So the basis is the same. If the reward (reinforcer) is high value enough to the animal then the training is pretty straightforward. Placement of reward is key and timing is important too as are training mechanics etc etc.
I think Carats is pretty damn bright, he understands and figures things out very fast and for a horse that hasn't been clicker trained he is brilliant at problem solving and failure. I think personality helps a lot here, he is naturally quite brave and pushy on the ground and likes a challenge. According to his previous owners Jenni and then later on Gemma & Abigail he has always been 'cheeky'; escaping from fields, stables and stealing food, drinks and anything else he can play with. This natural curiosity help immensely with the clicker/ shaping work.
I do find that boundaries have to be upheld very clearly though, especially when you start working with food, however the same ideas of timeouts and negative punishment are again the same.
The video below shows Carats third clicker session on food manners (known to me as 'It's your choice'). I stand by Carats shoulder with the food pot, what he wants to do (and what he did on session one) is turn his body and shove his nose into the food. When he does this I simply cover the pot and/ or step backwards by his shoulder again. At first I rewarded any head movement away from me and built up to asking for head/ body alignment. I make sure I ALLOW him to make the choice, I don't want to tell him off for mugging, I want him to choose a more desirable behaviour. You can see in this video he is mugging very little and for anyone who knows Carats knows what a PIGLET he is! I also vary my body position on either side so he can generalise the rule.
We are starting target behaviours and also a stand still rule so will try and get some video of this too. Enjoying the challenges that my boy is giving me! Clever boy Carats x
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