Hertha L. James

Hertha believes that many people can learn enough about training with positive reinforcement to set up a good deal for their horses, and teach them what they have to know to live comfortably in a human-dominated environment. The key is to teach in a way the horse can understand. We want him to be continually successful as he learns new habits and tasks.

Growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Hertha now lives in New Zealand. She fell in love with horses at age six, after a ride on a big black horse. Animals of all kinds have always been an important part of her work and leisure.

Hertha’s career with animals began with a zoology degree and includes working as a zookeeper in Calgary and Wellington, New Zealand, as well as handling wild and exotic species for a movie production company. Her animal experiences stood her in good stead when she changed careers to become a high school teacher of science and biology. Her classrooms always contained a menagerie ranging from axolotls to quail.

Her other passion, the creation of teaching and learning resources, grew from her experiences as a teacher. Teaching science to teenagers for 23 years honed her ability to structure information clearly. It taught her how to build new knowledge in small steps and integrate it with the information and beliefs already held by her students.

Hertha applies the same successful strategy to teaching horses and their handlers. She shows that horse training goals can be reached when valid starting points are based on gentle experimentation followed by good planning to reach realistic goals.