Clicker Training Horses

So I have decided that I am going to clicker train my horses. Teach to do tricks
One of my really good friends(who moved, unfortunately) taught her horse to fetch and do the spanish walk thru clicker training. I had my old gelding halfway to fetching actually when I sold him.

So curious as to how many of you out there have also done it? What did you taught your horse?


For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about or want to know how to do it:
http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8


LOADS on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdeYLYL5niU

Found this one. A fantastic video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SNl_...eature=related

I realize that there is a clicker being used but it seems that the clicker is telling the horse that he did a good job and a treat is coming . I would have thought that the clicker is the cue to do the trick not "get ready for your treat".

Nice job on what the trainer said was a real problem horse concerning his security around people but I particularly do not like the idea of hand fed treats. That leads to a lot of problems in itself down the road. .

And I agree with you 100% but with clicker training as you reach the point where the horse understands that the clicker is his reward you remove the food aspect of it. The gelding I had trained to fetch quickly took the clicker as well as the food which was offered to him in the initial stages of clicker training.

I appreciate the point you made.

So the clicker is the reward not the cue for the trick. Ahhhh! And that works? Wow. Why not just pet the horse or is it the Pavlov response? After a while doesn't the horse wise up to the fact that a clicker is not much of a reward?

Absolutely! That's why putting down good foundations such as the video is so important with clicker training.Horses already know that the treat means well. The treat is there to teach the horse that the click means "good, that's exactly what I wanted you to do". That is why you combine the 2 together until you know that they understand the purpose of the click.
Essentially you could do without the clicker, tho I don't have much training or experience myself with the clicker (as I only taught 1 trick to my old horse with it) I think using stricktly your voice doesn't have the same touch to it than only using the clicker.

Good for you My2geldings, and your horses - enjoy the journey!
I don't often use an actual clicker these days, but the principles are sound for effectively & positively teaching anything to anyone. They use this method with wild animals as well as domestic, with sea animals that you can't control with compulsive methods or equipment, and with people - children in schools, mentally handicapped people, etc.

I have taught different types of animals, not just horses & dogs, with these principles... including my kids & husband! :P I teach everything the horse or dog needs to learn with it, not just tricks.

[quote="My2Geldings"]Yes, the clicker(or whatever 'bridging signal' you use) tells the horse he did something right. No, the clicker is not the cue.

Hand feeding treats does not cause the problems. Reinforcing a horse with anything *without establishing consistent rules & manners* or when you're not conscious of exactly what you're teaching(you don't understand the principles you need to use) is what can lead to problems. Treats are generally an effective and strong reinforcer, so therefore they work well to strengthen whatever behaviour you teach, be it good or bad. Many people have no problems teaching 'bad' behaviour without the use of treats too :roll:

Food treats are also not a necessary part of 'clicker training', neither is the clicker. The principles are the imperative 'tools'. There are other effective positive reinforcers, it's just that food treats are generally the most effective & handiest.

I disagree with this particular detail. I prefer that the clicker always means the horse gets a reward(again, not always food). Behaviourally speaking I'm not sure if there's a difference, whether either way is more or less effective. As the behaviour becomes learned, I lessen the frequency that they get a click and treat instead. I think that especially while riding & the likes it is inconvenient to continue clicking for any longer than absolutely necessary. However, I do also use 'good' as a bridging signal and do tend to say this for every 'right' response, regardless of follow up rewards. Therefore, with my animals, click = you WILL get a treat & "Good" = you MAY get a treat.

I love clicker training, but havnt done any with mine in while as im at uni now.
I taught Banjo to shake hands( or maby hooves is the right word ) using clicker training.

Also taught my cat to sit on command using clicker training, lol
And reinforsed the dogs sit, lie down, and stand up commands, and taught her to shake hands too, was in middle stages of teaching her to sneak too......basicly crawl along the ground like she was in stealth mode :P

But yea I realy like this training method, and at some point will get back into it, as I want to teach Banjo to fetch aswell, hehe.

I did quite a bit of clicker training with Aggie one year when he was recovering from a tendon issue. We haven't done it in a long time though. Aggie is very pushy so the first thing I taught him was to go to the back corner of his stall when I was coming in with a feed bucket. He had to wait for me to release him from the corner to come get his feed. It was extremely helpful. I also taught him to go touch a ball and push it back to me...and go touch cones and stuff that I would set up around the arena. We also worked on halter-less showmanship maneuvers with the clicker.

I didn't read the long post right above me...she probably said this but the clicker isn't a cue or a reward. It is simply a way for you to react instantly. So when you first start training as soon as his nose accidentally touches the ball "click"...if you took the time to walk over there and pet them on the neck or even hand a treat...it would be to late for the horse to make the connection between the two events.

M2G please keep me informed on how this goes-it is really interesting and I think Sonny might respond well to the clicker-i have to be really careful tho with treats as he gets really seriously pushy when he is hand fed- which I like doing-now he only gets a carrot at the beginning of a session and after he is back in his stall-
Thank you for the links I will read more on this