EQUINE CLICKER TRAINING.....
                                                               using precision and positive reinforcement to teach horses and people
 
         

 

Zan's Story: Getting Started

(May 2003)

 

 

Today I am 6 days old.  I have been having a great time eating and playing and sleeping. Rosie, my horse mom lets me eat whenever I want and go where I want.  Katie, my human mom, visits me all the time. She hugs me and pats me and sometimes she puts this funny thing on my head.  The first time I saw it she just held me gently and rubbed me all over with it. She started on my neck and then worked up to my head. Then she gently held my head and slipped my nose in the hole at the front.  Then she took it off again.  She rubbed me with it some more and then she put my nose back in.  Next she put up a strap behind my ears. I really didn’t like that as it felt like my head was caught. She just kept scratching me and talking and eventually I settled down.  Then she took it right off so I guess I don’t mind. She says it is my halter and I have to learn to wear one.  My horse mom, Rosie, has one on, so I guess it’s ok.  Sometimes Katie puts her arms around me and scoots me along.  She is not very good at steering, but I am figuring her out. 

 

Today I figured out how to itch my head. One of the first times I tried, I got unbalanced and almost fell over. Katie was watching and I was very embarrassed.  But now I am pretty good at it and I can balance on three legs and itch my ears too.

 

 

I have found a few toys. I like to play with the rubber piece that hangs on the doorway. When we go in at night, it gets put across the top of our doorway, but during the day it hangs down, so I can pick it up and bang it around.  I also like to play with the string on the fence that my human mom uses to hold the hose when she fills the water trough.  The water trough is kind of fun too. I like to run my nose around it.  Sometimes I can hear Finale, the big horse, up on the hill when he bangs his water trough. He is really loud!

 

 

The next story is I learn some new rules

 

 

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