Lightbulb Moment: Body Work isn’t just for Horses

Editor’s Note: Best Horse Practices Summit presenter Katrin Silva grew up riding dressage in Germany before moving to the United States at age 19 to learn to ride Western. She’s been riding both disciplines for the last twenty years and is a regular guest columnist for […]

Value the Start: 9 Good Ways

My Horse Won’t Go!

Editor’s Note: Amy Skinner is a regular guest columnist and has been a horse gal since age six. She will present with fellow trainer and rider, Katrin Silva, at the Best Horse Practices Summit. Skinner rides and teaches dressage and Western. Skinner has studied at […]

The True Cost of a 30-day Start

How to be a Good Student

Whit Hibbard: Low Stress Livestock Clinic

Whit Hibbard, a fourth generation Montana rancher and protégé of the legendary Bud Williams, will conduct a one-day, intensive workshop on Low Stress Stockmanship. The day-long class will be held May 16 at the Dolores Public Library and is hosted by Tim McGaffic and Ginny […]

Learning Schools and How to Avoid Tribalism

Cayuse Communications has published many articles on horses’ learning processes. We’ve featured pieces on optimal learning and long-term potentiation, the role of attention, dopamine/reward cycles, and negative reinforcement. Our article on the cons of clicker training drew a lot of attention from the training method’s fans and detractors […]

WiseAssWallace on Colt-Starting Competitions

Editor’s Note: WiseAssWallace is a beloved guest columnist for Cayuse Communications. From his Colorado pasture, he’s on a quest to improve horse-human connections and make lives better for his fellow equines. In this latest installment, WAW weighs in on colt-starting competitions. Read more from WiseAssWallace […]

Will Evidence-Based go the way of Natural Horsemanship?

When does a term outlive its usefulness? Decades ago, “natural horsemanship” started out as a term to describe what was, for the most part, a more gentle, thoughtful, from-the-horse’s-perspective type of work. The phrase was used prominently by Pat Parelli and it soon became shorthand […]

Clicker Training: Thumbs Up or Down?

Editor’s Note: In conversations, interviews, and observations of scores of horsemen, I’ve come to understand that ‘pressure and release’ or negative reinforcement, is an extremely effective method for working with horses. Since horses use negative reinforcement on each other, it’s easy to understand. Understand more […]