Friday March 30, 2018
Mr. Mikey actually nickered to me when I went in the mid-afternoon to collect him from his home paddock. I slowly led him towards the cross tie area in the main barn and then groomed him more free of any mats (winter coat and all that). Tended to a tiny area of scratches he'd formed on the front of his chest probably from rubbing against a top rail...his new coat is coming in and he has awfully fine, soft fur and thin skin. I led him to the round pen and then played a bit using a dressage whip and the clicker. Basically I reinforced the idea of yielding his quarters to pressure. Then I tried 2 things that did not (yet) firmly take hold: 1. I worked on asking him to move his haunches TOWARDS ME while standing on the OPPOSITE SIDE via taking a uber long whip and tapping him on the outskirts of his haunches. He did not understand this. With my own. horse this took a while to "get" as horses are usually told not to move into humans...but with my own horse I can make him do shoulder in while working in hand and have him march down a rail...I had to first teach him, though, to yield his haunches towards me as I took a slight step BACKWARDS. It was just a test. Mikey did not get it and I did not keep after it. I will work on that later. I did, of course, re-establish the response that he yield his haunches to the slightest tap of a tip of the whip and he was super light and willing to move his haunches...often 3 strides worth! (more than I wanted but hey, it was towards what I wanted so I clicked and treated)...as long as I was standing on the same side that he needed to be moving away from. I am sure I can get this established sooner or later. It is not majorly important. Just a question...
The second thing I played with was something I've seen clinician J. Ashton Moore (Jeff Moore) do many times in clinics and that involves teaching a horse to drop his head to a rhythmic tapping of a cupped hand on either the neck or anywhere ON THE TOP LINE. How you start this (and I was using the clicker and treats to back it up) was you take the butt end of a whip and tap about every 3/4th of a second...very "neutrally" either on top of the crest of the mane (can go low or high) and it is sort of like water dripping....tap, tap, tap, tap. You reward the horse for the SLIGHTEST dip of his head. Even if he goes to snort. Jeff did not allow the horse to barge forward...and all you need is a halter and lead or a bridle on the horse. He did not mind if the horse siddled sideways or went back a few steps. He simply brought the animal back to same spot and returned to his endeavor of the tapping. Once the horse began dropping his head or even just momentarily dipping it, Jeff would stop, stroke the side of the horse's neck usually with the same butt end of the whip and then begin again. Usually w/I 15-20 minutes the horse got the idea and would drop his head all the way to the ground. Mikey did not respond to this much if at all. I tapped for about 2 minutes and he simply kept his head and neck ramrod straight sort of up and his eyes wide open. I decided not to mess with this for now. I tried applying light hand downward pressure on his poll but he just resisted that too. So, perhaps another day. Jeff liked to bridge this "lower the head" thing into a tapping with a slightly cupped hand because he found that with rearing horses from the saddle one could use this stimulus and response as a way to make a horse go into "downward head" position merely by tapping as little as 2x right in front of the withers (while mounted) and the horse would almost nonchalantly just drop his head rather than rear. Not that Mikey has a rearing problem...it is just a nice "trick" to have up one's sleeve. I use it with my own horse sometimes to encourage him to bring his head down for bridling. I put Mikey away with some treats and love and used my target ball as a way to encourage him to walk with me 10-15 steps, click and treat...so he was so busy with this, he forgot to barge downwards to try to grab any grass! (ha).
