Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Gwen's choice

I haven't been able to do much with my horses lately, as you might have ascertained by my lack of posts. Other aspects of my life have crowded into my horse time, add to the very swollen left knee that my handsome boy seems to have acquired and I haven't had much to talk about that wasn't depressing. Summer of maladies, 2012.

Gwen, it would seem, does not appreciate the fact that I'm "ignoring" her. She came up to me yesterday after eating her dinner and said, "I want to do something." Well it's hard to argue with that. I dug out her mat (a piece of plywood), put it on the ground and waited for her to put her feet on it. Mind you she wasn't wearing a halter or anything, so there was no way I could direct her to stand on the mat besides body language and her memory of what the mat means.

For those of you who may not know, standing on a mat is a foundation clicker training exercise. Horse get a high rate of reinforcement for placing both front feet squarely on the mat. It teaches impulse control and how to ground-tie. For many horses who really love standing on the mat you can use it to help a horse get comfortable in the "scary corner" of arenas or trailers or trails. It's a very handy exercise.

So there we were, looking down at the mat when Gwennie did what she normally does at first sight of the mat (which btw is not good) and pawed at it. Normally I back her up or step her forward to approach the mat again when she does this, but without a halter I couldn't do that. Fortunately this wooden mat doesn't stay put when she paws, it skates over the ground- which doesn't get her rewarded. So she tried that a couple times before her lightbulb went off and she planted one foot squarely on the mat. Reward!

Then I waited. "You have to put the other foot on it, babe," I said, pointing to it. Up went the other foot, plopped down squarely next to the first. Reward, reward, reward! I then slowly walked around her, rewarding her for remaining still when I left her head. At one point, she fidgeted and a hoof came off the mat. No reward for that, so I walked a few feet in front of her and asked her to target on my fist. She came off the mat to my hand for her reward and I figured that would be the end of it- that she would take the opportunity to walk off and graze. But no, she turned around and went right back to the mat! And she didn't paw at it!

To me, these are the moments when clicker training is the most rewarding. When the horse obviously chooses to do the exercise, when they're involved 100% and having a good time. It was also one of those moments when one of my horses approaches me and I know exactly what they want. It kind of feels like a thought pops into my head that's not my own, it feels strange but completely true, know what I mean?

Here's a picture of a horse standing on a mat by his own choice. This is not Gwen, sadly I had left my camera at home.

19 comments:

  1. I hear you about not doing much with the horses this summer. I'm afraid we're in the same boat.

    Seems like Gwen was doing a mind meld with you about wanting to play. She's a smart girl doing the mat exercise on her own. At least you and she got to do something worthwhile together. Hope Coriander's swelling goes down soon. Hang in there Fall is just around the corner.

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    1. Mind meld! Yes, that sums it up nicely. His knee is going down slowly but surely, arnica to the rescue again!

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  2. Life does CROWD into our horsey times...
    I am so sorry that Coriander has been swollen with mystery. I hate that, sure hope you can find the answer to help soon.
    Gweny, she's a peach!

    My post just now, is from weeks and weeks ago...L*I*F*E did get going a bit too fast in my woods too...Part 2 is for telling of that tale(s).

    You hang in Shannon...we are all in this together!
    Kac

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    1. Boy ain't that the truth. I'll pop over to your place for a visit this morning, I miss you when you're gone.

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  3. Love stuff like this. Gwen is a smart cookie and so nice that she wanted to do something with you. :-) Hope your handsome boy feels better soon.

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    1. It is a nice pick-me-up to know that she wants to do something with me. Especially when there was a ton of nice, tall grass to eat.

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  4. This is such a great example of a horse interesting in activity and demonstrating understanding. That sounds like very worthwhile time spent together.

    I hope Coriander feels better soon.

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    1. He will, fortunately he isn't lame anymore- he just has an ugly knee. Wish I knew how he got it...

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  5. Yay Gwen smartypants!

    It's been slow around here on the riding front too.

    How rewarding is it when our horses choose to interact with us in training activities?! Clicker training is so cool. It's almost like we develop a language in common with the horse...

    Sorry Coriander has swellings still.

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    1. Yes, that's exactly it- developing a language in common. Goodness knows it has come in handy more than once ;)

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  6. That is a cool exercise. Our guys hear us click and they all start looking. I love when horses ask to work.

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    1. All is well and good until you've got a whole bunch of clicker trained horses vying for attention ;)

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  7. 2011 was my summer of maladies. It's sure no fun. Hopefully all will be better for some awesome fall riding.

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    1. We'll have to see what's in the cards for fall riding. Bummer that 2011 was so rough for you, I guess we all get due at some point.

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  8. Sounds like a great training sessions with mat work. :)

    ~Mary

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    1. She's really glommed onto the mat work, I think she's started to like it better than targeting!

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  9. My next clicker training exercise with Shy! She too has been having some issues and has been out of work. So frustrating!

    I love that Gwen chose to work and chose it over grass! How awesome!

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    1. What's great is that you aren't asking the horse to just stand there and do "nothing," you are specifically asking the horse to keep her front feet planted on the mat. Asking them to do something makes it a lot easier for the horse. I hope it works out for you and Shy!

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  10. As always, I do a 'version' of this but never it exactly right ;) BUT it is super helpful for ground tying during grooming. I worked on this type of exercise with Laz from the beginning and he now stands where I plant him. I can leave to grab my tools, my saddle, etc and come back and he's just staring at me happily waiting in his happy spot. :) It is a great tool to have/use daily.

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