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Clicker Training: Challenge Accepted

43K views 386 replies 29 participants last post by  Foxtail Ranch 
#1 ·
In the midst of all the clicker training debates, someone finally asked if we could show them what makes clicker training useful and valuable. Challenge accepted.

My purpose in this thread is not to debate whether or not you should use clicker training, but rather demonstrate its use and merits by using my horse as an example. If you'd like to debate whether or not clicker training works, please find another thread to do so. I am also not trying to convince you that you should use clicker training - without a solid understanding of clicker training and the ability to use it correctly, you risk causing much more harm than good. Unfortunately, that is why clicker training has earned the the stigma that I've heard so much about on this forum. However, if you'd like to learn, ask questions, or even make suggestions about how our clicker training experience might be even more effective, feel free to stick around and post!

I bought my colt in November 2011 at 18 months having only been halter broke. I was basically getting a clean slate - and, having done some research, I immediately purchased a quality clicker and Alexanda Kurland's boo, The Click that Teaches - and never regretted it. I did some basic ground work last year and even started him under saddle briefly, then gave him this last winter off just to grow up. Now, the snow is melting and we're ready to do some training! Of course, the clicker will be with me along the way.

My goal is for Flash to basically be a reiner that I can ride tackless. I don't know that I necessarily want to compete with him (who knows what the future will hold for us?), but I want him to have that same responsiveness with quick and correct movement like many reiners do. I want him to sidepass, back, spin, slide - the works. And FAST. And, ultimately, without tack and using only leg, seat, and voice aids. Lofty goals? Yes. But SO worth the work I'll be putting in and I believe it'll be very possible using clicker training.

Since I just put the basics on him last year and then gave him the winter off, we'll be starting off from nearly square one. I'm going to do my best to recap the work we've already done to get to where we are now as well as update about our current progress. I'll post pictures and videos when possible. Well.... here goes nothing!
 
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#2 ·
Giving the Clicker Meaning/Targeting

The first thing you have to do when clicker training is to give the clicker meaning. Obviously, a simple click means absolutely nothing to the horse - and it may not mean anything to you. However, that can change for both of you if paired with something that IS meaningful.

The whole point of the clicker is to communicate "yes" to your horse when he does something correct (in traditional training, this "yes" is often a release of pressure). However, the horse won't know it means "yes" unless it's paired with something he wants. In most cases, horses will want food, so treats are often used with clicker training. It doesn't have to be treats, though - anything the horse will work for can be paired with the clicker to make it meaningful - maybe your horse likes a good rub on the neck? Treats are oftentimes the most convenient and motivating, though, and so from here on out I will describe clicker training like when it's used with treats (if you wanted to use something different and the horse does reliably work of it, just substitute your reward in place of when I say to give a treat).

So now, we have to teach the horse that a click means a treat is coming. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to "charge the clicker" - basically, you click and then treat, and then repeat. By doing this, the horse learns to pay attention to the clicker and learns that a click means that a treat will soon follow.

For me, I quickly lost attention and didn't really see any progress using this. Instead, I jumped to the next step to give the clicker meaning: targeting. Targeting is when the horse has to touch ("target") something. This is a very easy skill for the horse to learn, and, for me, it accomplishes teaching the horse that a click means a treat AND that he has to do something to earn it!

One principle of clicker training is that every behavior must be taught in baby steps. At first, the horse won't know what you want him to do. However, as soon as he does something in the general direction of your goal, he earns a click and treat. Sooner or later, the horse will figure out what it was he earned a click for and then do it over and over again. At this point, you ask for a little more before you click and treat (and repeat!), and eventually you've got the horse doing the behavior you set out to train in the first place.

So, back to targeting. I found the most interesting and odd thing that a horse would naturally want to investigate: A plastic water bottle covered in lime green duck tape. It looked funny, sounded funny, and smelled funny - perfect! I brought Flash into the round pen (you want somewhere small at first so they keep their attention on you) along with my bag of treats and clicker, then brought out the water bottle. I held it out with one hand a few inches in front of his nose. As soon as he reached forward to touch it, I clicked and treated. Of course, he didn't have any idea what had just happend and started looking everywhere for more treats - which earned him a firm smack on the nose. Pretty soon, he realized there weren't any free treats to be had, so he went back to investigating the odd-looking green object in my other hand. As soon as he touched it, I clicked and treated again! You could see the wheels turning in his head after two or three times, and within one session he was repeatedly nosing the water bottle and earning treats.

Now, Flash knew what the clicker was for - if he could play my game and figure out what I wanted, he could earn what he wanted. And it all was communicated through a simple click.
 
#3 ·
Targeting (Continued) and Head Lowering

The next step was to ask for a little more - I moved the water bottle. He already knew he had to touch it, so I didn't click and treat UNLESS he touched it. However, we took baby steps with how far I moved the water bottle. At first it was in front of him. Then a little lower. Then even lower. It took a few sessions, but I ultimately was able to set it on the ground.

This is often step #2 for clicker training: Teaching the horse to lower his head. This is our "calm down" cue. Asking a horse to lower his head gives us a "home base" for the horse to go back to paying attention and calming down if he gets excited. If you can do this on cue, it's like when your teacher held up her hand and said "Give me Five" and all the students got quiet and raised their hands. Once everything is orderly, you can move on with your students' attention - in this case, your student is your horse!

When doing this with the target, I practice by pointing at the target - ultimately, I want this pointing to become a cue for him to target anything I point to. Teaching a horse to target anything on cue is useful for a number of reasons. For training purposes, a number of things can be cued and shaped by first starting with a target. However, thinking about the "big picture", if Flash was afraid of something, I could ask him to target it. Given our previous training, he would know that this was a new challenge for him and just another training exercise, so, if I'm asking him to target something new and unfamiliar, it must be just another training exercise like all the other ones we've done.

Right now, targeting my green water bottle is more like a "brain break", a term teachers use for a quick and easy activity that allows students to relax but still be working for a few minutes while they take a break from more difficult activities. Flash now targets the green water bottle no matter where I put it - in fact, I'll even throw it and he goes trotting after it and touches it. (If I feel like it, I may take advantage of those new teeth growing and teach him to retrieve it!). No matter what, if I want to "end on a good note", all I ever have to do is pull out his favorite green water bottle ;)
 
#17 ·
I have been wanting to try clicker training with my long yearlings. Just to see what it can do. They are curious friendly things now and seem interested in people. I have a clicker book but I am not sure if it is Kirklands.
JillyBean - I'm loving reading everything so far! It sounds to me like me and you do everything very similar!!
There's only a couple things I do differently - If you don't mind I'll just mention them so everyone reading can see some options in case one way doesn't work too well for them. :)

I'm learning so much in your threads - often while working with them I know that it's working, but I don't know why. So thank you for explaining!!
This is very good JB!
I am greatly enjoying reading these posts... It must be a lot of work, but I am very interested in the process, progress, and imput!
Hehehe - you all have positively reinforced me on an variable ratio schedule (since I never know when someone is going to say something!), thus contributing to my motivation for continuing this thread. Thank you! :) <3
 
#5 ·
Mouthiness

At this point, you've got a horse that is reliably targeting and lowering his head, understanding that he's working for a click that will be followed by a treat.

