History of the Horse – The Eocene era – Part 1 Die Geschichte des Pferdes – Das Eozän – Teil 1 In this series I want to make the history of the development of the species horse come to life …
Author Archives: Jutta Wiemers
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Tagged Development of the horse Eocene Entwicklung des Pferdes Eozän
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Understand your Horse – Part 23 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 23 Sounds 2 In the last Blog we talked about greeting noises, such as “blubbering”, different nickers and the neigh. Let us continue with more sounds a horse can …
Understand your Horse – Part 22 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 22 SOUNDS After looking at the body language of the horse in depth, ranging from the ears to the tail, and analysing how he might attempt to communicate his feelings …
Understand your Horse – Part 21 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 21 The Legs We finished last time by looking at the feelings, which the horse can convey with the language of his tail. The language of the legs is not …
Understand your Horse – Part 20 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 20 The Tail In the last part we concluded the language of the horse’s neck – this leaves us to look at the expressions of the tail and his legs. …
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Tagged body language horse the tail, der Schweif, Korpersprache Pferdes verstehen, understand your horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 19 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 19 Neck 3 In the last part we looked at turning heads, bobbing, thrusting and jerking of the head. 11) Head wobble: In the head wobble the nose …
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Tagged body language horse, Korpersprache des Pferdes verstehen, uunderstand your horse
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Understand your Horse – Blog 18 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 18 Neck 2 In the last part we looked at High Heads (in flight and display behaviour), at the head Toss, the Head Shake, and the Low head and …
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Tagged body language horse, Koerpersprache des Pferdes verstehen, sein Pferd verstehen, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 17 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 17 Neck & Head 1 In the last part we looked at the horse’s mouth and the moods we can read from its expressions. In this Blog we will …
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Tagged body language horse, koerpersprache pferd, Pferd verstehen, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 16 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 16 The Mouth 2 In the last part we looked at the function of the horse’s mouth, and saw what foals express in terms of emotion and communication by …
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Tagged mouth of the horse, Pferd verstehen, Pferdemaul, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 15 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 15 Mouth 1 In the last part we looked at the horse’s nose – its function as well as the moods he can convey with it. Nose and mouth …
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Tagged mouth of the horse, Pferd verstehen, Pferdemaul, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Blog 14 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 14 Nose So far we looked at the expressions of the horse’s ears and eyes, with which (apart from their functional movements) he communicates some of his feelings …
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Tagged know your horse, Nase des Pferdes, nose of the horse, Pferd verstehen
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Understand your Horse – Part 13 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 13 Eyes 3 In the last part we looked at different expressions of the horse’s eyes and noted, just as we did when looking at the ears, that they …
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Tagged die Augen des Pferdes, Ihr Pferd verstehen, Kommunikation Pferd, Körpersprache Pferd
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Understand your Horse – Part 12 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 12 Eyes 2 In the last part we got an idea of how our horses perceive the world – quite differently from us! Now we want to look at …
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Tagged body language horse, Kommunikation Pferd, Pferd verstehen, the eyes of the horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 11 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 11 Eyes 1 In the last Blogs we looked at the “language” of the horse’s ears and found that there is a whole list: Attentive ears, including attentive …
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Tagged body language horse, Kommunikation Pferd, Pferde verstehen, understanding horses
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Understand your Horse – Part 10 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 10 continued – Ears 4 In the last part we saw some “Airplane” ears and learned to look out for depression or pain. We looked at lots of “questioning …
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Tagged die Ohren des Pferdes, Kommunikation Pferd, Körpersprache Pferd, Pferd verstehen
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Understand your Horse – Part 09 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 09 continued: Ears 3 In the last part we ended by looking at some “questioning ears”. We saw that they can be dropped sideways to varying degrees – and …
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Tagged body language horse, equine communication, the horse`s ears, understand horses
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Understand your Horse – Part 08 Ears instalment 2 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 08 Fortsetzung Ohren 2 In the last part we started looking at the ears of the horse by themselves, trying to find out what they can tell …
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Tagged body language horse, equine communication, understand horses
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Understand your Horse – Part 07 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 07 Ears – part 1 In the last part we looked at grooming and greeting faces and realized that each “face” is made up of a conglomeration of expressions …
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Tagged body language horse, communication horse, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 06 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 06 In the last part we got the first taste of the complexity of analysing the horse’s face and the mood it might express, because we recognized that it …
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Tagged body language horse, communication horse, understand horse
