Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Clicker Training


Several of my fellow bloggers are using clicker training with their horses. I bought clickers several times over the years and never followed through. I used a clicker with my Aussie when he was six weeks old and had him sitting, laying down, and rolling over. I am not sure why I didn’t stick with it. I think I just got busy with life. Now that I have Dickie clicker training seems like a necessity. He is easily bored and has a short attention span. I can’t ride him yet and the usual ground work (lunging, ground driving, etc) gets boring for him really quickly. He is also very big with a stubborn streak so trying to push this horse into anything is out of the question. Clicker training is the perfect option for an independent extrovert. I get to keep things exciting while teaching him things that will be helpful for his career as a riding horse.

I was a psychology major in college round one so I have some experience with operant conditioning. I took several classes on learning, behavior modification, and experimental psychology. In one of the classes we taught the rats how to complete a fairly complicated series of behaviors. With the in mind I feel pretty confident that we can figure it out. Dickie is really good at targeting objects but until recently I hadn't done much more than that. Last week we started shaking hands. This is great because he will pick up his feet and hold them up for me. Plus, it is really cute…..

One of Dickie’s weird quirks is that he hates it when you ask him to lower his poll. If you press on it he will start flipping his head and even rear up if he can’t get you to release the pressure. If it's his idea to lower his head you get lucky, if it's not his idea then watch out. He has gotten better about putting his head down for the halter but still doesn’t try to help much. And sometimes it is downright hard to get that rope halter tied because he goes into giraffe mode. 

I decided that clicker training would be a great way to overcome this issue. I started with something he knows, shaking hands, so he knew was game we were playing. From there I put my hand on his poll. Immediately he started shaking his head and if I put pressure his head shot up. When he figured out that I was going to follow him everywhere he decided to rear and make himself too tall for my short little arms. When you are teaching a behavior you start with the behavior that is closest to your goal behavior. I went into it intending to start by clicking with any release to my pressure. I quickly figured out that the starting behavior was Dickie just standing still without tossing his head or rearing. He has a short attention span so we couldn’t work on it for long. The furthest we got was him allowing me to put pressure on his poll while keeping his head level with my shoulder. He didn’t want to give to pressure yet but letting me put pressure without panicking was a big step as small as it might sound to outsiders. During the next session I didn't have any of the crazy head flipping and he even lowered it a few times. Good boy!!

I am not sure why he has this weird reaction to having his poll touched from the side. He will let you touch his poll if you are in front of him just giving loves. He isn’t head shy. He lets you rub his face, poke in his ears, and play with his lips. I can reach into his sheath without his flinching.  Even if he doesn’t like something he is pretty tolerant about it. He was handled kindly both at his breeders and at Pony Up. There is one month between those two homes where he was purchased to be a Mexican Dancing Horse. I did some reading on the training these horses go through and it isn’t pretty. Maybe something happened to him in that month that caused this behavior. Who knows. What I do know is that clicker training is an easy nonthreatening way to teach my tall goofball to make his head a little lower for his momma. 

If you've ever thought about clicker training you should do it!! It is so fun and very easy. It's really great for those rainy days when you aren't up for a ride. This is kind of a fun website to give you an idea of how to get started: http://www.horsetricks101.com/

13 comments:

  1. I used clicker training to get Irish to go through water. It worked very well.

    If he really hates you putting pressure on his poll (makes you wonder about those halters and bridles that work that way) try putting the pressure on his nose (midway between his eyes and nostrils). It's easier to keep in contact with too. :)

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    1. You are right that it is easier to keep contact that way. His head is too friggin high. For the most part I do grab his nose. I would like him to be able to lower his head with just a tap behind his ears so I want to keep easing him into the idea. But for you you are right on, nose grab it is.

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  2. Yay for clicker training! Shy loves it and does so good with it! When we do something scary, it seems to calm her and reassure her that we are doing something fun and non scary.

