Clicker training

Many thanks for your replies, and Wundahoss thank you for such a comprehensive reply :)

Very much appreciated, I'll see if I can find some of those books and read up, bit worried about messing it all up and confusing her now lol :eek: I didn't realise it was so in-depth!

Thanks again :)
 
Very much appreciated, I'll see if I can find some of those books and read up, bit worried about messing it all up and confusing her now lol :eek: I didn't realise it was so in-depth!

If you mess it up, it'll just be a slower process, while you get it right & you may get behaviours you don't want. But that's easily fixed - and reasonably easily avoided if you try to remain conscious of what you're teaching your horse in whatever you do. Eg. he does something 'good' & comes nuzzle your pocket & gets a treat... he's going to try 'mugging' you for treats again. He does something Good, Click! You give him a treat. He'll definitely try that again in the future. He tries mugging you & that *never* works, regardless of whatever 'Good' behaviour he might have given you right before it. And instant timing is everything, as with negative reinforcement - that's why a clicker or such is handy, to mark THAT instant of whatever the horse is doing.

But while the possible specifics are always as endless as the situations & animals, the principles are rather simple. I reckon "Don't Shoot The Dog" by Karen Pryor is one of the best & easiest to understand, with heaps of examples - possibly more human ones than equine!
 
OP, best place to start is with a good clicker book for horses - either Alex Kurland's The Click that Teaches, or my current favourite, Sharon Foley's Getting to Yes. Both are aimed at teaching useful things, but most of them are good fun too :) And both websites have suggestions for getting started :)

A 'little bird' (OK really my website stats program) told me that my name came up in conversation here. Just wanted to say Thanks for the kind words! :) If anyone has questions about my book or my website, feel free to ask!
Sharon
 
Hi Sharon, those little birds get everywhere :D

If you ever feel like visiting the UK, do let us know on here - your book is great and I would love to meet you/see you work :)
 
I have to say that I am loving clicker training with Finn. My only problem is maybe I'm expecting too much? He's only 4 months old and already recognises the treat bag and the target and the click, but tends to lose focus after maybe 5 mins. Do you think this down to his age and the amount of time he is mentally able to focus, or have I missed something?
 
When you say that he 'loses focus' what does he do that makes you think that?

Generally speaking, age isn't the issue. What is at issue is how strongly motivated they are by (whatever). How often do we see a young horse 'unable to focus' on his training because he is looking off in to the distance at his friends? Well he sure is able to maintain focus on his friends! So, it isn't about ability to focus it is about what the horse wants. If your youngster isn't that motivated by food (and he might not be at that age) then you need to figure out what does motivate him. Lots of people just use 'scritchies' with very young horses.

Another reason why horses wander off mentally is because we haven't made it clear enough what we want. They get frustrated and check out. And, sometimes a horse will need to take a break and they will walk away only to return in a minute to try again.

Hope this gives you some food for thought.

Sharon
www.horsemansarts.com
 
Believe me he is very motivated by food!
Thinking about it now, maybe I mean distraction rather than losing focus. I try to "clicker" at the quietest times, but he's still on his mother and occasionally people are wandering around the farm - he always needs to know what's going on around him!
Thanks, that has given me stuff to think about.

(btw, love love love "getting to yes";))
 
I use a lot of Clicker Training and I am yet to find a horse that doesn't respond well to it.

Clicker Training is a totally positive method, nothing negative about it at all. It is simply to do with rewarding what it is you are asking the horse to do and not reacting to things that you haven't asked the horse to do.

You can train a horse to do anything you wish with clicker training, the list really is endless.

I recommend this method to all :)
 
totally agree one must have an understanding of Behaviour and learning theory first! otherwise you can be sorry - I learnt the hard way with POLOS and training my horse to raise a leg to say 'OLLAH'!.. V cute when she was a foal...now beware of legs when she sniffs a polo!

I do have a clicker trained pony that paints (pictures) - she is a lamminitic so it gives her something to do - and boy can she paint!! she has sugarless treats!

clicker and food reward are powerful motivators for training and I am all for it:p - but horses must understand 'pressure' correctly too and owners should buy into 'how the horses brain works and learns'

well done everyone that continue to try to communicate with their horses with empathy:D:D:D
 
It's nice hear everyone else's stories about clicker training. :)
My pony was really nappy at one point, i thought i cracked it last summer using the clicker, he was going really well, until a dog came out of a hedge and attacked him.
He wont leave the yard now, sometimes he will go past the spot were the dog come from, other days like today he will totally panick and spin around unseating me, i'm not enjoying being a horse owner at the moment, but i'm determined never to give up on him.
I would love to lunge him using clicker training, any ideas how i can start to teach him, i don't think he has the first clue bless him.
 
