Continuing Education

The froth is strong with this one.  Now picture that, while training.  Only add more froth...

Carrying on with my plan to have a monthly continuing education post, this month I'd like to bring attention to Alexandra Kurland's Equiosity podcast.  Alexandra is likely best known for her book "Clicker Training for Your Horse."  While her podcast does focus primarily on horses, the principles and methods that she discusses can be applied to any species.  Her attention to small body movements, animal stance and her ability to split behaviors into ever smaller sections are beneficial to anyone interested in training.  I enjoy listening to trainers of species I don't normally work with because they often have a slightly different way of approaching something or may use equipment or the environment in ways that I hadn't thought of before.  It allows me to broaden my horizons and learn to start looking at the animal I'm working with and the space I'm working in, in a more perceptive (I hope) manner.

The Equiosity website also offers webinars with leaders in the field of animal behavior and training.  Last month I took the Dr. Susan Friedman webinar and loved it!  The webinar itself was two and a half hours long and well worth the price.  You can also purchase the webinars after they've aired at a slightly higher rate.  And as always, I love the fact that the webinar gets saved so that I can view it at my convenience.  With the added benefit of being able to replay any section that I want while I'm taking notes.  This was my first time taking an Equiosity webinar and I definitely recommend it.

On a less education based note, I have thoroughly enjoyed The Habitat podcast.  This podcast is based around the lives of a group of people who volunteer for a one year project to synthesize what astronauts will have to deal with on Mars.  The group stays mostly contained within a habitat on a Hawaiian island and they chronicle what it is like as they emulate situations that astronauts will be dealing with on the eventual manned trip to Mars.  I didn't anticipate being super into it, but I really enjoyed it.  It's not as nerdy as it might sound.  Think of a less dramatic reality show about fake astronauts. :)