At 22:16:19 on 22.06.10, plodalong wrote:
I have been having trouble trying to get Bo to understand what i was asking for when i was asking him to lead by the leg,he was ok with the fronts but totally refused to lead by the hind legs.Before anyone askes why i want him to lead by his hind leg its because i would like full control of his feet when i ask.A visiting friend (Who also follows the Parelli programme) suggested clicker training ,she said it would help him to understand what i was asking him to do.She had her clicker and i provided the tiny carrot pieces as the treat. within 15mins Bo was fully understanding what was required to get the click,treat and scratch.i was impressed ,so today after buying a clicker from the petshop i tried to help him understand that when his feet were put onto the hoofjack for the trimmer, that they were to stay there until taken down, wow he was so responvive to the click,treat thing that he actually waited for a min before i asked him to take his hoof off the jack. Has anyone else had good results from clicker training?

At 22:30:55 on 22.06.10, Flicka wrote:
Interesting that you should start this thread plodalong because my mare has always been difficult when having her feet trimmed. I have tended to tell her off but then we decided that maybe it was insecurity and so having read about Karen Murdock and her horse Lukas I thought I'd try positive re-inforcement and gave her a treat when she showed good behaviour. It worked a dream and it made me think that I should develop it into clicker training. So, I would appreciate any tips.

At 00:21:50 on 23.06.10, plodalong wrote:
I am only just starting with this and i am impressed already, you start by loading the horse first, ask him to move his head away from you,click and treat, do this until the horse understands that he only gets the treat if his head is away this should prevent the horse from mugging you in the future.to get bo to lead backwards with his hind leg we began by just getting him to accept the rope round his leg, this didnt take long, we then asked him to pick up his leg with clicks and treats when he did, again it didnt take long then came the issue of a backwards movement, we rewarded just a shift in weight then when he moved and took a step backwards he was rewarded and we left it there .he thought about it overnight and then today just did it when asked.just goes to show that when things are left on a good note progress is quicker. I also think this works with Bo because he is left brained and cant see a reason to do anything that may need a bit of effort, food for him is a great motivator.with a right brained horse i think that when the horse is fearfull and then not interested in food comfort and safety issues would need adressing first, I will keep you updated Flicka on our progress with the hoofjack.

At 20:47:00 on 23.06.10, ToriSilverson wrote:
a wee lady who used to ride at our place clicker trained her 17hh horse, it worked well for her. i cant give any advice on how to go about it tho sorry

At 21:15:13 on 23.06.10, NMH wrote:
Sounds as if you are doing well Plod! I used it for a time with one horse, did that thing of getting him to turn his head away before he was allowed a treat, I'd recommend that; & clickers just make the positive reinforcement so clear, they know they've done right immediately. Never used it riding- not enough hands lol!!

At 12:38:44 on 24.06.10, essexequine wrote:
I used clicker training on a unhandled 2yr old. He seriously needed his feet doing and last time he was trimmed he put farrier and owner on floor. He was 8mths. It worked a treat and within 2 weeks the farrier came back out and couldn't believe the transformation. I used it for leading and loading, brilliant. However, I tried it with my 2yr old sec a and he got aggressive over his food. He turned his bum on my 2yr old and tried to back up on her. So I have dropped that method and now going back to the way I back/train my horses. I think it depends on the horse. Not every method works. For me I probably could have over come the issue with Ollie, but as my daughter is with me, her safety is more important than the training of my pony.

At 22:59:23 on 12.07.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
I clicker train my dog but must admit i have never tried it with grenville, might try it to speed up our rear on command training :) oh and tip instead of buying one get 2 milk lids and stick them together and you have a homemade clicker :)

At 23:27:57 on 12.07.10, kibby wrote:
what is the theory behind clicker training.. never looked into it and never tried it.. although i have always been interested in it.. My dogs have always been taught verbal praise (starting with food treats) and horses pressure and release.. although i have never taught my horses anything but basic ground handling and riding..

At 14:18:55 on 13.07.10, JessAndGrenville123 wrote:
Clicker training speeds up learning as when the animal does something you want (e.g a dog sits or a horse bows etc) you click and treat so the animal associates the click with the treat, eventually the click becomes the treat itself and the animal knows it has pleased you and the click reinforces this (if that makes sense :S) i train grenville normally with just treats and had never thought of clicker but i tried it this morning and it works just as well as it does with dogs :)

At 15:51:29 on 13.07.10, kibby wrote:
i shall try it.. i've got to get in contact with a fellow called heath harris, i dont know if anyone would know of him over there but he is one of the best horse movie trainers in the world.. i want to figure out a way to teach my horse to buck, i know this sounds crazy.. but the horse already does it on her own, so i am hoping maybe if it became a chore or a job for her she may give up..he suggested this with a friends horse i was helping with who reared a lot.. and it surprisingly worked.. he says the best way to teach a horse not to do something is to teach him how, and not ask.. its more of an experiment..