Training Horses With Clicker Training

By Heidi Edris | December 29, 2009

Clicker training which originally came from the scientific term operant conditioning, is a slang name. It was originally used to train aquatic mammals, has continuously becoming more distinguished in training horses with its positive reinforcement.

Using the concept of operant conditioning in psychology, an animal learns a particular behavior or a task when positive reinforcement follows the action that the trainer wants the animal to repeat. Eventually, the undesirable behavior or actions done by the animal aren’t rewarded and ignored. Hence, giving rewards for getting things right make horses more eager and quick to learn.

Clicker training is such a great tool where you can embrace it with other training methods. What you have to do to start is get yourself a clicker, some treats, and a container for the rewards. Your horse is now on its way to follow your instructions once you have got them. Actually there are no given rules to follow when using the clicker training, but with the following guide below, you can use this method to your advantage.

The sound of the ‘click.’ is very important

Let it know that the sound ‘click’ means that a reward is coming. Try to click your clicker for several times and reward it with a treat every time it hears the sound. Later after about 10-15 minutes, repeat the sequence of clicking followed by treating. There are horses that easily get accustomed to the clicker training after three sequences, but some horses may need more sessions.

Pushing your horse too hard should be avoided

It is important to consider that every horse differs in its readiness and ability to learn new tricks. It will be more effective to train for more than 10-15 minutes. Try to uphold short sessions broken into several days than having a long one in a day.

Use a target.

Use a target for it to aim. Let this be the first task that it needs to accomplish when applying positive reinforcement. For example you can hang a plastic bottle and ask it to bump it using its head and reward it every time it does the right thing.

In clicker training, timing is the most important thing. So, make sure you click each time the horse has bumped the target by giving it a reward. The rewarding has to be repeated until the behavior is reinforced.

Go on to the next step

Once it learns to bump the target, move on to the next step. Let your horse pursue the target then head bob it before giving a reward. This will test your previous training and will tell whether you have properly conditioned it to respond to the ‘click.’ But one think you have to remember is that you have to be patient and to conduct each session in short periods. You also need to realize that not all horses will learn in the same manner.

You may continue to a more advance training as soon as you have finished this basic clicker training. You can employ this method to compliment your other trainings to make it easier for you to train your horse and for it to learn.

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