BUT, you've also got a mouthy monster mugging you for treats!

Mugging for treats is never ok - not even in clicker training. This is where clicker training and "treat training" are very different. Treat training, without a click to mark the correct behavior, usually fails to communicate the idea of "earning" a treat through correct behavior. Rather, the horse just knows it does some stuff and eventually gets a treat shoved in its face. Clicker training "marks" the correct behavior with a click, allowing for accurate communication of the correct behavior, and then your horse MUST politely wait for his reward.

Have you ever tried telling a kindergartener what NOT to do, only to find out they did something else you didn't want them to do instead? It's much more effective to tell them what they SHOULD do instead to direct their behavior into being what you would like it to be. Horses are the same way. I have no problem giving my horse a firm smack on the nose for treat mugging. However, I also make a point of showing my horse what I DO expect from him - by clicker training it! In order for my horse to receive his treat, he must be politely waiting for it until I put it up to his lips. This is when it's ok for him to take it out of my hand, and never before that. If he reaches for a treat in my hand, I close my fingers around it and take it away. Moreover, if he starts mugging the treat back or is just not getting the message about what he should be doing, I focus specifically on this behavior: I start clicking when he turns his head away from the treats. Between the clicking, the awarding or witholding of treats, and the occasional smack on the nose, it didn't take long for Flash to learn to be a polite little pony and wait until I say he's allowed to take his treat.
 
#7 ·
Backing Up

And now, we're finally to what we worked on today: Backing up. Flash retained ALL of his knowledge about clicker training over the winter, so I didn't have to re-charge the clicker or work on targeting. We did do backing up last year, but I wanted to start here as a refresher for a few reasons.

First, I needed both of us to be successful. For our first training session of this year, I wanted him to catch on to something quickly and have some progress made. I already knew he could back up with a little bit of a reminder, so this was a good choice for us to focus on.

Second, I wanted to ask for a higher level. Last year, I got him to the point where I could give a little pressure (or even just move my hand behind his chin), and he would step backward. However, I want to prepare him for my expectations as a reining horse: backing up straight, over a longer distance, and doing it quickly.

Third, I want to re-train my cue. Last year, I trained him to back up when I turned around to face him and moved the lead rope toward his chest. Now, with my end goal in mind, I want him to back up on a verbal cue ("Back up"). This way, when I do get on, what we've done on the ground will translate as the same cue and behavior while riding.

So here's what we did today:

I took Flash out into the arena in a lead rope and halter. I had a carrot stick without a line on it, but it more or less proved to be more trouble than it was worth. I started out with the end goal in mind by using the lightest cue possible, simply saying "Back Up". Of course, at this point, that meant nothing to him. So, I took a step forward and shook my finger at his chest. Still nothing. Then, that shaking finger ended up poking him in the chest and he took a step back = click and treat! After a few minutes, he was taking a step back whenever I took a step toward his shoulder and shook my finger (I was still saying "back up" before doing anything and continued saying it like I will while riding, though, so that he'll eventually learn this as the cue).

Now, it was time to ask for a little more. He had to back 2 steps before getting the cue. Then three. And before long he was having to back up as long as I was giving the cue, though I limited that to about 5 or 6 steps back since it was just his first time. Occasionally, to keep him going, I did put a little pressure on the halter as well. After a bit, I took the lead rope off and asked him to back without it.

OK, so he's doing good so far, so I want to ask for a little more "go" in his backing! So, I picked up my energy, stepped toward him a little more aggressively, and when I got to his chest (because he was dragging his feet), I gave him some firm (not harsh), smacks on the chest to get a move on. That did the trick haha. Though I only intentionally did this to get him to move his feet a little faster, it doubled to communicate that I don't just wan't him to move his feet, but that we actually needed to GO somewhere! After that lightbulb went on for him, he seemed to really get what I was asking him and was becoming really responsive and successful in getting his treats!

Somewhere around this time, he decided he wasn't interested in the treats. He's usually very attentive and excited about clicker training and we can go for quite a while, but after about a half hour of taking breaks when I said so, he was ready for his own break. So I let him have it :) He went to the middle of the arena and had a good roll, then took a stroll around the entire outside of the arena checking out the fences, and then came back to me ready to work. He's a funny guy :D Knowing his 2 1/2-year-old brain was getting tired and his tank-like belly was empty, I only asked him to back up a few more times and ended after two particularly good back-ups in a row (he was even starting to back up just with the verbal cue and no movement from me!) complete with extra treats and rubs for a job well-done.

It was a good day! I can't wait to continue our backing up lesson next time!
 
#8 ·
JillyBean - I'm loving reading everything so far! It sounds to me like me and you do everything very similar!!
There's only a couple things I do differently - If you don't mind I'll just mention them so everyone reading can see some options in case one way doesn't work too well for them. :)

Personally I use a smooch noise with my mouth - my hands are always full and I'm forgetful so carrying around a clicker wasn't ideal for me. At the same time it needed to be a noise really identifiable and never going to happen on accident - I tried using 'good' but words seemed to get lost with my horses as I talk to them so often. A clear smooching noise made things very clear to them.
The only other difference I noticed was when I 'charge' the clicker, the same as you standing and shoving treats in my horse's mouth seemed useless, so I stepped tot he next step. But rather than jumping quite so far as to targeting I just taught them to stand still and look away.
I stood in their stall with them - pockets bursting with treats (I use hay stretcher pellets) and waited. Of course the moment they realized I had them I was being mugged and knocked around. Anything gentle was ignored and anything rough earned them a dope slap. But normally for some reason the horse would look away - either a noise or they got bored, I'd click+treat. That's when they'd go crazy. Normally after 5 minutes they'd be standing politely all 4 feet on the ground (pawing is Never allowed in my book) and their head turned away. I also only feed treats just a bit behind their chin - just to reinforce that they need to be well out of my space, making them lean back a bit to get the food.
I also wanted to add - When you begin keeping lessons short and sweet is best. Food gets them very excited and they can get worked up - it's best to let them stop and calm down and think about what they learned. The first few lessons I barely spent a whole 5 minutes each session - but I'd do 3-4 a day. Each time I came back the last thing we worked on was mastered. They had thought about it while I was away and figured it out. Now that they've been doing this a while they're less over-eager and I can work on things as long as I want, as long as I need - but I still find leaving and coming back they are 100x better. Even if I just come back 30 minutes later. Normally I'll do some CT, then clean their stalls, then do a little more, do some more chores, then do some more.

