Jane Savoie (photo by Susan Sexton)
I had the honor of being interviewed by Jane Savoie about my experiences with clicker training. Jane maintains a wonderful website called Dressage Mentor which is geared toward helping dressage riders address the problems they are having with their horses and riding. A very hot issue for her members is the matter of fear… fear of losing control, fear of falling off, fear of getting seriously hurt by their horses…the list goes on.
In the interview we talked a lot about fear and ways of using clicker training to improve safety. What I said was by focusing on what we want (which is relaxation, focus and responsiveness) we can avoid those situations which lead to getting hurt. In that way we feel safer because the horse is relaxed and confident. A relaxed and confident horse doesn’t need to bolt, buck, or rear. Everyone is happy!
Of course, I said a lot more than just that as the conversation went on on for an hour. 🙂 If you’d like to, you can listen to the whole conversation courtesy of Jane.
Jane Savoie is a very successful GP rider at the international level, a coach, clinician, and an author of several very successful books and DVDs. It is no surprise that she is a fan of clicker training because she already operates from the point of view of breaking problems down into small achievable steps and rewarding each accomplishment. She is good people! Do check out her websites:
What a GREAT INTERVIEW! I loved it. You and Jane had such a good rapport!!
Thanks! I really enjoyed the experience. Jane is super cool!
Yes – Jane is absolutely wonderful, and I love her to pieces.
Nice interview! You really know what you’re talking about…it shows! Looking forward to seeing you in action!
Sharon, what an AWESOME interview you and Jane had. I Really enjoyed listening to it.
Sharon, I attended a clinic you gave at Lauren’s when she was still here in FL and then you worked one session with my horse about 3 years ago, you said ‘Just walk this horse for a year”. I didn’t understand what you meant then, but I certainly do now. I took the clicker training on board and use it every day with my horse, incorporating it along with the natural horsemanship and Jane Savoie’s products. My life is slowly turning around with my horse and yes it does take a lot of patience, not only with him but with me too, I know I have been a bad part of the equation, but my quest in the last year has been trying to understand what I need to do to change so I can help him. With the help I get from caring people around me, you and Jane are included in that, I am starting to enjoy my horse again and appreciate that I do have the tools and understanding (I lost all of that confidence). You are an inspiration, this interview certainly put a big smile on my face. Thank you!
That was great! I feel a bit readjusted. We had such a great summer but I’m doing more fine tuning with him again, this was just what I needed to hear.