Some of you are familiar with Beau’s story. Beau is our big black and white paint gelding who was very badly mistreated and abused before coming to the rescue. When I first met Beau several years ago, he would turn and run if a person approached within 20-30 feet of him. When we could finally get close to him, he would still flinch or shiver if touched. Beau’s journey to trust people has been slow and many other people would have given up on him as hopeless. Early on, the rescue had a trainer who specialized in mustangs and problem horses work with Beau for several months. The trainer’s final conclusion was that it would be best to just euthanize him–he would always be a dangerous horse who was terrified of people.
However, even though we’ve been working in baby steps, Beau has made a ton of progress in the last year. Beau’s latest accomplishment is halter training. He still doesn’t know much about leading (which will come next), but this is still a huge step for Beau. The video below shows the third day where we worked on putting the halter all the way on.
Watch on YouTube: Beau’s Progress with Halter Training
This behavior was trained in lots and lots of little steps. I have video of some of the process, so I’m going to work on putting together a longer video showing some of the steps.
We do all of Beau’s training in an open pasture. It’s always his choice. If he wants to walk away, he always has that option. He participates in the training because he wants to. This helps build his confidence, because he never feels forced, threatened or pressured. It also helps us break the training down into tiny steps, because if we go too fast or do something that makes him uncomfortable, he’ll let us know!
You can read more about Beau on the rescue’s website here. The rescue is 100% volunteer run and relies completely on donations and sponsorships to support Beau’s care and training.
Hi Mary, I found this very moving, thank you for sharing – you could really see how Beau was relaxed but focused and not at all frustrated – I see so many video clips of clicker trained horses with their ears back, tails swishing looking frustrated and actually angry.
Hi Lotta,
Thanks for the comment!
One of my main goals throughout the halter training process with Beau has been to make sure he was calm and relaxed at every step. Sometimes he wasn’t, but we just had to say “oops” and back up a step for awhile or break things down into smaller steps.
I think it can be very difficult sometimes to train animals for things like halter training where most of the behavior is on the part of the trainer. If the trainer is not careful, she ends up clicking for things she is doing (such as putting the nose band on the horse) and not paying enough attention to the horse’s emotions and body language. Then the horse is shaped to stand still while the thing is done, even though the horse still is not comfortable.
Beau likes his face and nose scratched, so we actually used this as the reward throughout the process, rather than treats. This worked pretty well. Initially he was skeptical about the halter touching his nose and cheek, but came to like it when he learned the rope could be used to scratch his nose. It is also difficult to work with him with treats since we are in the pasture with the other horses–everyone ends up wanting some!
cheers,
Mary
Awesome job Mary-I look forward to seeing the tiny steps you have gone through as we have several horses similar to Beau. I especially love that you work in open pasture. I only have a few horses that do not need more motivation to stick around- it has helped me a lot to contain them-although never to push. Can’t wait to learn more from your techniques!
Hi Shari,
Thanks for the comment. 🙂
If (when!) I get a video put together with some of the steps we used for halter training, I’ll send you the link.
Also, I’d love to make a summary video showing the highlights of our training / interaction with Beau over the past couple of years, but that’s going to be a bit of time in the making, since it will require digging through a few years of photos and videos.
cheers,
Mary
This is very interesting Mary, I really enjoy this work and want to see more. Beau is the perfect example. Putting together a video showing the beginning to (even) this point would be awesome. Even better would be audio comments telling the watchers what you’re looking for and when to proceed, or why you’re stopping (at that moment) – Do you think that type of video is doable?? However, good for Beau and you! He’s a very fortunate horse to be with this Rescue. No hurry, life is good 🙂
Please keep the progress reports coming.
Thanks
Gail
Hi Gail,
Thanks for the comment. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. I will definitely be posting more updates as we continue with Beau’s training this summer.
As for a summary video, several people have asked about that, so I’m thinking I should make one! Might take a week or two to get one put together, need to sort through the video clips I have.
As for adding audio to videos, that’s something I really want to start playing with. My ancient (8 year old laptop) finally gave up a couple of weeks ago and I just got a new one this past weekend. The new one is much more powerful, so I definitely think adding audio to videos is possible now, just have to figure out how to do it!
cheers,
Mary
Great success story! Good for Beau. And congratulations to the patient trainer who has helped Beau succeed. Joy
Hi Mary, This was great to watch! I also have a horse like Beau. I can now halter Magnum – and he loves clicker training – however he is still tense while he is working – forever ready to run. I’m working on just making him more relaxed. He is okay around me – but anyone else he will just panic. So I’m watching with interest how you go with Beau and maybe I can get some more ideas!
Cheers,
Heather
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
Sounds like your horse Magnum has already made a lot of progress.
With Beau, I started with CAT and now we’ve moved to a combination of CAT and some positive reinforcement training.
(If you’re not familiar with CAT, I have some basic info about it in this blog post: http://stalecheerios.com/blog/horse-training/start-clicker-training/)
I do not “clicker train” him per say, he is still very fearful of the sound of the clicker. It’s also difficult to use treats because I’m usually training in the pasture and the friendly horses always want to play too! But, he now enjoys being scratched and rubbed, so this is an effective positive reinforcer. He usually gets 2-3 treats at then end of each short session, too.
With our sessions now, I actively look for and reward calm/relaxed/curious behavior at every step. I try to make sure that I am rewarding the emotional behavior that I want. For example, with the halter training, during one step I worked on rubbing the nose band on his nose. At first, he would let me do it, but he was definitely uncomfortable and unsure! So, I would rub a bit, and at the first sign of relaxation, I’d remove the halter and give him a reward (usually a scratch). Over time, he first learned he could control the process and “make” the halter go away by relaxing, but then he decided he actually enjoyed having the halter scratch his nose. This all took quite awhile, but I think all the repetition paid off.
Let me know if you want more info about CAT, we have a fairly active yahoo group for CAT with horses. It is a great addition to clicker training for situations where you need additional tools to help fearful horse learn to relax.
cheers,
Mary
Hi Mary,
I have seen CAT mentioned but do not really know anything about it. I will have a look at your blog on it and would love to be part of the yahoo group. At present I’m working through Alex’s DVDs and only started with the clicker earlier in the year. Magnum loves the clicker and treats. But with the slightest wrong move he can take off. It’s like he works at two levels – focusing on what he has to do to get a treat and also still listening out for anything that may appear as danger. He is the herd leader – he came from the sales and was off for dog meat when my daughter pleaded with me to buy him – so I did …. and for years we could not get a halter on him. He desperately needs his feet done and I would have to sedate him for that. I would rather work on him picking up his feet etc. but not really sure yet how to go about it.
I really enjoy reading your blog!
Cheers,
Heather
Hi,
I’m your avid reader. I do not understand horses. I’m just a dog owner. However, your video touched me, his work is extraordinary. His gentleness and calm beyond the screen. You’re an angel! Sorry for my bad English.
Hailey loved Beau – she enjoyed watching the video – one of my favorite pics is one of her and Dawn petting him in the pasture. Glad to see he is doing well.
Yes, he’s come a long way over the past several years. He made a lot of progress this past summer.
He’s always seemed much more comfortable with children than adults. I’m sure it was adults who abused him, though.
~Mary
I think kids are more honest with their intentions as well – horses pick up on much more than what we give them credit for