First attempt at Clicker Training

I also found clicker training to be an excellent way of teaching dressage. My mare mastered transitions, changes and advanced lateral moves no problem, but for some reason she just did not 'get' medium trot. As she was so enthusiastic with the clicker training, I taped the clicker to the handle of my schooling whip and when she offered me even the slightest bit of lengthening I clicked. Of course you cannot reward every time when you are riding and so this only works when the horse is well established and the click is a reinforcement in itself. She mastered a very impressive medium trot in only one schooling session with the clicker! When riding I would stop and treat her every seven or so clicks.
 
Wagtail said:
I also found clicker training to be an excellent way of teaching dressage. My mare mastered transitions, changes and advanced lateral moves no problem, but for some reason she just did not 'get' medium trot. As she was so enthusiastic with the clicker training, I taped the clicker to the handle of my schooling whip and when she offered me even the slightest bit of lengthening I clicked. Of course you cannot reward every time when you are riding and so this only works when the horse is well established and the click is a reinforcement in itself. She mastered a very impressive medium trot in only one schooling session with the clicker! When riding I would stop and treat her every seven or so clicks.
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Excellent idea about the clicker on the whip! It's great the way you've carried it on into riding - once you start with small things, you start to see how it applies to lots of things, I think :). I'm not a dressage rider but I've used it to help train a nice Western style sidepass (again for Le Trec).

I liked this training clip - clearly a horse who knows about clicks and rewards :D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as6FrosqND4
 
Thanks bright bay i had a look at her website, doesnt seem to be anything arranged in scotland tho :-( i now have a clicker and thinking the most important things i can teach him. i did a lot of in hand work with him teaching him to back up etc, but i think this will really help with some points hes ignoring :-)
 
I love this conversation. You guys are covering some of the endless uses for the training! People tend to think about using the clicker training for addressing problematic behavior or ground work but as Wagtail points out it is awesome under saddle too. Learning is learning whether we are on their backs or the ground. If you ever have questions please don't hesitate to ask. I am happy to share what I have learned. :0) I am a few hours behind so I am a little slow on some of the posts. BTW, the trainer who moderates the FB group "Horse Sense and the Clicker", Dr. Helen Spence, is another great trainer/resource for you folks over there. She travels around teaching and doing clinics. She has a great teaching style and a world of knowledge. Here is her website if you want to learn more about her and her upcoming events. Keep up the good work you guys. http://www.helenspencehorsesense.co.uk/
 
I can honestly say I don't think I have seen any other training methods have such positive results so quickly. For the last 2 weeks I have been CATCHING my horse, and this evening in the space of about an hour I taught him to come over to me and lower his head for me to put the head collar on - amazing!
 
Footlights said:
I can honestly say I don't think I have seen any other training methods have such positive results so quickly. For the last 2 weeks I have been CATCHING my horse, and this evening in the space of about an hour I taught him to come over to me and lower his head for me to put the head collar on - amazing!
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Isn't that amazing? Welcome to the world of clicker training!! It will change the way he looks at training...it will change your whole relationship. He will become more focused, interested and wanting to please you. You are starting on an awesome journey. Please keep us posted on your progress. :)
 
I started to teach mine to stand still at my shoulderand not rob for sweeties by the end he was pointedly looking the other way lol :-)
 
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