JillyBean - I love this thread, I'm eager to read more about what you do and how you do it. I hadn't thought of teaching them to target what I point to - I was relying on putting the target on things they're nervous with. Which helped my mare overcome her terrible fear of leaving her paddock - she would touch my car and the big dumpster with the flappy tarp - targetting REALLY helped her overcome so many fears!! I can take her out for trails and by roads - she still gets nervous sometimes but one of those 'easy' tasks like touching my target just settles her right down!
I use a crop with some colorful duct tape on the end. One of the kids at my rescue uses one of those sparkly riding bats for the pony she's working with. :) Anything can be a target. But I love the idea of pointing! Thanks for that JillyBean!!

I'm learning so much in your threads - often while working with them I know that it's working, but I don't know why. So thank you for explaining!!
 
#9 ·
JillyBean - I'm loving reading everything so far! It sounds to me like me and you do everything very similar!!
There's only a couple things I do differently - If you don't mind I'll just mention them so everyone reading can see some options in case one way doesn't work too well for them. :)
Love it! You already gave me a few things to think about....

Personally I use a smooch noise with my mouth - my hands are always full and I'm forgetful so carrying around a clicker wasn't ideal for me. At the same time it needed to be a noise really identifiable and never going to happen on accident - I tried using 'good' but words seemed to get lost with my horses as I talk to them so often. A clear smooching noise made things very clear to them.
That's a great idea! I got a high-quality clicker with a stretchy wristband so that I don't have to worry about carrying it. It's another piece of tack I carry with me, just like my halter or lead rope, so it wasn't a huge adjustment. I don't trust myself to be as consistent as I would need to be, so the clicker is great to keep things clear for my horse. More power to you for being able to cue correctly and consistently without an extra piece of equipment! I keep it all organized in my treat back - it slings over my shoulder with a front pocket with treats and a big pocket where all my targeting props, clicker, hoof pick, and even a brush if I want fit comfortably. I picked it up at a resell shop when I was looking for a fanny pack, but I love this instead. I'll have to post a picture of it sometime :)

The only other difference I noticed was when I 'charge' the clicker, the same as you standing and shoving treats in my horse's mouth seemed useless, so I stepped tot he next step. But rather than jumping quite so far as to targeting I just taught them to stand still and look away.
I stood in their stall with them - pockets bursting with treats (I use hay stretcher pellets) and waited. Of course the moment they realized I had them I was being mugged and knocked around. Anything gentle was ignored and anything rough earned them a dope slap. But normally for some reason the horse would look away - either a noise or they got bored, I'd click+treat. That's when they'd go crazy. Normally after 5 minutes they'd be standing politely all 4 feet on the ground (pawing is Never allowed in my book) and their head turned away. I also only feed treats just a bit behind their chin - just to reinforce that they need to be well out of my space, making them lean back a bit to get the food.
I really like that - it sets the expectation from day one that you're not allowed to mug for treats! Given the opportunity to do this over again (or with a new horse), I think I'll go the route that you did for beginning clicker training. Great idea!

I also wanted to add - When you begin keeping lessons short and sweet is best. Food gets them very excited and they can get worked up - it's best to let them stop and calm down and think about what they learned. The first few lessons I barely spent a whole 5 minutes each session - but I'd do 3-4 a day. Each time I came back the last thing we worked on was mastered. They had thought about it while I was away and figured it out. Now that they've been doing this a while they're less over-eager and I can work on things as long as I want, as long as I need - but I still find leaving and coming back they are 100x better. Even if I just come back 30 minutes later. Normally I'll do some CT, then clean their stalls, then do a little more, do some more chores, then do some more.
I knew about keeping it short because of their attention span, but hadn't thought about giving them "processing time". That's an excellent insight and I'm going to make a point of giving Flash breaks more often. It's hard because he'll usually work as long as I want him to, but giving "think time" is actually a really important part of teaching human students, so it only seems logical that horses would benefit from short learning sessions with "thinking" breaks in between! :idea:

JillyBean - I love this thread, I'm eager to read more about what you do and how you do it. I hadn't thought of teaching them to target what I point to - I was relying on putting the target on things they're nervous with. Which helped my mare overcome her terrible fear of leaving her paddock - she would touch my car and the big dumpster with the flappy tarp - targetting REALLY helped her overcome so many fears!! I can take her out for trails and by roads - she still gets nervous sometimes but one of those 'easy' tasks like touching my target just settles her right down!
I use a crop with some colorful duct tape on the end. One of the kids at my rescue uses one of those sparkly riding bats for the pony she's working with. :) Anything can be a target. But I love the idea of pointing! Thanks for that JillyBean!!
I think you just gave me an excuse to go get one of those sparkly riding bats now. I never really could justify them, but now I really want to have one! Haha I'll be a princess on my pony after all :)

I'm learning so much in your threads - often while working with them I know that it's working, but I don't know why. So thank you for explaining!!
No problem, and thank you! I'm glad we can both bounce our ideas and insights with one another. This is going to be a great clicker-training year!

PS - I do have a B.A. in Psychology, so I've got the theory thing down if you ever want to discuss the nitty-gritty science behind all this, but I try to stick to the practical application that everyone else cares about haha
 
#11 ·
Reinforcement: The nitty gritty details

In order to understand clicker training, you must understand the terms that apply to behavioral training in general: positive, negative, reinforcement, and punishment. These govern ALL motivated behavior, whether we're talking about horses, lizards, birds, bugs.... Everything. Even you humans reading this.

Here's a little upper-division psychology for you :)

First, lets define them:
Positive: this is like a positive in math, not positive meaning "good". It means adding something that wasn't there before.
Negative: this is also like math - a negative number means you're taking something away or subtracting it. This is not "bad", so don't confuse this definition of negative with one that is judgemental in nature.
Reinforcement: this is anything that causes a behavior to happen more often, as in it reinforces the behavior.
Punishment: this is anything that causes a behavior to happen less often

**Note: something can be intended to be a reinforcer or punishment that is NOT actually a reinforcer or punishment since it is ineffective and does not achieve making the behavior happen more or less often. I addition, something that was a reinforcer or punishment can stop and start being either. It all depends on whether it is currently effectie to change behavior or not.

Now, let's combine them and discuss the results:

Positive reinforcement: by definition, this is adding something that causes the behavior to happen more often. For example, when you work, you receive money, so you work more to receive more money.

Negative reinforcement: again, by definition, this is taking away something that in turn causes a behavior to happen more often. For example, there is a sqeaky door that really annoys you. However, when you put WD-40 on it, it stops sqeaking. This leads to you putting WD-40 on the door whenever it sqeaks so that the noise goes away. Taking the squeak away is negatively renforcing you putting the WD-40 on the door!

