Clicker training offers a versatile approach to teaching horses a wide array of behaviors, moving beyond traditional methods and inspiring new training ideas. This guide explores various applications, from fundamental gaits to complex concepts, empowering horse owners to enhance their training.
Clicker training can be a powerful tool for horse training, offering a positive and effective method to teach a multitude of behaviors. This article delves into the diverse possibilities, providing insights and inspiration for horse owners looking to expand their training repertoire.
Introduction to Clicker Training Possibilities
Clicker training, a method rooted in positive reinforcement, provides a clear and consistent communication system between horse and trainer. Its applications are vast, ranging from refining existing gaits to introducing entirely new skills and concepts. This guide aims to demystify the process and showcase the potential of clicker training for everyday use and advanced techniques.
The following sections will explore specific behaviors and concepts that can be effectively trained using a clicker, emphasizing practical applications and offering resources for further learning. Whether you are a seasoned trainer or new to clicker training, this comprehensive overview will provide valuable knowledge and practical tips.
C is for Canter, Carry, and Cavaletti
Canter
Clicker training offers numerous ways to train the canter, whether from the ground or under saddle. It can be used to introduce the canter and place it on cue, helping horses pick up the correct lead comfortably and avoid anxiety. By marking and reinforcing the steps leading to the canter, trainers can improve the horse’s balance and willingness. Furthermore, clicker training can refine the quality of the canter, influencing its speed, rhythm, and straightness.
Carry (or Hold)
Teaching a horse to carry objects can be a fun and potentially useful trick. This behavior is particularly easy to train for horses that enjoy interacting with objects. Trainers can teach their horses to pick up and hold specific items, such as dog toys or cloth objects, and place this behavior on a cue with good stimulus control. This opens doors to more complex behaviors, like carrying small objects or even participating in a “holiday photo” with a festive basket.
Cavaletti (or Ground Poles)
Cavaletti and ground poles are excellent tools for enhancing a horse’s balance, coordination, and flexibility. Clicker training makes it easy to teach a horse to traverse these obstacles independently and with confidence. By setting up poles in various configurations and using clicker training to reinforce successful passage, trainers can encourage horses to move with greater comfort and learn specific lessons about navigating different pole setups. This can be done from the ground, on a lunge line, or eventually at liberty, providing valuable feedback on the horse’s movement and understanding.
Advanced Behaviors and Concepts
Cha-Cha
Inspired by the dance, the “cha-cha” in horse training involves teaching the horse to shift weight in a new direction before fully transferring weight to the supporting leg. This exercise promotes lightness on the feet and joint flexion, making it beneficial for horses that tend to rush or fall forward in transitions. It helps the horse move off in a balanced manner.
Chaining
Chaining is a powerful training strategy that involves teaching a horse to perform a sequence of behaviors in a specific order for a single reinforcer delivered at the end. This technique allows for the creation of longer and more complex behaviors. Behaviors can be trained individually and then assembled into a chain using either forward chaining (starting from the first behavior) or backchaining (starting from the last behavior). Chains are valuable for tasks like sending a horse over multiple obstacles, picking up and cleaning all four feet, or performing a sequence of actions to reach a grooming area.
Chin Rest
While more common in dog training, teaching a chin rest can be beneficial for horses, particularly for husbandry behaviors requiring head stabilization. By teaching the horse to maintain contact between their chin and the trainer’s hand, head position can be stabilized for procedures like dental checks. This behavior can be taught by gradually shaping the horse to accept hand contact while eating treats, eventually progressing to the horse initiating the contact.
Circle
Teaching a horse to perform circles of various sizes and gaits is essential for riding in enclosed spaces. Clicker training, combined with the use of physical objects like cones or poles, can make learning circles easier and more balanced. Trainers can guide the horse by setting up objects to encourage specific paths, such as staying on the outside of cones or following the inside of a pole circle. Fading out the physical guides gradually allows the horse to maintain the learned behavior.
Circus Bow (Obeisance)
The circus bow, where a horse rocks back while keeping both front legs on the ground, is an alternative to bows requiring bending one knee. This behavior can be taught using mats to create distance between the front and back feet, and a target can be used to encourage the horse to lower its head and shoulders. It’s important to consider the horse’s physical comfort and flexibility when teaching this behavior.
Clipping
Introducing horses to clippers early is crucial, as they are often used for medical procedures or grooming. Trainers can gradually acclimate horses to the sound and feel of clippers by starting at a distance, muffling the sound, or using less intense tools like electric toothbrushes. Introducing the clippers’ feel, starting with the back before the blade, and practicing in comfortable areas like the neck or shoulder are key steps. A “start button” behavior can empower the horse to signal their readiness.
Collection
Collection, a state of engagement and balance, can be trained using clicker training. While some believe it’s a natural outcome of correct training, clicker training can capture and reinforce moments of collection, such as half-steps preceding piaffe. This method allows for the precise reinforcement of desired postures and movements.
Color Discrimination
Teaching color discrimination introduces concept training and enhances a horse’s understanding. Using identical objects that differ only in color, trainers can help horses learn to select objects based on their hue. It’s important to consider horse vision, which primarily sees shades of blue, yellow, and green, and to be aware of the Clever Hans Effect, where horses can inadvertently read trainer cues.
Come (Recall)
A reliable recall is a valuable behavior for horse owners. Clicker training can be used to teach a horse to come when called, starting with simple head orientation and progressing to longer distances and more challenging angles. Similar to dog recall training, it’s important to manage the horse’s approach speed, perhaps by teaching them to come to a target or a mat.
Concept Training
Concept training goes beyond teaching specific behaviors, focusing instead on helping horses understand abstract concepts like colors, numbers, size, and position. This approach equips horses to respond to novel situations by applying learned concepts. For instance, teaching “left” and “right” as modifier cues can be applied to various behaviors, enabling the horse to generalize their understanding. While more complex, concept training offers a rewarding challenge for experienced trainers and learners.
Counting
Counting can be trained in two ways: as a trick, where the horse appears to perform mathematical calculations, or as a form of concept training, where the horse identifies the number of objects presented. While the trick version can be entertaining, it’s crucial to maintain stimulus control to prevent nuisance behaviors. The concept training version, demonstrated by trainers like Ken Ramirez, involves teaching the horse to identify quantities and match them to corresponding symbols.
Crossing Legs
Teaching a horse to cross its legs can be a fun trick and a useful behavior for groundwork and lateral work. It helps horses understand lateral leg movement and directional control. This can be trained by cueing the horse to lift a leg and shaping the placement of its hoof, or by using a foot target or mat.
Cues
Refining and adding cues to learned behaviors is a crucial aspect of training. Various cue types, including tactile, object, visual, and verbal cues, can be used. Having multiple cues for a behavior offers flexibility and enhances stimulus control. Trainers can add new cues to existing behaviors, refine current cues, or practice behaviors in new environments to ensure the cue’s reliability across different contexts. Understanding how horses discriminate between similar-sounding verbal cues is also important for precise communication.
