My Passion Project focuses on raising awareness about R+ to enhance equine welfare during training.
TrulyTrust is dedicated to ensuring horses flourish in their daily lives, this is why my passion goes beyond rehabilitation and holistic care to include training, particularly highlighting the incredible advantages of positive reinforcement training with horses. Although TrulyTrust primarily concentrates on holistic care and rehabilitation, I've chosen to embark on a passion project to share my insights and experience on ethical training.
My primary goal is to alleviate stress for your horse, allowing you both to have a more enjoyable training experience together.
Taking care of your horse means looking after their emotional health just as much as their physical health. If a horse has been through some tough times, they might get stressed out or try to avoid situations that remind them of those experiences, even steering clear of people.
What seems minor to us can really affect them; for example, getting suddenly separated from their herd can make them anxious, which can snowball and mess with their training and connection with you.
Here are some signs your horse might be feeling stressed:
- They’re not really cooperating when you ask them to do something
- They seem more anxious and might rear up, spook, or run away
- They shut down and don’t react to you at all
- They show defensive behaviors like kicking or biting
- Or you might notice subtle signs like licking and chewing a lot, lowering their head, or yawning.
When your horse experiences stress, it not only puts strain on your relationship but also impacts your horse's physical well-being.
Mental and physical health often go hand in hand. If your horse is anxious and reluctant to cooperate, it can be challenging to complete a vet check, trim hooves, or deworm him. Dr. Janet Roark, an essential oil veterinarian, explains that stress can directly impact your horse's health by weakening the immune system. She notes that stress may result in behavioural issues, digestive problems, weight loss, autoimmune diseases, and tying up, among other concerns.
"I bought the digital book, in the Horseowners guide to positive horsemanship and found it very insightful. A different perspective and approach on how we should be working with our horses. There were some great references to research on which the book was based and the inner workings of different horses and how to identity certain characteristics were explained really nicely. I learnt a lot!!!"
"It was awesome! When I enrolled I actually wasn't expecting to learn this much, because I already did a few courses on this topic, but really it was great, so detailed and complete, and I learned many new things!! Thanks for another great course!" -
Elaine LB
- South Africa
Violette C
- Portugal
You can build trust with your horse & overcome stress by creating multiple positive experiences
Building a strong bond with your horse, the one you've always envisioned, relies on trust. This trust isn't established by asserting dominance, chasing your horse, or using pressure or a whip. Instead, it flourishes through the integration of trust's fundamental pillars in your interactions and training.
The pillars of trust include:
- Consistency & Predictability
- Two-way Communication
- Safety & Positive Outcomes
I can help you get started on your journey
Expand your understanding of your horse and discover the power of R+ training.
Training begins beyond the arena; it begins with knowledge. Before we train a horse, it's essential to understand how he communicates, thinks, and learns. To achieve successful training, we must first enhance our understanding of our horse, effectively building our "toolbox" as trainers to be well-prepared for the arena.
Trainers who can help you further with your training
Next up, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty of training and figure out how to connect with and train your horse. Knowing what you need to do and your role in the process is super important. The more you learn about training and how to put it into practice, the faster you'll see results, and it'll make the whole thing a lot easier and more fun!
Continue on your training journey with Alta from Empowering Equine
