Olliepoppy
Well-Known Member
Hi, does anyone have any thoughts on clicker training? Has anyone been successful with it? Have been reading up on it and as usual there's lots of opinions! Any info appreciated, thanks. 
Clicker training
- Thread starter Olliepoppy
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dollyanna
Well-Known Member
I have been clicker training with my two youngsters since they were about 6 months old. I had intended to anyway, but got started to help with 2 specific problems with the colt - biting and feet. The biting stopped almost overnight and whilst occasionally he gets OTT and uses his mouth, overall he is much calmer and understands what is and isn't allowed. His feet again withing 2-3 days he was so much calmer and better at finding his own balance, and I have continued to work with this using it when they are trimmed etc to help him work out what is expected of him.
I love it, it has helped me understand my two much better than I did before, more so since doing an online distance course using videos and discussions each week to really progress. I use it most of the time, but once they understand the "game" then the clicker is no longer needed - for example, my filly's first longreining session was almost all clicks and hardly any actualy longreining because I wanted her to a)be happy with me being behind and the lines along her side and b) move forward when I asked. So she was clicked every time she moved when I asked her to. We didn't cover much ground that day, but the next day she came willingly to be tacked up and was spot on with moving forward on command, so we moved on to stopping on command. One bonus is that we have a built in emergency stop because they stop with the click - so any moments of stress I can click, she will stop dead, and we can calm down and work out how to move on. It reduces her anxiety dramatically, and increases her understanding because she knows exactly what she got right every step of the way. 6 sessions on and she has beautiful transitions, is confident walking forwards on her own and happy to tackle unknown areas without anyone by her side, and she only gets clicked at the very end once she has stood for a couple of mins - unless something cropped up which needed immediate recognition.
Both of mine love the clicker game - if we are out walking and something scares them, they start to get het up but the second they hear a click their heads drop, body relaxes, turn to me and it's all ok, because it's not scary any more, it's just another of mum's silly games! Scary objects turn into a targetting game - I just ask them to "touch" and they will step forward to explore, instead of doing what they first thought of and disappear in the other direction!
There are a lot of misconceptions of clicker training - not least that it makes them mouthy, and they rely on food forevermore - and you do need to make the effort to really understand at least the bare basics before starting. It is NOT luring and it is NOT bribery - it is marking and rewarding any behaviour that you like. If you get a bit deeper into it it is amazing just what you find out about your ponies, it doesn't take long if you understand what you are seeing! For example, my boy got a bit mouthy again during my course, I didn't know why, but looking back at the video I realised it was because I wasn't being clear enough, and he was telling me very clearly that he was confused. Since then he is rarely mouthy, and as soon as he starts I can stop, look at what we just did, and work out how to make it easier for him and he instantly goes back to happy and relaxed. You can change their emotional attitude to things - rather than just tolerating something (like fly spray, or even worming) you can make it enjoyable, or at the very least open up a communication to allow them to decide when they are ready for something unpleasant. My girl has never really been happy with a headcollar, but she knew once she was caught then she had to behave. The clicker allowed me to let her tell me when she was ready - I offer the headcollar so she knows what I would like, she can either put her head straight in, or take a moment - sometimes she just needs a minute to prepare herself for the work ahead. If I were to demand it then I end up with a very uncooperative pony who really doesn't want t be with me!
Read up as much as you can, there are more dog resources than horses but use both - look up Alexandra Kurland, Panda the guide pony, watch as many of her videos as you can (she has an excellent book to help you get started) and do consider investing in a course with an instructor - I have used a clicker for years to turn around a very damaged dog, but still learned an enormous amount from my instructor!
Have fun!
