A New Direction

A New Direction

I suppose a lot of people are wondering why they haven't read anything about me using clicker training with Trifecta.  I just wasn't in any hurry about deciding if I was going to do it or not.  He is such a nippy horse that we have avoided hand feeding him from the beginning.  I didn't want to encourage more nippiness.

So, I decided to try training him the traditional way and using a lot of praise and pets.  He really loves petting.  It seemed to work for a while, but I wasn't very serious about training.  Once the weather got colder and turnout became more of a challenge, I decided I should lounge him more often and for longer periods.

That is when he started driving me crazy.  He is such a playful horse.  He wanted to play with the lead rope, the lounge line and my jacket.  It seemed nearly constant.  He destroyed one lead rope and was doing his best to destroy his new one.  He also couldn't focus.  Our indoor arena is the kind that has stalls along the perimeter--a constant challenge.  He wanted to visit every horse.  We seemed unable to get anything accomplished.  We would have a good day and the next would be difficult.  Despite the cold, I would be dripping with sweat when we were done.

And I wasn't happy that it seemed like we were always struggling with each other.  He wanted to do one thing, and I wanted to do another.

I decided that it was time to try clicker training with Trifecta.

We spent some time working on touching a target to teach him what clicker training was.  The next thing I taught him was to turn his head away from me after the click.  I didn't like him grabbing at my pockets, jacket or anything else to demand his treat.  We taught that to Dante and Ranger in the early days.  Dante will still do it sometimes.  Ranger used to do it as a way to ask for a treat.  Cole was always so polite about treats that I never bothered teaching it to him.

Trifecta learned it in one session.  He would still attack my pockets, but since he didn't get a treat for that, that behavior is diminishing with every session.

The other day, I decided I would start his official training.  My first command was to teach him to back up.  I realized that I never taught Cole an official back up cue from the ground.  It just never came up.  Once again, Cole is such a polite horse that I never needed to do it.  He does know how to do it from the saddle, of course.

I decided to start with Cole.  It was a day off for him, so we were just going to do some tricks in the arena.  I had been looking for a new trick to add to the mix.  I don't know why I never thought of backing up.

I brought Cole into the arena and after he did his share of silly walk and bowing, I told him to stop bowing for just one moment to try something new.  I gently pulled back on the halter and told him "back."  He knows the verbal command from riding.  He stepped back quite willingly.  I clicked and treated.  That was way too easy.  After that one time, I merely needed to say the word, and he backed immediately.  He is a genius.  After about 5 times, I changed our routine.  I asked him to back, followed by coming forward, parking out, standing while I stepped out in front of him--facing him and staying until I told him "come."  That is when I would click and treat him.  We just had one more action to our series of actions.  Cole was great.

Then we did more silly walk, side pass, bow, silly walk...When it was time to finish our session, as usual, Cole resisted leaving the arena.  He has so much fun, I think he could go all day.

I then went to get Trifecta.  We started with lounging in our usual manner.  He seemed very hyper and I thought if he moved around, he would settle down.  The hyperness was reflected in his lounging performance.  He was just awful.  I then thought that I would just go straight to clicking him for good lounging.  It took a bit, but he started to focus and walk around without grabbing at the lounge line, so I clicked him.  He stopped, looked at me in disbelief as if to say, "I get a treat for that?"  He sure did.  We did both directions at a walk, and I gave him a lot of clicks.  At first, it was only for a few steps, but we advanced to a full circle.  

Then I thought I would try it at a trot.  He went about a half lap, I clicked and he slammed on the brakes and did a happy hop as he spun to face me.  He was so surprised and happy that he got a click for trotting quietly.

We did a few more times in each direction and then I decided to quit because someone wanted to bring out her very hyper 24-year-old Saddlebred.  I thought I would give her space.

I took Tri in and brought Dante out to stretch him legs.  I thought I would spend some time to see if I could teach him to back with just the word like Cole.  He knows how to back from nose pressure and touching his chest.  I asked him to back a few times with the halter, and he did it consistently.  I would say the word first and then apply a little halter pressure.  Doing them both at the same time is confusing for them.  He was doing great, so I decided to try just the word.  I said "back," and he lifted up his front leg and held it in the air.  I waited for him to put it down, and tried again--getting the same thing.  I just ignored him.  Finally, he stepped back--about 3 inches.  Then he took his other front foot and backed up 3 more inches.  I tried a few times, but he insisted on doing the absolute minimum--unlike Cole who always tried harder--Dante tries to get away with less.  I decided he wasn't enjoying the game, so we quit.  I just took him for his walk about.

By now, the woman was done with her Saddlebred, so I decided to bring Trifecta back for his session in backing.  The first couple attempts were pretty tough because all he wanted to do was pick at me.  I just waited until I got the right response and then clicked him.  After succeeding 5 times, I decided to wait and see if he would offer it to me.  Instead, he continued to play with the rope and my jacket.  Sigh...

