The Equine Catalyst

The Equine Catalyst Jody Hartstone is one of the world’s foremost authorities on applying the science of Learning Theory to competition horse training.
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The Equine Catalyst is where Sport, Ethics and Science converge.

09/08/2026

LEADERBOARD DIARIES | Teaching PARK – Part 2

Yesterday we saw that when I walked around Leaderboard, he did what SO many horses do…

He turned to follow me.

Today, I show you how I fix it.

And the important bit is this: I don't simply stop him. I put him back on the line he left.

If Leaderboard was standing facing north and turns east to follow me, I decelerate the movement, then open the appropriate front leg and straighten him until he's facing north again.

Why?

Because that was his original line – and Park means staying there until I give him a clear signal to do something else.

You'll notice that when a horse turns to follow you, the hindquarters can swing dramatically. It's very tempting to focus on pushing those hindquarters back.

But they're not actually where I fix the problem.

👉 I correct the FRONT feet.

The horse's locomotion is largely organised through the forelimbs – they determine the line and direction – so rather than chasing the hindquarters around, I reorganise the front feet and restore the original line.

And watch how quickly Leaderboard gets it.

Within a very short time, my feet moving around him stop predicting that his feet need to move.

He can simply stand.

That's much bigger than having a horse with “good manners”.

A horse that understands Park doesn't have to continually monitor and follow our every movement. It gives him a clear, predictable rule:

Stay here until I give you a cue that means something else.

That predictability can help the horse stay calmer, regulate his arousal and become less dependent on following the human every time they move away – something that can be particularly useful for horses prone to separation-related behaviour.

No dominance.
No “make him respect your space”.
No chasing hindquarters.

Just clear signals, consistent rules and a horse learning exactly what response earns release. ❤️

And Leaderboard is proving to be a very quick study.

OffTheTrack HorseBehaviour

SUNDAY MUSINGS ☕️ | Celebrate the envelopeToday’s Sunday Musings are arriving somewhat later than usual, courtesy of a f...
09/08/2026

SUNDAY MUSINGS ☕️ | Celebrate the envelope

Today’s Sunday Musings are arriving somewhat later than usual, courtesy of a friend’s 50th birthday celebration last night… and perhaps a little too much enthusiasm in the celebrating department. 😂

But something said during the speeches last night has stayed with me.

Someone talked about celebrating the envelope.

Before you even open it. Before you know what’s inside. Before you decide whether what you’ve been given is good, bad, exciting, disappointing, exactly what you wanted - or nothing like what you expected.

Just celebrate the fact that you got an envelope to open.

I thought that was rather lovely. Because so much of life seems to be about judging what’s inside the envelope. Did I get what I wanted? Did things go according to plan?
Did I succeed? Did this person live up to my expectations? Did this chapter of my life turn out the way I imagined it would?

We’re forever assessing the contents. And yet perhaps sometimes we forget what a privilege it is simply to have been handed another envelope.

Another birthday. Another friendship. Another opportunity. Another horse to teach us something. Another place to visit. Another person to meet. Another morning to wake up and wonder what the day might bring.

Some envelopes contain wonderful surprises. Some contain things we would never have chosen. Some probably make absolutely no bloody sense until years later.

And some, given the benefit of hindsight, we might have preferred to return to sender. 😂

But that’s life, isn’t it? We don’t get to know what’s inside before we open them. Maybe the trick isn’t expecting every envelope to contain something wonderful.

Maybe it’s learning to appreciate the privilege of still being here, still collecting them, still opening them - and still being curious about what might be inside the next one.

So here’s to celebrating the envelope. ❤️

And, after last night’s rather enthusiastic celebration, perhaps drinking a large glass of water and some IV Panadol while we open it. 😂

Happy Sunday.

07/08/2026

LEADERBOARD DIARIES | Teaching PARK - Part 1

Does a horse that stays out of your space “respect” you?

Or has it simply been taught to stand still? 🤔

This is the first of two videos teaching Leaderboard one of my fundamental groundwork responses: PARK.

Park simply means: stand still while I move around you, until I give you an actual cue to move.

And there's an important distinction there.

👉 My feet moving are NOT a cue for my horse to move.

I don't want my horses automatically following me simply because I walk somewhere. I want movement to happen in response to a clear, deliberately trained signal – perhaps a lead-rope aid, a touch, a whip cue or another concrete cue that the horse understands.

Why am I so particular about this?

Because one of the fundamental principles of good animal training is consistency. We shouldn't teach one rule in one situation and then expect the opposite somewhere else.

If we teach a horse that “when my feet move, you follow”, what happens when we lead them onto a horse truck or trailer and then walk back out?

Why wouldn't they follow us?

Or when we're grooming a tied-up horse and repeatedly walk around it? If our movement normally means “follow me”, we're suddenly asking the horse NOT to respond to something we've previously taught as a cue.

For some horses, those conflicting rules can create a lot of confusion.

And this is where I think we sometimes make horse training unnecessarily personal.

