80 SIDELINES DECEMBER 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
From
Killer
Whales
To
Horses
By Lauren R. Giannini
Every equestrian has a tale of who and what influenced their
horsemanship, but Shawna Karrasch offers a most unusual set
of credentials: for 10 years she worked with orcas, dolphins and
other sea mammals, training and performing with them for the
public at Sea World in San Diego, California. Her experiences
led to the development of her business, On Target Training, and
resulted in an entirely new direction for Shawna’s mission in life.
“On Target Training is not just clicker training – it is about
positive reinforcement, good rewards all the time, to help horses
to love jumping, to overcome their fears, to be bolder, to be
braver,” Shawna said. “Through positive reinforcement, we
can help horses to learn to enjoy themselves. We get a better
performance and a more balanced animal. My motivation is the
opportunity to help horses and horse folks to have better lives and
better relationships with each other.”
It isn’t that big of a leap from training killer whales to training
horses. In fact, the idea of applying positive reinforcement
techniques to equines resulted when Shawna watched her first
ever show jumping grand prix in Del Mar in 1992. “By then, I was a
senior trainer at Sea World and the next step was for me to go into
management and that meant less animal interactions and more
paperwork,” she said. “I wasn’t itching to leave. I was just aware
of the transition. When I got involved with horses, I was hooked.”
The defining moment happened two years after Del Mar:
Shawna took her first riding lesson at Rancho Santa Fe where
she met show jumper Vinton Karrasch. They got together and
brainstormed what would become On Target Training, which
Shawna has continued to build and grow since their partnership
and marriage ended.
“Vinton is a good guy. We were so excited about working
together, but we didn’t consider that this sort of behavioral
Shawna made the leap
from killer whale trainer to
horse trainer, using positive
reinforcement.
Photo by David Roberts
Shawna and Mint, a horse she got from John and Beezie
Madden, and the star of On Target Training. Mint has traveled
all over the country doing demonstrations with Shawna and you
can catch him on the YouTube video “Clicker Trained Horse
Remembers After 7 Years!”
Photo by David Mayer
Continued on page82