That's a great vid.
I'm quite new to clicker training. The biggest problem I am having is working out how to give him the best cue to help him work out what I want. For example, how did you go about the free lungeing thing?
:)

Well first I "shape" the behaviour with the clicker, so I lunged at walk on a lunge line without any pressure and I clicked and rewardedas he was walking round on the circle. Then I removed the line and clicked for every step he took which was still on the circle. He of course walked off just to see what would happen, he didnt get rewarded so he came back on the circle and walked around again, then got a click and reward. I then faded out the clicks so he was doing a full circle for a click, then two and so on. now I click randomly on the circle or when hes doing something I like or someting new I've asked for, so he doesnt know if its the first circle or the hundredth circle hes going to get treated for. Of course if I'm teaching him something new on the circle he will get a click as soon as he does it at first. He already knew voice commands walk trot and canter so I added them and he will walk trot and canter on the circle on cue when I say those words. When Ive taught something I'll then add a cue, which for free lunging is me holding one arm out in the direction I want him to go and follwoing him with a whip. a cue doesnt have to be verbal, it can be touch sight sound or even smell, anything that the horse is aware of can be a cue. So you can add whatever cue you want as a signal for the behaviour. To get him to actuallly do the behaviour you have to click and reward every small step towards what you want, or if he does it himself for no reason, you can click and capture it and put it on cue as well. For example if you want him to lift a leg, you can press your finger on him leg until he shifts his weight off it-click/reward. then do the same but wait a bit longer until he moves his leg, click/reward. then wait next time until he has lifted it a bit,clikc/reward, then do this in small steps until he has lifted it, then add a cue by saying it before you press his leg. Or if you can wait with the clicker and wait until he lifts his leg by himself and click/reward, then add a cue later when hes got the idea what you want. Sorry for babbling, Hope this helps!
 
Generally speaking, age isn't the issue. What is at issue is how strongly motivated they are by (whatever). How often do we see a young horse 'unable to focus' on his training because he is looking off in to the distance at his friends? Well he sure is able to maintain focus on his friends! So, it isn't about ability to focus it is about what the horse wants. If your youngster isn't that motivated by food (and he might not be at that age) then you need to figure out what does motivate him. Lots of people just use 'scritchies' with very young horses.

Another reason why horses wander off mentally is because we haven't made it clear enough what we want. They get frustrated and check out. And, sometimes a horse will need to take a break and they will walk away only to return in a minute to try again.

So true, Sharon.... with kids, not just animals! Especially your comment of how they can maintain focus on their friends! Give 'em something fun & interesting that they WANT to do & they can 'focus' for ages!
 
I would love to lunge him using clicker training, any ideas how i can start to teach him, i don't think he has the first clue bless him.

I use Parelli style 'games' & cues. Find that's another 'method' that I haven't come across a horse who didn't respond well to.... so long as you're willing to modify details depending on horse & situation, not just follow the 'games' like rules. I like to teach the horse the basics without a halter/rope first tho, which is back to front with what Parelli suggests. I find that lack of restraint - the horse being able to leave if he's unhappy/unmotivated to stay removes the feeling of pressure from him, and it definitely keeps me on my toes & makes me realise what I should/shouldn't do with that horse at that time.

How do I teach a horse to 'lunge'? I first teach them to come to me when I ask, with body language as well as voice. Then I teach them to yield to gentle pressure wherever I focus it. I start with steady, direct(eg fingertip) pressure, then teach them to yield to implied(bodylanguage) pressure. Eg. I point at/push on his shoulder, he will yield his forehand away from me. Point at his rump, he will yield that. As a part of target training, I teach the horse to target or move in the direction of my focus. I then point or focus at where I want him to go, so that he starts to just follow my gestures without extra pressure. Eg. I will first point out in front of me to get the horse to walk past me. If he doesn't, or doesn't understand, I make it clearer by using my other hand, with whip or rope if nec, to 'put some energy' out behind him, to 'push' him forward.

So, say he's facing me, up close. I initially might ask him to back up, then if I want him to go to the left, I point with my finger & left foot & focus where I want him to go, and 'push' with my right hand, just bodylanguage, but physically if nec. on his left(probably look a bit like a traffic cop when first teaching....:cool:). Once he's facing side on to me, if necessary I'll wave my hand/rope/stick out behind him to get him moving or going quicker. To teach him to move around me in a circle, I'll push only a little, use my left hand to gesture that he should move around me, sort of half asking him into me, but not quite(clear as mud??). When I want him to stop, I might walk backwards, asking him in, or just put some energy out in front of him to get him to slow or stop where he is, on the circle. If he doesn't respond to the request to stop, or I want him to turn & keep going in the other direction, I'll direct some energy at his hind end to get that to yield away from me.
 
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