hurrah for friends

I've had a lovely day today. Di came over and brought food parcels...homemade soup, crusty bread and cakes...so we lunched well on delicious grub and put the world to rights! I had forty winks on the sofa when Di left and now I'm feeling beautifully rested and about to go and do hay etc.
Thanks Di it was great and really cheered me up.

pants

Exciting today, first thing we noticed that next door's pone had escaped (again) and was eating our grass! Put him back and made contact with the neighbour (he only visits once in a while and doesn't live here) who told me he thought he was jumping out, LOL. I said 'if he jumped that fence then I'll buy him!' of course the crafty little monkey had shimmied under (not difficult with one strand placed so high). It appears that he has sold the place to some more Engleesh :-( just hope they're nice and friendly.
Finally had to go to the docs as Patrick said he wouldn't help me any more if I didn't! Turns out I have bronchitis and pneumonia (just in the left lung at the mo :-)) so hardly surprising I wasn't feeling too good. Ah well, I have some antibiotics and other goodies and best bit, Di's coming over tomorrow to see me.
Don't think working horses will happen soon but if I can be well for the festive season I'll be content.

all lurgied out

I've had quite enough of this lurgy now. It's been ten days and in spite of a real improvement on Friday/Saturday I seem to have flatlined again and although mucking out is going better it leaves me too kncked to do anything else.
So sorry that this is just a moan but I've done nothing with my pones for so long and I've had enough.
Tomorrow will be beter I'm sure.

more clicking

It was interesting to have a play at some CT yesterday with Lydia and Peanut. Just as location is to a business or property, timing is to clicker training. So the three most important facets of CT are timing, timing and timing! For an 8 year old, buoyed up by her first lesson in CT it is hard to hold on to the concept of timing. Trying to give the click at the perfect time whilst having her mind on offering the treat proved too much at times! Still, the pone is such a star that he played the targeting game.
I want to move on to the 'wait' because I found it really important with Chapsi to teach him to wait for the treat, not move towards me in anticipation. It is also really helpful to counter a horse that tries to rob (mug) treats, bite pockets or generally nip at you. However I think it is easier explained with some vid. As I'm still feeling like I did ten rounds with Mike Tyson then it will have to wait...hopefully tomorrow.
I've been thinking about the old NH and horse whispering malarky these few days that I've been too knacked to do any more than think. Why is it that almost all the 'gurus' in this field are fellas? There must be lots more ladies than men ride and I know lots of lady coaches/trainers but not many of the book writing, spiritually aware few seem to be ladies. I have my own thoughts on this but wondered what yours were?
May the new week bring sun and energy for all!

Clicker work (aka too many biscuits)

Clicker Training
This is especially for my daughter Lydia; I hope she will be as enthusiastic about clicker training as me.

First the disclaimer; I am not an expert of any kind on any subject! What I know of clicker for horses has been gleaned from my horses and the odd bit of hearsay. I have neither read a book about nor taken lessons in clicker training horses. These are my opinions based on what has worked for me.

I first heard of clicker training in dogs, about 12years ago when I took our last puppy to training club. It worked with our Jack Russell puppy and as most dog trainers will tell you JR’s are not the most biddable of dogs. Sadly we stopped at the sit/lie/stay stage and took our preliminary certificate and ran!

Fast-forward a decade. We have moved into our new home, horses have arrived but no school to work in except the 8 x 12m barn. At the same time I’m hearing clicker training mentioned on the horse forums and my interest is piqued.

I started with targeting and head down, as these were the things I heard people were doing. This was the start of my learning curve.

Popular Clicker Myths

My horse will bite me if I train him with treats.

It’s cheating.

My horse won’t respect me.

It makes me less of a horse trainer.

It’s bribery.

So what IS clicker

It is a simple system to reward a stance/behaviour/effort offered by a horse. It is accurate and engaging. It is a positive reward system that can be added on to your existing training with great effect.

Flipside…what isn’t clicker

It isn’t a quick fix; it doesn’t make you a good trainer (although it can help make you a better trainer). It isn’t discipline specific; it can be used in any sphere. It ain’t soppy or ‘hippy’. It isn’t a ‘replacement’ i.e. it is complementary to your existing work. It does not create biters or ‘muggers’ unless it is administered incorrectly.


Tools for Clicker

Treats…something palatable, easily given and stored. Experimentation has led me to Lucerne nuts for regular work and chopped carrot or apple as ‘specials’.

