Training Philosophy

I'm not your mother's trainer. Or rather, I'm really not your father's trainer. My horse training philosophy is anything but traditional. You won't find me "bitting up" a hot horse to attempt to gain more control - heck, you'll probably have a hard time even finding a bit in my tack room - using a crop to stop a horse from refusing a jump, or even shoes on any of my horses. We're a little different around here, and you know what? The horses are healthier and happier because of it.

I specialize in "problem horses", but I prefer to train without causing horses to shut down or just comply against their will. With that, requires an equine education unlike trainers before me. Using behavior modification rooted in positive reinforcement, I teach my clients to address their horse's issues by discussing classical conditioning, operant conditioning, the learning quadrants, counter conditioning, and systematic desensitization.

We will take a force-free, positive reinforcement focused approach to improving your connection with your horse and encouraging critical thinking. With every owner and horse pair, we discuss equine body language, fear and anxiety thresholds, labels, and debunking traditional training paradigms like dominance theory, join-up, and respect.

Emma will teach you how to improve your communication with your horse at all levels of training and set achievable goals for your partnership to blossom.

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Now with that being said, of course there is some fine print. Not everyone is going to find me the best fit for them and I am not going to find myself the best fit for every client. For example, there may be limiting factors outside of an owner's control that prevent me from being able to work with the horse or an owner may be looking for a specific training tactic which I do not provide. Below are some statements which describe what I'm talking about a little more in depth.

Compromised Learning Statement

“For learning to take place, several things must be in place. Learning can be compromised in injured, ill, or painful individuals; therefore, good health and sensory health can optimize learning. Learning cannot occur well with distractions. So both humans and animals must be in a calm environment without distractions. Other major constraints on learning are fear and anxiety, which generally underlie many of the behavior problems seen in animals. Learning new things is difficult when an animal is highly emotionally aroused. When animals are actively performing an unwanted behavior, they are focused on what is happening at the time and unlikely to focus on learning something new, making the situation far from an optimal learning environment. This is why the implementation of management and environmental controls is so important, but if these do not decrease the arousal level so learning can occur, some animals may need medication included in their overall treatment plan, to help reduce excessive arousal and facilitate treatment. Additionally, the ability to learn a new task or association is often dependent on the intensity, frequency, speed, or some other attribute of the stimulus that causes the reaction. Therefore, to be successful, a stimulus gradient must be identified so that an animal is able to learn a new behavior while calm and under threshold limitations. Finally, for learning to occur, a behavior treatment program must be tailored to needs, desires, temperament, and threshold of individual animals," taken from Common Sense Behavior Modification written by Debra F. Horwitz, DVM and Amy L. Pike, DVM in the Behavior: A Guide for Practitioners May 2014 issue.

If the implementation of management changes via environmental controls or veterinary care is recommended at the time of evaluation during any session but is not completed by the time of a follow

This may include seeing your vet for lameness, injury, difficulty breathing, body condition, or psychopharmacology as well as changing your horse's housing situation, removing a disruptive or threatening stimulus, changing a feeding schedule, or adding enrichment.

Translation: If I believe your horse requires veterinary attention or is experiencing discomfort related to management styles, Emma Lee Horsemanship reserves the right to refuse any services until changes have been made.

Position on Dominance Theory

Here is a link to my position on dominance theory on the website of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).

Translation: Dominance Theory was debunked. Decades ago. I will never tell you that the reason your horse is expressing unwanted behavior is because he is trying to assert his dominance or recommend you assert your dominance over your horse to correct a behavior.

LIMA Use Statement

Here is a link to an explanation of the LIMA approach on the website of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).

Translation: No matter what kind of training tool is being implemented in a session with a horse, I will always use the Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive (LIMA) approach. We will never resort to inhumane methods.

Flooding Position Statement

And last but not least, here is a link to an explanation of "flooding" while working with an animal also found directly on the website of the International Association of Animal Consultants (IAABC).

Translation: If you've ever seen a YouTube video where someone is waving a plastic bag in a horse's face or has covered their whole body in a tarp and only removes that object when the horse has stopped moving, well, it's not cool, and we don't believe in those tactics either. There are much more humane ways to desensitize a horse that will actually instill confidence, not give them anxiety.