Clicker training whilst riding - jumping fillers?

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Shaznchaz

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So I've basically tried everything I can think of when it comes to my pony jumping fillers. General consensus of everyone (instructor and other experienced people) is that she has just learnt that she can stop, and there is nothing I or anyone else can do to make her go over them. Tack, teeth, saddle etc. all checked with no issues. Lunging over fillers doesn't work. neither does loose schooling. She is only 13.2hh so cannot jump most fillers from a standstill, making it difficult for her to realise she is going over them no matter what.

Anyway, someone suggested clicker training her to make her want to jump them. Has anyone tried it with a problem like this and did it work? I have experience clicker training dogs (used to compete in agility) so I know the theory and how to condition the clicker etc. She is also very food orientated so that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for reading :)
 
I have no idea about clicker training, but I presume you'd need her to actually jump them in order to train her to the click?

Will she follow another pony over the fillers? How long have you been trying to get her to enjoy jumping? Some horses just don't enjoy jumping, ever, and if she's one of those you may have to decide if she's the right pony for you.

If she jumps happily but just not fillers, then have you tried xc?
 
Hello! I've used clicker trainnig v succesfully on my welshie, to do many many things that he was terrified of, from having the farrier to wearing a saddle (he's a bit special). The thing I've found is, it's really useful when they jsut don't understand WHY they should do something. He was so naughty with the farrier because there was just no reason for him to stand still, plus he didn't like it. Telling him off just stressed him out. As he is extremely passionate about food, the clicker gave him a good reason to behave himself and stand still!

Similarly, I've used it while riding with him; he did not get lateral work at all, for example - as soon as he knows I've got the clicker, different pony. It's as if he is going 'what can i do for you!' - completely different attitude.

So yes, i reckon it could be used for fillers no problem - but don't start with that, start with some easy things (e.g. picking up feet, touching a target) so she is used to the clicker first. Then you could use the target to make her touch the fillers with her nose so she gets comfortable with them. I guess next I would use it with voice commands so that she is used to lunging/running with you and responding to walk, trot, canter, etc. Then jumping over just poles, then gradually bringing fillers into the middle from the outside.

It certainly can't hurt, anyway!!
 
I should have said she loves jumping anything else. She is a failed riding school pony who has learnt that no-one can make her do anything, and stopping at fillers seems to be something she has worked out!

Morgan123 thank you for confirming what I was thinking of doing with her - I just needed conformation that it wasn't a completely stupid idea! As you said she appears to have a 'why should I?' attitude when it comes to jumping fillers. She is also clicker trained for basic tricks and ground work - I've just never used it whilst riding!
 
I'm aware of a famous SJ'er (whose name I cannot recall, typical) who used clicker training to get a horse over its fear of water trays and is now doing reasonably well.

For your pony though I'd be looking at why she's stopping - had she had a bad experience, been overfaced? Is it something you're doing - has she been caught in the mouth if she cat-leaps? Will she jump fillers with a different rider? Have her eyes been checked? Will she follow another horse over them, or jump the filler after seeing other horses doing so? You say she can't jump most fillers from a standstill; can you get or make ones that are small enough for her to either step over or jump from halt? A pallet cut in half is good for this :).

Assuming no physical issues I'd do lots and lots of gridwork (no fillers) until you eventually build up to jumping a small (60-80cm) jump with fillers sat at the side of the end jump near the wings. When she's going over this with no problem have a helper move them in an inch. Repeat until they're under the jump.

Your instructor should be working through this with you so it might benefit you to book a lesson with a different instructor who specialises in SJ as they'll have seen it before and will have lots of tools to help you.

I don't think that clicker training is the right tool in this case tbh. It's a nice 'fun' thing to do with your pony but I've not seen many cases where it translates well to under-saddle work. You could probably do lots of targeting in hand and introduce fillers that way which may help. I'd recommend you do lots and lots of research around clicker training horses as it's different to dogs - you don't 'charge' the clicker with horses and it can be more dangerous if you've got an animal that's initially inclined to be bargey or aggressive around food.

Edit: cross-posted with a few people. I see she's clicker trained on the ground already so it should be easy for you to work on fillers in-hand and then build up.
 
You can buy the 'filler on a roll' which you feed a normal jumping pole through and then unroll it to the height you want. Might be worth a try as you could start off very small so that the pony could just step over if and slowly unroll it and build the height of the fence up.
 
eggs said:
You can buy the 'filler on a roll'
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Click to expand...

where I can buy it?
 
There are ways in which it would work very well :) I use the clicker riding and have no issues (I use a tongue click rather than fiddling with a mechanical clicker).

However it won't work in a straightforward fashion if you are trying to overcome fear or anxiety, you will need to break it down into very small steps and you would certainly start on the ground until the pony was happy about stepping over and then popping over all kinds of obstacles. Once you mount up, you add a layer of adrenalin that can mean you then have to go back several stages - so having a pony who is happy to pop over all kinds of fillers at liberty, once you mount up you may still need to go back to the "can you step over this small item on the ground?" stage.

It also won't work in a straightforward fashion if there is a physical reason the pony is not jumping - but it does sound as though the pony is happily jumping other things, so hopefully this won't be an issue.

As with any kind of training, just experimenting doesn't work very well as there are all kinds of pitfalls to avoid. Best have a look at the "how to" before starting. I would recommend Connection Training, as they do cover a lot of ridden issues very comprehensively. There's a nice blog post up on liberty jumping at the moment on their page :) http://connectiontraining.com/category/blog/
 
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