Clicker training for clipping?

wellsat

wellsat

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Today was gerry's third clip since he came to live with us and we made big progress. The first clip we only managed to do some of his belly and some of his neck:eek:, last clip we managed to do a hunter clip but he really hated having his tummy done and couldn't get anywhere near his head. Today's clip was much better, no fuss on the tummy and managed to get some of his head off with trimmers. Unfortunately he wasn't overly keen on having his head done and kept threatening to rear so it's a little patchy:eek: He look ok from a distance but let's just say its a good thing it'll be a few more weeks before he makes his SJ debut.

Any tips for horses who are genuinely petrified of having their heads and particularly ears touched? There is no point twitching him because we think thats what was done in the past, go anywhere near his nose and he rears.

I'd like to try clicker training him but I'm not sure how to do it. I've done it in the past to get a behaviour such as picking a foot up on command but I'm not sure how to clicker train a horse to stand still?

Any tips gratefully received, he is a lovely horse and I really want to help him overcome his anxieties.
 
i tried clipping my clipper phobic horse today but by operant conditioning (?) there was food in the stable but she was only allowed food when she let me clip her. it worked to an extent and i did get a patch off her shoulder. would like to know what other people do with theres, i'm under the same impression with you on the twitching and making it worse and your horse sounds like mine when it comes to face and ears. she'll let me touch her face but is still a lil hesitant around her ears. and she cowers in a corner and throws her weight around :(
 
We use lickits as "bribes" for clipping etc. It really helped with our youngsters - the only time they get them is for new/unpleasant experiences.

With something that is really scared of having the head clipped I just take the underneath off, or leave it on. Its not the end of the world!
 
Thanks, I'm really not vain, I left it on completely last time, beard and all :D but I did want to try taking even a little of it off this time as he gets a really sweaty head when worked.

Food motivation on its own isn't enough. Even if I offer a nice tasty lick he would rather rear than let me anywhere near the top of his head with trimmers.

The beard was fine but he got more fidgety the higher up I got. He's still got all his hair on the top 1/3 of his head and on the top few inches of his neck. Its not a great look. My best guess is that some sick person ear twitched him at some point.
 
half a tube of sedalin an hour before you start, and a good professional clipper will get the job done. and should be better the next time. some never take to clippers, no matter how much you try. electricity, wires, vibration , anxious horse and owner = recipe for a crap clip! bit of sedalin, happy marginally sleepy horse, less anxious owner, prfessional clipper = happy horse nice clip. failing that get the vet to iv proper sedation. sedated horses (through anxiety) generally improve clip to clip.
 
Michael Peace has a DVD on clipping the clipper phobic horse. It's brilliant and full of his trademark common sense and easy explanations. You don't need any fancy equipment, just time, patience and impeccable timing. Clicker training would take a long while - you'd need to work on the basics and get it solidly into your horse's brain before you started on clipping his head. Good luck x
 
Sedaline may work, but it may not. It doesn't completely sedate so beware the horse doesn't snap out of it suddenly and cause an accident. I've had a horse appear totally sleepy and then a few minutes into the clip she nearly killed us with a rear and a buck!

If you want to use clicker training, this is one way to approach it. What you want is not for the horse to stand still but for the horse to allow the clippers to touch him. Start by touching his face with your hand, ideally place your hand close to his face, out of interest he will move close to see what it is, as soon as he touches you, click and treat (start with the muzzle as that is the easiest place for him to touch you, then try different parts like the cheeks, ears, etc.). Remember to let him touch you, not the other way round. He needs to learn that when he sees your hand he should want to touch it. Repeat little and often, over days. When he starts touching your hand as soon as he sees it, start holding the trimmers and repeat the exercise. Again make sure he chooses to touch the trimmers, not the other way round. Then progress to the trimmers on, to the clippers off and eventually the clippers off. Take your time, the whole process should take a couple of weeks, but repeat a number of times during the day. Don't make it progressively more difficult, always fall back on an easier behaviour and remember to reduce his feed as he will be getting some of it through his training.

Good luck!
 
I personally couldn't recommend the Michael Peace DVD enough. My mare has been twitched, pinned down and sedated in the past and when she said no she really meant it.
The DVD makes total sense and within 1hr on day one I had the clippers on her. By day 2 she was clipped and we were both still happy and in one piece.

Moving her around in the school gave her the chance to digest and process and she make her own decision that this was ok.

Good luck

:)
 
Hi wellsat,

I am using clicker training to start my youngster and have been now since about June;

I'd be here for absolutely ever explaining our journey and how much I learnt from clicker. The key one was don't go into clicker trying to solve one particular problem, particularly one like a clipper phobic horse.

When you begin clicker; nearly all of us really have to pick up lots on our timing, our understanding of learning theory ( classical or pavolvian conditioning, operant conditioning, positive reinforcement, positive punishment, negative reinforcement and negative punishment, shaping and chaining etc). Don't be put off! It takes a bit of peseverance to pick up the basic principles of it, but a bit of reading and practice ensures you can pick it up pretty quickly.

The best way to begin clicker; is by targetting. You have to condition your horse to the 'click', targetting is a simple exercise which you can use to teach your horse and can give a very basic first step into clicker. Not only does it help develop the horses understanding of things, it also increases the precision of the timers handling and the observation skills- plus it's not dangerous as clipping etc- where your timing could go wrong and end up with a frightened horse or one who is being reinforced the wrong things.

My advice would be to spend some time reading some thorough articles over the Internet or investing in some good literature. Emma Lethbridge has the most brilliant book called 'Knowing your Horse' and she gives you an introduction and a good understanding of learning theory, lots of tips, lots on clicker and lots of exercises to do- also some fun behaviours to teach ( leg lifting and copying, smile, kiss) and more helpful ones like ground-tying etc. Ben Hart has a brilliant book as does Alex Kurland- although both trainers have different ideas. I found Ben's book very easy to follow- but equally enjoyed Alex's to a huge degree too!


The Equine Independent is another concise website which has lots of information, Ben Hart's website and our quiet forum ( I hope it's okay to post the link?) http://equi-click.proboards.com.

I think that all the information available through the internet and books.

Good luck.

Patience, perseverence, passion and a bit of reading can help bucket loads.

Also some very good blogs out there too...

bookendsfarm.blogspot.com is a brilliant blog which provides a mass of info.

I'd love to know how you get on!

All the best;

Amy xx
 
Thanks everyone, I can't believe I didn't think of starting with targetting, I taught my first horse D to fetch using targeting, was alot of fun.

Will start on his training tomorrow, think he may have broken my friend's nose so really need to get it sorted.
 
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