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Book Reviews
My thanks to all of you who have shared your comments about the book. They are much appreciated! Reviews of the New Riding Book: --Got THE BOOK! I'm going through it from from the start, devouring it page by page, even the material I supposedly know and certainly use every day. It is fascinating to see the occasional change of emphasis, the blossoming of philosophy, and a whole bunch of good things new to me, such as "why would you leave me." In short, the book is wonderful! Barbara Melville & Brittany * * *
Debra Olson-Daniels
Reviews for the Step-By-Step Book My Step-by-Step book arrived in the mail today. This book is so well presented and is jam-packed with so much great information and helpful ideas that it's simply a "must have". It's also wonderful to be able to put faces to names on the clicker list - people as well as horses <g>. This really impressed on me the terrific community that we have and enjoy so much. Fay Benjamin * * * Alexandra, I received my new book the day after Christmas. Wonderful, wonderful book. Just what I was looking for...very good discussion and explanation of "ground control" and manners. And I'm very glad you put the lateral work/ground work in there - it is just what I was looking for. Just wanted to thank you for all the work that went into the book. Suzanne Bassinger * * * Great excitement. Alex's new book dropped through my letter box this morning. It looks terrific and I've been flipping through it at random to see where I should start. I think I may go back to basics with Faro. Sure he can target, lower his head and back up, but I now feel that we need to get some precision in our work. Also he has had quite a long lay off due to bad weather. Since he is a lively 5yo Arab, I feel that I need to take a step back before getting on again. So I am going to use the book to improve his ground manners and build up our confidence in each other. Many thanks Alex for what looks like a mine of information well presented with heaps of super pictures. Carol Henderson * * * Have you ever read a horse training book that keeps you up until the wee hours of the night? Alexandra Kurland’s “The Click That Teaches: A Step-By-Step Guide in Pictures” is just such a book. Filled with amazing frame-by-frame stories, clear text that anyone can easily follow, but most importantly, it is the deep understanding of the horse that Alexandra brings to us. This is so much more than a horse training book. Alexandra shows us how the clicker gives the horse a voice that can be heard and it is very much a voice that counts. Be prepared to have your socks blown off. Never before has anything like this been published. From Magic who paints beautiful pictures, to the amazing Peregrine who communicates so clearly and is a teacher to us all, and young Robin, who brought to the world his classical dressage “pose”. These and other horses share themselves and their lessons page by page. This is a book you wish would never end! Debra Olson-Daniels * * * The Step-By-Step book is like the videos, the more you read, the better it gets. Most books I read and have finished with. This one I’m going to be reading until I know it by heart. Out of the million good things in it: Anna Nicholas, England * * * Alex’s new book just made it’s way here today. I have to tell you all, it’s such a winner! It has inspired me all over again. You can’t ever learn too much of this wonderful tool for training and Alex’s book makes it clear, extremely concise with the pictures and text working together. Can’t say enough good things about it. If you haven’t already done so, I strongly urge you to order your own copy. Darcy Donahue * * *
When the new Step-By-Step came out, I was told I needed a tag line, some catchy marketing phrase that would capture people’s attention. I groaned. Ask me to write a two hundred page book and I’m in heaven. Ask me to write one sentence describing that book, and I want nothing to do with the project. But as I thought about it, I did come up with a tag line, one that was inspired by something I hear over and over again from fellow clicker trainers. They will tell me that once they start clicker training, they can’t go back to the way they used to train horses. And they aren’t talking here about turning their backs on excessively brutal methods that have obviously stepped over the line. They mean something much more subtle, and much deeper than that. They are talking about the light that they see coming back into their horse’s eyes. I’m always a little uneasy when I start talking about this. I worry that I’ll sound too “touchy-feely”, and I’ll lose the serious horse trainers. Clicker training is after all a science-based training method. It is solidly grounded in the principles of operant conditioning and modern learning theory. That for me is one of its great appeals, and one of the reasons it is so accessible to so many people. In clicker training we focus on actual behavior: on things we can see, and touch and manipulate. So I am always a little hesitant to talk about something as nebulous as the look in the horse’s eyes. But this is something that is every bit as real as an ear that is perked forward or a tail that isn’t swishing. One of the frequent comments I get about the horses in the books and videos is that they “look happy”. That’s something that I’m very proud of. I hope my horses are happy, and I’m glad that shows up in the photos. So what do we mean by this “look in the eye”? This is actually something everyone reading this has experienced, certainly from the outside as an observer, and probably from the inside. It is that look in a teenager’s eyes when you ask them about school: “How was your day?” “Ok.” “What did you do?’ “Nothing.” If you don’t recognize this look, go sit outside any high school in the country, and you’ll see it. You’ll see kids whose faces lack all animation and interest. You’ll see dull, deadened, shut down eyes. If this happens to be your own kids, you know there is a bright, energized, brilliant person behind those eyes. It just takes the right spark to ignite them. Some people go through their entire life dull-eyed, beaten down. “Life is real, and life is earnest.” You get through it as best you can. But hopefully, most of those teenagers will find something that interests them, something to be passionate about, and the spirit, the life, will come back into their eyes. That’s what happens when people start clicker training. That dull eyed, “I’m just a horse, do with me what you want” look disappears. The light comes back into their horse’s eyes. Once they experience that, they can’t go back to training methods that shut down that light. So what is my tag line? ‘The Click That Teaches”: changing forever the way we train horses. And I hope for the sake of horses everywhere that is indeed the case. Alexandra Kurland The clicker stories that follow from the internet and from private emails which people have been kind enough to give me permission to share with you here. They share the profound changes in their horses, in themselves that so many of us have experienced through clicker training. Enjoy! * * * “I think when we start clicker training we are working on the surface, on simple behaviors and we have lots of fumbling around with all the stuff : horse, reins, lead, whip AND CLICKER AND FOOD. But then we are sooooo amazed what clicker training does to our horses. How EASY and fast THEY learn new things and how HARD it is for us to really do good clicker training work in all the details. Then time goes by and we peel off another layer from the horse and we get to the attitude, the mental feelings, sometimes, too, some old marks life has scratched into our horses minds and souls. But even there the magic tool of CLICKER TRAINING WORKS, starts to calm down excited horses, to soothe old pains and the teach good attitudes to survive without stress in human environments. But then next strange things happen to us, we notice CHANGES in OUR attitudes, we become more patient, more forward looking, more confident, more able to see the small steps, more capable to see the real horse and so on and on..........Every person learns different things, just what they need, to cope with the HORSES life and environment..... and it changes how we behave around other people, kids and animals. So from starting with simple behaviors like back up, we end up with sort of a "psychotherapy" for human and horse. That’s really such a great change! Not everybody who does clicker training experiences such a deep impact, but many do. Sorry, it’s hard for me to explain what I mean, but it’s all so exciting !!!! CLICKER TRAINING is a community project! Christiane Mueller, Germany * * * Just thought I'd share that right around the time I received the Step-By-Step book I was thinking that it would be fun to do some more free shaping with Allie this winter. The things that I have taught with free shaping are pretty well established (retrieving, "ground tie" at a stationary target, soften into the correct bend while head lowering, lunge at liberty, play the keyboard, etc) so it would be fun to teach some new things and let Allie experiment more. I decided to start by free shape going and standing on the mat, since that is something that Allie has spent a lot of time doing......but, I don't think I I had to laugh when I was reading the section in the book on "Stand On Your Mat." Alex writes, "Patience is a great asset in horse training, both for you and your horse. Your horse may be perfectly delighted to stand on his mat, but he won't want to stay there. He'll be like a toddler keeping you busy every second you are with him. The next stage in this exercise is to build some duration into the behavior to give you both a little breathing room." I had to laugh as I could see Allie and I standing in the barn aisle where I first began clicker training. Her feet were in constant motion. There was a clock with a second hand on it in the aisle and I used to wonder if we would ever make it to 10 seconds of "feet still and staying back out of my space." Now I can leave Allie on her mat while I go get my saddle and other tack, tack her up, and get on. Such a long way to come for a horse who couldn't possibly stand still for 10 seconds! In another section of the book Alex writes, "It isn't one exercise alone that solves a problem, but the cumulative effect of consistent good training: the "everything and the kitchen sink" approach definitely applies to horses..... When you deal with the small issues, the large ones often melt away. That's the nature of good training." and ".....That's how you solve many complex emotional problems. You build up your horse's confidence in you through a series of exercises. It isn't one thing alone that solves the problem, but the cumulative effect of consistent training....." How true, how true! This is what I have been experiencing with Allie as have so many other people on the Clickryder list. Debra just described so well some of the process that she has used to help Magic become more confident. It is such an amazing gift the horses give us to let us start over from the beginning with them! Julie Varley (Visit the Clinic Horses section to learn more about Allie.)
