clicker training 101

[solupe]

Would someone enlighten me on some principles of clicker training or where can I get more info, is it a reward system in conjunction with a click?

 

[Hosscrazy]

Our forum member Clickmini got me interested in clicker training last year - it is so much fun! For both you and the horse! Yes, it is a reward system based on behavior-click-treat and the "click" provides such a strong reinforcement for the horse, that the rate of learning really is remarkable!

I started by teaching my guy to touch a cone with his nose, and within a few tries, he not only figured it out, he now will actively go after any cone-shaped object and try to touch it with his nose!!! They really do enjoy this!

Here are some good sites to get you started - you're going to love it!

http://www.theclickercenter.com/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clickryder/

Liz R.

 

[slaneyrose]

I am a qualified pet behaviour specialist and animal trainer and It definitely is the best method of teaching bar none!!!!

 

[nootka]

Clicker training, even on its most basic level, is so rewarding.

What really amazed me was how quickly you could see the horse's thought patterns working, and how delighted they were to communicate this way.

I think with ANY horse it would work, as long as you follow the "rules" and introduce it properly.

It is so much fun. The links that Liz R. (Hosscrazy) posted are great and I do recommend Ms. Kurland's book.

I think where it made the biggest difference was with my gelding I have now sold. In the ring, in halter, he would just "mug" the heck out of me (touching me, pushing me, beginning to nip) for treats which he KNEW I had (even when I didn't). Once we started clicker training, he knew better, and he knew that after I clicked, he'd get one, but it meant posing! His son works on the same principle and I know he got more than a few compliments on his pose from his last season of showing (he stood still in a very LONG class and posed very squarely, yet still showing his best...it was hot, I was GLAD of this). I have not worked as extensively with the son as with the sire, but when I went to work on Liberty w/the sire, he just ate it up, literally, and whenever my horses were "out" without permission, I could always depend on being able to catch GTO by giving him his cue (making a good example for the others to come in, as well, even though they'd get all jumpy and want to play tag for hours).

Can't say enough about it except read the basic principles and make sure you understand the concept before attempting it. It is not hard, but it is the simplicity which makes it work so successfully.

Enjoy,

Liz M.

 

[susanne]

Clicker training is almost like being able to talk to your horse...or as if he could answer, anyway. The instant feedback tells them exactly when they do what you want, so it is very rewarding for both of you.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

I tried to get into clicker training in January using a popping noise I made (hoping I wouldn't have to carry around a mechanical clicker) but the results weren't as strong as I was hoping for. I brought out the mechanical clicker I had the next day and WOW! Kody thinks that thing is the best, most interactive play-toy ever.

I don't use it all the time nor will I use it for driving (don't want to have him slamming on the brakes when he hears the click and then me having to get out of the cart to reward him) but it's very handy for those things he has always been resentful and nippy about. He's a cooperative workaholic in harness but on the ground he won't lead nicely, he tries to bite in frustration if you make him pivot or sidepass, he gets "muggy" over treats when he's hot, etc. I've been working slowly and patiently for over a year on him with very little improvement. When you punish him for nipping he gets wild-eyed and over-reacts for weeks like no horse I've ever had. But the clicker is getting through to him. :aktion033: We dramatically improved his leading in just one session the other day.

About two weeks ago I got him to stay in his stall and eat his hay calmly while I groomed him instead of getting wild-eyed the moment a brush appears and bolting out in the dark like you just shocked him. (Even Bonnie can't explain why he does that.) All I did was wait for him to relax and go to eat and clicked the moment his nose touched the hay. The next time I clicked when he wriggled his lips on the hay, the time after that for taking a mouthful. By the third click he had it figured out that I wanted him to eat hay. Then I just started moving around to different places in the stall and clicking if he stayed eating or when he quit watching me and went back to the hay. Within an hour (too long a session, by the way) of long, slow work I had worked through standing near him, petting him, holding a brush while petting him, and then running the brush over him. I was so proud of him! All I had to do was say "Kody, go eat your hay buddy" and point and he'd go eat. I'd even refined it to the point where he didn't get clicked until he both ate AND relaxed and he got that! What a smart boy.

:

I bought the Kurland book and need to finish reading it. There was a great question and answer website I need to check too...hmm. ::scurries off to go find it again::

Leia

 

[susanne]

Leia,

You're cracking me up! I can just picture Kody thinking you're a mean mommy for not letting him bite you!

I used clicker training first to teach Mingus and Thelonius to play soccer, then taught them to back in order to keep them from rushing me at the corral gate. Mingus learned "back" so well that one time I had them out on the lawn while I got their dinner ready. The path to the corral went through my garden, and as I headed for the gate, bucket in hand, Mingus ran ahead of me, turned around and backed all the way down the path into the corral...he was so proud of himself!

 

[tracerace]

I just started clicker training this winter and I'm amazed at how effective and rewarding it is! I have the books by Kurland (are there any others?) and love them. Cricket (POA) got the target touch down in like 5 minutes. The next day I was tossing my glove and she was fetching it. That same week I was able to get her to trample a piece of plywood on the ground -- not such a big deal for some but this pony thought that plywood ("bridge") was the black hole to unknown before clicker training. Now she'll stand there and bang on it to get my attention!

Coincidentally I have TB who has NO interest in clicker training. He is NOT treat motivated and it all seemed very "beneath" him, as if he was saying "I am a race horse...I don't do tricks."

: But I'm going to try some more anyway.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Narrow Way Farm]

This is great!! I am definatley going to get this book and try this out!

 

[FFFoxyGal]

If I really read up on it and studied it,......could it help me with some of little Foxy's issues,......

She wont let my touch her belly yet,...and grooming brushes are "huge scary things",......and every little noise makes her jump,..and she too gets wild eyed,..the minute you step into her stall.

:

:

I just want to help her get over this stuff?

:

 

[ClickMini]

Appymom, definitely, it will be a great training tool for starting your girl and developing your relationship. The book, "The Click That Teaches, a Step-by-Step Guide in Pictures," is a GREAT start! And the intro video from Alex is very inexpensive, I know you don't have much money, but these two items would help keep you safe and also develop your relationship with your new little mare so you don't get discouraged!

There is some free information on Alex's website, http://www.theclickercenter.com

Here are some other sites:

http://www.clickryder.com

http://www.equineclickertraining.com

http://www.clickin-on-ranch.com

http://www.canadianclickercentre.com

http://www.eternalsunstable.com

You can also get an article i wrote at http://www.finchmeadowfarm.com

For general principles and also cross-species training, http://www.clickertraining.com

Read the book, "Don't Shoot the Dog," by Karen Pryor.

Good luck and have fun all you new clicker trainers! :bgrin

 

[slaneyrose]

That is a brilliant book!! And another one that REALLY helps you to see it from the dogs point of view and is full of information is "Dogs are from Neptune" by Jean Donaldson

 

[Mini Horse Lover]

Good Luck with clicker training! I know I've been to a few clinics where they have done it with bigger horses! :lol:

Mini Horse Lover