Gusti and Steina
Brace yourselves, it's a long one.
I've decided to write this at home on Sunday night, and copy it to all of
you when I get in to work in the morning. I have to share my experience and
I don't want to miss any of the important parts which often happens when I
have to rush through things at work. (that pesky job again)
If I wouldn't have seen this myself I wouldn't have believed it. I have
been one of the folks interested in clicker training, but always assumed it
was too much work to really get into, and I somehow couldn't wrap my head
around it. I could see the benefits of it, but couldn't think of a way to
comfortably apply it in my life.
I think I have mentioned that I have been "dabbling" in this type of
training for the last couple of weeks. Gusti, catches on very quickly which
is showing me how quickly a horse can really learn and retain. Until
Friday, all he knew was what the click meant, he could lift the dog dish and
back up with some reminders. But in my tiny way, I've been very pleased
with his progress.
Along comes the farrier.......it was a new guy, very nice, calm and gentle
and quiet. Steina did very well with only a few hops out of his way, until
I remembered that she preferred to have her nose squashed into my chest and
with one eye staring directly into mine. Then all was well. She doesn't
like strangers.
Then it's Gusti's turn......The fellow walked quietly up to him to pet him,
and Gusti went completely to the moon. He wasn't going to let this strange
man touch him or even come near him. My husband was trying to comfort him,
and Gusti trusts him, but there was no amount of convincing. I was
devastated. His first time with the farrier and it was turning into a
complete disaster. I saw a long life time of struggles at hoof trimming
time.
After about a century of the guys trying to convince Gusti to even let the
guy touch him or even come near him, they were starting to talk about tying
him. His feet needed trimming badly and they needed to be done quickly.
They didn't want to -- but could think of nothing else that would work.
Keep in mind that we had been working with Gusti on lifting his feet and
holding them nicely and even placing them on the stand prior to the
farrier's visit. He was doing really well (without clicker training). So
this reaction of his really shocked me. He is really a very friendly, happy
outgoing youngster.
Out of desperation during one of Gusti's "quiet" times, I CLICKED. (the
clicker just happened to be in my pocket). His ears stopped spinning like
satellite dishes, and pointed directly at me. It was like watching a child
stop crying long enough to take a breath. I CLICKED again, and I saw a
spark of interest, then I gave him a treat I just happened to have in my
pocket. Cara brought me out some carrot morsels and I proceeded to calm him
down. Then the farrier was allowed to walk up to him and touch him,
CLICK/TREAT. Then he was allowed to rub him down CLICK/TREAT. Each leg
CLICK/TREAT. I stood gaping like a fish watching each tiny lesson
progress. I was shocked at how easy this was. From the start of the
clicking to the hoof trimming took about 10 minutes. Needless to say,
Gusti's feet were trimmed that day and he is no worse for the wear. I've
been working on him on the weekend and now he lifts his feet when I say
"UP", and tap his leg.
The farrier was surprised at how well this worked. He asked if I did much
involving animal behaviour. I replied that I didn't have a clue, but if he
wanted me to get Gusti to pick up the dog dish we could do that. He just
looked at me funny. I'm sure he though I was a kook, but a kook with a way
to calm an extremely hysterical horse. He told me that he had heard of
this type of training with dogs but not with horses.
Just since Friday, Gusti will step on a piece of plywood when I ask, he
stepped on a piece of black rubber matting, and touches two dog dishes when
I say "touch touch". He also backs on command and usually won't stop until
I tell him to with the "CLICK". All done without the benefit of a halter
or a rope.
This stuff is amazing.
Now for Steina. As some of you may have heard....Steina is high strung and
is EXTREMELY head shy. She's a lovely, sweet gal, that wouldn't hurt a
flea, but she's been allowed to do as she pleases for too long. She was
always the difficult one, so it was much easier to take out one of the
easier Icy's to ride. And believe me.....if we still had Lord around,
Steina would not have had as much attention as she has in the last year. So
her and I are left staring at each other. Trying to figure each other out.
We've become friends, she trusts me when she's uncertain but only up to a
point. Then her fear instincts take over and she races off like a deer.
She hates making mistakes and would sooner avoid situations she's unsure of.
I've been clicker training with her and working with her to touch something
with her nose, but she's so evasive she'd try to get a treat with out
touching it. So I had to change the target to my hand so that I'd know for
sure when she touched me. She fully understands the meaning of the "click"
and the sight of us two out in the middle of the pasture all alone must have
been a weird sight for people passing by. All her attention was focussed on
me (Gusti was locked away at the yard - otherwise he'd be bugging us).
(again, all of the work with Steina was done without benefit of halter or
rope).
The game became that she had to allow me to touch her face/head without her
flinching. We progressed gradually up her face until I reached the roots of
her hair on her forelock. I wish I would have had a picture. There she
was gritting her teeth (I'm sure), with her ears back, but she was allowing
me to touch her in a spot that she's not allowed anyone near in years.
Things became better and near the end she was allowing me to touch her there
with her ears only at "half mast" but I was still thrilled that my hand was
allowed to be there. We'll progress quickly I'm sure, because she is
extremely intelligent. So intelligent , that I'm sure it's been one of the
things that has been to her detriment.
So......to come from the mindset that this was sort of a cute thing to do
with your horse, to believing that it can have some practical uses is quite
a turn around for me. All I know is that for Gusti ...... it literally
saved the day. He came away from having his feet trimmed thinking that it
was a fun thing to do.
So there you have it. I'm a complete newbie at it, but it has given my some
extra tools to communicate with my horses. It has allowed me to go places
that my inexperience wouldn't have allowed me to go before. Plus I got
there quicker. Getting to Steina's forehead only took about 10 minutes
(max).
So you die hard horse trainers out there, flame me, broil me, poke me with a
fork...... from now on, when ever I am near my horses, I'll have a clicker
in my pocket.
When ever we are near our horses they are learning from us, why not make it
a positive experience?? Why not get there quicker? These Icy's are
intelligent animals, I'm sure they get as bored as we do with repetition
once they've fully caught on to something we're trying to get them to do.
They want to move on just as much as we do.
The first "targeting" steps were the hardest for me to wrap my head around.
But since then I can see where it is becoming easier. I'm actually thinking
of practical steps to get to a behaviour. Instead of obstacles and
difficulties, the sky is the limit.
Have a great day with your horses everyone, I know I will.....
Regards,
Wanda
Here's a picture of Gusti backing up for me.
No clicking or treats required for this
anymore,
he's just happy to understand and do what I want.
Here's some pictures of Gusti learning to get up onto a crate, and then learning to get up onto the trailer for loading. I missed getting the picture of him with both his front feet in the trailer but you'll get the idea about how easy this is.
No fuss, no rush. All of these little lessons are fun for him (and me).
ClickRyder Home
iceryder@cableone.net
