Inspiration
By Golly, I think you have it
After much anticipation I finally have some videos to share of Chincoteague Minnow learning his Spanish Walk. I started teaching this by asking him target a knee to his target stick, I then asked him to alternate legs – eventually asking him to do the left leg, then the right all while moving forward slowly. I used a neck rope to gently ask him to walk forward. Sometimes I think Minnow can just read my mind. These videos are after two 10 minute sessions. I am in awe at how fast he’s catching on.
Chincoteague Minnow
The very best part about this is that after I was done working on his Spanish Walk I was explaining to my mom how it originally was started as an attempt to get him to rear. I was sort of goofing around and showed her that eventually I wanted to be able to lift my hands (and target stick) into the air and Minnow would rear. When I did this movement and took a step forward Minnow lifted a front let into the air. Immediately noticing what he had done I clicked him.
My mom walked back into the barn to mess with the horses (or perhaps I would have had a video of this as well) and curiosity began to get me. Minnow obviously had leg lifting on his mind because we were just working on it…but there was something I could use here. I remembered something my trainer always says to me. She’s always telling me that if you think of the action you want from the horse – your body will give off that energy even if you don’t know it. The trainer I use is very much into Parelli but she also loves working and learning with me about the clicker training.
Giving my best friend a kiss. By Photographer Kali Wallace
So I pondered this for a moment. I stood directly infront of Minnow with my hands at my sides. I imagined gathering up all of my energy into a big ball infront of me – and I took a powerful step forward and thrust my hands into the air – I thought rear. Instantly Minnow rocked back on his hindend – lifted one leg and then the other. Click! I gave him a huge reward – Minnow is big on rewarding, he knows that if I get really enthusiastic and energetic (like you would with a dog) that he’s really catching on.
Obviously I had discovered something here with him. I tried this a few more times with the same result, then suddenly it happened. On about the fourth try Minnow lifted both legs off the ground at the same time. It wasn’t very high – but it was a AIR! I was so excited. I thrust my arms around his fuzzy neck, gave him several “jack-pot” treats and scratched his favorite spot.
I stopped right after that one because I knew I had to be careful how far I went with this. See Minnow has Ringbone (equine arthritis) in his front left ankle and if I work him too much he tends to get sore – especially in the winter. Its good for him to use his ankle but to much and I’m afraid he will start to resent the tricks due to pain. He wouldn’t do it if he didn’t want to (and I would never make him) but I know his signs of its time to call it quits for the day.
So his next Rearing/Spanish Walk session will have to wait for another day. I think the next time I attempt this rear method I might have Minnow positioned with his butt to the corner of the fence, that way it will guide him to rock back on his hind end more.
So that’s my exciting tale that I’ve been dying to post about. Has anyone else ever tried this method of teaching the rear? Or has anyone else used energy and mental envisioning to help succeed in teaching an animal a skill? I’d love to hear of any other experiences that are related. Or maybe you just think I’m a total nut! 🙂
Spanish Walk Miss-step
So I really contemplated posting this video for the world to see – because I know I’m going to get a whole bunch of flack for it. I guess its to be expected. But I finally decided I should just post it anyway – because if anything maybe it will stop people from doing what I did.
Yesterday I decided to start working on the steps to teach Chincoteague Minnow to rear. After mucking 9 stalls and blanketing/turning out horses – I got a little lazy and rather than bring Minnow into the arena I decided to work with him in his pasture. His pasture that he shares with the two younger Chincoteagues, Blitz and Boomer. I sort of knew it was a bad idea, but I rationalized it with – I just gave the others three HUGE Piles of hay, Minnow is the boss – they will respect his space, and I have worked with one before while the rest were in the arena. What I didn’t anticipate was #1 its winter, there is no grass and grain is a heck of a lot more enticing than hay, #2 Boomer especially really hasn’t learned boundaries when it comes to the other ponies yet, #3 horses vie for their position in the herd everyday – its constantly changing, and #4 I hadn’t “done” anything with any of them in such a long time that they all wanted attention from me. So after saying all that I will first let you watch the video.
