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.