Can somebody please explain clicker training?

[fburton]

I've learned that it all depends on the human when using food rewards. Treating willy nilly with no rules in place (training not to mug) may well produce a bitey horse and very quickly. Food reward is very powerful.

So true - I have just posted to that effect on another thread "Bite me again boy!".

 

[amandap]

It did seem at one time that some clicker trainers fought shy of mixing cues (-R) and clicker, but it now seems to have become acceptable.

I am glad as I've had many a heated disussion on that subject and it was assumed I was using a big stimulus. I like to give a clue at times as I'm not adept at free shaping (or CT!) and have trained the odd thing I didn't want inadvertently.
Some CT'ers can be highly critical of those with different thinking which I don't think helps as it puts people (me) on the defensive. This does seem to be changing as well.

 

[fburton]

The giving of a food reward is largely accepted in nearly all spheres of animal training as giving the best results, but there is still resistance to it when working with horses... Why this should be I really don't know, but it would seem foolish in the extreme to discount a proven method without a good reason.

One argument is that horses don't give each other food rewards. Well, that is true (apart from the obvious case of a mare and her foal), but then they don't do a whole other bunch of stuff to each other that we do - and that never stopped us!

Actually, you could argue that a subordinate horse that defers to another by moving away from a hay pile or feed bucket is rewarding the dominant one for her pushiness - although that is inadvertent rather than deliberate training, and an arguably artificial situation.

In natural settings, horses get food rewards for seeking out the tastiest (typically the sweetest and most nutritious) forage where the vegetation is mixed and of variably quality.

So I think it would be wrong to say that food rewards are irrelevant to horses. Indeed, I believe they are completely natural training tools (like giving a horse anything else it finds positively agreeable, like a withers scratch or a feeling of safety). However, like all training tools, they have to be used with thought and care and skill.

 

[fburton]

Some CT'ers can be highly critical of those with different thinking which I don't think helps as it puts people (me) on the defensive. This does seem to be changing as well.

As someone who does not use clicker training exclusively (or even mainly), I too am pleased to see this.

 

[dollyanna]

http://stalecheerios.com/blog/horse-training/horse-treats-biting/

 

[fburton]

http://stalecheerios.com/blog/horse-training/horse-treats-biting/

Interesting blog!

In a nutshell, this...

"These behaviors can be eliminated by teaching the horse from the beginning exactly how you want him to behave around food."

It isn't rocket science!