I know how busy you must be and I don't expect a reply to this message, but I thought I would share with you a few of the reasons why I feel so grateful to have come across your writings. I also thank you for your obviously caring personality and the sensitivity you show to what your readers may be experiencing. I am an older adult (57) beginner rider (lessons for only 1 1/2 years) and my horse is a 5yo Haflinger mare Charming Lady (Charm) who was still "unbroken" in March 2005 when I got her. She is also my first horse, and I did not grow up with horses (inner city kid from NYC). So the "experienced" horse people I met predicted doom, gloom, disappointment and unhappiness. "Green and Green - bad combination - it won't work! You don't know what you are doing." I understood their good intentions but I still chose to follow my heart and gut feelings. So far -so good ... none of the horrible predictions have borne out. That is probably partly due to Charm's lovely Haflinger temperament (very friendly, people-oriented, curious, willing) and her intelligence. It is also due to the methods I have chosen to follow, and the fact that I really enjoy ground work games with her and try to understand her behaviors from her point of view. It started as an amusing diversion one very hot summer day when it was too stifling to do anything strenuous and I had time only for a short visit with her. I had just read your first book and happened to have a bag of thinly sliced carrots with me, so it seemed worth a try. During that short visit (less than 30 minutes, by our car in a parking lot!) she learned the "rules" of the clicker game (<2 minutes) went on to target on a large ball (another 2-3 minutes) and then for the next 10 minutes or so hilariously followed that ball all over that parking lot, even when held high above her head or between her legs. What a wonderful, funny, magical experience that session was. I'm sure you've experienced it many times, but I will never forget her expression when she first realized she held the key to the vending machine and very slowly deliberately nuzzled the ball. When she heard the click (I was using my tongue click) her eyes and head almost popped up towards me. After that there was no stopping her! "Gloriosy - I found the key to the vending machine!" ?
Question: “What is the best all around book or video to start with? The books seem like the most economical start, but I'm afraid I might not get the timing right without watching the video. I would totally recommend Alexandra Kurland's book and her videos. All of her videos are excellent training tools. In her first video, targeting is explained and shows how to start from the beginning. This video does start with a horse named Fig who had lots of problems. How they worked with her is explained, but the video is shot "after"...so you don't see all of Fig's "in training" reactions...but the second half of the video shows starting a new horse and also uses novice people...so you can see the mistakes and fumbles...it is a very good training tool. Again, her book and videos are excellent. Pat in Minnesota I second Pat's motion on Alex's videos. I recommend the book also, "Clicker Good Luck Teresa Hughes & Vegas Cindy, Hello, I received the requested tapes, and I must say they are more than I hoped for. I've looked at all of them and my husband (who is a Montana-quarter-horse-cowboy skeptic), was astounded when he saw the head lowering lesson. He wanted to know if I had ordered the whole series. Yes, to all questions. We have 2 Bashkir Curly horses... 2 years old. We plan to teach them to drive. With your books and tapes my confidence level has certainly risen. I'd like to complement you on your presentation. I am a new to horses. Every time I get into a difficulty I can always refer to the tapes or books. I print the training tips and take them to the field. Again I'm very pleased with the series and hope in the near future to meet you at a clinic. Sincerely, Johnette K. I'm one of the less horse-professional educated on the clickryder list and my video watching strategy emphasizes looking closely at the animals' body language during their training sessions. Your horses win hands down. Their joy is palpable. You can feel their happiness radiating off the screen. |
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