THANK YOU

Clicker training may begin with the nuts and bolts of basic training, but it quickly evolves into so much more, as these stories attest. If you want to understand clicker training you have only to read these “clicker thank yous”.

Hi Alexandra,

Thank you for your new clicker tape, the intro one. I watched it last night, and it is an excellent answer for those people who have been watching what we do, and asking questions!

I've just received a huge boost to my equine self esteem: I trained Ella to go into her horse trailer, all by myself, with no help. I actually *trained* something big, which she'd never done before – and it was easy and fun. She's calm and focused in her trailer, goes forward nicely from a tap on the bottom. Now I'm working on asking Ella to go in ahead of me, so I can load up totally on my own. What's more, <brag> last weekend I took her out to her first ever, formal "lesson" with an instructor, and she was calm and focused on me throughout. It was a lovely experience:-) We just did leading, stopping, starting and turning together, with Ella following my feel.

Our saddle is back on, and we're working on mounting practice - I'm shaping her to put her head down and target my portable block with her belly, so I can mount up, with a loose rein (or halter) and a relaxed horse. Eventually, I'll get back on...

It's now ten months to nearly the day that I hopped off my Andalusian mare and picked up the clicker... it's fair to say those ten months have been very, very valuable. I am so excited, I can't wait to hop back on and see if that calm, well-mannered mare on the ground is as great under saddle. The emotional control has just evolved, very slowly, day by day. She rarely now offers me behaviours that I have not asked for - we are still digesting video # 4. She's become the horse I always wanted - relaxed, quiet, attentive, focused. Her feet are just lovely to handle, and she's trying very hard to stay with me in all my requests. What more could I ask for? In return, I keep her successful in all my shaping endeavors, and she just follows the clicks. It's been a real shift in my attitude: I now think about what I *want* to happen, what I want things to look like... and shape on that.

I went to America last month for nearly 3 weeks, leaving Ella in the care of others. My fellow boarders at the stable universally refer to her behind my back as that lovely, sweet, adorable mare - the one everyone is happy to lead in from the pasture. She's full of fire and personality - but a honey to handle. Quite a change, really!!!!

Regards, Rae and Ella, Australia

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My Icelandic, Sproti, was as shut down as any horse I've ever seen. When you got close to him, he would do nothing but stand without breathing until you asked for something or until he couldn't stand it and would bolt. When I was just learning about clicker training, I once asked Alex as I was grooming Sproti, "Don't you think he's getting tense?". She said, "I think he's been tense ever since you walked up to him". In those days I was used to Arab histrionics from a tense horse, not Icelandic withdrawal into the frozen north.

I first tried targeting with him - too hard. After a couple of tries he would just walk away. Eventually I started clicking him for just breathing and chewing. If he was eating his hay, I would walk toward him slowly. When he stopped chewing and breathing, I would step back, wait for him to resume breathing, and C/T, not lingering in his space any longer than it took to deliver the treat. We worked up to letting me hug him while he continued to breath - big win! He even started approaching people he didn't know but thought might be nice. Clicker training has been a literal life-saver for this horse, as well as making his life worth living. I ride him on a completely loose rein and he just happily tolts along, enjoying himself with people who listen when he speaks.

Stephanie Sher
Blasted Rock Farm, New York

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I wanted to relate a bit of how the clicker work has helped me. When you were here, we just worked with Blackjack, but I might have mentioned that my other gelding, Lightnin, had tendencies to be aggressive. I can look back over the dynamics that have occurred, and see how it got to be that way. The question now, is how do we work with it? I watched all the videos. They really clarified where to go with the
basic behaviors, i.e. head lowering, backing, etc. I started with the retrieving, and acceptable behavior for taking treats.

I had to start working from outside the round pen, then inside the barn, then back out to the paddock area. Finally I felt safe about the whole thing. Big step. But, this was all at liberty. Blackjack is really good about liberty work too. The problem seems to be when the halter goes on.

So, anyhow I want to take Lightnin up to my trainer, Holly Vanesse, for the winter. I decided that between the fact that I can't seem to come up with the time, and I am not comfortable with early under saddle work, this is the best plan. Except that he has to get in the trailer.