I love it, it has helped me understand my two much better than I did before, more so since doing an online distance course using videos and discussions each week to really progress. I use it most of the time, but once they understand the "game" then the clicker is no longer needed - for example, my filly's first longreining session was almost all clicks and hardly any actualy longreining because I wanted her to a)be happy with me being behind and the lines along her side and b) move forward when I asked. So she was clicked every time she moved when I asked her to. We didn't cover much ground that day, but the next day she came willingly to be tacked up and was spot on with moving forward on command, so we moved on to stopping on command. One bonus is that we have a built in emergency stop because they stop with the click - so any moments of stress I can click, she will stop dead, and we can calm down and work out how to move on. It reduces her anxiety dramatically, and increases her understanding because she knows exactly what she got right every step of the way. 6 sessions on and she has beautiful transitions, is confident walking forwards on her own and happy to tackle unknown areas without anyone by her side, and she only gets clicked at the very end once she has stood for a couple of mins - unless something cropped up which needed immediate recognition.
Both of mine love the clicker game - if we are out walking and something scares them, they start to get het up but the second they hear a click their heads drop, body relaxes, turn to me and it's all ok, because it's not scary any more, it's just another of mum's silly games! Scary objects turn into a targetting game - I just ask them to "touch" and they will step forward to explore, instead of doing what they first thought of and disappear in the other direction!
There are a lot of misconceptions of clicker training - not least that it makes them mouthy, and they rely on food forevermore - and you do need to make the effort to really understand at least the bare basics before starting. It is NOT luring and it is NOT bribery - it is marking and rewarding any behaviour that you like. If you get a bit deeper into it it is amazing just what you find out about your ponies, it doesn't take long if you understand what you are seeing! For example, my boy got a bit mouthy again during my course, I didn't know why, but looking back at the video I realised it was because I wasn't being clear enough, and he was telling me very clearly that he was confused. Since then he is rarely mouthy, and as soon as he starts I can stop, look at what we just did, and work out how to make it easier for him and he instantly goes back to happy and relaxed. You can change their emotional attitude to things - rather than just tolerating something (like fly spray, or even worming) you can make it enjoyable, or at the very least open up a communication to allow them to decide when they are ready for something unpleasant. My girl has never really been happy with a headcollar, but she knew once she was caught then she had to behave. The clicker allowed me to let her tell me when she was ready - I offer the headcollar so she knows what I would like, she can either put her head straight in, or take a moment - sometimes she just needs a minute to prepare herself for the work ahead. If I were to demand it then I end up with a very uncooperative pony who really doesn't want t be with me!
Read up as much as you can, there are more dog resources than horses but use both - look up Alexandra Kurland, Panda the guide pony, watch as many of her videos as you can (she has an excellent book to help you get started) and do consider investing in a course with an instructor - I have used a clicker for years to turn around a very damaged dog, but still learned an enormous amount from my instructor!
Have fun!
Brightbay
Well-Known Member
Hi, does anyone have any thoughts on clicker training? Has anyone been successful with it? Have been reading up on it and as usual there's lots of opinions! Any info appreciated, thanks.
If you're interested, as with all training, you are best to learn from experts before trying it yourself
There are lots of excellent online support groups now - probably the best one aimed at UK rather than US owners is "Connection Training", which aims to support people who are wanting to try it out and find out more right up to people who have been using it for some time and want to increase their skill levels.My favourite trainer is probably Peggy Hogan
She is skilful, fun, a good teacher and her approach is very horse friendly. She has downloadable introductory stuff (very reasonably priced in dollars but still available in the UK) and you then join her online network of support, with lots of mini-courses focussing on specific things - hoof handling, leading, dealing with medical/health issues like eye drops, ear care, wound care, hoof soaking... and then fun stuff like teaching the horse to pick out colours. Her stuff is under "The Best Whisper is a Click".It's all based on simple science - the hallmark of a good teacher is that they start off by explaining the science in simple terms and make getting started easy. Steer well away from material where you feel confused and where it seems very complex with "in group names" for things.