A horse that walks into your space is often described as “disrespectful”, “rude” or “dominant”.

Codswallop. 😂

Quite often, it simply hasn't been taught to stand still.

Teach the horse to stand still and – hey presto – it stays out of your space.

If you want to call that respect, yay you. 😆

Personally, I have absolutely no idea whether Leaderboard respects me, and I have no particular need for him to. “Respect” is a very human concept.

Do I need him to stand quietly and reliably until I ask him to move?

Absolutely.

Before starting this lesson, Leaderboard had already learned to step backwards from the whip – which is an important prerequisite for how I teach Park.

As you'll see, he's actually naturally pretty good at standing away from me and isn't particularly inclined to crowd my space.

BUT…

👀 Watch what happens when I walk around his side.

He turns to follow me.

Then follows me again.

And again.

At the moment, Leaderboard thinks my movement is his cue to move too.

I don't want that association.

So for today's lesson, we've identified the piece of the puzzle that's missing.

In Part 2, I'll show you exactly how I correct that response and teach him that wherever I go – in front, beside or behind him – his job is simply to PARK until he receives a clear signal to move.

And once a horse truly understands that concept, Park becomes one of the most useful behaviours we can teach.

06/08/2026

Leaderboard Diaries #5... (Yes, I know... after #6! 🤦🏼‍♀️😂) Apparently I can't count! Thanks for rolling with me while I get these back into the right order.

Today's lesson is teaching Leaderboard that a light tap on the chest means "step back."
Like every new cue, he has no idea what it means to begin with, so he learns through trial and error. He offers different responses until he discovers the right answer, and when he steps back, the tapping stops. That's negative reinforcement (pressure and release) in its simplest form - the correct response makes the pressure go away.
But this exercise is about much more than simply reversing.

One of my goals is to give every horse more than one way to understand the same response. I can ask a horse to step back from rein pressure (whether that's on the bit or a noseband), or I can ask from whip pressure. Having multiple cues gives me options, and sometimes the whip is actually the kinder, clearer choice because it avoids having to increase pressure on the horse's nose or mouth if they become heavy while leading.

I actually teach two whip cues for stepping back - one on the foreleg and one on the chest. Both mean "step back" from the halt, but the chest cue is the one that transfers directly to ridden work, making it an incredibly useful foundation exercise.
It also teaches Leaderboard to step backwards by lifting through the base of his neck and shoulder sling (thoracic sling), rather than dragging himself backwards on his forehand.

That matters because, as a racehorse, he's been trained to travel long and low, pulling himself forward to maximise his stride. As a riding horse, we want the opposite - we want him to learn to lift the base of his neck, elevate his shoulders, engage his abdominals, and carry himself with better balance.

Later on, this same cue can help refine downward transitions under saddle, encouraging the horse to shorten the stride before slowing the legs. That creates a more balanced transition and reinforces a quality stop response.

And as you'll see in the next Leaderboard Diary, this step-back cue becomes instrumental in teaching Park. Many of the exercises we teach don't exist in isolation - they become the building blocks for several behaviours later on.

Every lesson on the ground is laying another brick in the foundation for the horse Leaderboard will become.

If you're enjoying following Leaderboard's retraining journey and would like to learn the foundation exercises I teach every horse, check out my free groundwork training via the link in my bio. It's the perfect introduction to my Educated – From the Ground Up course.

05/08/2026

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is expecting a horse to know something they've never actually been taught.

Standing quietly at a mounting block is one of those skills.

For many racehorses, it's simply not part of their education. Jockeys are often legged up while the horse is moving, or they hop on from the ground, so the horse never learns to come alongside an object and wait patiently to be mounted.

With Leaderboard, we spent around 10 minutes introducing the concept. Once he understood the cue, we started testing whether he really understood the idea rather than just one mounting block... so we tried the motorbike, the baleage, the back of the ute, the rail, the trough... and he nailed it.

This isn't just about making life easier for me.

Our hope is that one day Leaderboard will become a great hunting horse. Out hunting you're constantly getting on and off – to open gates, help with hounds, lend a hand to another rider... and yes... sometimes just to duck behind a tree for a quick wee! 😂 Having a horse that will calmly come alongside whatever's available to help you remount is an incredibly valuable life skill.

It's one of those little exercises that improves safety, confidence and communication all at once.

💡 If you'd like to learn exactly how I teach this exercise (and many other practical groundwork skills), I've put together a FREE training resource that introduces the foundations we use before progressing into my Educated: From the Ground Up course.

👉 You'll find the free guide linked in the comments.

Have you taught your horse to come to a mounting block... or could they use a little more practice? 👇

04/08/2026

Train Your Eye – The Drifter - Part 1

I've recently taken this lovely horse on trial, and one thing immediately caught my attention...

Every time I ask him to maintain his own line (by giving the reins and checking for self-carriage of line), he consistently drifts to the left.

But here's the interesting part...

It only happens on one rein.

So now it's your turn.

🧐 What do you notice?

❓What do you think is causing the drift?

🐴 How would you go about fixing it?

