Dr Orla Doherty is gathering data on the impact of problem behaviors in horses on riders, handlers, and those working with horses, along with their strategies for addressing these issues. Dr Doherty is an Irish veterinarian with a Master's Degree in Animal Behavior and Welfare from Edinburgh University. She established the Animal Behavior Clinic in 1994 and has been addressing behavior issues in animals ever since. She kindly requests that as many people as possible take a moment to…

Don’t Shoot the Horses

Before you get too upset the reference is to photography not weaponry

Have you ever had, what you thought was a fabulous idea - yet everyone around you shoots you down and tells you “Don’t Do It”.

The “naysayers” tell you it’s a crazy idea that will never work, it’s just not…

Olympia, Washington, May 4, 2012 -- Everyone knows that confidence and success come hand-in-hand. So whether you need a little boost or a lot of building, nationally known equestrian confidence coach Cathy Rivers, as part of her Big Horse Dreams, The Confident Equestrian Program, has designed a new e-Workbook that provides a proven learning progression for mastering confidence skills in order to improve your training, riding, competing, communication and overall enjoyment…

CLAIRE DOROTIK, LMFT

Having spent a lifetime around horses – growing up riding and training horses and later riding at many of the country’s top show barns – Claire, in many ways, understood horses before she understood people.

Claire’s competitive accomplishments include top placings at the Almaden farms Mini Prix, the Michelob Classic Mini Prix, the Monterey Bay Mini Prix, a 2nd place finish…

Lately, I am discovering I like mares more and more. They are so NOT like most of us humans.  They have a refreshing honesty. “If you aren’t going to drive the bus, get out of my way and I’ll do it.” Succinct, blunt and clean with her intention- a mare will get the job done.

Thank you. Bluntness is a gift after so much of passive aggressive chatter like, “Honey,…

Please Like Me! The Power of Non-Demanding Time

Develop the Partnership you have always dreamed for!

You can force horses to do many things, but forcing a horse to like and trust you is impossible. A horse…