I coach people in how to train their horses with Positive Reinforcement, also known as Clicker Training and other humane science based, force-free approaches to changing behaviour and emotional associations such as fear and also learning how to train new behaviours/skills. When we train in this way, we create a wonderful mutual relationship of enjoyable and pleasurable experiences. This is the path to developing real mutual trust, through the horse owner being someone the horse values and who is consistently and predictably kind and generous.
I can help locally with hands-on coaching and training and I also do online coaching. This type of horse training really lends itself to people learning online. I will discuss your past history including any health issues and your goals and then I formulate written plans, provide video examples and support with written advice and view client video to improve their training skills.
I focus on empowering the human and animal learner to understand not only the ‘why’, but the ‘how’ of what they are doing with their horses. I impart theoretical knowledge, in order to facilitate them eventually planning and writing out their own training plans independently.
I focus strongly on the emotions of the horse and have a solid understanding of equine behaviour, including calming, displacement and appeasement behaviours, which helps guide my advice to clients.
I am a life long learner and am always searching for further Professional Development. My bio on my website details past learning and am currently enrolled with Professor Susan Friedman’s Living and Learning with Animals course scheduled for August, 2019.
I was enjoying riding and training my horses and getting some great results. But the more training I did, the more I found there was something lacking and the more I questioned what I was doing and really looked at my horses and wondered about whether they were actually having fun, the more dissatisfied I became. I started really looking at my horses and thinking about things from their point of view and also that what I was making them do was affecting them not only emotionally and psychologically, but also physically. It also caused me to look holistically at how I could improve their lives through going barefoot, bitless and learning about their needs as a species and how best I could match their needs as closely as possible in a domestic situation.
This thinking set me on a path to find a better way to train and interact with my horses. I wanted a way to train, where they had equal say, enjoyed what we were doing as much as I did and which was an effective way to communicate. Importantly I also wanted to incorporate choice and control, in order for them to have free choice, as well as having fun!
Once I discovered there was a solid science behind how all of us learn – every organism on the planet and that there was a way to harness this knowledge to communicate with our horses and teach them things without removing their free will or their unique personality and spirit – I was hooked.
Once I saw how my horses reacted and literally changed and bloomed in front of my eyes, I needed to help others enjoy the same special relationship I had developed with my horses. It’s not quick and it’s not easy, it’s an organic process where my horses learn how to learn, learn how to trust and best of all learn about how joyful life truly can be when they have a say and a voice.
I can help any horse owner who is prepared to change their behaviour in order to improve their horses’ lives. Any horse owner who is prepared to empathise with their horses and any owner who is ready to think outside the box and embrace a new way of being with their horses which is cutting edge training in the horse world and in fact in the animal training world.
As I’ve said previously, the beauty of this way of being with our horses, based on up to date science, can be learnt in person, but lends itself really well to learning online via written lesson plans and personalised individual video tutorials. I acknowledge that every person and horse and their history, environment and needs are unique, and I will tailor a plan to their unique circumstances.
Pauline Keil helped me with my unhandled brumby and was AMAZING! I was so new to +R, he was my first one trained without the use of NH and she really helped me.
(JessicaLea)
Last weekend I met the lovely Pauline Keil. She taught me how to take the first steps in training my horse with positive reinforcement. Today I’ve done four sessions on target training with Bella and she is all over it! Bella and I have had a rough few months and it’s just making my heart burst to see how much she is enjoying these sessions. Thank you Pauline! 
(Lisa)
It is high time I gave a big shout out to the wonderful Pauline Keil for helping me to realise that Belle’s nickering during training isn’t just a cutesy expression of enthusiasm endearing though it is but is in fact a great example of over arousal. Nickering a greeting is one thing but nickering on repeat for the entire session is over the top. Bless her. It took me some time to really “get” this but suggestions from Pauline have revolutionised my thought processes and made me so much more aware of horsey emotions. Suffice it to say, I am now actively seeking ways to approach Belle that don’t set her off into overdeveloped paroxysms of long lasting joy bordering on hysteria. So far, a round bale as well as hiding training paraphernalia are having a positive effect.
(Caroline)
One of the nicest ripple effects of the foundation training I’ve been doing with Flynn dude has been the fact that I’m no longer harassed by him at every given opportunity and I can walk through the Paddock without him being on top of me all the time. Before getting coaching I had literally become nervous of being in the Paddock as I was 6 months pregnant and he was trying to mug me whether I had food or not. Once we got started with Pauline she asked me to spend time sitting at a good distance in PC and be unpredictable as much as possible. Also only ever calling him to train when his focus was fully elsewhere so he never anticipated it. I did as suggested and spent at least 10 mins a day sometimes more just pottering at a safe distance . I was really sceptical about how this would work, but it did and he now ignores me unless it’s feeding or training time and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted. We pass each other as I’m poo picking. I touch his face (only place I’m certain he likes) and we go our separate ways
(Emma)
I take a holistic approach to horse ownership which involves humane empathetic training and interactions, science based force-free horse care, incorporating a good understanding of the specific needs of the equine species.
I can offer experiences, training and even a budding agility course with my own 3 horses on my property in the SE Suburbs of Melbourne, Australia or can visit people where they are in Melbourne to assist with the training and interactions with their own equines.