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Post by ClaireLV on Mar 4, 2003 9:38:32 GMT -5
On the clicker thing! Don't just dismiss it because 'we managed without it' for years. We managed without a lot of things for years, if we didn't allow for progress and new ideas then we would still be living in caves...  AND I have to point out that clicker training is nothing new, many of us have been using positive reinforcement for years. Thats all any of you guys are doing when you give your horse a reward, be it a carrot, or a pat on the neck, for good work! Guess what - play is also a positive reinforcement! It works on people too... lots of people go to work because they get a paycheck every two weeks (is that bribery?)! The advantage that the clicker has for many people is that it is a more precise tool for communicating with your animal. It can speed up the process of training a new behaviour, and there is nothing neater than the moment when you almost see tht lightbulb go on in the animal's head that says 'Ahhhh, now I get it!'. It doesn't just work for some either, it works, period. If someone, hasn't made progress using it then I can guarantee it's in the execution, timing and stuff can be tricky when you're first learning to do it. This is science... cause and effect, condition and response. It just seems magical when you see it, and way cool when you do it. As I said before, if you need some help getting started, feel free to ask.   |
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Post by Skye Pilot on Mar 4, 2003 9:48:13 GMT -5
ClaireLV..... I have nevered seen clicker training done... I would be more than happy to add techniques to what I use now...
What is a great source to find out more about clicker training? thank you..... signed totally clueless..
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Post by helend on Mar 4, 2003 14:45:20 GMT -5
I've had great success with Clicker-training, too. Jiggs is very motivated by food and will do pretty much anything to get treats.
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Post by niaru on Mar 4, 2003 19:55:17 GMT -5
I tried to give Black Oil Sunflower Seeds to Charm today, she took them but didn't seem too thrilled. Will try again. I let her lose in the indoor and off she went, squealing, full speed down the indoor's long side. She added a few kicks and bucks for good measure and ended the show with a very nice and long levade in front of the mirror! Silly.  Then I hand walked her and we practiced halt, walk, move over, 1/4 turn on the shoulder etc. She was very good. I was about to tack up and ride when I noticed that her left hind shoe had slipped and was only holding on one side. Ack. And no pliers to be found in the barn or at the local Agway. So, I got some duct tape and wrapped her foot to secure the shoe. Farrier is coming on Thursday, hopefully she'll be alright until then...  |
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Post by Katie Jo on Mar 4, 2003 21:27:07 GMT -5
I knew saying something about clicker training would cause a reply...  I however don't care for 'clicker' training, with the name. Positive reinforcement ABSOLUTELY. Personally, I've closed my mind to clicker training, find that it works for some, not all (due to the fact that some, like me, don't want to do it), and I'm totally fine with the fact that I have closed my mind to it. If that's the only thing I close my mind to, and still manage without it, I think i'm doing good.. We've all got to have our downfalls.. For me, its my inability (or lack of willingness) to use clicker training... Oh well. :sun: |
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Post by RavensMom on Mar 5, 2003 8:30:22 GMT -5
advise on best source to learn clicker-training...
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Post by niaru on Mar 5, 2003 11:39:43 GMT -5
I'm sure ClaireLV has tons of advice.
I did a google.com search with the words "clicker training" and got tons of sites. That would be a good way to begin. I know there is a book that comes with a clicker..can't remember the author..
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Post by Katie Jo on Mar 5, 2003 18:57:40 GMT -5
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Post by Luci on Mar 5, 2003 19:44:13 GMT -5
Hi and congratulations on getting your horse. I spent a lot of time lunging when I first got my OTTB because I had to wait for him to recouperate from having a bone chip removed, then some other stuff. Nave was really accident prone that first year so riding was off and on. It turns out all of that lunging was the best thing ever! I learned how to get his attention, he learned voice commands, balance, and learned to build up periods of focus. He is sooo good on a line now when I need to let him blow off some energy before I get on. I had my trainer stand with me and show me what I needed to do with him. (heh! I thought I knew how to lunge a horse before she got in there with me.) Some times she would take over and show what I needed to do, then hand him back to me. I mixed it up a lot so it stayed interesting. I started with about 15 minutes and built up to 30 and 45 minutes including warm up and cool down. Then I'd usually let him get a nice roll in and hang out with me. When he was healed from everything he was totally ready to ride and it made it so much easier. I still have major problems with focus and I was WAY to mushy about making him lead nicely. Ooooh, musn't hurt little Navekins feelings! Now I am paying for that and have to teach this guy to lead like a grownup -even when he sees horses in the pasture, instead of a wild racehorse. That is my project for this spring. My mantra for myself is give him a job. When I give him something direct to do I'm amazed at how he comes to me and starts to work and focus. And, he's learned that he if he gets wigged out, it's not the end and that I'll work through it until he comes back. Because of that, the wig out time is shorter now and he snaps back pretty quickly. --unless it's a show and they've got the PA going haha "snap back"  then is about 2 hours. It's hard to work on myself and him at the same time. Some nights when he is being really quiet I let him be a sport and just take me around the arena so I can practice two-point, sitting trot etc.. In most of the work though I have to have a plan and mix up the work i.e. transisitions, change of rein, change of bend, circles, squares, poles, jumps. I'd love a training thread. I need help with my circles and definitely with this leading thing that I must fix. Cheers! |
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Post by kmmom on Mar 5, 2003 20:16:22 GMT -5
Is this now ( I hope) the "training thread"? Can it somehow become a regular feature? I hope so, it would be so helpful to follow everyone's progress and not have to repeat everyone's mistakes! I sent a check for Casey on Monday, but she won't be coming home to ME until the first of April. Just couldn't take a horse from Florida in this awful cold. I am so looking forward to her arrival. though. I was told that she is broke to ride (above and beyond race-riding), so I'm hoping she'll adapt easily to the transition to no-longer-a-race-horse. We'll see. I have put my Selle Francais mare up for sale, because now the barn is full. I have had her since she was born, so I'm still not sure I want to sell her, but I'll give it a shot. If she doesn't find the perfect home, she can stay here. Anyway, I'll soon be picking your brains for help with Casey, I'm sure.