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Faces – Part 1 Gesichter – Teil 1 In the last two Blogs we looked at the signals a horse might send to you by using his whole body. I started with that, because it is easier to interpret than …
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Tagged body language horse, communication horse, understand horse
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Understand your Horse – Part 04 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 04 In the last part we observed the first two things the horse can express with his whole body, by decreasing or increasing the distance between you. Here we …
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Tagged communication horse, horse body language, understanding horses
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Understand your Horse – Part 03 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 03 In the last part we discussed that most of the signals, sent out by your horse to you for communication, are the “soft” signals, which are happening …
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Tagged communication horses, horse body language, understand horses
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Happy Holidays! Speaking on my own behalf Fröhliche Feiertage! In eigener Sache I thank all my Blog readers for their many comments – and such nice ones too! Thank you all for responding – and a very nice Holiday Season …
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Understanding your horse – Part 02 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 02 Awareness of signals sent Our last conversation example: In the last Blog I told you about a conversation between my horses and myself, into which we must now …
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Tagged communication with horses, horse body language, understand your horse
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Understanding your horse – Part 01 Ihr Pferd verstehen – Teil 01 Introduction to the conversation: It will not be news to you that horses communicate with body language. But what may be new to you is HOW MUCH they …
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Tagged horse body language, horse communication, understanding your horse
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Long-reining – Part 12 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 12 In the last part we cheered up our horses by teaching them to feel grand doing the Spanish Step on the long-reins, because the half-pass (which we will continuously …
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Tagged canter on the long-reins, equestrian long-reining, Piaffe on the long-reins
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Long-reining – Part 11 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 11 In the last part we worked on the Pirouette and the half-pass. Practising this takes a long time and was (at least in my case) at times quite frustrating. …
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Tagged equestrian long-reining, Spanish steps on the long-reins, work on the long reins
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Obituary on Johnny, October 2013 Nachruf auf Johnny, Oktober 2013 Johnny had to be put down after a very bad colic last week. His heart was too weak to operate. He was 28 years old. He died with his head on Eva’s …
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Long-Reining – Part 10 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 10 In the last part we taught our horses the lateral movement of “Travers”. The pirouette: When the horse is in the travers position, with the correct bend, it is easy …
Long-reining – Part 09 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 09 Travers: In the last part we discussed how to teach our horse to bend his neck, while walking on a straight line. This serves as a preparation for lateral …
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Tagged equestrian long-reining, Travers on the long reins, work on the long reins
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Longreining – Part 8 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 8 Straight bends In the last Blog we started on lateral work with the shoulder-in. Now we want to refine our rein aids further and introduce the horse to the …
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Tagged equestrian long-reining, the straight bend on the long reins, work on the long reins
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Long-Reining – Part 07 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 07 In the last part we learned a clean rein-back on the long-reins with the appropriate prep-games. We showed how to teach the horse to lower his croup and get …
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Tagged equestrian long-reining, lateral work on the long reins, Long-reining horses, shoulder-in exercise on the long reins
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Longreining – Part 06 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 06 Rein-back, lower Croup In the last Blog we started working in trot. We practised various positions and hand-changes, which need more coordination in trot. We added voltes and serpentines lines …
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Work on the Long-reins – Part 05 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 05 Last time we refined our rein-aids in such a way that the horse understood the difference between the request for a bend and the request …
Work on the long-reins – Part 04 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 04 In the last Blog we practised how to bend the horse and get him through the corner cleanly. When the horse faces the wall at the …
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Tagged equestrian Long-reining positions, long-reining a horse on circles
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Work on the Long-reins – Part 03 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 03 Up to here: In the last Blog we discussed how to hold the equipment – the lunge line in such a way to prevent getting tangled, and …
Long-Reining – Part 02 Am langen Zügel –Teil 02 How to start: Equipment: It is not necessary to discuss any special equipment. I use a simple snaffle bridle with cheeks and my lunge line, into the hand loop of which …
Long-Reining – Part 1 Arbeit am langen Zügel – Teil 1 Introduction: In my book „From Leading to Liberty“, in which I present 100 training games for Learning with FUN for you and your horse, there are also some games …
Dear Blog readers! Liebe Blog Leser! Before I start another Blog series, a word about my own concerns. I take a lot of trouble to make this web site interesting and to find new topics, which might also interest you. …
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 18 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 18 Lunging for Vaulting – the first exercises We will assume here that you have trained your horse on the lunge in all basic gaits and …
