Clicker Training
Boomerang the Wonder Pony
Boomer 2009
I had a busy weekend with the boys, full of trick training, riding, working on the farm and polocrosse. Rather than to go through everything in one day – I think I’ll split it up over the next few days, it will give you something to look forward to! So be sure to check back each day.
So today I’m going to talk about Boomerang (Chesapeake Boomerang to be exact). He’s the newly turned 6 year old that I have been training since the end of last summer. I took a short video from over the weekend of the progress he’s made with his back up. Now I can get him to back up using voice commands and weight shifting – the hope is that in the future he will respond to my voice and a slight weight shift rather than the exaggerated movement you will see in this video.
Everyday I become more and more pleased with the progress Boomer is making. I was thinking back to when I first brought him home at the end of August. I had arranged to have his owners bring him to the Chincoteague Pony Centre from their home in North Carolina. I drove down there with my trailer to try him out to see if I would like him. I spent several hours testing him out, trying to make sure he had speed and was ok with the games equipment. As he passed all of my tests I offered to purchase him under the condition that he passed my vet when I got him back home. We all agreed and I was excited to get my new pony, and Blitz’s half brother home. Back home I had the vet come out to look Boomer over. Everything went well until it was time to flex test his joints (holding each leg tight against the body for several minutes than asking the horse to jog off when released). Boomer jogged off lame on his left front. I was heartbroken – according to my vet, she would never purchase a pony that didn’t pass the flex test.
I went home that day thinking I would have to send him back – what games pony would hold up that didn’t pass the flex test – afterall look what happened to Minnow at 15 as he was diagnoised with ringbone (he however was never flex tested). I told Boomer’s owners what happened and they agreed to arange a date where we could meet up again to return him. A few days passed and I couldn’t stop thinking about Boomer – I just couldn’t give up on him. I decided to have him xrayed and I started reading up on the flex test. Many vets seemed to agree that the flex test did not determine a future of lameness in a horse – afterall if you were asked to hold a leg up tightly and then run- would you be able to keep from limping slightly? (I tried it and I can’t). So when the xrays came back clean I decided to give Boomer a few weeks to rest and then I would flex him again with the vet. As the weeks passed I was fighting becoming attached to Boomer, I tried not to love him like I love Minnow and Blitz. I was trying to save myself the heartache if I ended up having to send him back. I think Boomer noticed this as I seemed distant from him.
But when it came time to flex him, Boomer trotted off perfectly sound. Despite my vet’s doubts in him I decided to keep him anyway (we will just have to wait and see if he ever develops lameness issues). I was thrilled to have Boomer, but I think its taken me a long time to build a connection with him. For a while he was “just the pony I rode” instead of “Boomer the pony who I have a special relationship with”. It was also extremely hard to replace Minnow with another riding mount. Minnow and I have a relationship that I have never had with another horse – we can read eachother like no one else – I also believe I will never have a connection like we share with any other pony. Minnow and I were destined to find eachother.
That being said its hard to give that same love and respect to Boomer when deep down I have felt as if I’m replacing Minnow. But with each day Boomer and I take one step closer to understanding eachother and creating our own unique connection.
I took Boomer to a Polocrosse scrimmage yesterday so that I could referee on him. As I warmed him up – performing his sliding stops, his spins and back up – I looked around at all the other horses. Boomer, at 6 and very inexperienced, was more controlled and responsive than any of the seasoned polocrosse/competition horses there (not to mention I performed these tasks bitless). He clearly shined above them all and yet he had never set foot on a polocrosse field or even witnessed a game. He rode up and down the field with me taking hits to the face with the ball, chasing the ball when it went into the tall grass, and standing clamly so that I could throw the ball in.
After yesterday I can honestly say that we took a huge leap forward in our respect and understanding for eachother. I don’t think Boomer will ever be able to replace Minnow, but I think in the years to come we will become an unstoppable pair. And I can say now, that Boomer and I were meant to find eachother as well.