Saturday March 31, 2018
Went out to Mikey's home paddock, used a de-fur scraping blade I have in my car. Then put on my own leather training cavesson (really just a dropped nose cavesson and made sure it did not come too low on his nasal bone) and a light lead. Again, he had nickered to me when I parked my car up next to his paddock. I had my dressage whip with me and my special tennis ball stuck on an old dressage whip (my "target"ball). I only used my target ball a few times at the very end and Mikey definitely has the idea now about that. I stood about 4 feet away and said "target" and he eagerly stretched all the way forward so he could nuzzle the target (and thereby get the click and treat!). But in the interim, I worked on this diligently...I took the stab (butt) end of the dressage whip and rested it into the middle of his shoulder and then applied periodic (lightly thrusting) pressure onto his shoulder...and would say "over." My intention was that he step sideways with his forehand. I rewarded (at first) even if he moved his OTHER front foot more sideways away from me and this "pressure." Then he started backing up thinking that might be an answer. I just said "no" and kept on with the mildly throbbing prod prod prod. ANY movement of that front foot towards his midline (navel line) was a "go" as far as I was concerned. He began giving me like 1.5 inches of movement in that direction. Yes, click and treat. And finally he gave me a GREAT full sideways step with the front leg I was indicating I wanted moved OVER. I just was so delighted. I squealed my delight and clicked and treated. He looked almost p puzzled about my reaction but he knew he'd done something good. I then went to his other side and worked on his other shoulder...we went through the "several steps back" phase but suddenly, he had like an epiphany and stepped fully with that foot towards SIDEWAYS. I praise the heck out of him and gave him a click and several treats...(what is called "a jackpot!"). Then I put on his regular halter, led him to the pond and let him eat a lot of grass for about 20 minutes and kept praising him. Put him up. Tuesday will have another go at this. I was worried about asking him to move his front feet sideways a step because I know he is not super comfortable on his fore feet but since it was just for about 5-7 minutes of me asking him and he finally gave it to me...I am happy with that. I may revisit it from time to time if I need to use it as a building block in something else...but for now...will play with something else clicker-wise on Tues.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Friday March 23, 2018
I begin working with clicker training with Mikey. I have a light working knowledge of this as I have used it on and off with my own horses--read books, watched videos (You Tube), etc. I had become familiar with it first about 20 years ago at a dressage clinic when one of the organizers made all of us buy Alexandra Kurland's book "Clicker Training for Your Horse." The organizer was fascinated with how wonderfully Kurland had broken down ("chunked down," as she called it) the process of training a horse to do...well just about anything.
Mikey is a fully retired Grand Prix jumper, I believe, who later in his life was used as a school horse doing 2-6 and 2-9 with the more advanced students at a barn in Lafayette, LA. I was told he is up in years (maybe 20-ish) and a Belgium WB X Thoroughbred. Due to on and off lameness (front end, pastern) he is now enjoying a quieter life. He is an affable soul, but a bit suspicious and highly picky about what he will and will not do with his muzzle! (more on that later). After getting permission from his owner to play with him in this manner, I did 2 micro sessions on this day with him. My intention is to do clicker training feats with him and work with him for short periods of time each time I visit the barn. I fantasize that I may be able to get him to do more exotic tricks such as side pass (at liberty or with a LOOSE lead line) over a pole...and maybe to pick up small objects IN SUCCESSION to earn his treats. I also would like to see if I can teach him to maybe raise a leg and hold it...things such as this. Nothing too taxing but just for his mental mini challenge. The first session, my friend (Brittany) went over to his paddock with me and she watched while I introduced the concept of "targeting." Because Mikey had just finished up eating his late afternoon grain, he happened to be standing near his entrance/gate so it was super easy to simply start working with him right then and there. I had rigged up an old dressage whip with a soft tennis ball stuck on the end. We put his halter on but did not really need it. I brought along two clickers that day. For this first session, I used my newer clicker (made of plastic and purchased from Petco for $3.99). Treatwise, I offered him segments of rock candy or some oversized pellets that are specifically horse treats. Within about 90 seconds he got the idea that if he touched the tennis ball with his nose, he'd get a click and a treat. I would present the tennis ball to him and say "Target." He was not mugging me over this...he was a bit conservative with his head and neck but yes, by goodness, he was touching the thing with his nose and seemed to get the idea that this was a way to earn rewards.