Don't overthink it - I'm genuinely interested in what you see.

👇 Pop your thoughts in the comments before Part 2, where we'll start unpicking what's really happening... and why the obvious answer isn't always the correct one.

03/08/2026

Leaderboard Diaries – The Whip as a Neutral Stimulus 🐎

One of the first things I like to establish with any horse is that the whip is simply... neutral.
Before it can become a communication tool, it first needs to be just another object in the horse's world - nothing to fear, nothing to avoid, and nothing to get excited about.

People often assume that an off-the-track Thoroughbred will be worried about a whip. While some horses certainly can be, that wasn't Leaderboard's story. From day one, he was relaxed, accepting, and showed no concern about being touched all over with the dressage whip. A nice, easy tick in the box.

So why bother doing this?
Because I use the whip as an extension of my arm. It allows me to safely reach different parts of the horse's body without stepping into awkward or unsafe positions. Before I can teach him that a light touch in one place means "move your shoulder" or another means "step your hindquarters across," I first need to know that the whip itself carries no emotional baggage.

Only when the whip is a neutral stimulus can it become a clear and effective aid.

With that foundation in place, we're ready to start teaching Leaderboard what those different touches actually mean.

One simple step... but an important one in building calm, clear communication.





02/08/2026

Leaderboard Diaries – Looking After the Whole Horse 💙

Before we ask any horse to learn something new, it's worth asking ourselves an important question...

Can they comfortably do what we're asking?

Today, my good friend Emily King, an equine, elephant and human osteopath, came to give Leaderboard a thorough assessment and treatment as he settles into life after racing.

While there was nothing dramatic to find, Emily picked up a few areas that could benefit from some attention over the coming weeks, including releasing tension through his fascia, helping improve mobility around his poll and TMJ on the right-hand side, and encouraging his body to unwind and adapt to this new chapter.

It's a great reminder that behaviour and performance don't exist in isolation. Looking after the horse means considering both their mind and their body.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Leaderboard responds over the next few weeks as Emily continues to work with him alongside his retraining.

Have you ever noticed a positive change in your horse after bodywork? I'd love to hear your experiences below. 👇





Sunday Musings... ☕️There's something about a quiet coffee on a Sunday morning that invites reflection.This morning's co...
01/08/2026

Sunday Musings... ☕️

There's something about a quiet coffee on a Sunday morning that invites reflection.

This morning's coffee "mugshot" was taken a few short weeks ago in Portugal at a wonderful stables where had taken my tour for training. Finding this photo in my archives took me straight back there - to the horses, the people, the laughter, the experiences I never would have had if I'd stayed in my comfort zone.

This week I came across a quote that simply said you'll never know if something is meant for you unless you give it a proper chance.

It reminded me of something I often say: Just push play.

We spend so much time trying to predict the outcome before we've even begun.

Will it work? Will I fail? Will I get hurt? Will I regret it? The truth is, none of us knows.

But if we never press play, we guarantee we'll never discover what could have been.

Now, I'm not talking about ignoring red flags or making reckless decisions. Do your homework. Ask the questions. Weigh up the risks. But once you've made a decision...

Commit to it. Be present. Be curious. Give it your best shot. Some things won't work out. Some relationships won't last. Some business ideas won't fly. Some dreams will evolve into something completely different.

But I've rarely met someone who regretted giving something their genuine best. More often, it's the opportunities we never pursued that quietly linger in the back of our minds.

As I sat here looking at this well-used mug, I noticed the little chips around the rim. It made me smile. Life isn't about keeping the mug safely on the shelf so it never gets chipped, it's about using it often enough that every mark tells a story.

So whatever you've been sitting on...

The conversation. The application. The trip. The horse. The business idea. The relationship. Maybe this is your reminder to stop trying to skip to the final chapter.

Just push play.

Have a wonderful Sunday. ❤️

31/07/2026

🐴 Episode 2 – Loading the Clicker
One of the questions I'm often asked is how I'll be retraining Leaderboard as a riding horse.
Will I use pressure and release? Clicker training? Food rewards?
The answer is that I'll be using the full toolbox of learning theory. Throughout Leaderboard's retraining, I'll be using both negative reinforcement (pressure and release) and positive reinforcement (food rewards), choosing the most appropriate approach for what I'm teaching and what will help him learn most effectively.
One of the very first things I like to do with any new horse is load the clicker.
Before I can use positive reinforcement effectively, Leaderboard first needs to understand one simple rule:
Click = a food reward is coming.
By teaching this now, I have another communication tool available throughout his education. Whether it's introducing something he finds challenging, helping with husbandry procedures like worming or clipping, or shaping a new behaviour, the clicker allows me to reward the exact moment he gets it right.
After just two short sessions, Leaderboard is already confidently making that connection, giving us another valuable tool as we begin this next chapter together.
Good training isn't about choosing one method over another-it's about understanding how horses learn and using the right tool at the right time. 💙🧡
📖 Leaderboard: The Next Chapter - one lesson at a time.

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