Late last year I started seeing promotions for the film The Banshees of Inisherin, an Irish film that included a miniature donkey Jenny as one of the stars alongside a cast of several other animals and the human actors including Kerry Condon, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. I’m not always a fan of animals in films but frankly, Jenny was just gorgeous and as my partner Benn is a fan of miniature donkeys, I was paying more attention.
I was so delighted to know that Jenny had been trained using positive reinforcement. Not only that, but she had been trained by someone I’d heard of for some years, Megan Hines. Working on a major motion picture with some big-name stars and experienced crew is not something many of us have exposure to, let alone training an equine using positive reinforcement to exist and perform in that environment. I was really keen to meet Megan, hear her training journey and learn about the experience on the film with Jenny… and to be able to share that conversation with you, so I invited Megan to join us for an episode of An Equine Conversation.
The Banshees of Inisherin was Directed by Martin McDonagh & released here in late December 2022. It has since won 8 Golden Globes, where Colin Farrell thanked Jenny in his acceptance speech, and was nominated for 9 Oscars. If you’ve yet to see it, do make sure to have your hanky ready!
Megan Hines:
Megan Hines is a gentle equine trainer and coach based in County Roscommon, Ireland.
Megan specialises in helping leisure horse owners and those with fearful equines to learn an equine-led approach that builds trust, motivates and brings out the character of your equine.
A South African by birth, Megan was taught by South African National Equestrian Federation instructors for 10 years, where she had the opportunity to experience and compete in a variety of equestrian disciplines including vaulting, gymkhana, dressage, show jumping and cross country.
Now, with over 20 years’ experience training animals with positive reinforcement (the use of rewards to motivate and shape behaviour), she is no longer competitive and is instead passionate about building a trusting human-equine relationship, avoiding stress and fear in daily handling and training, and teaching cooperative care.
Megan continues to further her professional development in the areas of equine behaviour and training through study with internationally recognised equine/mixed species positive reinforcement trainers and behaviourists. Her latest training achievements include the training and handling of Jenny donkey for the acclaimed Banshees of Inisherin.
Megan offers equine training and coaching, allowing you to learn the art and science of positive horsemanship: holistic horse management to best meet equine needs; true liberty work; cooperative care to problem solve for the vet, trimmer and for general handling; bring out the potential of fearful equines; ultimately enjoying a better relationship with your horse, pony, mule or donkey.
In this episode we discuss:
3:35 - introducing Megan
5:49 - Megan’s equine learning & training journey
11:04 - moving into volunteering with rescue horses & learning online
13:46 - the natural horsemanship phase
14:42 - moving out the other side toward training more with positive reinforcement
16:04 - the importance of looking at the animal in front of you
17:30 - becoming a Connection Training coach
19:00 - shifting to look at holistic needs of the animals
20:55 - equines learning from watching other equines learning & how that impacts float/trailer load training
26:17 - more on Megan’s equines, on working with rescue mules, donkey’s & working with livery horses
35:30 - on training the livery foal
42:02 - how Megan came to be training Jenny the donkey for The Banshees of Inisherin
46:00 - the lead time for training before filming began & what Jenny needed to learn
47:37 - how training for film relates to training our own horses for complex & stimulating environments
51:12 - and onward to shooting & working with the cast & crew
55:06 - scene takes & keeping Jenny interested
57:06 - verbal cues, visual cues or both
59:27 - working with the actors & Jenny
1:02:32 - more on the parallels with training for film & ‘normal’ horsie life & the importance of a good relationship & time
1:07:08 - where Jenny’s at now
1:08:40 - Megan’s coaching services, locally & virtually world-wide
1:11:07 - how online coaching compares to in person for Megan
1:14:00 - Megan’s top tips for you, our listeners, that you can go and do now
Links from Megan:
Website: Megan Hines Equine
Facebook: Megan Hines - Positive Equine Training Ireland
Instagram: Megan Hines Equine
Our links mentioned this episode:
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Abbey's Run Equestrian website
Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook
Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email info@blissery.fm
