Clicker Training

I've spent a good part of my training time recently with a tin can full of horse treats in my pocket and a clicker between my fingers. The clicker is just a little metal thing that makes a little snapping sound. You use it to signal the animal that it just did what you wanted it to do. You make it a positive experience for the animal by pairing the click with a reward. In effect the clicker sound comes to mean "Yes!".

All the horses have been getting clicker trained. Today it was clicker reinforcement for them letting me walk around them, lifting and cleaning each hoof, while they were unhaltered or otherwise restrained. Chester seems to learn by watching the other animals as he usually has it figured out before we even start.

The donkeys are much harder to motivate. I need some oatmeal cookies to get their interest.

What I don't like about clicker training is that it makes any nipping problems worse, at least for a while. I've been combining it with a little bit of respect training, where if they are disrespectful, they might have to run around the round pen for a few minutes. I used it yesterday to get them to practice loading in the horsetrailer. They were rewarded for their progressive efforts to get in the trailer, but I also tapped them on the hips with the whip to encourage them to try and I whacked them with the whip if they came into my space (shoving me up against the trailer). They all got in, despite initial reservations.

Special Clicker Projects:

• Loretta: to let her hooves be handled, to yield her feet to me, and leave them where I ask her to put them (like in a bucket or on a shoeing stand);
• Paisley: to yield in the four directions and whoa by standing with her front hooves together and unmoving;
• Chester: to yield in the four directions from cues on the ground or in the saddle;
• JD: to disengage his hindquarters and bend his neck, both necessary for a one-rein stop.

The tin can I have found is very good to keep them from spending much effort at trying to snatch the reward. I use one that is too small for their muzzles and keep it in the leg pocket of my military style pants.