Anyone got any ideas how I can do stretching with Captain without the carrots? The thing is he is biting at the moment and I dont want to encourage him with carrots everyday..
Carrot Stretches Without Carrots???
- Thread starter NoviceNic
- Start date
I clicker trained my horse to touch a pop bottle (lucazade) and we do streches that way.
Show him the bottle and when he sniffs it click and a treat, eventually he will touch the bottle when you show it him and he only gets a treat when he hears a click, not when he sees you.
Show him the bottle and when he sniffs it click and a treat, eventually he will touch the bottle when you show it him and he only gets a treat when he hears a click, not when he sees you.
Clicker training is an excellent way forward for Captain - but youhave to be really disciplined about it, and teach the 'move your head away' cue first before anything else - because clicker trianing is ALL about treats !I thihnk, it's quite agood thing to do with nippers and biters - because you can teach them that the last thing they should do, if they want a treat, is to get mouthy. OTOH, it's a bit of a leap of faith at first, to start really frequently handing treats to a biter !
Simple pressure-release will work for stretches, Nic. The simplest to start with is the nose towards the girth, because if you stand right back by the hip, you can simply ask for it by gentle pressure on the lead rope. Stretch down, between the front legs is ok too, but you have to thread the rope through the legs to get the full stretch, and the direction is a bit awkward. If you're really sharp on the release with the nose-girth stretch, he should soon get the hang of it, and be giving to pressure with other stretch directions.
Another neat stretchy-bendy thing I do, is based on the nose to girth one .. I put my hand on the horse's neck, and ask them to bend around my hand, with the other hand high up on the halter - because I want a bend through the neck, not just the nose rotating up and round. Then move my hand on to the next vertebra, and bend again - seeing how specific a bend I can get round that hand.
Simple pressure-release will work for stretches, Nic. The simplest to start with is the nose towards the girth, because if you stand right back by the hip, you can simply ask for it by gentle pressure on the lead rope. Stretch down, between the front legs is ok too, but you have to thread the rope through the legs to get the full stretch, and the direction is a bit awkward. If you're really sharp on the release with the nose-girth stretch, he should soon get the hang of it, and be giving to pressure with other stretch directions.
Another neat stretchy-bendy thing I do, is based on the nose to girth one .. I put my hand on the horse's neck, and ask them to bend around my hand, with the other hand high up on the halter - because I want a bend through the neck, not just the nose rotating up and round. Then move my hand on to the next vertebra, and bend again - seeing how specific a bend I can get round that hand.
Sssshhh, don't EVER tell Fluke they're called carrot stretches! We do a few every day, with never a carrot in sight -- exactly as Kate says, which isn't surprising because she showed us how to do them.
Tonight I was asking him to walk on, and he didn't want to -- so he offered a really fast, grumpy carrot stretch instead:
Fluke: "There, I've stretched. Happy now?"
Me: "Nope. Walk on."
Tonight I was asking him to walk on, and he didn't want to -- so he offered a really fast, grumpy carrot stretch instead:
Fluke: "There, I've stretched. Happy now?"
Me: "Nope. Walk on."
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Capalldubh clicker trained Oscar to a target in a couple of 10 minute sessions. He carrot stretches to her target (which is a tent pole with a bottle taped to the top). He also backs up, bends nose to chest, and follows it around (even into scary trailer occasionally) - give it a try! You can use it for standing still, leading, and also into riden work (havent got that far), and it is great fun.
Hi NN
Really swift response and haven't time to read the others so apologies if I repeat anybody
I have started clicker training Megan (manic food obsessed and pocket searcher) and have substituted the carrot for 5 or so pony nuts (low sugar, high fiber). She's so food orientated that she's taken to it like the proverbial duck... Her target is a rubber curry comb, I would heartily NOT recommend you do this, every time we groom she tries to bash it with her nose now I make sure she gets NOTHING from pockets, I've bought a clicker training pouch from Ebay that she knows (now) instigates clicker training. They do get a bit 'ohhh, what have you got and where?' at first but then, very quickly learn that they have to do something to get the prize (which is where you extend what they have to do for it )
I've also found that quite sweetly she puts her nose on her side when she is asking for a treat... although I do worry that somebody may think 'aww sweet, she's fine' when in fact she's colicking
Somebody else at our yard started after seeing what Megan could do.. Proud Mummy moment
Really swift response and haven't time to read the others so apologies if I repeat anybody
I have started clicker training Megan (manic food obsessed and pocket searcher) and have substituted the carrot for 5 or so pony nuts (low sugar, high fiber). She's so food orientated that she's taken to it like the proverbial duck...
Her target is a rubber curry comb, I would heartily NOT recommend you do this, every time we groom she tries to bash it with her nose now I make sure she gets NOTHING from pockets, I've bought a clicker training pouch from Ebay that she knows (now) instigates clicker training. They do get a bit 'ohhh, what have you got and where?' at first but then, very quickly learn that they have to do something to get the prize (which is where you extend what they have to do for it )I've also found that quite sweetly she puts her nose on her side when she is asking for a treat... although I do worry that somebody may think 'aww sweet, she's fine' when in fact she's colicking
Somebody else at our yard started after seeing what Megan could do.. Proud Mummy moment
This is really interesting as my back lady recommended carrot stretches for my mare. She too is not good if *** bitted and after 1 session I gave up but she still mugged me for the next week! I might try the clicker thing too!
It's a way of giving an audible signal to an animal (dog, cat or horse in this case) that they have exhibited correct behaviour. In Megan's case she could be a bit 'muggy' as she is very food orientated. I knew she would enjoy food as a reward for correct behaviour but needed to set boundaries on hand feeding. Her trainer wanted her to be more flexible, particularly when attempting a turn on the forehand and suggested carrot stretches. I knew this would not work per se for Megan and may make her more inclined to mug (she never bites, luckily). You have to train the horse to bump a target with it's nose to begin with. I used the target where I would want her to stretch to the 'carrot' and her reward was the click from a clicker 'yes, that was correct' followed by a few pony nuts, which she thoroughly enjoys.
I never can sum up in one sentence
I use Cisco's curiosity to get him to stretch. If I stand by his ribs and lightly touch him there to get his attention, then rub my fingers together and look interested, he will bend around and keep his head there to see what I am doing. He's such a curious horse it works every time.
I would definitely recommend that if your horses mugs or nips, you spend quite a long time training the look away to get the treat behaviour before you introduce anything else (such as targetting, stretches etc).
Also Alex Kurland recommends that you feed where you want the horse - so after you've clicked the behaviour, extend your hand with treat well out of your space. The horse very quickly gets the idea and will happily reverse if needed in order to get the treat
JAckson is a green youngster and it took him a while to learn how to take a treat without taking my whole hand too - I used to leave a headcollar on at first, and gently control the speed his mouth approached my hand - took about 5 goes before he started to be very delicate
Also Alex Kurland recommends that you feed where you want the horse - so after you've clicked the behaviour, extend your hand with treat well out of your space. The horse very quickly gets the idea and will happily reverse if needed in order to get the treat
JAckson is a green youngster and it took him a while to learn how to take a treat without taking my whole hand too - I used to leave a headcollar on at first, and gently control the speed his mouth approached my hand - took about 5 goes before he started to be very delicate
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