Target Training
Ever wondered what target training is or why it might be useful?
Join us at our Target Training Workshop on Saturday 14th June 2025 10am 1pm and 1.30pm to 4.30pm. Join for a half day or a full day of learning and development!
This workshop takes place at Dukes Livery and Cross Country, near Portadown, Northern Ireland, and the venue is kindly sponsored by Equine-X , as part of their ‘Keeping it Real’ ethos, for horse wellbeing and performance.
This will be a practical clinic type workshop, with a morning session from 10am to 1pm and an afternoon session from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.
Horse places are £40 per session (or £70 for the full day) and spectator places are £20 per session (or £35 for the full day).
In order to book just click on the link in the comments to complete the form.
Discover the variety of ways in which target training can be used to create behaviours, from basic groundwork skills to veterinary care to trailer loading. Help your strong insensitive horse become light and responsive, help your reactive worried horse become calm and engaged. Practical workshop with opportunity to bring own horse.
One of the biggest advantages of target training is that if taught well, it is 100% appetitive, meaning that the target is associated with very positive mental state. However, the key is in how it is introduced. It is very important that this is done with a focus on calmness and relaxation, and whether you are using food or scratches as the reward, you need to understand the importance of assessing the horse and paying attention to how they are feeling and how this relates to the training: we covered this in our last workshop, for more information see my blog!
I first learned about a very simple form of target training back in 1999 when I visited behaviourist Linda Hams. She very kindly demonstrated how she had taught her horse to load using the target. I used this a lot over the years with my own and client’s horses. Then in 2012 I brought Shawna Karrasch, author of ‘On Target Training’ over to do a series of workshops and demos in the UK. I began to realise that quite a bit of the other training that I was doing was also target training, just a different form. And Shawna inspired me to further explore other ways that I could make use of targets to shape behaviours that traditionally would have to be taught using pressure. I had already taught my young mare to do a bit of ridden work without tack but I was able to develop this much further as a result and refine some of what I did when starting youngsters.
Target training is a skill that anyone can learn and it can be a very valuable tool in the trainer’s tool kit. It isn’t just for solving problems, it is for training all kinds of behaviours, whether that is husbandry such as worming or injections, eye or ear examination, hoof care, or groundwork and ridden skills from loose jumping to long reining, responsiveness to leg or rein aids, in hand work to liberty.
When we work this way, we tend to have a much more optimistic, responsive, willing horse, and with care in how we do it, we can also have a horse that is calmer, more focused, engaged but still relaxed.
I would count it as one of the basic skills that all trainers should have. Even if you don’t use it all the time, there are always times were it will be the most appropriate/ most useful thing to turn to.
For me, it provides the perfect alternative to pressure based training. When you understand how to do it and you see the difference it makes to the horses, you will be inspired!
If you are curious about what it is, or would like to get started with your own horse, book on, we’d love to see you!
Also check out other Workshops in Craigavon, Arts events in Craigavon, Literary Art events in Craigavon.
