A Clicker Convert?

I was riding Cole Train in the arena, when one of the boarders that I haven’t seen for a while showed up. She has been working different hours than she used to and was coming out to the barn when I wasn’t there. Consequently, she hadn’t seen Cole’s new dance steps. I showed them to her—how he can do them in the saddle or on the ground, and she just laughed and laughed. He is even learning to cross his leg over when I cross my leg over—and of course he performs in a very dramatic way. I swear by the way he seems to show off, that he likes when he ha an audience. I would even click him, and it would take him a few more steps before he stopped for his treat.

I told her that once he volunteered the step the first day and I clicked him, it only took about five minutes and he was doing it consistently. She said that her horse couldn’t learn anything in five minutes. My response, “Wanna bet?”

She wanted to lounge her horse first, so I went to clean our stalls. When I finished, she was ready. I told her to cut her carrots in small pieces, and I went to grab the clicker. (Cole doesn’t need a clicker because he has learned the tongue click.) I also grabbed a towel.

I told my friend that we were going to teach her horse to touch the towel. Her husband peeked in and asked her if she was only going to be another five or ten minutes. She laughed and replied, “I guess so. She says that’s all it will take.”

This mare had had no exposure to clicker training in the past. I spent about a minute to charge up the clicker. Once she knew a click meant a treat, I put the towel near her face. She touched it out of curiosity, I clicked and treated. It took another minute of her inconsistently touching it and getting clicked and then I saw that “look.” It is the look I have seen before when the light bulb goes off in an animal’s head—the connection is made. She knew that she could do something to make me click and treat her. Within only 3 minutes, she was deliberately touching the towel to get clicked. It didn’t matter where I put the towel, including on the ground. Her owner was amazed.

Then I pointed to the ground, and her mare put her head down. One click and I captured that behavior. She did it each time I asked. Now, her owner was shocked. She saw it was in the timing. She realized the consistent tone of the clicker marked the behavior. During my demonstration, I didn’t just teach a horse the basics of clicker training, I taught her owner, too.

I told her how you can teach a horse anything with a clicker. If there is a problem in her current training, it could help her solve it. I also told her that clickers are cheap. If it didn’t work for her, she wouldn’t be out much at all. And when she is done with her horse, she could use it with her dog. Then, she really laughed. It makes me wonder what her dog is like?

I told her where she could buy a clicker, and I think she might do it. She works a lot of hours and often doesn’t have much time for her horse. Most of the time, she just does ground work. Clicker training would be a perfect fit for them. I hope she follows through. Cole Train may not be the only dancing horse at our barn.

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Comment by Judi Daly on March 15, 2012 at 2:20pm: Yes! That's it! They train us to give them a treat. What a fun game it is for them.

Comment by Marlene Thoms on March 15, 2012 at 12:00pm: Horses like clicker training because it is the fastest, simplest method to train a human, which is their main objective in life.

Comment by nina amelung on March 15, 2012 at 11:35am: I've done some clicker training with my horses as well.

Mostly to get my horse comfortable touching things with his nose.

It's amazing how quick they learn what that little sound means.

Comment by Marlene Thoms on March 15, 2012 at 10:51am: Ah, but can clicker teach an Old Dog New Tricks? (Just kidding).

I once taught my old dog, who was very overweight from my Mom feeding treats while I was away at university, to go in the other room any time I sat down with a snack, so she wouldn't beg. She soon learned that if she left me alone she got a bit of my snack, if she begged she got nothing. My Mom couldn't believe it when she saw it.

Comment by Judi Daly on March 15, 2012 at 9:04am: I was able to teach my new dog, in a very short time, to stay in the other room while I throw pieces of dry cat food for my cat to chase. The dog gets 1 piece for every ten pieces the cat gets and misses all the fun, too. She doesn't care--she just sits and waits for her click. To me, that shows how powerful clicker training can be.

Comment by Marlene Thoms on March 14, 2012 at 6:05pm: I just came across a good video demo of someone using clicker training on a dog to get them to find the correct heel position (something I'm working on with my Shepherd). I must say the handler used it really well and you could see the quick improvement in something which is sometimes tricky to get (with a dog that didn't look exceptionally bright). My dog happens to be insanely ball driven so she trains pretty well with that. I'd say 90% of whatever method depends on how well the handler works the chosen system. Horses don't seem to be highly "driven", but my gelding works pretty well for peanuts. Whatever works. But I do think clicker could speed up just about any process if done well.

Comment by Cassandra Dietman on March 14, 2012 at 5:28pm: I have never thought about clicker training a horse, and I don't know why! I've seen it used successfully with dogs for years, though I've never tried it (I really should!). It makes sense that it speeds up that release/reward so much, and that's something I'm always working towards improving. Thank you for sharing!

Comment by Judi Daly on March 9, 2012 at 4:23pm: Marlene,

I think you might be on to something,,,

Comment by Marlene Thoms on March 8, 2012 at 8:56pm: I just had this random thought, while thinking about your story, and how animals are always so quick to learn, if only we know how to teach them (something my dog is impressing me with this week, since I had to put her on a crash course). Then I thought, what about all the children who are "slow learners". How many of them would learn far faster if we used different teaching methods with them. I mean how often would we put 25 horses in one arena and expect them all to learn a bunch of new stuff by teaching them all in one pile day after day? Would it actually be faster to take them one by one and teach by some super efficient method?

Comment by Judi Daly on March 7, 2012 at 3:03pm: I never thought of that--but I think you are right. Since I have been clicking, my timing is so much better. I have a non clicker horse, too, and I'm sure he appreciates it. I can't click him, but I can time my release for the right moment.

Find a cat to train. I love clicking my cat. Unfortunately, it usually attracts the dog, and he doesn't do as well taking turns with her. Only problem with cats--their bellies get full, fast.