Monday, March 10, 2008
More on Clicker Training
Clicker training is a systematic process. You define the targeted behavior and set the criteria for rewards. While it is a simple approach, in concept, it is important that you are reading your horse overall demeanor correctly as the click-behavior-reward cycle is implemented. You may have to make minor adjustments periodically to find the best combination of timing, rewards, and sequence of steps that works best for your horse.
Mistakes will be made as the start of the process. Just remember that mistakes are part of the learning curve, not an indication that system does not work. Use what you have learned as feedback to determine corrective action needed to improve the methods you are using and opportunity to learn more about your horse.
Implementing clicker training should be part of the total context of how your horse will be trained in the long term. It is a good starting point for overall groundwork training in which you are trying to establish your authority with your horse.
As training progression, the cues you use to get responses will vary. The clicker should give way to the use of physical signals, verbal commands, and finally to the application of pressure to get response.
Groundwork training sets the stage for advanced training. . Some of the major components of groundwork training include: yielding, leading, longing, round penning, lateral movement and trailer loading. Each area of activity is taking your horse to a higher level of preparation for riding or performing in horse shows.
Regardless of the level to which you plan on training your horse, you should develop an overall plan on how the training will be scheduled, where it will occur, and what equipment will be needed at the various stages. Use clicker training to observe how your horse is reacting to the skills you is trying to teach. What is his body language before, during and after the click-behavior-reward process? How is his breathing, his muscle tone? How is he holding his ears, his tail? Being in tune with your horse is ensuring that he is relaxed and in pain or not under stress while training.
Remember you and your horse are a team. Training should be a rewarding experience for both of you and used as an opportunity to strengthen the bond between you.
Resources
¶ 2:03 PM 
In the previous post, we described the basis of clicker training. By teaching your horse to associate specified behavior with rewards initiated by the sound of a clicker, is conditioned to repeat the behavior for the positive consequence of receiving a reward. The behavior-reward pattern should then move from fixed intervals (rewarding the horse immediately) to a variable-reward pattern (in which the horse is rewarded periodically instead of every time he exhibits the expected behavior).
Clicker training is a systematic process. You define the targeted behavior and set the criteria for rewards. While it is a simple approach, in concept, it is important that you are reading your horse overall demeanor correctly as the click-behavior-reward cycle is implemented. You may have to make minor adjustments periodically to find the best combination of timing, rewards, and sequence of steps that works best for your horse.
Mistakes will be made as the start of the process. Just remember that mistakes are part of the learning curve, not an indication that system does not work. Use what you have learned as feedback to determine corrective action needed to improve the methods you are using and opportunity to learn more about your horse.
Implementing clicker training should be part of the total context of how your horse will be trained in the long term. It is a good starting point for overall groundwork training in which you are trying to establish your authority with your horse.
As training progression, the cues you use to get responses will vary. The clicker should give way to the use of physical signals, verbal commands, and finally to the application of pressure to get response.
Groundwork training sets the stage for advanced training. . Some of the major components of groundwork training include: yielding, leading, longing, round penning, lateral movement and trailer loading. Each area of activity is taking your horse to a higher level of preparation for riding or performing in horse shows.
Regardless of the level to which you plan on training your horse, you should develop an overall plan on how the training will be scheduled, where it will occur, and what equipment will be needed at the various stages. Use clicker training to observe how your horse is reacting to the skills you is trying to teach. What is his body language before, during and after the click-behavior-reward process? How is his breathing, his muscle tone? How is he holding his ears, his tail? Being in tune with your horse is ensuring that he is relaxed and in pain or not under stress while training.
Remember you and your horse are a team. Training should be a rewarding experience for both of you and used as an opportunity to strengthen the bond between you.
Resources