Work on the Lunge Line – Part 17 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 17 Warm-up phase: A minimum of 10 minutes (more if your horse comes straight from the stall) must be allowed to warm up the muscles and …
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Tagged true dialog with horse on the lunge line, true dialogue equestrian longeing
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 16 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 16 More Patterns, more games: Let us recall at this point that we don’t belong to those people, who lunge a horse to get him …
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Tagged Moving patterns for equestrian lunging, moving while lunging a horse
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Work on the Lunge Line – Blog 15: Mobilisation exercises, patterns and games for balancing the horse
March 17, 2013Work on the Lunge Line – Part 15 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 15 Gymnastic exercises: We saw in the last Blog (point 7) that a horse balancing himself on a curved line at liberty turns by stretching …
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Tagged balancing horse on the lunge line, Equestrian Lunging Horse, mobilisation for horse on lunge line
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 14 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 14 We shortly recapitulate up to here: Hopefully we agree on the fact that lunging means more than simply getting your horse tired and burning off …
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Tagged training exercises equestrian lunging, training exercises for lunging horses
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 13 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 13 Overview over auxiliary reins: Running side-reins are passed under the surcingle under the belly of the horse and split on the chest into two reins, …
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Tagged auxiliary reins for lunging horses and use during training phases
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 12 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 12 Auxiliary Reins: Up to now, with our playful preparation, our horse has learned the concept of the circle and seeking the contact to the …
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Tagged Auxiliary reins for lunging horses, equestrian auxiliary reins, neck extension horses
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Work on the Lunge Line – Part 11 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 11 Some practice on the rope: Before we get to the tricky topic of side-reins, we want to practice our communication with the horse on the …
Work on the Lunge Line – Part 10 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 10 In the meantime a question has reached me what it really is that we are training here. I therefore will repeat once again the goal …
Working on the Lunge Line – Part 9 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 9 The lunge line: Since we established earlier that a lunge line is not needed (at least with our kind of training) to prevent the horse …
Working on the Lunge Line – Part 8 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 8 The Bridle: We use a bridle (of correct size for our horse’s mouth), because it has a bit attached. When putting on the bridle you have …
Working on the Lunge Line – Part 7 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 7 Whip aids – continued: Demanding a faster gait: This has nothing to do with chasing the horse! Transitions on the lunge line should happen as …
Work on the Lunge Line – Part 6 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 6 The Lungeing Whip: Especially with young horses the whip must be introduced gently: the horse should not fear the whip. For this it is very …
Work on the Lunge Line – Part 05 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 05 This Blog is my first attempt to include some short video clips for clarification of aids – here of the voice aids and body language I …
Work on the lunge line – Part 4 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 4 The book* refers to “From Leading to Liberty” Body language: As long as you live and breathe you move, and your horse reads and interprets …
Work on the lunge line – Part 3 Arbeit an der Longe – Teil 3 Voice commands – continued: The three important Cs ! Clear: Clear means that ONE word means ONE thing, and forever only that same one. That …
Work on the Lunge line – Part 2 Arbeiten an der Longe – Teil 2 How to start: In most books about lunging, the list of equipment starts with the advice to use sturdy shoes and gloves for the protection of …
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Tagged laws of shaping, lunging equipment, lunging horses knowledgeably
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Work on the lunge line – Blog 01: Introduction: Arbeit an der Longe – Blog 01: Einleitung: With this new series I would like to entice you to understand the sense of work on the lunge line a …
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Tagged equestrian lunging, horse lunging, Lunging according to HEM method
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Obituary on Peter Nachruf für Peterchen At the end of September 2012, on a warm and starry night, my old Peter died of a heart attack. He was 33 and 1/3 years old. We still rode him the day before …
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 21 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 21 Motivate – last and most important! JUBILATE!! Though this may sound a bit extreme, it very adequately hits the meaning …
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Tagged Fehler motivieren, motivation mistakes
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 20 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 20 Motivate – continued: While the horse is searching for a solution, stop him as rarely as possible. It is not motivating …
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Tagged clicker training, group games, Gruppenspiele, Klicker Training
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 19 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 19 Chapter Three: Motivate! We mentioned in previous chapters that Explaining is factual and requires knowledge of the situation as …
How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 18 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 18 Help continued: Always give your horse enough time to find a solution himself: Any solution, whether partial (proceeding on the …
How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and your horse – Part 17 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 17 Help continued: We continue our “Tyre Game” example: If he cannot land his foot, perhaps he says, “I can’t see …
Posted in H.E.M. = Help, Explain, Motivate
Tagged helfen Touchierhilfen, help touching aids
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 16 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 16 Help continued: Observe what your horse misunderstands – then improve, clarify and refine your aids! If no progress takes …
