 The click sound is used as a signal or "bridge" to communicate to the animal that they have done something right and that a reward will follow. REWARDS A reward can consist of any sort of food your horse likes as long as they are small and can be eaten quickly. I It needs to be available in your pocket or a bumbag so you can reach for it easuly in training. You could use a rub as a reward if your horse reeeally likes rubs but mine prefer to work for food. I have used- chopped up pieces of carrot mints pony nuts cheerios small pieces of bread/cookies pasture mix mollychop horse treats. CONDITIONING TO THE CLICKER First your horse needs conditioning to the clicker otherwise it will not mean anything to him. This is done by clicking the clicker and then rewarding with a treat straight after, a number of times in sucession for about five minutes a day for a few days, until your horse expects a treat after the click. Once you click and your horse looks at you expectantly then he is "conditioned" to the clicker. Almost anything can be taught with clicker training as long as you break it down into small actions. I will use teaching the wave as an example. TEACHING THE WAVE Lets break down the wave into smaller movements 1-Horse shifts his weight off a foreleg 2-Horse lifts his foot off the floor 3-Horse lifts his leg up 4-Horse extends his leg high off the floor 5- Horse keeps the leg extendedand keeps it there 6-Horse waves leg up and down. The first step of the wave is for the horse to shift his weight off a foreleg, so pick a leg and either wait for the horse to move the weight off it slightly by himself or you can ask him to as if you were about to pick the foot up. As soon as he moves his foot up, or even if he just shifts his weight off it, click with the clicker and then reward. Repeat this a few times until he has "got it". I would now add a "cue" for the wave, this can be a verbal cue,a visual cue or you can touch the horse somewhere to tell him to wave. I used the word "wave" and also a hand signal where I lift my hand up and down. Use this cue before the horse shifts his weight back. The next step is for the horse to lift his foot off the floor, so instead of clicking and rewarding for the shift of weight, we will wait until the horse lifts his foot or even if you see him try or think about lifting his foot. You can help him understand what you want him to do by tapping his foot as if you were going to pick it up. If he "doesnt get it" you can even pick the foot up yourself at first and click/reward. Soon he will lift his foot up when you ask him with the cue without you helping him. Once he does this consistantly, move onto the next step. We now want him to lift his leg up, not just his foot. So ask him with the cue and instead of click/rewarding when he lifts his foot, wait until he lifts his leg, even if it is just a small amount. He will probably look confused as before this just lifting a foot earned him a reward but it doesnt work now! He will try different things to earn the reward, maybe he will paw at the ground, you can click the second he lifts his leg and reward. Dont click too late as his foot is pawing the ground as you will be teaching him that! Carry on until he lifts his leg when you ask him with the cue every time. We now want him to extend his leg after he has lifted it off the floor. Ask him to "wave" with the cue, he will lift his leg. He may try to extend it by himself to see of it will get a reward, if so, great, click when he extends his leg and reward. Some horses wont try it so they will need a bit of help! Ask him with the cue and when he lifts his leg, you can try tapping under the leg gently with a whip/stick to ask him to lift it higher, the moment he does, (even just a teeny bit) click and reward. You could also help by extending his leg yourself by holding it out and clicking/rewarding. After he has got it, wait a little longer until he has extended more each time before clicking/rewarding, make each time better than the last. We now want him to keep his leg extended off the floor and wave it without him putting it down until you say. So, cue, the horse will lift his leg and extend it. Click/reward when he keeps it there for a second. Then click and reward the next time for holding it there 2 seconds. keep building this up until your horse will keep his leg there waiting until you click/reward. I would aim for about 5 seconds in the end. Once you get this, move on... Ok we now want him to wave the leg up and down a little whilst it is extended. So ask with the cue, the horse will lift his leg, extend it and keep it there, now wait......he will see you want more before you reward him but he doesnt know what it is yet. He will probably try a few things before he gets the correct movement, but he will almost certainly try moving it up and down a little, even if it is just in despiration, click and reward the slightest movement up and down whilst extended. Keep asking for more movement until you get it, when you do click and reward. Your horse should now "wave" when you ask him to, at the end of the wave click and reward. You do not need to click and reward everytime he waves, only reward if you asked him to wave, otherwise he will use it as a way of begging to get food. If he tries to do it without you asking him to, just ignore it and he will soon stop trying. Also any other unwanted movements he does whilst training him should be ignored and he will soon stop trying them. If he tries to nip you or "mug" you for the food, let him know this isnt the right choice by ignoring it and by not letting him invade your personal space. Wave your arms around and shout a bit until he backs off and start again. I usually have the horse tied up for saftey until he has learnt that "mugging" me doesnt get rewarded. You can also teach the horse he only gets the reward if he moves his head away from you. If it is done correctly clicker training doesnt make your horse "get pushy" and mug you,but the horses will try it at first! as long as he doesnt get rewarded for it, he will spend his time trying to figure out what you are trying to teach him instead. Below are two examples of clicker training. The first is my pony doing liberty circles. It took him around an hour to learn and this was his second attempt. The other video is a recent one showing liberty circles in canter, turns, backing up away from me and backwards towards me and also some lateral work.  |