Clicker Training Colt Starting a Welsh Cob Rescue Pony

[painhurtsallot]

buy it at a pet store

(my user name is wierd cause im on my brothers account)

[horsepritty]

k thanks i will try that

[horsepritty]

when did u buy ur clicker ?? i want to buy one??

[welcometopemberley]

Thanks for you comment, btw, it helps the videos show up better in the search results.

[welcometopemberley]

It didn't post my first comment because I put a link in it. Sorry about that! You can buy a clicker by searching for clicker in google shopping, or get one at Petco. They're only a dollar. You can also just use a tongue click. Make sure you don't make the "trot" cluck sound though, that is a different noise. If you're using a tongue click, pop your tongue on the roof of your mouth rather than on the side of your teeth. Using a click sound is supposed to be 50% more effective than using a word.

[welcometopemberley]

I have the volunteers at the rescue say "Yes!" instead of clicking while they're learning so they don't poison the click sound with novice mistakes. "Yes!" is effective also. Must make sure that whatever word you use, you say ONLY when the horse is going to get a treat and say it the EXACT second he did the right behavior. If you pair it with a gesture, like a big smile and a little lean forward, that will help also.

[welcometopemberley]

Just use a tongue click. Pop your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

You can buy a clicker at a pet store or use the cap of Snapple bottle.

[evanswelsh]

That's a nice first ride

[lesfreeman3]

Great information! I like using the targets to give direction/destination to the ride. How do you phase out the targets after they gain confidence?

[welcometopemberley]

Oh that's easy - all you do is ride to targets that are further and further away from each other. When they're good at that, you can still let them target, but only reward at random, which is called variable reinforcement schedule. That makes targeting like playing the lottery.

[welcometopemberley]

When switching to a variable reinforcement schedule, you have to be sure your horse is completely confident & relaxed, because sometimes the only thing allowing them to keep it together is their certainty that they are doing the right thing. When you switch to the lottery, they sometimes worry that the game has changed and become superstitious about what targets they want to go to. I like to use getting to go to a target to reward relaxation and confidence.