Positive punishment: this is when something is added that causes a behavior to happen less often. For example, when a child misbehaves, spankings are added to the scenario. So, the child misbehaves less often.

Negative punishment: this is when something is taken away that results in the behavior happening less often. Say a teen stays out too late, so driving privilages are taken away. Afterward, the teen does not disobey their curfew again.

Now that I've clarified what these terms mean, I'll apply each to horses in my next post. For now, I need to grade some papers :)
 
#12 ·
For now, I need to grade some papers :)
By the way, I need to grade papers because:

If I do, my students will be happy to find out their grades (positive reinforcement)

If I do, I can go home earlier and not have to stay at school (negative reinforcement)

If I don't, I risk hearing about it from my boss (positive punishment)

If I don't, I risk loosing my job (negative punishment)

There's some hard-core behavioral operant conditioning for you - ponder that one for a moment!
 
#13 ·
Operant Conditioning: Applying it to horses

Ok, so in my last post, I explained the different aspects of operant conditioning. (Operant conditioning is simply a fancy psychology term for saying we can train behavior through motivation and is applicable to pretty much every voluntary behavior known to living organisms).

Now, let's apply it to horses:

Positive reinforcement: This is where clicker training finds a home. With clicker training, a reinforcer (usually a treat) is introduced when the desired behavior is performed. Technically, treat training is also positive reinforcement as far as it is able to reinforce the behavior you're wanting. The addition of a clicker as a "bridge" between the the behavior and actually receiving a treat simply allows us to be more intentional, accurate, and flexible with the behaviors we are trying to reinforce, which I already discussed in a previous post.

Negative reinforcement: This is where training off of pressure comes into play. In "traditional" training, pressure is applied to guide/ask the horse to do something, and then the pressure is released when the horse responds correctly. The horse learns to work for the release of pressure.

Positive punishment: This is used each time you smack your horse for getting in your space. For instance, if he is mugging you for treats and you give him a firm thwack on the nose, he learns not to mug you for treats or else!

Negative punishment: I had a hard time coming up with one for this, but it just dawned on me yesterday - this is often used in *proper* clicker training if you are going to give the horse a treat and the horse reaches out for it a little too eagerly. The correct thing to do in this situation would be to wrap your fingers around the treat and take it back. Withholding the treat discourages the horse from reaching for it, and since you are eliminating that behavior by taking something away that he would have gotten otherwise, it is negative punishment.

Oftentimes, these are simultaneously used to govern behavior. I already gave an example above about how each of these applied to why I graded those papers, but now here's an example of combining these within a training session: If I wanted to teach my horse to back up (as I did yesterday), I first gave the cue that I want him to learn ("back up"). However, since that didn't mean anything to him yet, I stepped forward and put pressure on his front shoulder. He took a step back, and I released the pressure (negative reinforcement), clicked, and treated (positive reinforcement). However, if he ever reached for a treat, I would have bopped him on the nose (positive punishment) and withheld the treat (negative punishment). During any given training session, you'll usually find me using a combination of positive and negative reinforcement (clicking and treating as well as using pressure). I don't use punishment unless he does something I don't want, obviously. Usually, that doesn't happen, though, since he's so keen on trying to figure out what I want :)

There are many other examples of how these are used with horses and in our everyday lives. Hopefully, you're beginning to get an idea of how important these principles are and how they apply to just about everything you do. For example, I am currently writing this because I want the positive reinforcement of hearing other people's comments and knowing I helped them learn something as well as the hoped-for negative reinforcement of fewer people writing off clicker training simply because they don't understand it.

Which, by the way, brings us to reinforcement schedules and how some schedules are more powerful than others in sustaining behavior - but that's for another post ;)
 
#14 ·
Reinforcement Schedules

Once you understand reinforcement and punishment and the different ways that they work, now it comes to WHEN you reinforce. This isn't quite as critical as knowing why training works the way it does in the first place, so I'll keep it short and sweet for those that are interested in the various types of reinforcement schedules and the results they produce.

The first main type of reinforcement schedule is continuous reinforcement. This is the type of schedule most commonly used in clicker training. Basically, this means that the behavior is reinforced each time it's given. In other words, if I'm teaching my horse to pick up his feet, I click and treat each time the horse picks his foot up. This is best used during the initial stages of learning as it create a strong association between the behavior and reinforcement. However, once the behavior is firmly associated with the reinforcement (and your horse knows what you expect from him), you can do two things - ask for more and/or switch to a partial reinforcement schedule. Personally, I do both. I'll explain the "asking for more" in the next post, but the basic idea is that the horse has to take the behavior one step further before getting a reinforcement (now he has to hold his foot up longer... and longer....) and you're actually asking for your horse to learn something new (i.e. holding a foot rather than just picking it up). However, for this post, I'm going to explain switching to a partial reinforcement schedule in order to reinforce the SAME behavior that was already taught. This prevents what we call "extinction" - in other words, the behavior stopping since we're not reinforcing it anymore (for those of you who think that a clicker trained horse will ALWAYS need a clicker, listen up!).

Partial reinforcement: this means that the horse doesn't get a reinforcement every time it does what you're asking. Instead, it only gets a reinforcement part of the time. This way, you can ask for the behavior more often without a reinforcement (i.e. you can ask for behavior without a clicker) and the horse will still respond even though it doesn't get a treat every time.

I'm only going to worry about the things that are most important here - if you want to know more, Google "reinforcement schedules".

Here are the key terms you need to know to understand partial reinforcement:
Fixed = when you reinforce doesn't change.
Variable = it's unpredictable when you'll reinforce behavior
Ratio = when you reinforce depends on the number of times the behavior is performed
Interval = when you reinforce depends on the amount of time that has passed (I'm not going to discuss this one here, though).

There are four types of partial reinforcement, and different schedules lead to different results. I've included a graph below that illustrates these. I'm only going to explain fixed ratio and variable ratio here, though, because they directly apply to clicker training.

Fixed ratio means that you reinforce after a specific number of correct behaviors. Generally, this leads to a steady rate of responses in order to earn the reward with only a brief pause after getting the reward. For example, every time a kid completes three math problems, he gets a piece of candy, so he does three math problems, receives his candy, eats it and pauses, then decides he wants another one so gets back to work again. The weakness here is that, if the horse doesn't receive a treat after the expected time, the behavior can break down and the horse stops responding.

Variable ratio solves this problem. With variable ratio reinforcement, the horse never knows when it's going to get a reward - it can perform the desired behavior any number of times and may or may not receive the reinforcer. This is the most powerful reinforcement schedule as it produces a high and steady rate of the desired behavior. Don't believe me? This is how gambling addiction works: You never now when you're going to win, even without any sort of reward (and even lose money!), people keep on gambling and gambling because every now and then they win $5 back, $2 back, $10 back, etc., and they think they just might hit the jackpot with the next round.