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Tagged helfen Emotion, helfen Verstand, help emotional, help mental
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 15 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 15 Help: Where explaining is more factual, help is more physical and psychological. WHY does your horse need your help: he …
How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 14 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 14 Explain continued: 2) Practise the individual elements of the game: Touching aid on the cannon bone and voice aid “foot!” …
Posted in H.E.M. = Help, Explain, Motivate
Tagged dem Pferd erklären, Einzelteile üben, explain to horse, practise components
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How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 13 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 13 Explain continued: 1) Analyse the problem: In the “Tyres “ game the horse must have enough self-confidence and courage to …
How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 12 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 12 Explain continued: Whip and rope aids: Your whip and the rope in your hand become a part of your body …
How to H.E.M. – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 11 H.E.M. –Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 11 Explain continued: 4) How does your particular horse learn – and how does he think along today versus yesterday? …
Posted in H.E.M. = Help, Explain, Motivate
Tagged body language, Körpersprache, Stimmkommandos, voice commands
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How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 10 H.E.M. : Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 10 Explain continued: 3) When do you have to explain something to your horse? You will begin with working on the …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 9 H.E.M. – Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 9 Explain: You can’t explain what you don’t know. Explaining something to your horse is factual and requires knowledge …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 8 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 8 Training with Positive Reinforcement: All behaviourists and modern trainers agree by now that teaching with positive reinforcement is the …
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Tagged behavioral science, positive reinforcement, positive Verstärkung, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 7 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 7 Shaping Law # 9: 9) The Ninths Law states that you must go back to Kindergarden, if the horse’s …
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Tagged behavioral science, Gebote des Formens, laws of shaping, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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Continued – all horses are lying upright… Line Dance Blog 9: Letztes Mal lagen alle Pferde aufrecht, hier geht es weiter! Grand Finale ! 21) 21st move: fan: Lay all horses flat on eight beats and stand on them …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 6 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 6 Shaping Law # 7: 7) The Seventh Law states: “When one shaping procedure is not eliciting progress, find another” …
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Tagged behavioral science, Gebote des Formens, laws of shaping, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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Continued : after the roll-out! Line Dance Blog 08: Fortsetzung nach dem Ausrollen: 18) Eighteenth move: moving South: as we start walking on a large circle now, the “last” horse (horse C) becomes the leader. 18) Übung Achtzehn: nach …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 5 Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren – Teil 5 Shaping Law # 3: 3) The Third Law states that “while you train, you must put the horse’s response …
Posted in H.E.M. = Help, Explain, Motivate
Tagged behavioral science, Gebote des Formens, laws of shaping, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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continued: after last time’s Kneel Line Dance Blog 7: Fortsetzung: nach dem Knien 16) Sixteenth move: facing West: From the right side of the horse, holding the rope at the very end, walk your right hand down the horse’s …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 4 H.E.M. = dem Pferd Helfen, Erklären und es Motivieren – Teil 4 2) Shaping Law # 2: The Second Law states that “you may always only train …
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Tagged behavioral science, Gebot Formen, shaping laws, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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Continued: Line Dance Blog # 6: Fortsetzung: Last time we all ended up on the centre line facing North, after bringing them back with a sideways move, remember? Letztes Mal standen wir am Ende alle auf der Mittellinie …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse – Part 3 H.E.M. = dem Pferd Helfen, Erklären und es Motivieren – Teil 3 When to help – or to explain? In order to become a good helper, you …
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Tagged behavioral science, Gebot des Formens, laws of shaping, Verhaltenswissenschaft
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Continued: Line Dance Blog 05: Fortsetzung: Last time we all ended up on the centre line facing South, after that difficult, snappy and wonderfully clean yield of the forehand! Now: 9) Ninth move: facing South: The centre horse (if playing …
How to H.E.M – Help, Explain and Motivate your horse Helfen, Erklären und Motivieren What you need to know for honest play The Ten Laws of Shaping Working with positive reinforcement PLAYING with horses – my niche in the …
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Tagged Beziehung, help explain motivate horse, Pferd helfen erklären motivieren, relationship
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Line Dance Blog 04: Fortsetzung: 7) Seventh move: moving South, to turn 180 degrees: 7) Übung Sieben: nach Süden, eine 180 Grad Wendung auszuführen: Hindquarters cross, while the forehand stays on the spot On the 4th beat …
H.E.M. Blog series: to begin soon Neue Serie H.E.M. Blog: beginnt bald As I am often asked about my training techniques, I wish to clarify: a technique is “a manner of performance in relation to practical details, the …
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Tagged help explain motivate horses, Pferden helfen erklären motivieren
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Line Dance Blog # 3: continued from last time: Fortsetzung von letztem Mal: 4) Fourth move: Last time we all ended up on the centre line facing South! Now… 4) Übung Vier: Da standen wir am Schluß alle auf …
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