific assessments that inform the European Commission and other EU member states to formulate legislation to protect animals. This has primarily meant animals produced for food, but the mandate has broadened out to include equine welfare in general. In Part 1 Michaela described what they will be considering under these new mandates. In Part 2 we consider the role each of us can play in moving the horse community as a whole forward towards more horse-friendly training.