A click…you can buy animal training ‘clickers’ on line. Personally I use ‘my’ click (i.e. my tongue) because I can always be assured of having it with me and it is also less cumbersome than carrying a mechanical clicker. You could actually use any word or sound (and indeed I have two ‘words’ in my clicker work as well as a click). Personally I like to tongue click because it’s good and snappy and easily offered. However, if you are a habitual clicker when looking for forward movement in your horse then you’ll have to wean yourself off or the poor horse will be mighty confused.

Storage for treats…this isn’t essential for all clicker work, I store treats in my pocket when I’m riding. A bum bag or equally suitable easy access bag is easier when working from the ground. The minute you put it on the horse knows what’s coming.

Targeting objects…balls, sticks, cones or blocks, just about anything can be targeted.

Human attributes…patience and wide-open eyes!


First Steps

As I said earlier I haven’t been trained in this work, I’ve felt my way and been guided by my horses. I don’t take this approach because I think I’m clever, far from it. I have allowed clicker to organically develop because it seems the best way to truly learn all the possibilities. As soon as I read a book on a subject then I feel compelled to follow rather than discover and develop. Make any sense? If it does then stop reading here and go off and develop yourself; when you come back we can share notes!
Each horse is different but one really good place I have found to start is training to target. If you yourself have never tried clicker training then you will probably find it easier to start with the targeting exercise…later it becomes clear that in order of priority the ‘wait’ lesson is most important but in order to teach that the horse has to be able to associate clicking with treating.

To train any kind of behaviour it must be broken down into small pieces. Don’t continue until it goes wrong or the horse becomes bored. Put 10 treats in your bag, when they’re finished you finish!

You can use an object or indeed your hand (although I do teach this a bit later myself) to target. I use a double tap on the object coupled with the word ‘touch’ immediately afterwards. To begin with you can hold the object and then, after giving the aid to touch, bring the object to touch the horse’s nose. The instant that the horse’s nose makes contact with the object you should click and, as quickly as you can, treat immediately afterwards. Otherwise you could just hang around and wait for him to be interested enough in the object (they're damned nosey creatures) and click when he touches it.
Gradually reduce the speed that you move the object towards the horse after giving the aid to touch and as if by magic the horse will start to move his nose towards the object from choice. This may take one or multiple sessions to establish. Don’t be disappointed if your initial progress is slow, all horses learn in their own timeframe.
More next time, happy clicking.

running on empty

Haven't blogged for days due to the elephant that had taken up residence on my chest evolving into some rotten flu bug :-(
Anyway, we've all had it and finally I'm starting to feel a little more like myself. Reading anything (even on the computer) was out of the question as it just made my head hurt more. I managed to turn out, muck out and bring in every day (with a little help pushing the barrow on Monday) but they have been sadly neglected (do they care!) and not had a brush near them since saturday.
Today was definitely the best day for a while and I mustered up the energy to groom Chapsi when they came in.
I then took my big green bucket in his stable and we targeted. We then stood still while I chucked the upturned bucket into position by his side and then stomped on it;  I stood on it and rested a little of my weight over his back. All work clicked and treated (or biscuited Allison, lol). To finish I stood on the bucket and asked him to walk towards me (as if approaching a mounting block) and then walked him a little too far past me and asked him to back up. He has met the green bucket once before but I was pleased with his attitude!
Roll on some more energy.
I'm going to try and find time to blog some thoughts on clicker training later or maybe over the week-end.

atta boy

Oh boy, blogging twice in one day; sorry.

I wasn't going to do anything today due to a stinky chest cold, the things one's husband shares with you! However I felt much better once outdoors and so I groomed Chapsi and took him off up the lane. I had no intention of going as far as last Sunday as the hills wear you out when you're fit but with an elephant camped on your chest they are nigh on impossible. We stopped at the first neighbours, backed and halted a couple of times and then on again. Round the corner we met Beethoven (yes he is a St Bernard, lol) and then a gaggle of humans...very small child on mini-moto with grandmère screaming at him to stop because of the approaching horse, larger child on push bike, Cristelle with babe in her arms, Christophe with one of his vans spilling machinery onto the road, Naomi the black retriever and two unidentified adults. Of course Chapsi stopped dead; bad idea I thought (especially as the push bike was now behind us following us up the road whilst chatting to me) but the boy took a hold of every nerve in his body and continued. We had a pat from Mum and baby and a chat with Christophe (who promises he IS coming down soon to finish the hard standing outside the yard). At the risk of being gushy...I am so proud of my boy :-)