Clicker Training Horses

Clicker training is a method or process of training an animal using a clicker as a marker for desirable behavior and rewarding it.
It is usually used to mark desirable behavior.
This practice is commonly called "click and treat" or "clicker training".
The clicker is a plastic box with a thin piece of metal that makes a short, distinct "click" that tells the horse they're doing the right thing.
All you have to do is click and reward by giving a treat to the horse whenever he obeys to do whatever you are trying to teach him to do.
A clicker has a unique sound that most horses have not yet heard before.
It is also more consistent than using the human voice.
A clicker must be accompanied by a 'treat' or a food that the horse loves to eat.
Bring a treat that is convenient or practical and not something that's too big.
A treat that is delightful and fresh is very much recommended.
Some typical treats include: grains, carrots (small pieces), dry breakfast cereals, animal crackers, peppermints, hay stretchers and Valentine's sweetheart candies.
There are also commercial horse treats available in the market.
If possible, train your horse in a place where there's no other horses around because if the other horse is aggressive and tries to take the food away from your hands, the two animals may become distracted from the mission at hand.
Keep your treats properly sealed inside a zippered bag.
You can also place them inside your own pocket or vest if applicable.
Introduce the clicker to your horse.
Click then give a treat.
So whenever you make a click, the animal will get the idea that the click means "treat.
" The way to learn this is really simple - just click your clicker and then give a treat to your animal.
Do this several times and soon enough whenever you click, the animal will immediately look around expecting a treat.
Now, whenever the animal obeys your command or does the right trick then sound the click of your clicker.
This sound tells the animal that he did something good and that he's going to get a treat for doing such.
In addition, you can actually start by teaching the horse to touch a target or perform the nose-touch.
Target training is an easy way to know how quickly horses can be clicker trained.
A target can be in the form of a plastic empty bottle or anything that is easy for your horse to see and is easy to hold.
Grab the object near the horse's nose, make the click and treat the horse when it bumps the target.
Do this technique several times.
Overall it is really very important to keep every training session short.
Several quick sessions that last for about 10 minutes or shorter are ideal for this type of training.
In the same way that humans get bored with long talks, horses too find it boring to undergo prolonged clicker training sessions.
Thus, please be keen enough with the time you spend in training your horses.