Then I went off and did other stuff at the barn. As I headed out for the day (2-3? hours later) I decided to stop by his paddock with my clicker. Just as I started to enter his paddock, a friend called me and I took the call on my ear buds (which in retrospect was probably a mistake). She was grousing about problems she is having with selling her house and I quietly was assuring her, and listening to her issues. In retrospect, Mikey may have even felt the "negative energy" that was coming from the phone call. Horses are so sensitive this way. So, I won't make that mistake again. He was munching on a pile of hay up by his run in shed and looked up and whinnied at me. This time I simply brought in my tennis ball on a stick plus my older clicker that is shaped like a small match box and is more metallic in sound and feel. Mikey met me halfway in his paddock but was eyeing me suspiciously. He had no halter on, of course. I decided to chance it and held out the "target" in his vicinity and said "Target." Mikey did not cotton to this. He acted suspicious and turned to almost flee. My friend was still talking my ear off on the phone about her problems. I used a soothing tone and tried 2-3 more times. He BARELY would touch it. I clicked and he almost flinched (the sound was different from the first time) and then again, acted like he was going to go away. I tried about 2 more times and finally got him to touch it, so I stopped on that note after giving him a treat (that I almost had to coerce him to take!). I wondered what the huge change was but it was definitely a change. Either the fact he did not have a halter on was part of it; the time of day; my manner perhaps; or the bigger issue of the problematic phone call I was handling at the same time. So, I ended our 2nd micro session on a relatively, yet not so confirmed note and decided to stop right there.
Saturday March 24, 2018
I returned to the barn that morning and did not see Mikey in his paddock. I found him having a spa day courtesy of a former rider and fan of his named Sarah. She was grooming him to the nines and getting ready eventually to give him a nice bath. I asked her permission if I assist her and she showed me how to properly pull his mane plus care for his tail. Brittany had already spent 2 hours currying him in the recent past. Sarah got more off of him. I did some currying myself that day. She clipped the cross ties in front of his chest and in that manner I gave him a 3rd micro clicker training session using the tennis ball. I believe I used the softer sounding (more plastic) clicker this time. He was a bit standoffish but he "permitted" me to entertain him. I got the distinct feeling he did not care too much for whatever treats I was using...he seems to be more of a rock candy man. I asked Sarah what he liked and she said peppermints worked. We re-clipped him to the cross ties because a 2nd horse was brought into the bay next to him and Sarah did not want Mikey messing with his next door neighbor. We groomed some more. Then she went out to get another grooming project (Lily) so I did a quick 4th micro clicker training session with him and discovered he was okay about turning his head towards me if I stood next to his shoulder in the crosstie bay (and touching the tennis ball) yet he was ho-hum about it if I worked more standing in front of him. I still was using the word "Target." Overall, though, he was better about and less suspicious of me than he had been the evening before. Sarah warned me that he watches everything and if you are going to use any new grooming tool on him it is best to let him examine it first(!). Such was the case with my British mane pulling tool. Sarah and Brittany also explained to me that Mikey is very fearful of the sound of clippers. So, perhaps that may be something we can one day work through using the clicker...no promises...just a thought.
Tuesday March 27, 2018
I had more time and so I went to his paddock and stood at the gate. He nickered at me and I just stood there and greeted him. He walked down to his gate and allowed me to put the halter on him. We calmly made our way to the barn. First I hand grazed him for a few minutes outside of the covered arena while brushing and currying him off. I put him in a stall and had brought in some small plastic cones. I kept the halter on him but put the lead rope outside of the stall. Using the PLASTIC clicker, I then introduced the idea of target using the plastic cones and would hold one up about 2.5 feet from his face and a bit off to the side so he could see it. Several times he came VERY close to actually touching the plastic cone but he never fully made contact with it unlike the case with the soft tennis ball. I never rewarded him because he was not connecting with said target at all. Then, I held out my gloved fist and said "target" and he definitely touched it with his nose...so hence--click! and treat. We did this 3x and I was happy with it. The next thing I did was to gently use a finger tip and prod him in the middle of his shoulder and ask him to step over (one step only). The moment he shifted his weight, I clicked and treated. I made him manipulate EACH of his four quarters this way (yield the haunches one way...click and treat!, etc.). I noticed he was much easier to yield his right haunch as compared to his left haunch away to my touch. I also asked him to back (touched his chest) and he got the message (plus a click and a treat). I verbally said "back" as well. All this was very simple stuff and he probably had been shown this years and years ago but what is new and different is he is getting a click and a treat for it. Out in the parking lot I retrieved my tennis ball on a stick and walked back to his paddock with it. After I led him back to his home paddock, I re-did the "target" lesson with the softer tennis ball and he was earnest in touching the ball to get a click and a treat. I used rock candy mostly during this session plus some large horse pellet treats I keep at home that are said to be apple flavored. He seemed to like those, too. But he is not a real mugger. He sometimes will stretch his neck out and cock his head one way, then the other for a treat (but in these instances, I want him to do something first before he earns a click and a treat...). Overall, he is rather circumspect about taking any treats...a bit gentlemanly about the whole process. I can tell he enjoys chomping on the rock candy, though. the pieces are small but he appears to savor them. So, now I know he prefers soft things to touch his nose to. I also asked him to "back" to earn a click and treat and he actually backed up to just my verbal request. All I wanted at this point was one step backwards. Praised him for his efforts and will pick things back up on Fri.