This applies to clicker training when teaching the horse to respond the way you want it to without the clicker. I use this to reinforce behaviors that my horse knows and that I expect, but want to reward every now and then. When I'm "phasing out" the clicker, I'll ask the horse to do what I want and only click and treat every now and then. Thus, he learns that he can respond even without the clicker. Eventually, I won't use the clicker at all when asking for this behavior - this behavior is expected and the horse knows what he's supposed to be doing (thus I avoid the horse trying something else or getting confused because he didn't get a reinforcing click and treat). For things my horse knows REALLY well, I do click and treat every now and then just to say "good boy" in a way that's meaningful for him. I could probably be just fine without it, but I like to reinforce these behaviors every once in a while (i.e. maybe once in a week or even a month) just because. Since he never knows when what he's doing might earn him a treat, he's always listening even when he doesn't get one!
 
#16 ·
Pats and Verbal Rewards: Are they reinforcement?

I have never been able to wrap my mind around WHY we seem to think that patting a horse or telling it "Good Boy" would be rewarding for a horse. Personally, I think we do it because we find it rewarding. Human language on its own is meaningless sto a horse, and I can't imagine that the horse (or any animal) really wants to be patted - with one of my horses, it would actually be counter-productive since one of my horses is really sensitive to things like that and shies away from them.

Realistically, the only way a pat or a verbal reward could be any sort of reinforcer would be if it was done consistently enough with other things to become associated with those things. For instance, if your horse gets a quick break or a change in activity when they get their pat or "good boy", they could become associated with one another. Essentially, you've done the same thing that clicker training does when it creates a "bridge" between an inherently meaningless reinforcer and gives it meaning through association. However, since you're likely not being consistent and intentionally pairing the real reward with your pat or verbal reward, it probably won't become very strongly associated with any sort of reward that the horse wants to work for.

However, just for kicks and giggles, let's assume that horses find pats and being told "good boy" or "good girl" is very rewarding for a horse.... It would still be a terrible reinforcer, much in the same way simply "treat training" is a terrible reinforcer and for the same reasons. The trouble with treat training is that you cannot give the horse immediate feedback on specific behaviors since it's impossible to give them a treat at that moment. Usually, if it's impossible to to feed a treat, it would probably be impossible to give them a pat. Thus, it's not really connected to the specific behavior you're working on but rather an overall "I did something right."

The ultimate test to find out whether your pats or words are real reinforcers would be to stop giving them and keep everything else you're doing exactly the same except. If you stopped patting or saying "good boy", would your horse still work for you at the same level/speed he does now? My bet would be yes - because he's not working for the pat or words. Rather, he's working for the release of pressure, the real reinforcer. Thus, since the pats aren't actually motivating the horse to perform the desired behaviors more often, it, by definition, is not a reinforcer at all.

(Disclaimer - I'm not saying you shouldn't pat/pet/rub your horse or tell them "good boy". In fact, though I don't pat because that just isn't something I do for whatever reason, I do give lots of rubs and verbal "good"-s because I do think it reinforces my relationship with my horse. I don't expect it to assist with my training beyond simply establishing a bond with my horse and being comfortable and happy around each other. In contrast, I expect the reinforcement with the clicker to actually produce results in our training.)
 
#18 ·
JillyBean - I'm very impressed - I'm loving reading about why and how all of the things I do work xD I know how to do it, but not how or why it works.
Thank you so much! This is clearing up so many questions in my mind.

I just wanted to add - to be clear to anyone reading this thread, with all the statements about reinforcement schedules - this Still Applies with pressure+release training without a clicker. Even if all you use is pressure+release, the schedules still take place. This is why when someone has heavy hands with slow or no release of pressure (holding heavy contact all the time) horse's develop 'hard mouths'. The horse's mouth isn't getting tougher and you don't need a stronger bit - you need softer hands and better timed releases of pressure, where the release is significant enough to make the horse desire it.

So the concepts of schedules work for every reinforcer. I just didn't want someone to read this thread and think "well why bother teach CT if you just have to wean them off it" - well (this is my bratty opinion) why bother use something that you need to reinforce All the time? ;)
Don't get me wrong, personally I use a mix of all 4 - Just making a point. :)
 
#21 ·
Yes, and it's an excellent point! In explaining all this, I sometimes forget to explain that all of this theory relates to ALL behavior, even if you're not intentionally training anyone or anything. All "training" does - no matter what method you're using - is utilize the principles of behavior in order to shape it. So while I'm explaining this in the context of clicker training, it applies to anything you do and any method you use.

*I highly doubt that this was required education for my psychology major because they wanted me to be a good horse trainer - I'm sure putting that degree to good use!*
 
#19 ·
Backing up, day 2

OK, so now that I've finally gotten all that theory and technicality stuff down, I can finally update on our progress today!

I went out with the goal to just work on what we started yesterday (backing up with a verbal cue), adding speed and getting him to respond to the verbal cue. AND, per PunksTank's suggestion, I wanted to make sure I kept our training session short.

I was pleasantly surprised with how yesterday's lesson apparently "sunk in" overnight! I'm betting that the same thing would have happened even with just a short break yesterday like PunksTanks suggested. Unfortunately, I board my horses so it's a little difficult to spread out our sessions with breaks, but I'll have to get creative. For now, I'll just do little mini-lessons. I'm not sure how long I was out there today, but I made a point of stopping while we were ahead and keeping it shorter than yesterday.

I turned Flash out in the arena as soon as we got out there. He was eager to find out what game we were playing today, so he followed me wherever I went and stopped respectfully when I did (we've worked on where he's supposed to walk respectfully before and he got a reminder the other day when I reacted by shaking his halter without the clicker - he's been very respectful since). Then, I turned around and said "back up" - and he took a step backward! I immediately clicked and treated. He's backing up about 50% of the time on just the verbal cue now and will continue backing up if I keep saying it (backupbackupbackup...). He'll even do so at a decent speed, through I still want to get him faster. If I pick up my energy and walk toward him, shaking my finger at his chest like I did yesterday, then he picks up speed and moves pretty well.

I forgot to mention yesterday how he was swinging his hip some and not backing up straight, but I fixed that by swinging the lead rope at his hip and turning his head slightly, so he straightened back out. He seems to have worked the "straight" thing out now, especially since we're picking up speed and he has to move fairly straight in order to do so quickly.

After a few minutes of backing, he wandered off. I think he's feeding off some other cue he's not quite understanding and that I'm not trying to give, because he basically lunged himself on his own for a while. That alerted me to the fact that I needed to teach him a "come here" cue since he was so convinced he was supposed to be going around me (I try to do most of our training at liberty and didn't have the lead on to stop him). So, for the next few minutes, i focused on just asking him to come. Essentially, I called his name and extended the back of my hand to him and had him target it. Pretty soon, I could send him off by swinging the lead rope and then ask him to come in and touch my hand. Once I had his attention again, I asked him to back up a few steps, then come back forward when I called him and extended my hand. We only did this a few times, and then I decided it was a good place to stop while he was still interested and paying attention.

