Whether you have a twinge of insecurity or feelings that border something akin to overwhelming fear and anxiety, I want you to know you are NOT ALONE AND YOU ARE NOT BROKEN. It’s a common human response and YOU can OVERCOME these fears and ENJOY the horse you love like never before! (If you don’t experience fear, keep reading because I am sure you know someone who can benefit from this.)

We just need to train fearful amygdales, (part of your brain responsible for fight and flight) especially if you have experienced past trauma.  We use small steps that build CONFIDENCE so your brain doesn’t think it needs to kick into overdrive to keep you both safe! 

If you think about it, that’s exactly how we use positive reinforcement/reward-based training and/or clicker training to help horses overcome severe lifelong traumas PERMANENTLY. We can help horses learn to LOVE things that previously meant certain death in their minds – such as trailers, fireworks, guns, hoses, injections and more. We ...

(We're sending out the before and after +R per popular request.)

I’m showing a small group of horse peeps how to EFFORTLESSLY LOAD their HORSES in a TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAILER LOADING Clinic - online.

Imagine having a horse that

• Loves loading
• Willingly Self-Loads
• Cheerfully makes a beeline for the trailer at liberty
• Quickly, easily and reliably hops on the trailer
• Always allows you to be on time...just like the one in this video.

ENJOY creating STRESS FREE TRAILER LOADING experiences for your horse and Become a TRAILER LOADING GODDESS in 30 days!

Want to join us for a Transformational Trailer Loading Experience?  Drop an email to [email protected] and we’ll give you the details.

Here's to having your horse LOVE LOADING!!!

Scratches as Non Food Reinforcers

Many people ask about using scratches to reinforce horses for desired behaviors. Can scratches be used successfully? YES, and I encourage using as many non food reinforcers as possible when effective. Watch as Sharon, CHC Mastery Course Student, uses them to reinforce Hershey for color discrimination. 

But there are important caveats. Learn when, why, how and when not to use scratches for best results. 

Rules for Reinforcers: The horse must value the reinforcer. 

WHEN: If you horse is itchy from environment, shedding or often they will show you where they liked to be scratched by attempting to do so themselves, then scratches can be a fantastic way to support their behavior and simply to bond and deepen your relationship. This makes summertime a great for introducing scratches as a reinforcer. 

WHY: Horses are very particular about who they choose for mutual grooming and enjoying scratches and grooming from other horses is part of affiliative bondin...

Come, spend a moment with me...

Over the last 10 years, in addition to my passion for liberty, groundwork and dressage, I’ve had the transformational experience of using Positive Reinforcement horse training and clicker training horses while helping humans develop deeper connections with their horses, others and themselves too. 

I invite you to come take a moment and hear how Compassionate Horse Click came to be and how one special red-headed horse (Eclipse) changed my life forever. 

We’d be honored to have you learn more about our heartfelt journey and love for you to reach out and tell us about yours as well. 

... always inspired when I chat with long time horse woman and equestrian media enthusiast, Rose Cushing. I so appreciate the invitation to speak on her podcast, Today's Horsewoman and enjoyed her company as well! It was such a treat to speak with her about my lifelong equestrian journey that started in the Hunters, then to Western and Dressage, Horsemanship and even obstac...

In addition to the use rewards that are more valuable than grass when we are training horses to cross it on cue, we use techniques to create the positive habit of crossing grass on cue. If it's available to you, one of the easiest ways to head off the difficulty crossing green grass with your horse, whether in hand or under saddle, is to make sure that your horse has access to plenty of grass on his own time so he doesn't feel deprived. We realize this isn't always possible for a variety of reasons and that other strategies are important to have in our training tool box and as part of our communication with our horses.

The horse in this video is clearly communicating that he wants to go out to the green grass. We make it a habit to let him out to graze freely anytime we can, but purposely only let him out this particular gate when he going out to graze freely. This can be a reward at the end of a training session or simply something we do at random times. Either way, it's very clear t...