I begin working with clicker training with Mikey. I have a light working knowledge of this as I have used it on and off with my own horses--read books, watched videos (You Tube), etc. I had become familiar with it first about 20 years ago at a dressage clinic when one of the organizers made all of us buy Alexandra Kurland's book "Clicker Training for Your Horse." The organizer was fascinated with how wonderfully Kurland had broken down ("chunked down," as she called it) the process of training a horse to do...well just about anything.
Mikey is a fully retired Grand Prix jumper, I believe, who later in his life was used as a school horse doing 2-6 and 2-9 with the more advanced students at a barn in Lafayette, LA. I was told he is up in years (maybe 20-ish) and a Belgium WB X Thoroughbred. Due to on and off lameness (front end, pastern) he is now enjoying a quieter life. He is an affable soul, but a bit suspicious and highly picky about what he will and will not do with his muzzle! (more on that later). After getting permission from his owner to play with him in this manner, I did 2 micro sessions on this day with him. My intention is to do clicker training feats with him and work with him for short periods of time each time I visit the barn. I fantasize that I may be able to get him to do more exotic tricks such as side pass (at liberty or with a LOOSE lead line) over a pole...and maybe to pick up small objects IN SUCCESSION to earn his treats. I also would like to see if I can teach him to maybe raise a leg and hold it...things such as this. Nothing too taxing but just for his mental mini challenge. The first session, my friend (Brittany) went over to his paddock with me and she watched while I introduced the concept of "targeting." Because Mikey had just finished up eating his late afternoon grain, he happened to be standing near his entrance/gate so it was super easy to simply start working with him right then and there. I had rigged up an old dressage whip with a soft tennis ball stuck on the end. We put his halter on but did not really need it. I brought along two clickers that day. For this first session, I used my newer clicker (made of plastic and purchased from Petco for $3.99). Treatwise, I offered him segments of rock candy or some oversized pellets that are specifically horse treats. Within about 90 seconds he got the idea that if he touched the tennis ball with his nose, he'd get a click and a treat. I would present the tennis ball to him and say "Target." He was not mugging me over this...he was a bit conservative with his head and neck but yes, by goodness, he was touching the thing with his nose and seemed to get the idea that this was a way to earn rewards.
Then I went off and did other stuff at the barn. As I headed out for the day (2-3? hours later) I decided to stop by his paddock with my clicker. Just as I started to enter his paddock, a friend called me and I took the call on my ear buds (which in retrospect was probably a mistake). She was grousing about problems she is having with selling her house and I quietly was assuring her, and listening to her issues. In retrospect, Mikey may have even felt the "negative energy" that was coming from the phone call. Horses are so sensitive this way. So, I won't make that mistake again. He was munching on a pile of hay up by his run in shed and looked up and whinnied at me. This time I simply brought in my tennis ball on a stick plus my older clicker that is shaped like a small match box and is more metallic in sound and feel. Mikey met me halfway in his paddock but was eyeing me suspiciously. He had no halter on, of course. I decided to chance it and held out the "target" in his vicinity and said "Target." Mikey did not cotton to this. He acted suspicious and turned to almost flee. My friend was still talking my ear off on the phone about her problems. I used a soothing tone and tried 2-3 more times. He BARELY would touch it. I clicked and he almost flinched (the sound was different from the first time) and then again, acted like he was going to go away. I tried about 2 more times and finally got him to touch it, so I stopped on that note after giving him a treat (that I almost had to coerce him to take!). I wondered what the huge change was but it was definitely a change. Either the fact he did not have a halter on was part of it; the time of day; my manner perhaps; or the bigger issue of the problematic phone call I was handling at the same time. So, I ended our 2nd micro session on a relatively, yet not so confirmed note and decided to stop right there.