Tomorrow, I think I'll continue working on the "back up" and "come here cues" and focus on those until we have them really well :)

One last interesting note - we worked a LOT on leading last year out of necessity, including trotting when asked. He knows his cue very well, even after he had the winter off, and immediately trotted up to me when I asked him to catch up while leading him to the arena. However, he never passed me and slowed down as soon as his head was at my shoulder. It's so nice to have a cutie trotting after me and managing the slack in the lead rope appropriately!
 
#20 · (Edited)
That's fantastic Jillybean! I'm so glad to hear it - yup it sunk in!
Personally I do about 10 minutes of CT, then some barn chores, then a few more minutes. When I work with my mini-pair I'll work with 1 for about 10 minutes, then the other, then back to the first - usually taking an extra few minutes to reload my pockets :) Usually that's enough time for them to have progressed a bit.

Also - I really want to teach my horses that, I'm having some trouble teaching lunging, as it takes a while to click and treat. I have to use a line all the time because my 'arena' has no fence, but it's the only area without grass xD But there's a large hay field right behind it - so I'm sure without the line my horses would be half way across the field before I realized they were gone xD
 
#23 ·
Do I have to use a clicker and treats?

No!

First the clicker:
The purpose of the clicker is to provide a "bridge" between the behavior you're trying to reinforce and the actual reward. This enables you to "mark" specific behaviors by clicking simultaneously with them when it would be impossible to give them a reward for the behavior right then.

A clicker works very well as a bridge because it is a distinct and consistent sound that creates a strong, clear association between behavior -> marker (the clicker sound) ->reward. A sound works better than any other type of reinforcement because it will pretty much always be noticed and recognized.

However, any sound that is distinct and consistent will work for "clicker training". For instance, I know some people use the caps from Snapple bottles (they click when you push them in) and PunksTank uses a smooching sound and doesn't even have to carry a clicker device! The key to a good "marker" is making sure that it's always the same and always associated with your reward. For instance, if you make a smooch noise for a cue, then a smooch noise will not be an effective marker since it's not clear what you're indicating when you make the noise. Moreover "good boy" or "good girl" is usually a poor marker choice because you're likely to make the same words or even just the sounds in other contexts and confuse the horse, and even our best efforts to say this the same way every time will likely fail since things like emotion will affect how we say it. Personally, I don't trust myself to be consistent enough with any verbal cue, and so I have my clicker permanently attached to my wrist with a high-quality elastic wristband and it's just one of the pieces of tack I grab when I intend to work with my horse. If I can grab a halter and lead rope, I can grab my clicker :)

Now, the treats:
Once you understand what a reinforcer really is, you can decide what you'd like to use as your reinforcer. As long as it motivates the horse to work, it is a reinforcer! Preferably, you want a reinforcer that the horse will work for over a period of time as well. Does your horse work for a scratch behind his ears? If you'd like, you can use that instead of treats! However, treats are often the most convenient reinforcer for a number of reasons. First, most horses are food-motivated simply because it's a basic need, so we can exploit it. Not all food will work for all horses - for instance, one of my horses only likes a few bites of grain and then loses interest. Grain would not be a good reinforcer for him, while it probably would be for most horses. I like using "cookies" because I believe they're healthier and I don't have to worry about him getting too much. Plus, I can change flavors to keep him interested. I try to find the smallest ones I can so that I can give a small reward without feeding too much each time.
 
#25 ·
Once you understand what a reinforcer really is, you can decide what you'd like to use as your reinforcer. As long as it motivates the horse to work, it is a reinforcer! Preferably, you want a reinforcer that the horse will work for over a period of time as well. Does your horse work for a scratch behind his ears? If you'd like, you can use that instead of treats! However, treats are often the most convenient reinforcer for a number of reasons. First, most horses are food-motivated simply because it's a basic need, so we can exploit it. Not all food will work for all horses - for instance, one of my horses only likes a few bites of grain and then loses interest. Grain would not be a good reinforcer for him, while it probably would be for most horses. I like using "cookies" because I believe they're healthier and I don't have to worry about him getting too much. Plus, I can change flavors to keep him interested. I try to find the smallest ones I can so that I can give a small reward without feeding too much each time.
Continuing to love your posts JillyBean!! I was wondering if you could explain one more thing about food rewards (if you were already planning too sorry for jumping the gun :P). I hear so many people say "horses don't think like predators, their food is at their feet, so they don't know how to work for food" - While I disagree with this, seeing my horses dig in the snow for the little grass underneath, and seeing other horses who have learned to kick walls or whinny for food. But I was wondering if you could explain it for people who believe that?

I have to add - CT has saved me in an emergency very similar! My pony rolled close to the fence and rolled right under it - he was half way across my yard and heading for a busy street as well - I grabbed my target and ran out as fast as I could - Calling his name he saw the target and doubled-back and ran right up to it!! I wonder what the neighbors thought - my target is a crop xD
I also had to use it similar to your hoof trimming for one of our old rescues who got cast in the snow, clicking and treating while he was still, so we could dig him out. :)
 
#24 ·
Clicker Emergencies

I'm going to call this "clicker emergencies" to distinguish between this and clicker training. Though these examples aren't intended actually teach the horse anything, having a clicker trained horse does come with a few side benefits that I've found very useful.

One example is for when you need your horse to do something new and there's no time to actually train the behavior. For instance, my colt needed somewhat urgent hoof care when I purchased him. He'd never been worked on by a farrier before and had a terrible flare and a few other issues I wanted to attend to right away, especially since it seemed like he was having strange bone development in order to balance himself on his hooves. By the time the farrier came out (about week into using clicker training), Flash knew what the clicker meant, but we didn't have time to work on picking up much less holding his feet for the farrier. My dad, a skeptic about my clicker training, came out to help me hold him for the Farrier. Flash was not happy and didn't participate, and I could tell my farrier was exercising a tremendous amount of patience. It wasn't long before I told him I could go get my clicker and that would probably help. My dad said the farrier probably didn't want me messing around and giving treats, but the farrier said to go ahead and do anything I thought might help. Out came my bag and the clicker! Normally, I would practice just picking up feet, then holding feet for a second, and then holding them longer and longer to actually train the behavior. However, there was no time for that. As soon as the farrier picked up Flash's foot, I started clicking and treating constantly. If he pulled his foot away or put it down, the clicking and treating stopped. It took him one try to figure out the game and then he was the easiest 18-month-old you've ever tried to work with! Again, this didn't teach him to hold his feet, but it got us through a nearly-impossible hoof trim. In addition, simply feeding him wouldn't have worked since it would have just created a mouthy and impatient horse trying to get more snacks. With the clicker, he knew he had to earn the treats and that they wouldn't just be given to him for no reason. (Since then, we've done a lot of work to train him to be good about his feet, going through the process I describe above of asking more and more from him in order to earn the click, and I can now work with all his hooves without any problems and without the aid of a clicker or treats)

