The Power of Positive Training - Clicker Training

I was introduced to Clicker Training shortly after I brought home Andi. Andi was an 11 month old Icelandic colt, and I knew I couldn't start his saddle training until he was at least 4 1/2 years old, but that didn't mean I couldn't do other training! I had heard some things about clicker training, so I bought one of the best books on clicker training horses: The Click That Teaches: A Step-By-Steo Guide in Pictures by Alexandra Kurland. This is one of the Gold Standards in Clicker Training for Horses.

Briefly, what clicker training does is mark the exact behavior at the exact moment and rewards that behavior. The "mark" in this case is a mechanical clicker, and the reward for my horses is a sliver of carrot, piece of apple, or a store-bought apple treat. I have since graduated to doing a click with my tongue, because I find I would need a third hand to ride with, otherwise! Besides, I always have my tongue with me and I never worry about being out of position to mark the desired behavior. When you begin, you first teach your horse to touch an object (a soccer cone in my case) and this brings on a click and a treat (c/t). At first, I put the cone only inches from Andi's nose, so he would have no choice but to touch it, then c/t. Lots of repetitions of this, and it only took 10 minutes for Andi to realize that by touching the cone allowed him acces to the vending machine (me). Then I gradually brought the cone lower until it was on the ground, and from there placed it away from me until Andi was walking to it to touch it to get his c/t. Watching the "lightbulb" moment in the horse when he realizes what he has to do to get his treat is a very rewarding moment. That is when you know you are communicating with another species without the use of pressure, spurs, whips, etc... Touching an object like this is termed Targeting and this leads to other behaviors. I used targeting his cone to trailer load Andi without a halter or lead rope and NO PRESSURE what-so-ever! He learned to trailer load on his own by me putting the target further and further in the trailer until he was loading and unloading easily. Then I put his halter and lead on and asked him to go on without any problems. Thus, the trailer was never an issue for him and he only had pleasant experiences with it. We also went for walks in the neighborhood and did Touch the Goblin exercises. In this exercise, you c/t when the horse first looks as something they might perceive as a monster, like a trash can, plastic bag, etc. What I did, was c/t for everything that did not "belong" in the environment. It didn't take long for Andi to take me to every piece of trash in the desert and stick his nose in every empty garbage can on trash day! This goes against a horse's natural instinct to be afraid of everything "out of the ordinary" for self preservation. I later used clicker training to teach Andi to get into position beside me at the mounting block, and stand still for mounting. Here is a video of the beginning of that process when I was first putting weight in the stirrups: (excuse the belching of hubby - he is only a man and can not help himself!)


Now that I am riding Andi, I have a bold little trail pony that is curious about his surroundings, and if his ears perk at something different, I will let him investigate on his own and he gets a c/t for it.