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Post by beardiegirl on Sept 24, 2006 3:41:22 GMT -5
At my new stable, I discovered yesterday that they give Clicker-training lessons, as does my agility-club. Has anybody heard of this? Is it similar to clicker training in dogs? My new lease-horse has been clicker-trained, but I'm not sure whether it is similar to dog-clicker-training , and I really don't want to mess the training of a horse that's not really mine up Any other horse-people?? Please give insights!! --HAILS
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Post by sibemom on Sept 24, 2006 7:57:04 GMT -5
Yes I have read they clicker train horses. Never had any experience with it, but I think pet trainers for the movie industry have been using it for years. I don't know about that If your interested in it just ask more questions at the stable and maybe watch a session or to.
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Post by willow on Sept 24, 2006 8:27:43 GMT -5
Didn't the owner tell you this before you leased the horse? I would think they wouldn't want their horse messed up either!!! If not, go back to who you leased the horse from and ask them to show you what to do!
This is like people buying a started or trained dog or having your dog professionally trained by a prof. trainer. You have to take lessons with the dog, trainer and/or previous owner for at least several sessions so you know how to execute a command the dog will respond to.
Keep us posted! ;D
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Post by beardiegirl on Sept 24, 2006 9:29:53 GMT -5
thanks both of you!! Its basically a lease where I only have him for three days a week until one of the other "leasers" gives up her day, so I actually live in the same village as the girl who owns the horse. If I catch her on one of her days, she can explain it to me, but I just wanna have it clear.
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Post by sibemom on Sept 24, 2006 9:43:37 GMT -5
LOVE your Avatar by the way
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Post by Nicole on Sept 24, 2006 13:04:28 GMT -5
Can I ask a slightly off topic, very possibly stupid question. I don't know much at all about horses other than that they are magnificent beautiful creatures. Do you think they mind being shuffled around to different people every few days on different leases. I just think that would be stressful. I am thinking dogs of course. Maybe horses are different and look forward to the constant change. Or does the horse stay at the owner's place the whole time.
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Post by Am on Sept 24, 2006 14:41:08 GMT -5
Yes, I've heard of clicker training in horses. I think you can clicker train most animals, at least to some degree of reliability, just as long as you can find some treat that they want to earn.
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Post by kaos on Sept 24, 2006 15:27:26 GMT -5
Yes, from what I have read the basic principles of clicker training remain the same for all animals. It would definitely be helpful to know exactly which behaviours in the horse you are riding have been clicker trained etc so I would definitely chat to the owner. it may be that the clicker has only been used to teach certain behaviours and is not required for established behaviours on an everyday level - eg it is one way to teach a horse to load onto a trailer etc.
Nicole, good question. Leases and shared riding situations are pretty common in the horse world as looking after and exercising a horse is a huge time commitment and not always easy to fit around work and other commitments. Usually the horse will stay in one location and will have two different people who turn up to care for and ride on different days. Most horses adapt quite happily as long as their routine of exercise, feeding etc remain the same, although some are more sensitive to change than others. In general I have found that changing the living situation and in particular their paddock mates tends to have more impact than changing their rider / carer providing the person who takes over uses similar methods and is a capable rider.
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Post by Nicole on Sept 25, 2006 7:24:10 GMT -5
Thanks Kaos. That makes perfect sense.
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Post by beardiegirl on Sept 25, 2006 14:12:05 GMT -5
Thanks Kaos!! Aww I found another wolf-lover, eh Sibemom? Nicole, Iroquois lives at a horse-barn, and for 3 years he was a schooling pony. So, he must be pleased to have so few people riding him each day He only gets three people per-week, but when the stable was still open he had approxomately 4 lessons a day.
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Post by kaos on Sept 25, 2006 15:24:11 GMT -5
Would love to hear what has been taught to your new horse with the clicker. Do let us know how you get on. I have only played very half heartedly with a clicker with my horse so far...
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Post by Aussienot on Sept 29, 2006 17:12:40 GMT -5
The click is just a marker. The click signals a reward is coming, so even the least interactive animal can be trained to do things to earn the click. When you don't have a relationship with the animal, when you can't use a leash, and when you don't have a verbal connection, clicker training can allow you to train any number of species of animals.
Places like Sea World, and anywhere that has wild animal shows will often use clicker training (along with target training) to get the performances. The person who taught me clicker training was the head Polar Bear trainer for Sea World. (Even if you wanted to use corrective training for these animals, you probably wouldn't want to get close enough to properly fit the pinch collar. Plus the whales are really really slippery.)
A part of the Delta intensive session, we had to train another species a simple behavior using clicking and target. In our case, it was pigs. And not even pet pigs; stock piglets straight off the feed lot. It took just two half-hour sessions to get them to interact with humans, and to work out that rice cakes was the preferred reward.
Getting them attuned to the click was easy, and getting them to target your hand or a toy was just a matter of patience. Then turning it into a trick - step through a hoop and fetch were the two easiest ones- was just a matter of approximating the behavior and clicking and rewarding.
Once the animal has learned the trick, you don't keep clicking. Jut like you fade the reward in the proofing stage, you also fade the click. So even if the horse was clicker trained originally, you probably don't need to ride with a clicker and mark the good behaviors.
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