My second example of where the clicker has helped in a tight spot is to get a horse's attention in a critical and urgent situation. For example, last fall I was leading Flash back from a ride and he got excited and took off loping and bucking home, pulling the lead rope out of my hands. However, the place I was boarding was off a main road with lots of 50-60mph traffic and there was a good chance he would run right out on the road if I couldn't get him stopped. I yelled "woah" and "Flash!", but he was headed for home! Then, almost by instinct, I started clicking my clicker furiously to get his attention - And he stopped immediately! Hey, he wasn't going to miss out on a treat! He stood still and waited for me to catch up to give it to him - At this point, I started clicking about every 5 seconds to tell him he was doing what I wanted (standing still) and keep him standing there while I caught up. Crisis averted!
 
#27 ·
XD I think I almost died with that goldfish video!!! That's incredible!! What a devoted guy to train his goldfish. That's awesome! Thank you for the detailed explanation again JillyBean :)
The camels were awesome too! I actually just bought my horse "Irish Tank" a Shamrock welcome mat to learn to stand on the mat! She already knows Stand without the mat, but I would like her to use the mat too so when my pony sitter comes she can use the mat when she needs to clean her stall with her in it. That way she can put the mat where she wants her to stand, well out of her way. (typically we clean while they're outside but my pony sitter only has time to do the big clean at night after they've been 'tucked in')
 
#29 ·
XD I think I almost died with that goldfish video!!! That's incredible!! What a devoted guy to train his goldfish. That's awesome!
If you liked that, you're going to love this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgRrrNL-mi4

This doesn't actually use a clicker in the kit, but I imagine the training would be enhanced if someone were to combine this with a clicker like the goldfish one. Just goes to show, though, what can be achieved through positive reinforcement! If a feeder fish like this one can figure this out, imagine what your horse is capable of that you may never have dreamed possible!
 
#28 ·
Training: The horse's perspective

Imagine you're sitting comfy and cozy in bed doing something you enjoy - probably reading and posting on HorseForum.com ;) Or even just sleeping!

Someone comes in speaking a language you don't know, pulls you out of bed, puts clothes on you that you're not particularly fond of, and leads you to the front yard. Then, they pinch the underside of your upper arm - that's right, the place that's soft and tender and hurts when it's pinched! And then, they don't let go! You push them away, try to pull away, swat at their hand, and do anything that makes sense to you to get them to stop pinching you, but somehow they just keep holding on. Finally, out of frustration, you start hopping on your right foot - and they let go and say some stuff to you in their language (though you don't know what it means)! You stop hopping and yell at them "what was that all about?!", but they start pinching you again. After going through all the things you did before with no luck, you randomly hop on your right foot again - and they let go and say the same thing again! You start putting two and two together: if you hop on your right foot, they'll stop pinching you. So then whenever they go to pinch you you immediately start hopping on one foot. In fact, if they even start to reach for your arm, you start hopping, and they don't even pinch you at all! That's all fine and dandy until, one time, they pinch your other arm. Now, they won't let go even when you start hopping on your right foot. You try and try, and then eventually out of frustration you start hopping on your left foot - and they let go! You figure out a little quicker this time that the side they go to pinch tells you which foot you're supposed to be hopping on... Eventually other cues and behaviors are added and you get quicker at figuring this out until you have a whole set of things you can do and avoid getting pinched at all. Now that you've figured out the system, you might even like it when this person comes to get you because you don't get pinched very much and you may even get a back rub when you're all done. You have been "trained".

While I don't like to believe it's quite that negative, and is probably much better for experienced trainers, this is how I imagine traditional training seems to horses.

Now, lets switch the scenario starting from the very beginning:
Someone comes in speaking a language you don't know, pulls you out of bed, puts clothes on you that you're not particularly fond of, and leads you to the front yard. Then, they just step away from you and stare at you. This isn't very comfortable for you and you tell them to stop. They don't listen. Then, you go to walk over to them - as soon as you pick your foot up to take the first step, they clap their hands once and give you a dollar! You look at them funny and think they're crazy. You try to ask them what's going on, but they just step away and begin staring again. Pretty soon, you walk towards them again, and they clap and give you another dollar! Ok, so something is up now. For whatever reason, whenever you start walking toward them, they clap and then give you a dollar. This happens a few more times, but then they stop clapping and giving you dollars when you walk towards them. They're still staring at you expectantly, though, so you try other things. You try walking towards them faster, walking different directions, walking away from them, and eventually you try walking by picking your feet up really high. As soon as you lift your foot up high in the air, they clap a bunch of times and give you five bucks! You lift your foot high again, and the same thing happens! Yay! Then they start clapping once and only giving you a dollar when you lift your foot up, and then it stops all together :( So now, you try taking a giant step with your right foot toward them, and, naturally, you take a giant step with your left foot - as your left foot is in the air, you get a clap and a treat! Yay! Another clue! So now you've figured out that you need to lift your left foot up. You pick it up a few times, and get a big clap and $5 again! You do it a few more times, but now you're back to only one clap and one dollar, but then it stops again :( What is the next step? You stand on your right foot with your left foot in the air and try a few things. Since this all started out as you going toward them, maybe they want you to hop toward them on your right foot? You start hopping toward them and you earn another big clap and $5! Yay! You think you've got it - they want you to hop towards them! Except, wait, nope :( The treats stop again. You hop all around and don't get any treats - until, not knowing what else to do, you just hop in place. Ding Ding Ding - you hit the jackpot! Now, you've got a round of applause, $10, and a back rub - then you're sent back to bed :D

Did you know you can do this for real? Try it with your friends/kids! The "training game" is one of my students' favorite things to play: One student leaves the room and the class decides what the "behavior" is going to be and what our "cue" will be. For example, we decided once that we were going to have someone grab a piece of candy out of the candy jar and feed it to a specific person. Our cue was actually to shake our heads "no"! The student comes back in and tries to figure out what we want them to do. I have to sometimes coach my students not to say or do anything except give the cue when our "training subject" gets closer to figuring out what we're asking them to do. In this case, we shook our heads when he got close to the candy jar. 10 people shaking their heads at you is odd, so they caught on quickly that it was the cue. The moved back and forth trying to figure out the exact location, and, once they did, we stopped shaking our heads for the location and he had to figure out the next step. He started touching everything within arm's reach, and eventually touched the candy jar - and we all shook our heads! Aha! We continued our game until they eventually figured out to grab the candy (which they immediately opened and took a bite of), then started trying to "feed" it to other students - and we gave him a big applause when he offered it to the correct person. They love coming up with weird and crazy things for each other to do! Practice it with the people you know and you'll really get a feel for timing, accuracy, and how it feels to figure it out yourself!

