Setting Your Livestock Up For Success
In this podcast, Lisa Wright chats to Bex Tasker and Karin Stillberg. This is our first for Mount Murray Farm, we talk about sheep, alpacas, chickens, dogs and horses. With the philosophy of Reward Based Training in mind, we have also shared this one with all of the Canine Ed Family on the Canine Ed Podcast Channel too, as well. My big take away with our conversation in this podcast is to do what is manageable. We often can't make the experiences of our animals purely positive but we can aim for the least invasive, minimally aversive scenarios. We talk about putting work into the 'Trust Bank'.
Bex Tasker lives on a small farm in Western Bay of Plenty, New Zealand with her animals and young family, and travel around my beautiful country and overseas to deliver clinics and lessons to horses and their passionate and dedicated humans. As well as the "real life" teaching, she has a thriving online membership community, and runs regular coaching intensives with students from all over the world. In early 2019 Bex partnered with her good friend and experienced youth worker Brooke Friend to establish a successful youth programme, focused around ethical horse training, life skills and mental health.
Bex first learned about science-based animal training in 2001 and quickly became obsessed with learning everything she could about the science and the art of training and behaviour, and particularly the use of positive reinforcement (clicker training) with dogs and horses. Bex feels fortunate enough to learn in person from some of the world's best positive reinforcement trainers, including the incredible Dr Susan Friedman, Ken Ramirez, Dr Bob Bailey, Kay Laurence Shawna Karrasch, Mary Concannon, Steve White and Peta Clarke. Bex also reads extensively and continuously on the topic, both published books as well as various online groups and sites. It's been almost 20 years now and the learning never stops!
Karin's clicker training journey started more than a decade ago and she has through the years been lucky to learn from people such as Eva Bertilsson (Carpe Momentum), Peggy Hogan and Dr Susan Friedman. Her passion for cooperative care and exploration in providing a stress free environment for her animal friends has also been reflected in her becoming a Fear Free Certified Professional. On top of clicker training for animals she is also interested in the human aspects of Applied Behaviour Analysis and has e.g. gone through TAGteach training.
