In 1998 I launched the rapidly growing field of clicker training for horses with the publication of Clicker Training for Your Horse, the first reference for clicker training in the horse world. When you come across a training method that is as kind, safe, effective, and fun as clicker training, it’s not something you want to keep to yourself. Clicker training needs to be shared and that’s what I have been doing for almost thirty years. Through my books, DVDs, clinics, online courses, conference presentations, blogs, and podcasts, I have been teaching people how to clicker train their horses. Together we are changing the way horses are trained.
I wrote
The Click That Teaches: A Step-By-Step Guide in Pictures
One of the best books for training horses isn’t even a book about horses - at least not directly. Karen Pryor’s classic text translates the complexities of learning theory into clear, understandable language. Don’t Shoot the Dog introduced us to clicker training and started a revolution in animal training. It’s a fun read that will transform your training. It certainly transformed mine.
I read Don’t Shoot the Dog for the first time in 1993. This is the book that sent me out to the barn with treats in my pockets to ask my horse what he thought about clicker training. His answer - he loved it! Don’t Shoot The Dog set me on my clicker training journey. It was and still is a must-read book.
Karen Pryor’s clear and entertaining explanation of behavioral training methods made Don’t Shoot the Dog a bestselling classic with revolutionary insights into animal—and human—behavior.
In her groundbreaking approach to improving behavior, behavioral biologist Karen Pryor says, “Whatever the task, whether keeping a four-year-old quiet in public, housebreaking a puppy, coaching a team, or memorizing a poem, it will go fast, and better, and be more fun, if you know how to use reinforcement.”
Now Pryor clearly explains the underlying principles of behavioral training and reveals how this art can be applied to virtually any common situation. And best of all,…
Clicker training shows you how to train. Now, what are you going to train? Let the beautiful photos in Anja Beran’s book on Classical Dressage inspire you. Anja Beran loves horses and that’s reflected in her desire to share her deep understanding of Classical Dressage.
We need images of beautiful horses being correctly ridden in good balance. Classical Dressage sits at the core of all good riding programs. Balance matters because it helps keep your horse sound no matter your riding goals. We are indeed lucky to have someone as gifted as Anja Beran sharing this work with us.
Every rider would like to ride their horse as well as possible, but how do we go about it the right way? This book explains why and, above all, how to classically train a horse, for example, we have to look at each horse as an individual - what problems does he have? How is his natural crookedness expressed? What is his personality like? In classical dressage, there is a strategy for bringing each and every horse into balance. Anja Beran wants to preserve this knowledge, which has now almost been lost, and make it available to every interested rider,…
There are many how-to books on training horses out there. Before you fill your bookshelf with them, it’s good to remember how much you love horses. That’s different from how much you love what horses can do for you - the jumps they can carry you over, the ribbons they can win for you. Remember how much you love horses, and remember how much they depend upon us to be kind. It’s all too easy to reach for “get tougher” solutions. Anna Sewell’s childhood classic reminds us to question how horses are handled and to look at what we do from the horse’s point of view. When choosing a training method, she reminds us to listen to our hearts and to our horses.
Continuously in print and translated into multiple languages since it was first published, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty is a classic work of children's literature and an important text in the fields of Victorian studies and animal studies. Writing to ""induce kindness, sympathy and an understanding treatment"", Sewell realistically documents the working conditions of Black Beauty, who moves down the social scale from a rural carriage horse to a delivery horse in London. Sewell makes visible and tangible the experience of animals who were often treated as if they were machines. Though she died shortly after it was published, Sewell's book…
Prior to Centered Riding much of how riding was taught came from the cavalry. It was get tough or get out. Sally Swift changed that with her gentle approach to riding instruction. She introduced the horse world to the Alexander technique and the use of visualization. Instead of pushing riders through their fear, she helped them connect with their horses. She is a revolutionary thinker who transformed riding instruction.
Centered Riding is for those with little experience all the way up to world class. Precise illustrations and photographs never before used in riding books explain anatomy and image work to give mind and body new and relaxed approaches to the inner process of riding.
Widely known for her innovative teaching philosophy stressing body awareness, the value of "soft eyes," proper breathing, centering, and balance, Sally Swift has been a pioneering riding instructor for half a century. In book form for the first time, her methods enable horse and rider to achieve harmony, working together naturally, without pain.
Anja Beran again shares her love of horses by helping us ride better.
Thoughtless riding damages horses. It breaks their bodies and their spirits. But we can ride horses into soundness. We can bring back the sparkle in their eyes even as we help heal their bodies. The Dressage Seat will help you ride effectively and support the well-being of your horse.
With stunningly beautiful photographs and clear descriptions, classical dressage authority Anja Beran breaks down the physical requirements of the rider's seat on the horse, as well as its responsibilities during various movements-from the gaits and paces to lateral work, lead changes, piaffe, passage, and pirouettes.
Beran provides a unique perspective on the use of breath when riding, citing the recommendations of a classically-trained opera singer who regularly works with Beran and her riding students to develop their deep breathing skills. 'A relaxed seat', Beran says, 'is never possible with restricted breathing'.
In addition, she explores the need for an improved…
There’s more to training than simply getting a job done. How you teach matters. Kind, effective, and horse-friendly, this comprehensive training guide will take you from basic handling to advanced training. The step-by-step lessons are easy to follow. They create a road map for developing a superstar performer and a great equine friend. This is the resource you are looking for to help you train well.
I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.
Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, this brilliant 17th century nun flew through Mexico City on the breeze of poetry and philosophy. She met with princes of the Church, and with the royalty of Spain and Mexico. Then she met a stunning, powerful woman with lavender eyes, la Vicereine Maria Louisa, and her life changed forever. As her fame grew, she dared to challenge the diabolical Archbishop once too often, and he threw her in front of the Inquisition, where she stood, alone.
Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…
This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.
One day a woman with violet eyes, eyes the color of passion flowers, entered her life. It was the new Vicereine, Maria Luisa. As the two most powerful women in Mexico City, the bond between them crossed politics and wound them in…
