Fun exercises to start clicker training

Having fun is important because it keeps you and your horse motivated. If you start positive reinforcement training/clicker training you can be overwhelmed by ‘everything you have to do differently’. Not only do things in a different way, but also exactly in the opposite way.

If you come from a traditional background training and riding horses or you come from a natural horsemanship background, you can have the feeling that you’ve been doing it ‘wrong’ all along. That’s not true and it is also not a motivating thought.

People who change their approach because they are looking for a more ethical way of training or the method they use to train horses doesn’t feel good anymore, are often attracted by positive reinforcement (R+) methods. In R+ it’s common to give the animal a voice in training. Giving the animal power over what is happening to him builds trust.

Start easy, stay motivated
Set yourself up for success. A good way of starting positive reinforcement training with your horse is to start with easy, seemingly purposeless and completely new exercises to your horse that give a feeling of accomplishment when you reach it.

Start easy and choose something fun so you will stay motivated. Be gentle with yourself: you are learning a new skill. Give you and your horse time to learn and discover.

Choose an exercise that looks impressive but is simple to teach your horse and simple for your horse to learn. Don’t start with complex behaviours before you have enough basics under your belt.

Consider it ‘fun’ time
If the new exercises seem purposeless there is no stress if you decide not to follow up with training and there is no pressing timeline in your mind (like a farrier appointment that’s coming up for a scared or green horse).

Choose something completely new. In this way the horse doesn’t have an existing association with the new things he and you are going to learn. You start with a clean slate.

Trick training
If you want to practise your mechanical skills in clicker training and you are looking for suitable exercises to start with, think about starting trick training. There are several easy tricks you can teach your horse and practise your clicker skills, your timing and safe hand-feeding skills.

For a safe and fun way to start take a look at my Key Lessons (your Key to Success).

Easy and fun tricks to start with are:

• standing on a mat, a tarp or a pedestal with 2 front feet
• smiling (= flehmen)
• simple bow (front leg one step forward and head down)
• targeting (touching an object)
• shaking ‘No’
• push a ball with his nose
• back crunch

What exercises or tricks would you recommend to horse enthusiasts that just started clicker training?

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5 Tips for Starting Clicker Training

Some people are reluctant to start clicker training their horses. I understand that it can feel overwhelming to try out a whole and completely different training method. Especially in the beginning.

Maybe you think you have to change everything right away or stop riding for a while and ‘must’ go ‘back’ to groundwork only. Maybe you think your horse will turn into a biting monster if you start rewarding him with treats.

Maybe you feel pressured to change and are not allowed to use your own way anymore, while you are not even sure yourself what it can bring you and your horse.

Don’t be afraid to try out a new method. It might bring you and your horse something wonderful. If it doesn’t work, that’s OK, too.

1) Have fun

Teaching your horse a simple trick is a fun way to discover what clicker training aka reward-based training can do for you and your horse. Choose something that is safe. If your horse starts performing the new trick without the cue, because that is what he will try in the beginning, it is not dangerous.  Flehmen (“smiling”), pushing a ball with his nose or shaking “no” are easy to start with. In the second stage of training you will teach him to respond to your cue.

Choose a trick that’s new to your horse, so you can start with a clean slate.

2) Keep it simple
Choose a simple behaviour or a behaviour your horse already has in his normal behaviour repertoire (like flehmen). Don’t start with a complex behaviour like trailer loading that has many building blocks if you break the end goal into little steps. Don’t start to re-train a bad habit and make it unnecessarily hard for you.

3) Prepare
Take or watch a lesson live or on YouTube or read a book about clicker training. There are many good clicker training books for dog trainers available in the library. The basics of clicker training horses and dogs is the same. Some of the books are really thin and give you the enough knowledge to get started. Don’t expect to be an expert before you begin. Practise is the best experience. Keep your mind open.

4) Set it up for success
Don’t expect your horse or yourself to perform perfect in the beginning. Be gentle to yourself and your horse and keep in mind that you are not only learning a new trick but you’re also learning a whole new training method.

It takes time to master a skill, so reward yourself and your horse often. After all: clicker training is a reward-based training.

4) Share your victory!
Wouldn’t it be fun to show your friends your horses’ new trick? Nowadays you can show off on the internet on a forum, your Facebook or YouTube.

People will be asking questions:”How did you teach your horse to do that?”, “Wasn’t that difficult?” or “Can you show me?”

Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Read more: Clicker Training 101: How to introduce Your Horse to the Click

 

Questions? Book a free discovery call with Sandra

If you want to get to know me or have questions about starting clicker training and how I can help you with that, book your free discovery call. Plan your call in my calendar.

 

Sandra Poppema, B.Sc.

I help horse owners get the results in training they really, really want with joy and easy for both horse and human. I always aim for win-win!

Sign up for HippoLogic’s newsletter (it’s free and it comes with a gift) or visit HippoLogic’s website and join my online course Ultimate Horse Training Formula in which you learn the Key Lessons, Your Key to Success in Clicker Training.

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