Would you like your horse to be motivated to go?
To engage with you?
To explore the world?
To be willing and eager to respond to your aids?
Yet with calmness and to be patient when required?
Would you like training to be fun, not work?
Targeting is a tool that no horse person should be without. Traditional artificial aids include the whip and spurs. These rely on the horse’s motivation to move away from things and avoid discomfort. The target is also an artificial aid or tool. Targeting is trained using reward based methods and relies on the horse’s motivation to seek out a pleasant experience. Targeting creates positive enthusiasm and effort in even the most ‘lazy’ of horses, while at the same time calming the fearful horse.
The target as a tool can be used to teach anything you wish, from lateral work to trailer loading. It has been used perhaps most famously by Shawna Karrasch and Beezie Madden (Olympic medal winning showjumper for the USA) to work with showjumpers. I use it routinely when dealing with behaviour problems and when starting young horses. It’s also a great way to introduce fun and games into your horse’s life.
In this one day introduction to targeting, we will look at the theory behind why the target works. We will do practical exercises to help us understand it’s applications. We will learn how to introduce the horse to the target for the first time and how to build on this introduction. Then we will discuss moving forwards and how each of you might be able to usefully integrate the target into your training.
The course runs from 10.30am to 4pm. Cost for the day is £25 per person. There are four horse places available, at a cost of £10 per horse. Places are limited so book soon to avoid disappointment! Course is near Glenavy, Northern Ireland, on Saturday 25th June 2016.
Contact me (Dr Helen Spence) on 07773 157428 in order to book your place or for further information. Email info@helenspencehorsesense.co.uk
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Clicker Happy Horse... Horse Sense with Helen Spence 
Targeting has transformed my horse and how we interact. I’ve been doing it for 3 years now and my horse LOVES it. It helps all his behaviours and riding now. It taught me to be so much more perceptive. There is always so much more to learn but we both love it.
Helen is a wonderful and highly respected teacher and I guarantee that if you do it, and stay with it, you will love it too and it will transfer your relationship with your horse.
Thank you Liz. You have worked so hard with Drum- And you are very lucky to have a wonderful trainer and behaviourist like Nikki Chamberlain to work with you :-).