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    1. Bre started out really shy and worrried kind of like your girl. It makes me wish I had done it with her. I think I didn't because the first year I was training her so I felt like I had to show "results" that were expected of a show horse. It is so hard when you are training someone elses horse. If I had it to do all over again I would have done it like you have.

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  3. Yah! I'm so excited for you! You'll be addicted before long! C/T is great to teach fun things (and real things), to help get rid of bad behaviors and to let scary things be not-so-scary!

    Keep us posted on progress!

    Something I learned that may help you. Once he understands the concept (I ask, you do, I treat) and he's trying his darned-est but still doesn't get it, try asking a different way. I learned this about 6 months in and has made a huge difference.

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    1. I was shocked at how fast he figured out the click. I got it out for kicks one day and in three times he was looking for the treet after the click. Then I had him targeting things after maybe three or four clicks. He amazes me how smart he is. Bre is smart but if she doesn't think an activity is worthwhile she won't do it. I tried it with her this summer and she left as soon as I tried to make her earn the treats. At this point Bre has me trained to give her what she wants when she wants it rather than the other way around.

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  4. My husband clicker trained a lab we had years ago but we have never tried it with the horses. You should post some video!

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    1. I need to figure out how to video myself. My iphone seems to zoom in too close to tape andythign in the stall and it is really dark in there. I might have to find the charger for my camera and see if I can rig something up.

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  5. I click my Haflinger mare. She loves it big time. Like your Dickie she just gets terribly bored with regular wash/rinse/repeat training.
    Just a thought, he could be out in the pole. Had a Chiro out for my mare, she was out terribly.

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    1. I have thought the same thing. He was a little sore in his hip when I first got him. He plays really hard and has grown a half inch in the last six months. My vet does amazing acupuncture work but I have had so many expenses since I got him between the cardiologist and the sarcoid. I am thinking I will get him adjusted when I start him under saddle.

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  6. Yay for clicker training!!! As you know I've been clicker training Chrome since he was a yearling and we both love it. He will work his heart out for that click. :D

    You know the really weird thing is Chrome was the exact same way about his poll! I eventually just taught him to lower his head from a light squeeze to his crest about midway down his neck. It was far enough from the poll that he didn't toss his head. Even after he learned to give to poll pressure he would drop his head, shake it and jerk it out of my reach, so he was lowering it but it wasn't pretty. He also went through a phase (related to his teeth I think) where he didn't like his face touched at all. He wasn't head shy, he just hated it, so I spent several sessions just touching his face. I started on his nose and clicked him for standing still, worked my way up his face and eventually to his ears and poll until he would stand still no matter where I touched him. I'm planning to try again teaching him to lower from poll pressure, but for now the crest squeeze works great (the crest might be easier for you too since he's so tall and they can't twist their neck away from you like they can their head). He's not much of a giraffe though and I'm really tall so it hasn't ever really been a problem. You know you can teach him to lower his head with the target too right? You can start out teaching him to follow the target down. When he has that down you can touch his poll as he follows the target down. Eventually you can phase the target out. It might help give him the idea what it is you want. There are sooooo many ways that clicker training can be used. I love it. I'm looking forward to reading more about Dickie's training. I want to teach Chrome to shake hands, but I don't want to teach him to paw. Has that been a problem with Dickie?

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    1. I am so happy to hear Dickie isn't alone. I don't know why I didn't think of doing a crest release. It seems so logical but I like to do things the hard way I guess. It is going to feel so much better on my shoulder to reach his neck instead of his giraffe neck.

      I am not having an issue with him pawing me. Every so often he offers me a leg when I don't want to and I just push him back. I hate pawing, it makes me skin crawl, so I won't let him get away with it.

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  7. That's so good to know about the pawing. It drives me up the wall too. The only time Chrome paws right now is while he's eating (not while he's waiting for me to bring it to him) and it's actually air pawing because his hoof doesn't touch the ground. It's really weird lol. He used to paw a little when he was younger and first learning to stand tied, but he got over it because I clicked for when he stood still and only untied him when he was quiet. :D

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