Phase Three: Prepare to Ride
You're also well on your way to creating the performance horse of your dreams. Your horse understands the clicker; he knows how to use the information it provides; you've established polite ground manners. You're just about ready to use the clicker under saddle. For me, that means combining clicker training with single-rein riding and John's give-to-the-bit work.
Here's a simple explanation of how this works. Let's suppose your horse is one of those stiff-as-a-board, feet-stuck-in-cement horses. We'll start out on the ground with this horse, teaching him to soften to the lead rope. You're going to stand off to the side, by your horse's shoulder. You'll slide down your lead just to the point where all the slack is out. The idea is not to pull your horse's head to the side. You're going to be free-shaping your horse's behavior with this slight tension on the rope. There's pressure from the halter on your horse's head, but not enough to cause pain or fear-just enough to make him aware that you want something. So now you wait. And you wait. And you may even wait some more. You'll be reminding yourself that a little bit of pressure over a long period of time will create a desire for change.
At some point, your horse is going to move. Maybe something else attracts his attention and causes him to turn his head. Or maybe it's just a slight muscle twitch. It doesn't matter if it's a big thing or a little thing: Click! You're going to release the lead and give him a treat.
Now the click and the release overlap. They are both marking the same event. A novice handler may at first think they are equivalent, since they are paired initially. But they are going to serve very different functions. As the training progresses, these two markers, the release and the click, are going to slide apart.
As soon as you release, you're going to slide up the lead and ask again. Your horse may not yet understand what he did to get you to let go of the lead. He may go back to immobility. That's fine. Again, you wait. It's important not to rush. If you were to escalate the pressure, your horse might indeed respond, but it would be out of a quick reaction to avoid the pressure, not from a deliberate, thought-out act.
Alexandra Kurland is the author of Clicker Training for Your Horse, The Click That Teaches: A Step-By-Step Guide in Pictures, The Click That Teaches: Riding with the Clicker, and The Click That Teaches Video Lesson Series. She earned her degree from Cornell University, where she specialized in animal behavior. She has been teaching and training horses since the mid-1980s. A pioneer in the development of humane training methods, Kurland began clicker training in the early 1990s. She quickly recognized the power of clicker training for improving performance, for enhancing the relationship people have with their horses, and for just plain putting fun back into training. Today, through her books, videos, clinics, and many articles, she has become a leading voice in the development of clicker training in the horse community. For more information on clicker training, visit theclickercenter.com.
So instead of escalating the pressure, you're going to wait at your point of contact (holding the lead rope with the slack taken out) for your horse to become aware of the pressure from the lead, to consider what to do about it, and to make a deliberate move to release the pressure. When he makes the correct choice, click, release the lead again, and give him a treat.
As you repeat this, your horse responds faster and faster to your hand sliding down the lead. He's responding and softening his jaw to the side before you can even begin to slide down the lead. Perfect. It's time to move on, to separate the click from each individual give.
So you'll slide your hand down the rope and ask for a give. Your horse will soften beautifully as before, but now instead of clicking, you will simply release the lead. The release says, "Yes, that's right," and you've given him something he wants-your hand off the lead. It's negative reinforcement-you're taking away something the horse doesn't want, which strengthens the desired response. As the horse makes the connection-turning his head to the side makes you let go of the lead-he'll turn his head more readily. The turning behavior has just been strengthened, reinforced by removing the pressure.
You could train using only this element, but we're going to enrich the meaning of the pressure. It's not just going to be something your horse wants to get rid of. It's going to be information your horse uses to get to his click and treat faster. That's why it is so important that we not poison the game with escalating pressure. You want your horse to be able to trust your hand and the information it provides. You don't want him to be wary of the lead or the rein.
One of the things that I appreciated early on in John's work was his statement that you want the horse to trust the rein-that it should never be used to punish or frighten a horse. That is something I very much agree with.
So you release the lead, and then you immediately pick it up again. You'll get a second softening of the jaw-a release. And a third release. Each time you release, your horse will be bringing his head slightly to the side. You can mark an especially good response with a click and a treat. After each click, change sides so your horse becomes soft and responsive to both reins.
As your horse becomes engaged in this game, there won't be any hesitation at all as you pick up the lead. So now you're going to count. You'll ask for one, two, three softenings in a row, releasing on each one. As you pick up the fourth time, look back at your horse's hips. He'll be in a perfect position to shift his weight off his inside hip. As he does, click! Mark that first give of his hip with a treat.
Both the click and the release say "yes," but the click and the treat that follow serve to highlight that new step. It becomes the exclamation mark at the end of a complex sentence. Your horse will keep working because he knows a click is coming. He won't regard the repeated requests down the lead as nagging. Whenever you slide down the lead, you are telling him there is new incoming information. You need him to change what he is doing. When he interprets that information correctly, you'll release the lead. And when he makes enough of a balance shift to meet your new criterion, click-he gets a treat. The puzzle has been solved successfully.
In this way, you will develop a thinking, mentally engaged horse who is eager to work and fully understands your commands. By combining clicker training with single-rein riding, you'll create a safe, responsive horse-the highest priority. Perfected, these lessons lead to high performance in a wide variety of disciplines. The click is a magnifier, bringing out the best in our horses. If you want the perfect horse, this is one way to get there.
