Throwing down the gauntlet on R+ training

When Leo first arrived, he was incredibly reactive and distrusting. The first time I got on him, he tried to bolt away from the mounting block. Heck, even getting him TO the mounting block was a challenge. Because I wanted to build a positive relationship (and didn't want to get hurt), I decided scale things way back and start from scratch.

So I started with R+ (aka clicker) training. It's not something I've ever really used with horses before except to play a little with Paddy, but look, they clicker trained a PUFFER FISH to identify shapes, and surely Haffies are smarter than puffer fish?

Puffer fish starts in at about 1:20.

R+ was originally developed to work with large marine mammals, because let's face it, you cannot force a killer whale to jump through a hoop if it doesn't want to. The concept is simple though - you create an association between a stimulus and a reward (click and treat).

One of the first things you can do with R+ training is to teach the horse to touch a target with their nose. The target can be anything, but I started with a glove because that's what I had handy. The first two or three times, I pointed to it and said "TOUCH!" When Leo went to sniff it, I kind of gently bonked his nose with it, said "YES!", and gave him a treat. I used "YES" instead of a click because I can use it anywhere, even say it under my breath when riding and he gives me a behavior I want.

After about the third bonk, the lightbulb went off, and he was like a glove-seeking missile. I put the glove high and low, even on the (scary) mounting block, wherever, and he'd touch it with his nose and get a YES! and a treat. This session literally lasted maybe 5 minutes - it took him no time at all to catch on to this new game. Take that, puffer fish!

We then started working on touching whatever I pointed at instead of just the glove... paper, the wall, a brush, a blanket, a towel... anything I could find. Leo though it was super fun and started touching anything he could, even when I didn't ask. I did not give affirmation for those tries, and eventually he learned that he only got a reward when I asked. This is a common problem, where they start offering a behavior because you *might* want it - simply don't acknowledge it, and they'll stop.

When we were out trail riding (solo) one day, Leo stopped to stare at this scary pile of leaf bags. I waited about .002 seconds before he took a deep breath and marched over to touch them so he could get a cookie. It was all his decision - no kicking, clucking or anything on my part. This stuff works, y'all.

Leo isn't a fan of loud noises, and since hubby sometimes rides Paddy and Griffy in armor, I wanted him to be more comfortable around that. So, we started touching a metal jousting gauntlet. At first I held it still and he touched that, but eventually I started clanking it a bit. Within one five-minute session, Leo went from extremely tense about the clanking to this:

Literally cannot wait for me to throw the gauntlet so he can touch it

We've also used R+ training when hubby is out swinging swords around. At first, we'd stand and watch, and Leo would get a cookie for being relaxed. Eventually, he'd get a cookie if he would come up close while hubby was actually swinging the sword. Then hubby started giving him cookies while swinging the sword and poking me with it (rude).

 

Here Leo (center) is taking a nap while hubby (right) and RH (left) are stabbing me with plastic swords. Way to save your rider, buddy. 

The only downside to all this is that Leo now expects anyone swinging a sword to give him cookies. Hubby was out doing sword work with Griffy the other night and Leo was literally chasing him around going "Hey Mister! Hey Mister!", absolutely convinced he was going to get a cookie if he could just get close enough.

Dangers of R+ training = attack haffies

Have you ever used R+ training and if so, what for?