So, we started working with responses to cues given through the lead rope and halter. Lightnin had become a model citizen with the liberty work, but now it was like starting from scratch, and worse. Anytime he feels unsure, he also seems to feel trapped, and those eyes get cold and hard and oh my goodness, is it scary! (Biting and striking are not pleasant to me.)

In the past, all I could do was to protect myself as passively as possible, and get out of the situation. This had worked for him for a really long time. Only now, I had new tools to use. We worked at first at the backing in a square, then over time I worked up to the head lowering. This was done in pretty small increments, as I found I still have to put my mental state back together after half an hour of being threatened.

However, much to my amazement, each time I would go out to work, it was obvious that we had made progress. One time, we got the halter on with no biting at it, the next time, he easily moved over his hindquarters when I offset his head. Now when I would go in, he would lower his head, let me put on the halter, and back at the mere suggestion. Amazing!! We worked in the round pen, where I had over faced him before with traditional work, and he really put me to the test here, but the behaviors got good here, too.

Now, to work at getting him ready to load. We put together a platform that I thought would be a good teaching tool. 4x8 with a good solid surface of 2x10's about 6" high. The day before we had worked on leading, targeting, backing, head lowering, with no aggression, and I was really confident. When we got to the platform, he was fine. He got clicked for just being there, etc., then I asked him to try to come forward on the platform. He did one foot, etc., then tried both feet, but somehow tripped and fell to his knees. Uh oh. I felt so bad for him.

I took him off, and we started to go back to the platform, and I felt him stiffen, and sure enough those eyes had that cold hard look. I turned and instituted the Tai chi wall, and finally, his head started down. For the first time, I really noticed his eyes change from scary to mellow. I will have to admit, I had never really been a firm believer in the head down being a cue to calm down, I hadn't seen it yet. It had just been a learned behavior. Now, for the first time, it did happen, and I was just blown away.

What an amazing session. In the past, I would have gone back to house and cried over my failures. Now, I am looking at things in an entirely new way. He has never learned emotional control, because he didn't need to. When his adrenaline levels go up, it has always been expressed in angry outbursts, even with the other horses. It is a part of his personality. It never really worked with the horses, but it had worked with me for a really long time.

We have gone from having poor communication, to amazing communication. Whenever he feels the need to blow up, I have a way to help him calm down, which is increasing his ability to control his emotions. Not to mention that now I realize I can keep safe. I don't know how we would have been able to handle the situation any other way!! It is getting easier to get up the courage to work with him. Before, I could find a million reasons why not to. So, I thought I would share this with you. My whole interest in the clicker training was emotional control for Blackjack, but look where it led me. What I have learned from Lightnin will be instrumental in working with Blackie, too.

Thanks for letting me ramble on.

Denise Frye
Blackhorse Hill
Pet Portaits in Underglazes

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Dear Alexandra,

I want to thank you for writing your clicker training book. Last summer I was ready to sell my horse. Let me say that I am a person who believes that you buy an animal and its for life, so this decision was coming very hard to me. Everyone felt I should sell him. He was too young for me. I bought him as a three year old after my beloved Beau passed away at only 11. I knew Cyrus (renamed to Charming or C) was very young, but he was so calm that I thought he would only get better and better. I did not realize that he would go through many more stages, and that I would not have any idea how to give him the training myself when it came to the next fork in the road. Last summer I put him with a trainer for a month, something which was difficult for me to afford, with the hope he would at least come out of it not being so scared of his pad. It didn't work. The first time afterward that I tried to saddle him up he pulled and pulled until he broke free from where he was tied and fell on his butt. I had him already saddled, so it didn't even make sense why he did this for no apparent reason. At that point I broke into tears and lost all confidence in him and myself. I had no desire to ride.

I talked to someone who told me to give it six months, to try ttouch, centered riding lessons and clicker training. I honestly blew off the idea of clicker training for the most part. But a friend gave me a copy of your book. I have gotten so much out of your book. I now want to ride again (and am riding) and feel I have a tool to help me train my horse. I anxiously await a book on clicker riding. The thing that really convinced me that your clicker info was working was when I was out on a ride and asked my horse to touch a plastic bag hanging on a bush. He walked up and hit it with his nose without spooking or questioning. He is also much better about his boogie-man pad. Thank you so much.

MaryAnn

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If you would like to share your horse’s story on this site, please contact Dolores Arste at darste3@direcway.com. Pictures and essay are very welcome.