Public Relations Contact: Equine Resources International, LLC
Lua Oas Southard 610-444-7554

"What a bunch of animals!" the horses must have thought as they were led past pot-bellied pigs, skinks, frogs, and ferrets to their stalls. "Nothing fazes them anymore," trainer Shawna Karrasch laughed. "They're pros!"

The expo attendees were fascinated by the demonstrations. Shawna and Vinton enjoyed meeting whole families of animal lovers, and explained how they use their popular new system to encourage or correct behavior in horses.

Many novice and aspiring horse owners in the audience were impressed by how easily-and usually eagerly-the horses were motivated by the On Target Training system of reward reinforcements. Owners of other animals showered Vinton and Shawna with questions about how they might apply the On Target principles to their own species.

"On Target was developed for performing with marine mammals, and the basic principles are the same, no matter what you are trying to train. Any animal will respond to this system," Shawna patiently explained again and again.

"A lot of people at Fort Washington were not 'horse people'," Shawna and Vinton report. "But that also meant they weren't full of pre-conceived notions about how to train a horse. They just thought our horses were like big dogs. And if a dog that big would cooperate, maybe there was hope for their puppies at home!"

In addition to twice daily demonstrations of mounted and ground-based training with the On Target system, Shawna and Vinton stabled their horses - George, Mint, Dandy and Hershey - in the public aisles, so that visitors could come close and get to know them. "Our young horse, Dandy, is just 11 months old, and he loved being the center of attention," Shawna laughed.

Also while in Pennsylvania, Shawna and Vinton participated in a Purina Equine Education Series seminar presented by Oxford Feed & Lumber, in Oxford, PA, on March 16. This evening session included slides of their work, excerpts from training videos, and an extended question-and-answer period with about 80 interested horse enthusiasts from the area.

"This was a quick change of gears from the family atmosphere at the Expo," Shawna recalls. "These were horse people with real-life situations. They needed specific solutions to their horses' problems, and no two questions were the same!"

About On Target Training
On Target Training is a positive-reinforcement system that helps motivate horses and other animals to exhibit a desired behavior by offering a reward.

A "reward reinforcement" system of training motivates the horse to perform an action; when the act is performed correctly and on cue, the trainer presents the horse with a reward. This contrasts with the "removal reinforcement" method used in most traditional horse training systems. Removal reinforcement is typified by the cue normally used to ask a horse to stop-the pressure exerted on the horse's mouth is removed when it begins to slow.

Shawna and Vinton add the use of a 'clicker' to their method. Used as a 'bridge signal', the sound of the clicker becomes an auditory link between the trainer's request and the two resulting actions - "I did this" and "I got a reward" - in the horse's brain.

The Karraschs also use a "target"- a visual device to help teach horses basic skills such as trailer loading and clipping.

Sponsored by Purina Mills, Inc., Pfizer Animal Health and Jamco Trailers, people from across the country have had a chance to see Shawna and Vinton at numerous well-attended events and expos.