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Post by CatB on Mar 5, 2003 20:47:01 GMT -5
Do you have any pictures of your Selle Francais mare and how old is she? The girlfriend of the barn owner where I train has one (gelding) and it is one gorgeous horse - he even has a pretty head! haha!! He's about 16.2h, a beautiful mover, and used in dressage. They were working in the ring right before my lesson one day, and boy, did he make my little 15.2 QH look like a country bumpkin. It was funny because both horses are that black bay, with a few white markings, but the resemblence ends there. I wanted to tell the gal "My horse wants to be your horse when he grows up!" ;D
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Post by relativecolor on Mar 5, 2003 22:42:41 GMT -5
Well, Zane, my new boy, seems to have gotten the "walk" and "whoa" on the lead down. Now I am going to work on the off-side to get him accustomed to me being on that side when we start to lunge. When he stopped I tried to walk behind him and wrap the lead behind his butt but he just turned in circles. So I few dizzying circles later and I stopped. He just stops in front of the hill leading up to the barn so I figure there are two reasons for this. One, he doesn't want to go back to his stall. Two, his hips are still out and he needs to be adjusted. I think it is mainly he doesn't want to go back to his stall. I am going to start carrying my dressage whip to tap him on the butt to keep him moving. That seems to work best. I was wondering how to introduce him to cross-ties? He has been in them before but I am afraid if he gets scared he'll bend the poles. One is still bent over from a TB, not mine, that did this. I figure I'll groom him in the ties. Do one brush at a time, take him out, walk around a bit, take him back, brush him, repeat. The only thing that gets him riled up is seeing other horses working under saddle. He thinks he can go play with them. But I am not sure it will always be the case because he did this when he was on too much alfalfa. And tarps on the ground. Other than that he is curious about every little thing so I let him sniff and if it's safe, taste it. For awhile he had to go in the trash can outside the barn but I was afraid he'd try to eat the trash!  He also liked putting the halter in his mouth so instead of fighting him, I let him taste it, toss it around a bit, he almost whacked me in the head with the durn thing!, then he dropped it, bored already!, and ever since he hasn't tried to get it in his mouth. |
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Post by ZenRider on Mar 5, 2003 22:44:11 GMT -5
Yay! a training thread. Now, how do I train Zen to drive ME home from shows? :hahaha: No really, you could make millions if you could do it. ;D
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Post by bindi on Mar 6, 2003 5:07:47 GMT -5
just a few queries whether or not I am doing the right thing with Lily. Every night, I only have a couple of hours of daylight after work, I feed her some cool-aid feed. I am giving her a couple of handfuls before I catch her a couple after we have finished our session. She is being break fed at the moment in the paddock, it is coming into Autumn here and we have LOTS of feed. Anyway, after catching her I take her to our orchard for a munch on grass and then she is tied up and I am trying to do something new with her every night. She is lovely to lead, great to brush, getting great at being saddled and bridled and our next step is riding. As I said previously she is having a few jigs around the paddock when I first get on and then after ten mins or so she starts stretching out so much better. Well that is about all that I am doing with her at the moment, oh *L*... there is cleaning out her paddock and she looooves following me around while I pick up all her poops. I worry that she is lonely, another horse is not an option so she has to make do with the time I can give her. I have a man coming to show me how to lunge her next week.... goody goody, I get to go to the horse shop again... gotta love that place. Can you lunge on a rope halter?? any ideas would be wonderful, have a great day Bindi. |
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Post by ClaireLV on Mar 6, 2003 15:08:06 GMT -5
Glad to see some interest in the clicker! Sorry to be absent a couple days but couldn't get access to a computer (actually trying to hide from SMay!! ). Anyway Shawna Karrasch has a book and a video called 'You can train your horse to do anything', available on amazon.com I expect, and I have seen used on ebay. Also Alexandra Kurland has a clicker training and horses book too, I slightly prefer Alexandra's stuff, for a couple of technical reasons. She also promised me that her 'under saddle' clicker book was due out later this year. www.clickertraining.com has a ton of stuff and is the site for the guru of clicker training Karen Prior. They have a deal on the into kits for ponies right now, which I can highly recommend. IF you ever get the chance to read Prior's 'Don't Shoot the Dog' then do, it's only a small, cheap book. If my book were published here then I would of course be selling copies of that, although its more dog oriented, but if you want to read about it you can go to www.crosskeysbooks.com. I am happy to help out with any positive reinforcement questions, if you get stuck, or don't seem to be making progress, then we can figure out why. That's what I do! BTW clickers are available from petsmart. |
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then is about 2 hours. 
He also liked putting the halter in his mouth so instead of fighting him, I let him taste it, toss it around a bit, he almost whacked me in the head with the durn thing!, then he dropped it, bored already!, and ever since he hasn't tried to get it in his mouth.
