Service Pony
Many have probably heard of Panda, the miniature horse turned seeing eye guide, but I thought I would post a video I found of her anyway. Its amazing what positive reinforcement training (clicker training) can achieve.
Research has shown that any creature—whether a dog, cat, dolphin, parrot, fish, horse, llama, or person—is more likely to learn and repeat actions that result in consequences it desires and enjoys. So clicker trainers provide consequences desired by their animal in exchange for actions or behaviors desired by their trainers.
We call these consequences “rewards” and the process is called “reinforcement.” Clicker training, therefore, is a positive-reinforcement-based system of training.
Panda’s trainer, Alexandra Kurland is one of the world’s leading horse clicker trainers – and I have been fortunate enough to learn from one of her pupils, Katie Bartlett of Elverson, PA. In 2005 I discovered Katie’s website and promptly set up a demonstration with her for my local pony club. This was my first introduction to clicker training (I had already been working with Minnow on tricks, but I was interested to find out about other training methods). After our session I was completely hooked,
Minnow playing fetch at the lake
I had watched as she had her horses perform fun tricks like sitting, laying down, dunking a basket ball and I had also watched her collect her horse at liberty and ask him to perform lateral movements. Immediately after the demo I purchased my first clicker and the rest is history. I have to admit I only read one short book on how clicker training worked, but its such an easy concept to understand that I never felt the need to purchase more materials. The hardest part is trying to perceive how your horse will understand what you are asking – and breaking it into small steps for them. For example picking up an object – I wouldn’t just shove something in my horses face and wait for him to put it in his mouth, I would first ask him to touch it, once he mastered that I would ask him to open his mouth around it by no longer clicking when he touched (I would expect my horse to naturally problem solve – ok why am I not getting food when I touch it anymore, maybe I should try opening my mouth). Then I would ask him to grasp the object, and then actually lift it out of my hand. I love when I can actually see my horse problem solving.
Minnow bowing on command
Everytime I teach Minnow something new I can tell the exact moment he begins to think – and I can even tell when he can’t figure out what I want. Minnow’s default reaction to something he can’t solve is to give me a kiss. It actually stems back to the very first thing I ever taught him (to kiss me), if he can’t figure out what I want he will just keep kissing me over and over again. Its great in a way because then I know that I need to go back and break what I’m asking him into even smaller steps. Minnow even has developed a signal to let me know that he’s frustrated with the task at hand. If he starts to bow repeatedly I know he’s getting frustrated and its time to take a break. I find that the very best thing about clicker training is that it has created a way for me to communicate with my horses – I think its absolutely amazing that Minnow has discovered how to give me signals for confusion and frustration on his own (and they aren’t rooted in a buck or a rear or even a nip).
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