Did you know that horses could be trained with clicker training? In this section you’ll find lots of information about how positive reinforcement training methods can be used to create horses that are smart, brave, athletic and enthusiastic about training. If you’re skeptical, I recommend starting with this blog post, which summarizes a research study that examined whether clicker training causes horses to bite.
Darley is an older Arabian. He was skin and bones when my friend first rescued him. But, he’s a happy horse now! I’ve been doing some clicker training with Darley, and he enjoys our training sessions. However, at first, Darley wasn’t really catching on. Sometimes, he would do several behaviors in a row. Then, he […]
Spring has arrived in north Texas and with spring comes spring grass! The arena at our barn has grass all along the edge. Delicious, yummy grass. Tempting grass…. Apollo and I have sometimes struggled with the spring grass in past years. This year, we’ve been working on a new reinforcement system in the arena with […]
I’ve been having a lot of fun recently working through Alexandra Kurland’s new “Getting Started with Clicker Training” virtual clinic. The name of this class is a bit deceptive, as it is designed for both beginner clicker trainers and those with more experience. One of my favorite sayings from Alexandra Kurland is that “advanced training […]
This year, Apollo and I have been working on some horse agility training. Horse agility is similar to dog agility. The horse and trainer must navigate a series of obstacles with teamwork and precision. One fun obstacle that is often used for horse agility or horse obstacle courses is a pool noodle obstacle, sometimes called […]
Several years ago, I wrote a post about Grand Prix clicker training. This was a concept that we discussed at a 2014 clinic that I attended with Alexandra Kurland at Cindy Martin’s ranch in Arkansas. “During our discussion, Alexandra offered another perspective on ‘Grand Prix’ that was not limited to top level competitions. Instead, think […]
Apollo and I have been looking for some new challenges. So, I’ve been trying an activity that we discuss in the “Creativity” episode of our new Listen and Learn online course. In the episode on creativity, Alexandra discusses a simple strategy for helping yourself be more creative. Put some new stuff in your arena or […]