Saturday March 24, 2018
I returned to the barn that morning and did not see Mikey in his paddock. I found him having a spa day courtesy of a former rider and fan of his named Sarah. She was grooming him to the nines and getting ready eventually to give him a nice bath. I asked her permission if I assist her and she showed me how to properly pull his mane plus care for his tail. Brittany had already spent 2 hours currying him in the recent past. Sarah got more off of him. I did some currying myself that day. She clipped the cross ties in front of his chest and in that manner I gave him a 3rd micro clicker training session using the tennis ball. I believe I used the softer sounding (more plastic) clicker this time. He was a bit standoffish but he "permitted" me to entertain him. I got the distinct feeling he did not care too much for whatever treats I was using...he seems to be more of a rock candy man. I asked Sarah what he liked and she said peppermints worked. We re-clipped him to the cross ties because a 2nd horse was brought into the bay next to him and Sarah did not want Mikey messing with his next door neighbor. We groomed some more. Then she went out to get another grooming project (Lily) so I did a quick 4th micro clicker training session with him and discovered he was okay about turning his head towards me if I stood next to his shoulder in the crosstie bay (and touching the tennis ball) yet he was ho-hum about it if I worked more standing in front of him. I still was using the word "Target." Overall, though, he was better about and less suspicious of me than he had been the evening before. Sarah warned me that he watches everything and if you are going to use any new grooming tool on him it is best to let him examine it first(!). Such was the case with my British mane pulling tool. Sarah and Brittany also explained to me that Mikey is very fearful of the sound of clippers. So, perhaps that may be something we can one day work through using the clicker...no promises...just a thought.
Tuesday March 27, 2018
I had more time and so I went to his paddock and stood at the gate. He nickered at me and I just stood there and greeted him. He walked down to his gate and allowed me to put the halter on him. We calmly made our way to the barn. First I hand grazed him for a few minutes outside of the covered arena while brushing and currying him off. I put him in a stall and had brought in some small plastic cones. I kept the halter on him but put the lead rope outside of the stall. Using the PLASTIC clicker, I then introduced the idea of target using the plastic cones and would hold one up about 2.5 feet from his face and a bit off to the side so he could see it. Several times he came VERY close to actually touching the plastic cone but he never fully made contact with it unlike the case with the soft tennis ball. I never rewarded him because he was not connecting with said target at all. Then, I held out my gloved fist and said "target" and he definitely touched it with his nose...so hence--click! and treat. We did this 3x and I was happy with it. The next thing I did was to gently use a finger tip and prod him in the middle of his shoulder and ask him to step over (one step only). The moment he shifted his weight, I clicked and treated. I made him manipulate EACH of his four quarters this way (yield the haunches one way...click and treat!, etc.). I noticed he was much easier to yield his right haunch as compared to his left haunch away to my touch. I also asked him to back (touched his chest) and he got the message (plus a click and a treat). I verbally said "back" as well. All this was very simple stuff and he probably had been shown this years and years ago but what is new and different is he is getting a click and a treat for it. Out in the parking lot I retrieved my tennis ball on a stick and walked back to his paddock with it. After I led him back to his home paddock, I re-did the "target" lesson with the softer tennis ball and he was earnest in touching the ball to get a click and a treat. I used rock candy mostly during this session plus some large horse pellet treats I keep at home that are said to be apple flavored. He seemed to like those, too. But he is not a real mugger. He sometimes will stretch his neck out and cock his head one way, then the other for a treat (but in these instances, I want him to do something first before he earns a click and a treat...). Overall, he is rather circumspect about taking any treats...a bit gentlemanly about the whole process. I can tell he enjoys chomping on the rock candy, though. the pieces are small but he appears to savor them. So, now I know he prefers soft things to touch his nose to. I also asked him to "back" to earn a click and treat and he actually backed up to just my verbal request. All I wanted at this point was one step backwards. Praised him for his efforts and will pick things back up on Fri.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)