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Equine Clicker Training |
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Frequently Asked
Questions
What can I feed for treats? …anything that is convenient, not to big, and that your horse will work for. Some trainers use a variety of treats to reward horses for their efforts, others just use one kind and use the quantity to mark jackpots and better efforts.
Some typical treats are:
Grain
Carrots (small pieces)
Hay Stretchers (Blue Seal makes these)
Peppermints (both the soft mints and the hard round ones in wrappers)
Commercial horse treats
Animal crackers
Dry breakfast cereal (cheerios, fruit loops etc..)
Valentine's sweetheart candies (the ones with the cute sayings)
Want a really comprehensive
treat list? Click here for
Do think carefully about what you give your horse for treats. There are many options but some are better than others, especially in large quantities. Also, make sure that what you feed is safe.
Where do I carry the treats?
For most work, I find it more convenient to carry the treats with me. I have used both a vest and a fanny pack. In the winter I often just use the pockets of my winter coat. Other options I have seen used are a carpenter’s apron and saddlebags on the horse.
Do I have to use a clicker?
I have found it is easier to start a horse using a mechanical clicker as it is a unique sound that most horses have not heard before. It is also more consistent than using a voice cue. Once the horse understands about the clicker, I switch to a tongue click. This frees up a hand for other things and is also much easier to use while riding. I do know people who mount a clicker on a whip for riding, but I find the tongue click works just as well. I did have one horse I trained using the verbal "good" and he responded to that very well. I made sure I was consistent in how I said it, so that it had its own unique sound and would stand out if I was talking to him.
My horse is really bad about hand feeding and gets excited about food, can I still clicker train him?
Yes, if your horse gets too excited, you may need to switch to a less desirable treat or clicker train him after he has had his dinner when he is not quite as hungry. You will also find that as your horse gets used to clicker training and realizes that lots of treats are coming, he becomes less anxious about the food. If he is grabbing at the treats, then you will need to make sure you protect yourself from his teeth. Most clicker trained horses eventually learn to take treats very gently with their lips but sometimes you need to teach them to be more polite.
Or..My horse doesn't care about food, can I still clicker train him?
Yes. You might want to try training him at dinner time or experiment with different treats. A lot of horses will initially appear uninterested in the food, but once they get into the game, they become more eager for their treats. Remember that the reward doesn't have to be food. We use food because it is convenient and works for most horses but you can use other rewards (a release of rein or lead, a chance to graze, you backing up or leaving (with a nervous horse), a chance to walk somewhere or look at something, etc..).
Some pointers on getting off to a good start and good treat taking behavior
It is really important to instill good treat taking behavior in your horse from the very beginning. You cannot train with food if your horse is not polite about it. That means, your horse should not be in your space when getting his treat, or expect to get a treat by mugging you. Some details that help with this are:
1. feed your horse out away from your body
2. do not put your treat in your hand before the click, or your hand in your treat pocket/pouch
3. do not start by teaching behaviors that encourage your horse to invade your space
4. if you are concerned about this with a new horse, start with a lesson such as having him turn his face away instead of targeting.
If your horse is polite about waiting for treats, but not careful about taking them off your hand, here are some tips that I have heard over the years. I have not personally used all of them.
1. have your horse back up before getting the treat
2. have your horse pose or draw his chin back to get the treat so he isn't reaching forward for it
3. use one large treat (instead of grain) so the horse is not anxious about getting all the crumbs
4. feed from above..meaning instead of holding your hand horizontally, hold it vertically so the horse pulls it into his mouth with his upper lip. This works really well with grain and also with carrots. I learned this from Alexandra Kurland and it really works because a lot of anxious horses push hard against your hand when you hold it flat and end up using their teeth. By changing your hand orientation, if they push into it, they are just pushing with their lips.
5. hold the halter with one hand and treat with the other so that you can control how much the horse moves his head.
How do I treat my horse for ridden work?
You do this the same way as for ground work. Click and offer the treat. With novice horses, you can hold the treat to one side and guide the horse around with the rein. If the horse gets snatchy, you can hold the other rein with just enough contact to limit the reach of the horse’s nose. Most horse’s pick up on this really quickly and it is a great way to encourage flexibility. With more advanced horses, I just tap the neck on the side where I have the treat. I also treat on the side to which my horse was bent as they are already set up to come around that way. Some people prefer to use more soluble treats (sugar or grain) for riding as they think it is easier for the horse to eat around the bit. Some horses do need some time to figure out how to eat with the bit on. I often bridle a new horse and let it eat its dinner or a handful of carrots in its feed bin. I have also had success bridling the horse and taking it out to graze.
