Heather, a petite silvery blonde eleven-year-old, walked down the hill towards the arena leading Tritan, her Icelandic Horse.
Her announcement was clear, confident, and matter of fact: I'm going to teach Tritan to lay down today.
That may have come as a surprise to some, but not to those who know this young horse trainer who has a natural knack for communicating with a horse.
Game plan prepared ahead of time, she wore and carried the tools of the trade: helmet, clicker, treats. She did not forget one of the most important tools in horse training: patience. She was well prepared.
Heather is experienced in clicker training, as is her horse, Tritan. Clicker training refers to a new method of teaching behavior using a "yes" signal or conditioned reinforcer, to tell the horse precisely when it has done something right. The "click" in clicker training refers to a small plastic noise maker, similar to a child's toy cricket.
Clicker training allows a trainer to shape behaviors and / or performance exclusively with positive reinforcement. In shaping you take a small tendency to perform in a desired way, and by reinforcing that behavior you gradually shift it towards a more complex behavior.
The clicker is also a BRIDGING signal. It links a desired behavior to a reward. It says "yes! that's exactly the behavior I wanted. Now I'm going to give you a reward." The reward is the reinforcer to the "yes" signal.
Clicker training is a relaxing method of training, and learning happens faster and easier when the student is relaxed.
First step: wet the horse to encourage the natural reaction of laying down to roll when wet.
After hosing is completed, it's time to sit and wait to capture and reward the desired behavior.
There were a few distractions, lessons in the round pen, dogs playing, and big sister Amber occasionally riding by.
Patience is a virtue, they say. Just wait... it'll happen. It'll be natural. No force.