Release versus Reward… What’s the difference and why is it important to our horses?

Let’s put it in human terms to help us understand how our horses feel in similar circumstances of release versus reward.

Example A

If you were put in jail (for a reason that you didn’t understand) and then let out of jail:

1. Would you feel like you had been punished by the experience of being held against your will away from your family and friends?

2. Would you feel like being let out was a reward or simply something you deserved in the first place?

3. How would you feel about the person who put you in jail?

4. Would you be likely to trust this person to be responsible for your well-being in the future?

Example B:

If someone held your hand to a hot burner and forced you to keep it there until it was uncomfortable or even painful, for any reason at all, when they released your hand from the burner:

1. Would you feel like you were being punished when your hand was on the burner?

2. Would you ...

"Lameness can be due to biomechanical restriction.” Diane Howard, PhD, MSc, MMCP

Brilliant quote by Diane who is often a guest speaker on Compassionate Horse Click members only calls. Diane recently reviewed the Horse Grimace Scale for our CHC community. She presented on horses physical expressions related to pain, both physical and emotional. The group is currently studying emotional expression and learned much from Diane’s research including facial expressions that one doesn’t necessarily relate to a horse being in pain. One example that was new to me, specifically, is the ears being held stiffly held out to the side. Moreover, I found her quote especially intriguing because so many times, it is us, the humans, who are causing our horses’ pain through biomechanical restriction (see photo). Often, we don’t recognize it ,and other times we are living in denial. Our emotions can interject, and we can feel offended and/or become defensive if anyone dares to bring it up. We can even beco...

BALANCE isn't just physical nor does it only relate to bio-mechanics or self carriage.

Do you wonder if you are making progress or making a mess with your positive reinforcement horse training or when you are clicker training your horse? It's all about balancing REWARDS, BEHAVIORS and REPETITIONS and knowing how  and when to increase criteria in increments that allow the horse to be successful without creating confusion and over training/tipping the scale too far in one direction or drilling. 

We want to balance REWARDS by making sure the value of the reward matches the difficulty of the request FROM THE HORSE'S VIEWPOINT. This can mean using multiple reward types in the same session or even for the same behavior based on the horse's emotional response.

BEHAVIORS: when we are training, we want to keep in mind the behavior that might be similarly cued or similarly performed in relation to the goal behavior that we are currently shaping . We want to take care to address this similar b...

During times of stress, like the blustery March days that likely lay ahead, I often wonder about the trigger stacking that can occur when horses are afraid of the rider's aids and then the natural environment exacerbates their fear response. So many times responsiveness to aids is created through FEAR of the rider's aids. I want to ride a horse that is RESPONSIVE and UNAFRAID of me. This can become a matter of life and death when it comes to horses facing fearful environments and elements beyond our control. You see if horses are already triggered stacked because they are afraid of the leg, hand, whip etc. they are so much more likely to lack the impulse control that often keeps a positively reinforcement trained horse calm and safe in the face of things that would normally spook other horses and send them whirling and running in fear with rider's hanging on for dear life. So many times responsiveness to aids is created through fear of the rider's aids, both natural (legs and hands) an...

Few things are as heartwarming as having our horses GALLOP up to see us at our request. Fortunately, it's (the recall)  a FUN EASY behavior to train. The recall can be taught as a part of our daily routines without needing to set aside specific training session time too. This is especially easy to do using positive reinforcement and clicker training because the horses find the interactions following the recall incredibly reinforcing. It helps horses:

• learn their names,
• do something handy, helpful and fun
• and humans in our program in a variety of circumstances really dig it!

Feel free to contact us. ([email protected]) We’d love to chat about how you can learn to teach your horse the recall in a safe, sound efficient manner that you are both sure to enjoy!

One way to get a Rapid Recall?

• Have a consistent sounding verbal cue.
• Use a hand cue in conjunction with it.
• Give the cues at times that the horse is naturally about to come towards you; such as at
...