Clicker training is the application of the science of learning to training horses - the same science applies to all animals, from fish and insects up to humans - good teachers should allow you to see parallels with how you learn yourself
Brightbay
Well-Known Member
My favourite trainer is probably Peggy Hogan
Should have added the link to Peggy's videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/Peggasus09Olliepoppy
Well-Known Member
Thanks to you both for taking the time to write such comprehensive replies I have used clicker training on dogs but never on horses. I am inspired by your replies to find out more and will look at the areas you have mentioned. My boy is just young and very green so would ideally like to be able to use it to help spookiness out on hacking as we don't have any hacking buddies to help show him the horse eating rock at the side of the road is actually harmless! Thanks again for the info
I have used clicker training on dogs but never on horses. I am inspired by your replies to find out more and will look at the areas you have mentioned. My boy is just young and very green so would ideally like to be able to use it to help spookiness out on hacking as we don't have any hacking buddies to help show him the horse eating rock at the side of the road is actually harmless! Thanks again for the info dollyanna
Well-Known Member
You may want to fast track to targetting if you have a specific problem like spooking - do the basic work of treat delivery and then work on a target (same as with a dog). Then put that to a command like "touch" and once it is solid start setting up scary things to reinforce it before you go out and about. Then, whenever you come across something, you can ask him to "touch" which tells him it is safe, and CT any movement towards the object until you get the touch.
Forgot to say, whilst I started with an actual clicker, now I use a mouth click - partly for both hands free, and partly because I can click anywhere, anytime, even if I have to adapt the reward (grass from side of the road, scratch of back legs or withers, or yesterday's was sticky weed which they don't have in their field!)
Forgot to say, whilst I started with an actual clicker, now I use a mouth click - partly for both hands free, and partly because I can click anywhere, anytime, even if I have to adapt the reward (grass from side of the road, scratch of back legs or withers, or yesterday's was sticky weed which they don't have in their field!)
Dizzle
Well-Known Member
I’ve dabbled, managed to get my old TB to go from refusing to have his legs handled (post mud fever) to picking them up for me when I tapped his legs. Not tried with with the new girly but I do need to work on her foot picking up.
The dog on the other hand, loved it when he was a baby but is now really unsettled by the noise of the clicker, not sure what happened there!
The dog on the other hand, loved it when he was a baby but is now really unsettled by the noise of the clicker, not sure what happened there!
Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
I taught mine to fetch when I threw the dog's toy with clicker training. I never managed to teach him anything useful though, I ran out of patience. May try again sometime.
Red-1
I used to be decisive, now I'm not so sure...
I had a play with this, it took 3 short sessions. I kind of enjoyed it, but I am not sure we learned anything for the future. I did take a video..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT1rlobBh9U
Rosie'smum
Well-Known Member
Red thats really cool. Ive just started training rose to pick up my whip. shes not one to put things in her mouth so has taking a while to grasp putting the whip in her mouth. She picks it up while Im holding it but no progressing to it being on the floor.
I also clicker trained her to 'smile' by tickling her lip but now doing it by hand command.
You guys have definitely given me some new ideas
I also clicker trained her to 'smile' by tickling her lip but now doing it by hand command.
You guys have definitely given me some new ideas
Gloi
Too little time, too much to read.
My main problem with clicker training is I don't have a grass free area in summer where I can have him loose, so his attention soon wanders on to grazing. Winter is the only time I can really do it.
Brightbay
Well-Known Member
That's only really an issue at the start, when the horse doesn't quite understand what it's about. My horse lives out year round - we don't have any grass free areas at all
He is always happy to get an invitation to leave grazing (or the ring feeder in winter) and play a few games because now the "game" is more important to him than the food.It's funny how people use it for tricks! I think in 10 years, I have trained one trick (the horse picks up a hula hoop and flicks it over his head). Everything else is just regular training - it's quicker, easier and the horse never forgets once they've learned.
Our tricks look like : "Horse applying own sunscreen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9brMUrJWRwc (this was his first attempt at this - he doesn't actually need sunscreen, it was a demo for people who were having problems ) and "Horse offers hoof when asked without pinching of tendons or tapping of hoof" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3OTJZJi3ZU. Other tricks we do include "Horse walks up to mounting block and lines up when called", "horse walks over and puts on own bridle", "horse leg yields", "horse does shoulder-in", "horse does turn on the forehand to help rider open/close gates". I suppose one day I'll get around to things like bowing etc.