S6 E6: Blondie’s New Life - with Dr Michaela Hempen
I’m delighted to welcome Dr Michaela Hempen back to An Equine Conversation. We first met Michaela back in Season 3, Episode 4, where we heard about her Masters research project in crib-biting with a palomino horse call Blondie.
This episode, we’re getting to hear more about the journey that was becoming Blondie’s owner which took Blondie from a life in a small space and not being allowed to have much of a voice, to a horse living out 24/7, whose voice is heard, and we explore some of what happened during that transition.
Dr Michaela Hempen:
Dr Michaela Hempen has graduated in Veterinary Medicine with a PhD in Veterinary Public Health. She works at the European Food Safety Authority as a Scientific Officer in the area of biological hazards (bacteria, viruses, parasites) and animal welfare.
She also has a Masters's degree in Equine Science. Her thesis was supervised by Dr Jesus Rosales Ruiz from North Texas University, that we’ll be discussing today.
Michaela has been addicted to horses since early childhood. Her first horse Asfaloth is still with her and has since been joined by Graya and Blondie. Michaela’s training with horses has been most strongly influenced by:
Horse trainer, author and podcaster Alexandra Kurland of The Clicker Centre,
Anja Beran, head of the internationally renowned ‘Gut Rosenhof’ training centre in Germany who uses classical dressage as physiotherapy for horses, and
the Feldenkrais method which has been integral to the improvement of Michaela’s riding and interaction with horses.
These 3 things have been to a lesser extent, all part of my journey too, so I resonate with Michaela’s journey.
Michaela has been involved in organising, hosting and presenting at various clinics and workshops for and with Alexandra Kurland & also involving Dr Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, and Mary Hunter. In 2021 Michaela co-presented with Alexandra at Clicker Expo Live, and the year after, both Michaela and Alexandra hosted an online workshop that combined dressage and clicker training with Anja Beran as a special guest.
Also, in 2022, Michaela taught students of a German certification programme for horse-assisted interventions.
Michaela offers personalised online coaching for horse owners, which is based on learning from Alexandra Kurland & Anja Beran. You can find more information on Michaela’s Clicker Training Pferde website, Facebook page, YouTube and Instagram – links we will share with you in the show notes together with her science-related profiles for those interested.
In this episode we discuss:
(1:29) - episode & guest introduction
(4:59) - welcome & where in the world: climate & landscape
(7:41) - the wildlife
(9:51) - heat & the horses lifestyle
(11:04) - hay & managing a herd with diverse needs
(14:29) - individualised feeding
(16:08) - automated systems gaining popularity in Germany
(21:36) - Blondie’s cribbing: an update
(24:59) - an update on the cribbing research write-up: bringing 2 different philosophies on behaviour together
(31:18) - we need both philosophies as equine caregivers: a holistic approach
(33:31) - we need to test assumptions
(37.38) - on the challenges in the competition world
(40:16) - training challenges & adventures with Blondie after her very different life before & no handling until owning her
(43:54) - the 1st surprise
(45:07) - the next challenge & how it was overcome
(48:53) - dealing with the peer pressure/social situation
(56:37) - the delay in moving Blondie
(58:55) - ‘no’ to saddling & a training plan to get to a ‘yes’
(1:11:11) - top tips for you
(1:17:22) - where can you find out more about learning with Michaela & Blondie’s journey
(1:23:51) - episode wrap-up & what’s on next week
Links from Michaela:
Website: Clicker Training Pferde
Facebook: Clicker Training Pferde
Instagram: Clicker Training Pferde
Dr Jesus Rosales Ruiz & Mary Hunter: Behavior Explorer
‘Tactics of Scientific Research Evaluating Experimental Data in Psychology’ - Murray Sidman
Our links mentioned this episode:
Abbey's Run Equestrian website
Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook
Abbey’s Run Equestrian on YouTube
Abbey’s Run Equestrian on LinkedIn
Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email info@blissery.fm