-KD
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Training on a Misty Day
Mist over the vineyard next to Iron Horse Farm
We had a downpour of rain yesterday just as I was getting ready to leave work and head out to Iron Horse Farm. But I was in luck because the clouds parted and the rain stopped to allow just enough time for me to ride Boomer. I worked on making him into a “western horse” (with english tack). We worked on spins, backing, neck reining and my sliding stop. Boomer is developing a killer stop with all the clicker training work I have been doing with him. I can now ask him into a flat out gallop and by shifting my weight back (and no rein pressue what so ever) he tucks his butt under himself and throws on the brakes. I even had my sister jump on him so she could see how much he has improved over the months. My sister has been away at the University of Delaware up until yesterday, so the last time she rode Boomer he was a kick ride, with no balance and no steering. She was amazed to find that since turning 6 this year Boomer has really “grown up” and he’s definitely no longer a kick ride – now he has speed and more speed (which is good because he wouldn’t turn out to be a good gaming pony if he didn’t know how to go).
I also helped my mom work with Blitz and asking him to move towards the barrels. He has developed a habit of scooting his butt away from the games equipment in order to face it, and we have determined that during some lessons when out instructor placed treats on all the barrels to get Blitz used to it – it completely confused him into thinking now he has to face all the barrels. He’s improved some but I’m hoping some targeting practice with his feet will help. I plan to have him target a mat by placing his front feet on it and eventually moving that mat to the exact spot that I want him to stand when approaching a barrel.
Anyway yesterday was a successful ride for all the ponies. Today I hope to work with Minnow as well and teaching him to stand on his pedestal with all 4 feet.
**hope you enjoy these photos I took yesterday when I left the farm. The neighboring vineyard looked beautiful with the mist that appeared after the rain.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
You can’t learn it from a book
I’ve been clicker training my horses for 5 years now – and I just bought my very first clicker training book a few days ago. Thats really sad. I think the reason I never did it before was because I felt like I knew what the clicker did (it made a sound to signal that my horse performed correctly and would soon be rewarded) so what more did I need to know? I’m slightly stubborn in that I want to feel like I created my own path in training my animals. I’m pretty sure this is why I never really got too involved with the Parelli Method. There is such a HUGE following of Parelli people that it made me feel like I wasn’t going to be anything special if I trained this way and that I was just buying into it like the masses – spending the big bucks on the dvds and special training equipment (this is similar to my reason as to why I don’t go to church – not to mention I’m Quaker).
So instead I turned to the clicker – which seemed very basic to me, and there was no “level program” or training steps that had to be taken. All I really needed was the clicker and some treats and I was good to go. I recently decided to purchase Alexandra Kurland’s new book “Riding with the Clicker” because I felt like she might have some pointers that I could adapt to my own ponies. As I’ve mentioned before I have been training my young Chincoteague, Boomer, how to be a mounted games pony. Since I bought him the end of last summer he has improved with leaps and bounds and responds amazingly well to the clicker training I have been doing with him. I really don’t know much about riding with the clicker – except what common sense has taught me and what I know about horse training. So I finally gave in and bought this book in the hopes that I can turn Boomer into the dream pony I have always wanted (not to say that my previous horses weren’t ever dream horses). I’m looking forward to reading more about how others train – but I still believe the best way to train a horse is by understanding how to communicate with them and then the rest will come. The clicker has helped me create a language with my horses and its up to me what I’m going to tell them.
-KD
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Minnow gets ready for the beach
I had a very enjoyable memorial day weekend with the ponies. I did some riding, worked on a few tricks and I even went to the Devon Horse Show with my puppy Ammo (where I saw Bruce Springsteen and his wife I might add – plus I watched their daughter win her division). I mainly went to the show to watch several riders from my local pony club compete – they certainly held their own against many top riders!