2005
Ok, so rather than dwell on the “bad” parts of this video I’m going to talk a little about what did happen that was positive. Minnow picked up that I wanted him to target his legs to the stick almost immediately (I worked with him a little bit before I shot this video – hence why it seems like I started asking for the second leg so quickly – he already had down that I wanted him to target a leg to the wand). Before Boomer goes after Minnow – you might notice that he started mimicking Minnow in an effort to get a treat by lifting his front leg. An interesting concept that I might have to apply to his training later on.
After I shot this video the camera battery died or you would have seen that I immediately removed Minnow from the situation. I re-entered the pasture (without food this time) and took Boomer on a little “space respecting lesson” by leading him around the pasture, asking him to back away from me, and basically respect my area.
Chincoteague Minnow
I then took Minnow into the ring and began working on his leg lifting again. The intent was to develop this into the rear, but as Minnow began walking AND leg lifting I realized he was really beginning to offer me the Spanish Walk. So instead I switched tactics and began asking Minnow to walk forward while alternating legs. We successfully got several nice steps of the Spanish walk and today I’m hoping to fine tune it a little more.
Anyway that was my little adventure in Spanish Walk training – I’m sure I’m not the only one to have a few miss-steps in the world of horse training. Everyday my horses teach me something new.
The Rear
Minnow rears during competition
So one of my 2010 Goals is to teach Minnow to rear. And by golly, I’m going to do it! So since its blistery cold here right now, and I’m sort of a weenie, I haven’t actually started any training yet. Do you blame me? I am sort of ashamed.
Anyway, since I haven’t actually started working on my goal yet, I thought I would share with you how I prepare to teach one of the ponies a new trick. There is a lot of thought and preparation that I do before I even begin to shape a new trick. Ok I lied a little bit there – sometimes I just head out to the farm with clicker in my hand and see what happens. Some of the best tricks I have taught the boys happened that way.
For example, Minnow’s shovel trick. I saw a sand shovel and bucket at the store, brought it to the barn, showed it to Minnow, and let him decide what to do with it. He decided to dig in the sand with it, I liked it, clicked it, and viola a new trick was born.
But for the more complicated tricks I usually like to do a bit more research. Most of the time I start out on Youtube, mostly because I am a very visual learner. In the case of the rear I searched “clicker training rear”. And this is what I came up with:
I spared you most of the not-so-great videos (many of which were a little too harsh for me). But from this collection I’ve gathered a few options for training the rear.
Minnow on his pedestal
Option 1: Teach the rear through mimicking. I lift a leg, Minnow lifts a leg, I jump, Minnow jumps. I’ve never done mimicking with Minnow, but could be a good time to try it.
Option 2: Teach Minnow to target his knees to a target stick, start with one knee, then add two, then add height to it. Minnow loves to target, but it might take some coaxing to get him to not target with his nose, but I’m sure he could do it.
Option 3: Teach the rear on the pedestal. Reward for upward movements of the legs instead of getting onto the pedestal. Could end up with a neat trick of rearing onto the pedestal, but this requires a lot more coordination on the horse’s part.
Option 4: Capture the behavior naturally. Catch him playing out in the field and click/reward him for the rear. Capturing hasn’t worked well for Minnow (on bigger skills). I once tried capturing the lay down, but as soon as I approach Minnow to give the reward he panics and gets up. This wild born pony still has trust issues when it comes to his most vulnerable position. This option would work better with Blitz and Boomer.
I might do a bit more research before I commit (checking my clicker training books, checking the clicker training yahoo group archives), but from just these options I came up with I think I am going to start off with Option 2 – teaching Minnow to target his knees to a stick. I chose this option because I think it will work best for MY pony. I know how he prefers to learn and I think this option will produce the best results with the least amount of stress for Minnow. If I was going to train one of my other ponies this trick I might go for a different method. Training is about tailoring everything to the specific horse you are working with. Maybe your horse is deathly afraid of whips, asking him to target a dressage whip is probably not a good idea (not to mention I probably wouldn’t even think about teaching this trick if I knew my horse had underlying issues to be worked on).