I will treat under saddle and start working again immediately (withoutwaiting for the horse to finish chewing) when working at the walk. At fasterspeeds, I do like to let the horse finish chewing before working again. I mostlytreat with carrots so this might not be an issue if you were using sugar.
Will my horse hear the click if it is windy or there are other distractions?
The first winter I started clicker training, I was worried because my farm is very windy and I was sure the horses would not hear me clicking when I was working them outside. It didn't turn out to be a problem at all. I think they did hear me when I was close to them, even if I used a tongue click. When I worked them at a distance, I went back to using a mechanical clicker. I also think that they are so tuned into our body language, that they can tell when we have clicked even if they don't hear the sound, especially if they know what we are working on. My horses often seem to know when they are doing the right thing and I can see their ear listening for the click at the appropriate moment. This is also true if you are riding with other clicker trained horses, each horse seems to be able to tell which clicks are for them and which are not.
What are some good behaviors to teach first?
Targeting is an ideal first behavior as most horses have not been taught this, so there is no previous training to confuse the issue. Targeting also comes in handy for teaching lots of other behaviors so it is a good foundation for future work. I often suggest that new clicker trainers pick some fun behaviors to train first. This gives you a chance to practice your timing and get into the flow of clicker training without being worried about getting perfect results. If you start with specific objects for your games, then you have more control over when the horse offers the behavior. I have found that most horses will push a ball, pick up an item, or stand on a mat with a little encouragement.
I also suggest that it is easier on you and your horse if you just start by playing with a few new behaviors and not changing everything all at once. Experiment with the clicker, get a sense of how your horse is going to be, and what kinds of things it might be useful for, before you start clicking a lot. A lot of clicker trainers do end up teaching everything with the clicker, but that doesn't mean you have to start that way or that you can't use other methods that have worked before. You do need to remember that by using clicker training, you are opening up lines of communication with your horse and that in order for it to work well, your horse must feel comfortable guessing and offering new behavior when you are training him. If you try to combine clicker training with other methods that discourage your horse from taking any initiative, you will have poorer results and your horse will become confused.
Will it confuse my horse if I am clicker training but other handlers are not?
Most horses figure out pretty quickly who is clicker training and who is not. I clicker train our 6 horses and my husband and daughter do not (at least not all the time). The horses behave differently toward me than they do toward other handlers, but it has not been a problem. If I am working on a specific issue and I know the horse might offer the behavior, I will explain to them what I am working on and how I want it handled if they notice the horse offering it. In most cases, they can just ignore or praise the horse, but sometimes it can be disconcerting if they are not expecting it. When I taught Red head down, he did it all the time and I had to explain to Kira that he might be offering it a lot until he understood the cue. I didn't want her to think he was being bad or ignoring her if she was trying to halter him and he was trying to put his nose on the floor.
Do I have to ignore any unwanted behavior?
The first rule of any good horse training is safety first. In many cases, it is possible to ignore unwanted behavior. If you consistently reward what you do want, the frequency of the unwanted behavior will diminish. Whenever I encounter a problem with my horses, I try to think of a training solution that teaches the horse what I DO want in a positive way and without the emotional baggage of "my horse is being bad." However, that doesn't mean that there haven't been times when I have had to do something negative to stay safe. If your safety is involved, then you use whatever horsemanship skills you have to get out of the situation. But I don't consider this "training." I consider it staying safe and I don't expect my horse to have learned a lesson from it. I like to go back and try to figure out what was missing in my training or management that led to that situation. Then I use positive training methods to teach the horse what he needs to know so that situation doesn't occur again. I also like to make sure that I think carefully about my behavior in that situation and whether or not I missed a message that the horse was telling me or need to adjust my body language to avoid a repeat of that incident.
I will be adding to this list of question as I have time, and think of new questions that novice clicker trainers ask. If you have a suggestion for an additional question that is not covered here, please email me.
Happy clicking and have fun,
Katie