Clicker and MerryLegs

Clicker and MerryLegs

MerryLegs was only here for 2 days when we introduced him to clicker training. I had a pocket full of carrot slivers and a ball to use as a target. His indoctrination was the standard procedure—except none of us had a clicker with us. Ellen and I both switched our horses to a tongue click, long ago. I didn’t want to wait until I remembered to bring a clicker, so a tongue click had to do. (My timing with it is better, anyway.)

So, I clicked and treated over and over. He learned that a click means a treat is coming. I showed him the ball. He touched it with his nose—click/treat. That’s all it took. Every time I showed him the ball, he touched it. We did center, left, right and low. He wasn’t quite good enough to do the ground, but I knew I was pushing it on that one. That usually takes a few sessions. Still, he got the initial targeting faster than any horse I have ever trained. (This boy likes his treats!)

The next day, I wanted to try leading MerryLegs with Ranger on the loop again. This time, there was no motorbikes, but there were a lot of pesky insects. MerryLegs was very excited and wanted to pass Ranger, but that gets Ranger angry, so my job was to encourage him to just follow. I had to stop him a few times and we did circle a couple times, too, but we had no serious problems. He was bothered by the horse trailers, tires, barrel, etc… He would just stop and stare—or side step by.

Because of the bugs, we decided one lap was enough. We headed to the front of the property. We had to pass a very large horse trailer, and he really didn’t like it. Ellen suggested letting him touch it and click him for it. She has taught Dante to do that, and not only has it helped him get used to new things, but he likes the game.

I led MerryLegs up to the trailer. He didn’t want to get close, but I did. Being a curious guy, he tentatively stretched his neck and touched it with his nose. Click/treat. He touched it again. Click/treat. And again. Ellen was ready to bring Ranger in, when we noticed the blue plastic tarp draped over a tractor. MerryLegs looked at it sideways—time for touching. I brought him as close as I could get him—he stretched out—touch—click—treat. He did it a few times. As I led him back to the barn, it seemed to me that he was more relaxed.

Ellen and I went out on our trail ride with Dante and Cole. When we got back, I said I wanted to take him on the loop again. This time, I would do it on my own. We were going to touch things.

He did stall out, once, when he realized that he was by himself. There was a horse laying in the outdoor arena, and maybe he thought that was a good idea. Once I got his feet dislodged, I praised him and we headed for the scary trailer tucked in the far corner of the loop.

When we got to it, he said he still didn’t like the look of it, but I told him not to be afraid. I walked up to it and he willingly followed. I held my hand to it to show him it was safe. He reached out, touched the trailer—click/treat—one more dragon conquered. Next stop—the big blue barrel on the corner. He didn’t like it before, but now it seemed like he knew the game. I had no trouble getting him to touch it. A short distance away was a big truck. He touched that. Next to it was another trailer. He was a little reluctant with that one, but soon, he touched it too.

By now, I can tell he thinks it is a fun game. We headed back to the barn, but we had to stop on the way to touch a pile of tires. He had no problem when we reached the tractor loading manure into a truck. We were very close, and he stood still to watch it. Ranger would have been all bent out of shape with that one.

Once we got into the indoor arena, we touched both mounting blocks. I led him to the far end to look out the scary door. He was able to see the miniature horse in the neighbor’s pasture. That puzzled him. Unfortunately, that was something we couldn’t touch. He wanted to touch Princess, the tyrannical cat, but I thought we might be pushing our luck. Dante plays touch with her with some success, but he isn’t as new to the game. Princess can be very unpredictable, and I didn’t want a scratched nose to interfere with our positive reinforcement.

It was nearly time for the horses to eat lunch, so I brought him back to the barn. It was a successful session. This is a useful game, and I’m glad that Ellen reminded me of it. I managed to do several things. First and foremost, I feel I was able to prove to him that I was a good, reliable leader. Since he was still insecure in his new surroundings, I showed him that the things he was worried about were safe and that he can trust my decisions. He visibly calmed down outside after this. Second, I taught him a game we can play whenever we encounter something new. Rather than avoid it, we could explore is and get rewarded with a click. And lastly, I reinforced the whole concept of clicker training—something that is still very new for him.

He is now on his way to being a clicker horse.