So over the weekend one of the main tricks I worked on with Minnow was teaching him to roll out his beach towel (in preparation for his trip this summer to Chincoteague Island). You can watch the video below. This time when teaching Minnow I took a slightly different approach then I normally do. My main thought was to roll treats up inside the blanket and as he unrolled it the food would appear. But before I did that I decided I would see if he could learn how to do it by watching first.
So I put Minnow into his trick halter – I use a specific halter when trick training so that my ponies know that its time to perform, that way I don’t have my ponies offering tricks to me when I really don’t want them to. As soon as that halter comes out Minnow knows its time for tricks. I led him out into the isle and brought out a blanket I had bought for him. The first thing I did was to get his attention and asked him to watch as I unrolled the blanket. I then rolled it back up and placed it infront of him. Minnow looked at me for a second then with one big push he unrolled the blanket. (of course then I clicked and rewarded him). And thats all it took – I swear he simply learns by watching me first. I taught him to paint in a very similar manner. I showed him how when I touched the paintbrush to the paper that a mark was made – and when I handed him the brush he simply mimicked my actions.
-KD
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Its a Trick Day!
So since I strained by shoulders and neck I can’t really ride – big bummer! So yesterday I decided to get out my trick stuff and work with the boys. Boomer was first up and I started working on “fetch” with him. Didn’t take him long to figure out what I wanted – he just needs more practice to get his response faster.
Next I worked with Minnow and his tuff ball. I am still in awe when I see him with it because when I think back to 3 years ago Minnow would have NEVER let me near him with that ball. Now I have it balancing on his back and I can even throw it at him without any negative reactions from him. (btw sorry for the crude filming – I need to figure out a new system to film myself).
As I worked with both Boomer and Minnow, Blitz was close by observing. Blitz has a lot of fear issues (especially with the ball right now). And I really think it has to do with trust as well. He doesn’t trust my mom (his sole rider right now) and me (his trick trainer) to keep him safe. Up until this point in his life I don’t think he’s built a relationship with any one human. Yes I think he knows humans will take care of him, and they are a source of food, and we’re not scary. But I don’t think he’s ever had that one person where he knows “hey thats my person there” and they take care of me and keep me safe and I like spending time with them. Minnow was the same way when he came to live with me. By that point (after coming from a neglectful situation) he had begun to learn that humans were ok – but he had still yet to build that trusting bond with someone. 6 years later and now Minnow and I can read eachother like a book. Minnow sees me coming and he lights up, he’s ready to learn, and he wants any and everything to do with me – its such a great feeling. Boomer I think has had that relationship with someone before, and he’s been quicker to warm up to me. I don’t think he’s quite there like Minnow is, but he’s much further along than Blitz. Blitz will get there someday – but its just going to take him a little longer. He did make a little progress yesterday as he went up and touched the ball – but as soon as the wind would blow it into his leg he’d take a giant leap back. It was interesting to see that he was ok with touching it when it was his decision to do so, but as soon as the ball (or wind) took control and decided to touch him – he was definitely not ok with it. He’s for sure going to be a pony that needs to be allowed to make decisions on his own time, instead of being rushed into something by his handler/rider. Its going to be tough for my mom, because she tends to want results “right away” (don’t we all), but I’ve been slowly teaching her how to take a step back and wait.
My mom and I have very different personalities when it comes to working with the horses. I’m very quiet, slow and methodical when it comes to teaching a horse. I would wait all day if I had to just to get my horse to take one step forward. My mom on the other hand is having a hard time breaking her “show them whos boss” methods she learned as a youth. And the energy she gives off is hurry up and do the task I have things to do I can’t wait all day for you to take a step. I’m trying to help her get rid of this energy – and she’s improving – but its hard to break old habits. My next task will be converting my little sister too….who only knows one speed and its fast all the time and she has absolutely no patience what so ever. She’s definitely going to be a challenge! Maybe I should get into the people training business not the horse training business haha.
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
