Lead a Horse to Water Trudi Dempsey

In this episode I am thrilled to talk wild and feral horses with the wonderful Samantha (Sam) Couper PhD. We delve into Sam's back story right up to her present day training with her own horses and her work as a behaviour consultant.



Sam is Board Chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a group dedicated to compiling citizen observations of the Onaqui wild horses in Utah, USA, in the pursuit of research and public education. With the foundation, Sam teaches a course on wild horses at the University of Utah three times a year.

Sam ended a career in Materials Science to pursue
education about wild horse behaviour and to become a full time behaviour consultant.






Where to find Samantha Couper PhD:

https://equineabcs.com

https://onaquicatalogue.org

https://www.youtube.com/@onaquiwildhorsesutahusa3122

https://www.facebook.com/equineabcs

https://www.instagram.com/equineabcs

https://www.tiktok.com/@equineabcs

In this episode I chat to Polly Smeath about rope halters and controlling horses when leading.
Polly has an extensive background in the world of
horses, a passion that has woven throughout her life since childhood. Born into
a family with a history of racehorses, Polly's earliest memories include a
vivid encounter with a tall, dark brown horse at the age of two. Her journey as
a "pony mad youngster" began at the age of nine, marked by a
memorable fall from a skewbald pony named Star Trek, who had been rescued with
severe laminitis.
 
Undeterred by challenges, Polly persevered through early
riding school experiences, determined to regain her confidence and with time
spent at Anne Cory's yard, where she was exposed to her gentle lunging methods
and innovative ideas about fitness regimes Polly flourished and after she
followed the working pupil route at Oldencraig Equestrian Centre and then
received a  bursary from the Leonardo Da
Vinci foundation that took her to Denmark for training, an experience that
influenced her deeply despite witnessing some unsettling practices.
 
Upon returning, Polly, now a mother, started forming her own
opinions on horse care. Throughout her career, she has gravitated towards
rehabilitating horses in need, focusing on understanding and connecting with
them. Today, she primarily works in hoof care, specialising in helping horses
express themselves and be heard, embodying a philosophy of awareness,
lightness, and softness in her approach.

Find Polly via the UK clicker training group on Facebook or get in touch with me and I can put you in touch.

Sooz Foster joins me again and this time we're talking self control. We consider horses and dogs, whether they can have self-control and how we can build build patterns to help.



You can find Sooz these days at https://soozdogtraining.co.uk/ or come and join me training at her new club https://www.dreamsdogclub.co.uk/

Or catch us both presenting at Understand Horses Live in July https://www.understandhorses.com/understand-horses-live

I was thrilled to be able to talk to Dr Eduardo J Fernandez on the podcast. Not only is he an amazing applied behaviour researcher but he is great at putting some of the more technical definitions into easy to understand terminology.

Our discussion centres around training as enrichment but there were also some rabbit holes and side stories that we delved into.


Eduardo J. Fernandez is a Senior
Lecturer of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the School of Animal and
Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide (Australia). He received his
Ph.D. in Psychology (minors in Neuroscience and Animal Behavior) from Indiana
University, where he worked with the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Zoo. He
received his M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas,
where he founded the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals
(ORCA). Most of his past and current work involves behavioral research applied
to the welfare and training of zoo, aquarium, and companion animals. His past positions
include a Visiting Professorship in the Psychology Department at Seattle
Pacific University, a Visiting Professorship in the School of Behavior Analysis
at the Florida Institute of Technology, an Affiliate Assistant Professorship in
the Psychology Department at the University of Washington, a Research
Fellowship with Woodland Park Zoo, and a National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellowship. While working with UW and the Woodland Park Zoo, he
started the Behavioral Enrichment Animal Research (BEAR) group, which conducted
welfare research with many of the species and exhibits located throughout the zoo.
He currently runs the Operant Welfare Lab (OWL), which is dedicated to the use
of learning principles to improve the lives of animals. OWL is also part of the
broader Animal Behaviour, Welfare, and Anthrozoology Lab (ABWAL; abwal.com). Many
of Eduardo’s past publications, research projects, and presentations can be
found on his ResearchGate profile:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eduardo-Fernandez-27

Some of the studies/reviews that we mention can be found below and are open access.
You can contact Dr Fernandez at: eduardo.fernandez@adelaide.edu.au

Fernandez, E. J. (2022). Training as enrichment: A critical
review. Animal Welfare, 31(1), 1-12.

Fernandez, E. J., & Martin, A. L. (2021). Animal
training, environmental enrichment, and animal welfare: A history of behavior
analysis in zoos. Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens, 2(4), 531-543.

Fernandez, E. J. (2020). Training petting zoo sheep to act
like petting zoo sheep: An empirical evaluation of response-independent
schedules and shaping with negative reinforcement. Animals, 10(7), 1122.

In this episode I had a fabulous chat with Heather. We had aimed to look at what draws people to more 'glamorous' 'from different world' trainers but it turned into a wonderful introspective (well certainly for me, I hope Heather enjoyed it too).

We ask how to be credible.
What are our insecurities
How to collaborate and build connections.

If you are a trainer, a coach, a consultant, a business woman, a horse lover...this one is for you.


Heather helps horses and people learn to be comfortable with healthcare procedures using positive reinforcement
training. She also help horses and riders with getting started
under saddle, as well as ways to help develop confidence
with riding. In her own words she's a failed traditional horsewoman. She understands traditional skills and methodologies, and how and why they work, but after thirty years working with horses she did not have the kind of success she has now with positive reinforcement training. She have had Fibromyalgia for nearly 40 years. This has given her deep insight into how chronic pain and fatigue affects all aspects of life, for people and animals. It's because of this that she's been drawn to study neuroscience, behavior, biomechanics, and so forth.
Her life experiences with neurodivergence (because, she says, she has a weird brain) and chronic illness have given her some really strong opinions on the one-size-fits-all approach in American culture, and in the equestrian industry in general, particularly with respect to learning.

Heather is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/equusintegratus

and her website:

https://equusintegratus.com

In this final (for now) episode on cues I look at transferring cues which is great if you want to tidy up your complex cues or change your original cue for something more appropriate.

Please share these short episodes and let me know if you've tried any of my suggestions for improving your cues!