The only difference between this and clicker training is the reward - humans are willing to work for a reward as simple as knowing they figured it out. Plus, we have much higher thinking capabilities in order to understand that many little "cues" for "yes" can lead to the ultimate goal, so a reinforcer isn't needed for every correct behavior.

Anyway, just some food for thought on the horse's perspective :) And a fun game to play whether or not you actually do clicker training!
 
#30 ·
Ok. So, I visited your blog jillybean, and I saw some pictures of your horse trying to buck you off. How will you go about fixing that with clicker training?
 
#31 ·
I'm going to avoid being stupid and thinking I can get on a 2 1/2 year old horse that hasn't been worked with for 4 months and wasn't hardly even green broke before that :)

If you read the very first post of this thread, you'll see that I'm taking a few steps back and starting from (almost) square one like I should have haha.
 
#34 ·
You'll find that a lot of people who do clicker training correctly have excited and willing attitudes and wouldn't want to buck in the first place other than maybe to "play" - which is what my boy is still doing quite often. We'll be in the arena doing work at liberty and he just gets so excited he takes off bucking and farting, then comes running back to me to play more "games" and earn clicks and treats! To me, this doesn't sound like a horse that would regularly try to buck you off, though I will need to make sure he's got his wiggles out when we do get back to riding. If his behavior does become and issue and the excited bucks don't go away (I'm positive it's just his age), then I'll have to address that with a little less tolerance for baby behavior. He NEVER does this on a lead, however - I took care of any excited hops on a lead almost as soon as I got him in November 2010 with a good smack across the chest and chasing him out of my space. He knows better now than to do anything silly in my space or while on a rope.
 
#36 ·
To be honest, clicker training gives us a tool that allows us to adapt our methods. At the heart and soul of clicker training is simply communicating a "yes" signal to the horse by means of a "marker" (the click that allows us flexibility and accuracy with our reinforcements) and a reinforcer (the treat). Then, you create a "chain" of behaviors that starts with baby steps and steadily gets a horse closer and closer to the ultimate behavior goal. Beyond that, each clicker trainer might approach training specific behaviors differently. In fact, I take different approaches with my two horses for the same behavior. With Flash, my clicker-trained colt, I taught him to lower his head by using a target on the ground and pointing at it. With Snickers, my endurance horse that I don't use clicker training with very often (at least so far), I taught him to lower his head by applying poll pressure. There are various books and personal examples of how a clicker trainer approached a specific behavior, but we're often all a little (or very!) different in the steps we take and there isn't a prescribed way to approach it.

Personally, I think that's the beauty of clicker training. Since we have the added ability to say "yes" in addition to "no", we can shape certain behaviors that would be very difficult with pressure alone and we are also able to connect those behaviors to cues that don't require any pressure at all. PunksTank kind of touched on this when they mentioned why clicker training is commonly associated with tricks - there's really no other way to teach some of these things! For instance, it would be very difficult to teach a horse to retrieve something for you by using pressure. However, clicker training isn't limited to tricks - you can teach anything you want to through clicker training and so I use it to enhance my regular training and it enables me to easily teach more useful things like standing completely still as I move around my horse doing whatever it is I'm doing. As far as riding goes, I'm going to teach my horse from day one to move off a leg cue rather than a a rein cue, made possible by associating the leg cue with a click and treat ever time the horse moves away from it. When we started this last fall, he was turning off only a leg cue within a day. Without clicker training, I would have to do direct reining first and then use direct reining to teach the horse to associate the leg cue with turning.
 
#39 ·
Taking Breaks

Today I had an "Aha!" moment. Flash was mostly backing up with just the verbal cue, though I had to restrain myself from trying to speed him up before the cue was solid.

I figured out something I was doing to sabotage any learning we were doing: switching activities. Flash was getting bored and distracted, wandering off and playing my games on his time, so I turned this into a "come here" game. While I was getting some progress with both the backing up and "come here" game, I realized what I needed to do more was just to stop. After a while, I decided I really just needed to find a good stopping place and then give Flash a break. I had been trying to do this by switching to brushing him and then going back, but since I was still interacting with him and he was doing different things, he never had real processing time for anything, even when we switched to brushing.

So, I backed him up one or two more times and then gave him an extra treat and walked away. Honestly, it was kind of hard to do because I wanted to keep doing it since he'd done it so well that last time, but walking away was the best thing I could have done.

I had to make some stuff up to do haha. I fed my boarder's horses for her, then went to look for more of Flash's teeth in the tire feeder. As luck would have it, this turned into a great opportunity to train my other horse, who can be very stand-offish when I come to the pasture and will sometimes turn away from me and/or walk away. However, I'm positive that this is all mind games with him. Due to a lot of different things, I don't think he cares about being caught but rather wants attention and wants to play a catching "game" with me. For instance, when I ignore him and go to my other horse, he'll come and see what's going on and lets himself be caught then. This is exactly what happened today: I was inside the tire feeder squatting down looking for teeth, and all the sudden Snickers's face was in mine! He was sniffing me and looking around in the tire with me, interested in what the heck I was doing and why I wasn't giving him attention. When I looked up at him, he even put his muzzle on my cheek and nuzzled me. He's not a touchy-feely horse, so this "intimate" moment with him wasn't something I would take for granted. I rubbed him, then went back to looking for teeth, and then rubbed him again since he was still watching and touching me. Eventually, I stood up and stepped out of the tire and gave him a big hug and rub up and down his his neck. Then, to experiment, I went to another feeder that's upside down and just sat on it looking at the ground. He stood and watched me the entire time, and, after a few moments, came over! He got another big hug and rub. We did this one more time except I went and stood in a random spot in the pasture, and he came up to me again! Yay! So now I finally know what I'm going to do during my breaks with Flash - chill out with Snickers and maybe even do some clicker training. I'm really excited about the relationships I'm building with both of my horses!

Anyway, after this, I went back to the arena and asked Flash to back up two or three times, which he did very well with just the verbal cue. He was all ready to work again after being left alone for a bit and I could sense an attitude and attention change between when I'd walked away before and now. After a few good backs, decided to call it a day! I took Flash back to the pasture, but asked him to stop and back up every now and then, which he did really well given that there were a lot of distractions, including Snickers coming up to him when we were in the pasture and I wanted Flash to back up so I could take his later off. I was really proud of Flash for backing up each time! He's really getting it! I can't wait to see how our progress improves now that I'm going to be chopping our lessons up into mini-lessons so he continues to want to do clicker training and not trying to take breaks when he sees fit, as well as sticking to only one thing at a time!
 
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