And as a side note – for now I only plan to teach Minnow how to rear. Minnow is retired from riding due to a diagnosis or ringbone (equine arthritis) in 2008, so I run no risk of having a rearing pony when I stick someone else on to ride him. I believe at 6 and 7 years old, Blitz and Boomer are still too young and immature to learn this trick. I’m sure they would take advantage of their new and fun skill and I would end up with a problem. My equine sport of Mounted games is an emotionally intense sport for horses that is prone to bring on rearing due to the adrenaline horses experience – I definitely don’t want to advocate this trick during competition. So that being said, Minnow will be the only rearing pony, atleast for a while. 🙂
-KD
www.ponypaintings.com
Please do not attempt any of these tasks at home without the help of a professional. I am not responsible for any harm or injury that may occur.
I’ll take the Apple Flavor today
One of the clicker training blogs I read (I Feel Good, My Horse Feels Good) just did a post about a new bit that is available that is perfect for clicker trained horses! Its called the Nutri Bit, and basically it delivers a flavorful liquid into your horse’s mouth through the bit. You dispense it by pushing a button on your reins.
If you check out the post by a fellow clicker trainer about the Nutri Bit you can easily see why she’s so excited to try it. Its essentially the same reason why I just HAD to do a post about it too.
Myself, I’m imagining being mid-spin around a mounted games obstacle and “dispensing” the “treat” to my horse for an awesome spin without ever breaking stride.
I’m also picturing getting Boomerang over his extreme distaste of the bit – he’s the reason I now ride my ponies in a Bitless Bridle. As much as I love the Bitless bridle I still have a few control issues with Boomerang, and I don’t like the fact that he’s figured out that by bucking and rearing he never has to endure a bit in his mouth again.
Anyway that being said, I’m anxiously awaiting the “Clicker Training Review” on the Nutri Bit, and if it passes the test I just might have to invest. My only concern is that for my sport I really need to knot my reins or I risk tangling myself in looping reins with all the on/off work I do. So I’m not sure the bit would still dispense properly if I did this. I’ll just have to wait and see.
My Oreo Cookie
Me and Oreo Cookie
So I’ve been thinking a lot about how my life in horses began – maybe its because we are at the threshold of a new year. Its been 5 years since I taught Minnow his very first trick, its been 7 years since he came to live with me. Minnow will turn 17 this year (*tear*). But my life with horses started way before then. If you want to be technical it started before I was even born. I was taking trips to the barn while I was still in the womb. The very first horse I ever came in contact with was my mom’s 16 hand Thoroughbred cross, J.G. Pippin. I took pony rides and brushed below his knees probably before I could even walk. But it wasn’t until 1989 that I really fell in love with horses.
I was 5 and it was just before Christmas – I knew something was up because we were headed out to the barn after dark. I arrived to a crowd of my relatives and a small black figure in the shadows. As I got closer I was plopped on top of a small black Shetland Pony with a big red bow on her head. I named her Oreo Cookie. My mom had rescued her from a farm that was going out of business, she had been a victim of founder, and we suspected a few other forms of cruelty. I loved her from the moment I met her.
Oreo Cookie
My favorite thing about her was that she had just as big a sweet tooth as I did. Her favorite was Chocolate Chip Cookies. My mom’s favorite thing was that she took care of me. Never once did she buck, take off or bite me – no matter how many times I waved sweets in her face. She’d even stop and wait for me when I’d take a spill off her back.
She went with me to summer camp and took me to my first horse show. I learned how to braid her mane and clean her stall. She taught me to be responsible and to care for another creature. She taught me how to love horses.
Oreo at a horse show
I was 10 years old when she was put to sleep. At that point in her life she could barely walk and her hair had become grayed and curled (due to foundering earlier in life). I kissed her goodbye and whispered in her ear that I would always love her. I knew then that I would spend a lifetime loving horses.
Oh and, yes, we used to drive Oreo to horse shows in the back of a pick-up truck that my dad made adaptable for the pony. She used to press her face to the wind and knicker into the air as we drove down the highway. I’m sure people talked about us for years.
Oreo in the "horse trailer"
