He's mugging me for food! clicker training?

[CrazyMare]

My horse is getting nippy and pushy with his treats that i am giving to him when I am teaching tricks, stretche's etc but lately he has been putting his ears back invading all my space and just basicly 'mugging' me for food, when I teach him tricks or he does something I wan him to do you just click and then reward? and will this stop the mugging and him seeing me as a food machine! :rolleyes: ??? I have brought one off ebay and it should be here soon but i don't know where to start! I am guessing its pretty simple to train them with?

[Miriam]

Hopefully it will once he realises that he has to earn his reward. Good luck with the clicker training. If he pushes for the food withhold it till he stops

[michelle c]

you ignore the behaviours that you dont want, and they will stop!!!! dont give him food if he is mugging you for it, teach him that he only gets a reward once you have clicked for a good behaviour, he will soon learn that there is no advantage to mugging you because he gets ignored!!! hope this helps

[virtuallyhorses]

Two things - if you have been teaching tricks without a clicker - then you could wean him off treats while using the same cues - simple praise instead.

To clicker train you need to begin by associating the clicker with a treat. The first job therefore is simply standing and doing an exercise called 'bridging'. You click, give a treat. Click give a treat. Repeat this for several minutes until the horse starts looking for a treat when you click. To stop the mugging your first training exercise should be 'look away' - simply stand by your horse, wait till he looks away, click then give a treat - repeat.

If your horse is a real mugger - put him in a stall, pen or tie him up and stand somewhere he can't physically get you or the treats. Always make sure that you have your treats in something that stops him from helping himself - not your pockets - a bumbag is quite good.

There are some good clicker training websites around.

[sidesaddlelady1]

My horse is getting nippy and pushy with his treats that i am giving to him when I am teaching tricks, stretche's etc but lately he has been putting his ears back invading all my space and just basicly 'mugging' me for food, when I teach him tricks or he does something I wan him to do you just click and then reward? and will this stop the mugging and him seeing me as a food machine! :rolleyes: ??? I have brought one off ebay and it should be here soon but i don't know where to start! I am guessing its pretty simple to train them with?

Never mind the clicker. Learn to say "No" firmly and to walk away. He will eventually get the message as long as you make sure everyone else does the same. Clickers are just a gimick like anything else. It's all down to you laying down the ground rules and being consistent so that he understands. If you rely on a gadget what happens when you leave it in the pocket of your other coat?

[hackedoff]

I agree I would find a different reward system. I had the same prob with my young cob, now he gets a scratch and a fuss instead.

[varkie]

I do not use food treats with my horses generally as I do not want them to become nippy. However I have done clicker training, and it does help, and it doesn't encourage them to become nippy. They don't generally hassle for food if they are clicker trained - I guess because they learn that there are things they have to do to get food - so they don't just beg on the offchance.

[chapsi]

I've been doing clicker training with my mare quite successfully and I would go about it just as VirtuallyHorses suggested. That's how I started.
However, before I started, I studied a bit on the book launched by the people who developed clicker training, and I went back to other people experenced for advice, whenever I had a doubt.
My mare was starting to get pushy with the rewards in the initial stages of training, so for a while I taught her 'look away' from the other side of the paddock fence. It worked. These days I can walk around with her wearing my waistbag; she knows that she only gets a reward after the bridge signal (i.e. click).

Introducing the target tool can also be useful. You can make a target basically with anything; the horse learns that touching the target gets him a reward.

There is a full section dedicated to 'clicker training' in the EE site.