I stepped away from him to get a break, and he immediately started circling me at a walk--he wanted to show me what he learned on his first session!  I clicked him, and we practiced both directions a number of times.  I added trotting, and he was awesome!  I got him to trot several laps around before he was clicked.  I was so thrilled.

It was time to end the session, and I told him what a wonderful horse he was and started to lead him to the exit.  That is when I got the temper tantrum.  He didn't want to leave.  I didn't think that at first, but by the third unsuccessful attempt, I was convinced of it.  He was just like Cole but far more rambunctious about it.  Finally I did get him to leave and brought him back to his stall.

Later, when I thought about our second lounging session, I realized that I was doing it without a whip--and he didn't bite at the lead rope a single time!  Not bad for the first day.

Day 2

I  couldn't wait for Ellen to see my new horse.  In the past, she was barely able to watch us, because when he saw her, he would try his best to get to her or swing around so he didn't have to pass the area where she was watching.  This time, she was able to sit on the mounting block, and he never even thought of visiting her.

I didn't bring the whip.  I asked him to walk short distances at first and increased them each time.  I then did the same with trotting.  I did have a little trouble when I then went to switch directions.  I think he thought he would only get a treat for going the first direction.  I did a lot more short distances the second direction so he could see he would get plenty of clicks.  It worked.

Then we moved right on to the backing.  Right away, he was backing to light pressure on the halter.  Then it came time for him to try backing on his own so I really would know if he knew it.  It took a bit.  I had to have the utmost patience because it seemed like he wanted to try everything else, first.  When he realized that he wouldn't get any treats for chewing on me, he tried to back up.  I only wanted one step, but he gave me two.  I clicked him and let him practice a number of times.  Now that he knows it, we will go back to using a cue, and soon I will fade off the click and move on to something else.

I was very happy with the whole session, and I am glad to say that he wasa able to walk out of the arena like a gentleman.

I think that using clicker training with him is the right decision.  I think that he is smart enough that the things we were doing bored him--and he was trying to turn them into a game.  I was able to show him a different game that he likes much more.

Learning to Drive

Learning to Drive

I decided to teach Trifecta to ground drive.  I could tell he really isn't into lounging.  It doesn't take long for him to get bored and then he starts to get into trouble.  He needs something else to learn.  This way, he can learn all about reins before I ever get on him.

Years ago, when Mingo was recovering from one of his hoof operations during his never-ending hoof abscess, I decided to teach him to ground drive.  I couldn't ride him, and he could only be walked.  He was bored and needed something new to learn, too.

Since he already had been ridden for years, it didn't take long for him to learn, and we had fun.  As soon as I could ride him, I hung up the reins and never thought of it again--until now.

Trifecta isn't quite ready, yet.  I need him to be sharper with his go forward cue.  I remember when I tried it with Cruiser when he was just 2, and that is where we failed.  I gave up after only one attempt. 

I was thinking about it, wishing I had a horse to practice on before I tried it with Trifecta--and then it dawned on me.  I do!  Dante was taught to drive before Ellen bought him!  Not only that, but he has a quiet temperament, and I knew he would be patient with my fumbling around.

Ellen agreed with it.  One day, after our ride, I got out my brand new driving reins.  We left Dante's saddle on so we could run them through the stirrups.  He stood quietly while I assorted myself.  I ran the outside rein over his back and took the lounging position--that is what the book says to do when you first start a young horse.  I had the inside rein going through the stirrup, but with Trifecta, I won't do that the first time.  I will just hook it up like a lounge line direct to his head.

I asked Dante to walk, and he ignored me.  Ellen came to the rescue and walked with him.  I practiced "driving" but I know that Ellen was controlling everything.  Dante will follow her anywhere.  I told Ellen where I was going so Dante would go where I needed.  We practiced stopping and going.  I soon was in driving position, and we were walking all over the indoor arena--following Ellen, of course.

This worked really well because I got to practice my position, holding the reins and going in big circles both ways.

A few days later, we did it again.  This time when I asked Dante to walk--he just stood there and waited for Ellen.  Day 2 really was much like day 1, but Ellen didn't walk right next to Dante, so I was doing some of the controlling.  We practiced stopping and going, and it went well.  Finally, Ellen moved away from us and I was independently traveling across the indoor arena!  I only went about a minute, and I said we should end on that good note.

Dante was just so patient.  We are planning to do it more.  The better I get before I tackle it with Trifecta, the more success I will have with him.  Dante is such a treasure.

I thought of teaching Cole to ground drive for practice, but then I realized, he would probably just want to do tricks.  I certainly don't need "silly walk," "show trot" and bowing.

