Clicker Training

[Laya]

Has anyone heard of clicker training for horses? I've read of the process several times in magazines and even viewed a seminar this past Saturday of teaching a horse to load with this method?? What does everyone think of this training technique??

[bren]

Im on a list for standardbred pleasure horses and there are several people doing it with their horses. i bookmarked some sites but havent read anything on it. How was the seminar? Ive heard that you can train your dogs with it as well.
What did you think of it?

[Laya]

I really liked the seminar, it was very informing. The trainer was giving it who thought of it.

It was kind of disappointing that there wasn't more to this training technique.

She brought out a trailer with a ramp into a round pen and loosed a 5 year old warmblood in there who never set foot on a two horse trailer before. She's tell him to touch the target and would click and feed him when he was good, but she ended up sending him home because he had been bad and unattentive.

The second out was a 14 year old warmblood who never saw a two horse trailer. She worked with him, and the way she got them on was by making them touch the target all the way on the trailer and then telling them to simply back up.

She then brought out a weanling who did fairly well.

At first I thought it was ridiculous with all of the treats as rewards, but then hey, I thought again. She had said they fed them their grain throughout the day if they were working with them throughout the day.

So the seminar had been entertaining and fun to actaully meet the trainer magazines are always talking about!!

[dreamer]

I was cureous about clicker training too, I found a couple of sites one deals with horses, and the other deals with the clickertraining it's self where you can buy stuff too, here they are:

the horse one:
This is the main board, it basicly deals with wild horses, but has a lot of different training ideas from round pen and grount training to clicker training and basic behavior stuff. http://www.ecis.com/~tallt/pag/train.html

This is the clicker training part of the site. http://www.ecis.com/~tallt/tra/clickr01.html

this is the clicker training site that has to do with all different kinds of animals, mostly things to help you clicker train like books, articlas, and equipment http://www.clickertrain.com/

I want to try clicker training on my new filly this spring and the these sites have helped alot :D

[michal]

I tried the clicker training at home with the nose targeting the cone...and my horse got it within about 3 minutes with my praise Good boy & a carrot...I did not have a clicker...I have always used the same voice to praise my horse in a high smooth voice. My horse Tie Dye - an arab pinto 4 year old - nods his head yes if I ask him if he wants a carrot...that was really easy to teach him. I would like to see the clicker in action...is it really better then a voice of praise?

[Farm_Girl5]

I don't know much about this clicker but I know that they will not allow you in the ring with a clicker (true for dogs anyway) so maybe your voice would be better or can you wean them off the clicker like you would with food treats???

Kristy