My Sister

My Sister

Years ago, I always drove Camaros.  My third one was a 1981 maroon Z28.  Shortly after I bought that car, my sister, Ellen, bought a Camaro.  It was a little older--but it was maroon, too.  There we were--both driving a maroon Camaro.

A few years later, I bought a new car.  It was a 1990 blue Camaro.  It wasn't long after that that Ellen found her next car.  It was also a blue Camaro.  It was a little older, but it was blue, too.  There we were--both driving blue Camaros.

That went on for some years before Ellen got sensible and bought a car with front wheel drive.  I continued driving my blue one until 2000 when I got a silver one.  At least we were driving very different cars.  I finally got smart and started driving front wheel drive cars, too.  Driving rear wheeled sports cars in the snow is way too stressful at this age.

My current car is a red Chevy Cruze.  (It is no coincidence that I used to have a horse named Cruiser, and now I have a Cruze.  I keep his old stall sign in the back seat.)  Ellen just bought a red car.  It is a darker shade--leaning towards maroon, but it is still a red car.  She did it, again.

Well, this time, it was my turn.  She has a chestnut Lambert Morgan--and now I have a chestnut Lambert Morgan.  Hers is a little older, but here we are, both with chestnut Lambert Morgans--and it is a good thing.

Update on Trifecta

Update on Trifecta

Everyone may have wondered where I have been.  My dog was sick and eventually passed away.  It was a hard time, and I had no desire to write.  Other things started happening, too.  My energy level plummeted.  I just lost my mojo.

That doesn't mean that I ignored the horses--I just didn't write about them.  I am starting to get more serious about training, now.  He is coming along with his lounging.  I have been doing it for longer sessions.  Before, I would maybe lounge him for 10-15 minutes, but recently I have more than doubled it.  I do a lot of transitions, and he gets lots of pets when he does well.  He just loves pets.

That is probably my biggest problem.  When he sees someone, he wants to go visit them for pets.  I have figured out that if I make him stand and ask the person to come and visit him, he doesn't try to visit them as much on his own.  A lot of times, I will have him walk or trot just past the people, stop him and give him pets.  That seems to be helping, too.

My next step is ground driving.  I think that Trifecta likes variety, and that will give us something new to do.  

I never ground driven any of my young horses in the past.  I did try it with Cruiser, and he was too puzzled by it.  I gave up after one session.  I always thought it made a lot of sense to teach a young horse to ground drive.  When Mingo was laid up for a few months during his recovery from his hoof abscess operation, I decided to do it with him.  Of course, he was pretty easy since I had already been riding him for years.  I taught him so I could teach myself.  Now, it is time for me to try out my now very rusty skills.

I have already got him a surcingle.  The first time I put it on him, he was in his stall.  I only partially buckled the 2 buckles since I couldn't see well.  I walked away to let him just get used to it.  When I came back, I found it one the ground.  My clever little baby figured out how to unbuckle it.  Since then, I have completely buckled it.

He is growing.  I measured him a few weeks ago, and he is just over 14 hands.  I wish I had known that our barn had a measuring stick when I got him so I could see how much he has grown since then.  He has grown, but I'm not sure how much.

He is filling out and looking much more like a horse.  I do have a weight tape, and it says that he has put on just over 100 pounds.  The weight gain has been steady, and he hasn't plateaued.  He has his full winter coat, and it is quite darker than his summer coat.  No one thinks he is a dark palomino anymore.

And, he is really becoming beautiful.  Of course, he will be following in some big footsteps.  Cole is such an amazing horse.  I was telling this to Ellen, and she reminded me--Cole was following some pretty big footsteps, too...

Pictures of the Boys

 Pictures of the Boys

Cole Train

 Cole Train

The Boys

The Boys

 

Teaching a New Skill

 

Teaching a New Skill

Trifecta is lounging pretty well, but I don't want us to get bored of it.  We felt it was time to try something new to make it more interesting.  

Ellen laid a pole on the ground for him to trot over.  We have spent some time in the past leading over poles, so he was familiar with them before we started.  My first attempt to lounge him over the pole at a walk didn't go well at all.  He avoided it altogether.  That wasn't a surprise, since he didn't know what I wanted him to do.  I shortened the line so that I was only a few feet from him, and we tried it again.  He tried to avoid the pole again and ended up banging his foot on it. 

The next time I circled him around, he stepped over the pole.  I stopped him and gave him lots of pets and told him how good he was.  We went back and did it a few more times until he seemed confident with it.  It was time to add the trot.  At first he avoided it, but finally he took a trot step over the pole.  I stopped him to praise him, and he had a look on his face like he figured something out and he felt good about it.  I thought I was imagining it, but then Ellen said she thought that was how he looked before I even mentioned it to her.

He trotted over the pole a few more times, and then it was time to switch directions.  Clockwise is typically harder for him.  We practiced lounging in that direction for a few minutes and then we headed for the pole.  Since he seemed to understand the concept, once I was able to properly line him up with the pole (not as easy as it sounds,) he trotted right over it.  He got lots of praise and pets.  He did it a few more times, and each time he got a little better--and then he tried a new technique--he jumped over it, cantered a stride and went back to the trot.  Ellen and I laughed.  I circled him back--and he cantered over it again.  We took a little break, and I decided to try one more time--and he cantered again.  

I don't know if he just thought it was easier to canter--or if I have a horse with an aptitude for jumping.  Each time, he did it with more confidence.  It did seem like he enjoyed his little training session.  We will do more of it in the future.

Day 2

It was time to try trotting over two poles.  Ellen set them up for me.  First, we reviewed walking over 2 poles--which he had done before on previous days.  He did that well, even though I asked him in lounging position instead of leading position.  My next request was to trot over the poles--and he hit both of them.  I stopped him to let him think a little and then tried again.  He was perfect!  We made such a big deal about it with lots of praise and pets.  After that, he trotted perfect each and every time.  We continued to praise and pet him for it.  He seemed cooperative and comfortable with the task, too.

I didn't want to overdo it with him, so we then moved into some regular lounging.  At one point, he grabbed the line right by his mouth and didn't want to let it go.  I made him keep trotting with it in his mouth.  I think he was getting frustrated with it, and he gave it a big pull--and somehow he slipped and fell partially to the ground.  He regained his balance and kept on going, unscathed.

You would think that he would have learned his lesson, but he continued to try and grab the line.

I decided it was time to try something new, so I asked him to canter--and he did!  And he did it beautifully!  I asked Ellen and Kevin if they were training him when I wasn't around, since this was the first and then the second time I ever tried.  We laughed about it, but truthfully, I asked him to canter because it just seemed like he wanted to do it.  Sometimes that is just the way things go.  Needless to say, I was so happy with his response.  When I first tried cantering Cole on a lounge line, he turned into a bucking, bolting maniac.  Sometimes, he still does.  Cole has never been a very consistent lounger.  I am better off just riding him for exercise.

I think Trifecta has reached the point where he lounges better than Starry, Dante and Cole.  That is just with short lessons a few days a week.  He seems to enjoy learning which is a good thing to have in a horse.

Update on Trifecta

Update on Trifecta

I thought when I got Trifecta, it would inspire me to write all about his adventures.  The truth is, there haven't been many adventures.  He has been a pretty easy horse to train.  I'm in no hurry, so I do everything slow and for short durations--and before I know it, he is doing it well.

That is how it went with lounging.  It took a bit before he fully grasped the concept--maybe a week.  We would just walk around and I would move into the lounging position and encourage him to keep walking.  When he did, I stopped him, petted him and told him how wonderful he was.  Soon, I was lounging him at a walk with a long lead rope from both sides.  He volunteered trotting one day, so we did.  Each training session, I would work on it for a few minutes.  At first, he would only trot a few steps, then a half a circle, then a full circle--and now he does multiple circles.  

His leading had improved.  For a while, he didn't want to turn to the right because then he would be stepping away from me.  I worked on it a little during each lesson, and now he does it beautifully.  He is going through a "I want to chew the lead rope" phase, and that can get annoying, but they all seem to grow out of that.  

When I take him on the trail and go down to the river, he gets very excited and walks quite fast.  That is a problem on the steep parts of the hill because he gets so much momentum that I can't keep up with him.  That is something we will have to work on.  Cole and Cruiser both had that problem, and we fixed it by practicing it over and over until they learned how to control their feet--or maybe they didn't feel like there was any reason to rush down if we are just going to turn around and go back up.  That lesson is planned for next week.

The very hardest thing to teach him--and we are still working on it--is for him to stand as I move away from him.  He wants to be with people all the time, and he doesn't want us to leave him.  It isn't just me.  Whoever he sees, he wants to be with.  He is the worst with Kevin.  He simply loves Kevin.  If I am trying to lounge Tri and he sees Kevin--he tries to get to him.  It's not that Kevin is giving him treats--he hasn't been at all.  Tri just wants Kevin to pet him.

Trifecta loves pets.  I haven't been using clicker training with him except for applying bug spray.  I seem to be doing just as well with praise and pets as I would with clicks and treats.  

He is growing.  According to the weight tape, he has put on at least 50 pounds and he is looking more like a small horse than a baby.  He does look like he might be a bit taller, but that is really hard to confirm with the weight tape.  The biggest surprise is how dark his winter coat is coming in.  When I got him, he was a very light chestnut--in just the last few weeks, he is so much darker--which looks really cool with his flaxen mane.  

So overall, things are going well--but just like all my wonderful trail rides with Cole--they are great to experience, but they don't leave me with much to write about.

Trifecta