This is a non-commercial, independent website, owned and written by Nancy Kerson, for the benefit of actual and potential adopters of BLM Mustangs and Burros and similar animals.
DVD or VHS (2-DVD or 2-VHS set) almost 3 hours of instruction!
$39.95 plus $5 shipping/handling = $44.95 total
Lesley Neuman: The First Touch Gentling Your Mustang $45.00
Lesley works with 3 wild horses at a BLM adoption, and very clearly explains what is happening, what she is doing, & what she sees in each horse as it progresses. Study this video and you can learn "pressure and release" gentling techniques to gentle your own new mustang!
Help for Burro adopters! Crystal Ward Donkey Training
All the basics of gentling, handling, and training. A MUST for new burro adopters! Good for domestic donkeys, too!
Clicker Training is a form of "operant conditioning" or "behavior modification" in which a horse learns to perform a set behavior, by being rewarded for correct response. Punishment is never used. The reward is withheld until the horse does the thing asked, but no punishment is issued if the horse does not respond correctly.
Clicker training was first developed for training dolphins and whales. It is now widely used for dogs and horses. Alexandra Kurland and Shawna Karrasch are some of the most well-known proponents of Clicker Training for horses. (See bottom of this page for links to their books) Because Clicker Training involves an immediate reward, many people report positive results using it to work with fearful horses.
Since there is a small lag between the time the horse responds correctly and the human's ability to produce the food reward, the SOUND of the CLICKER is used to instantly reinforce - via the clicker's unique sound - that this is the exact behavior being rewarded.
Similar "Positive Reinforcement" Training, but not exactly Clicker, is taught by Dr. Patricia Barlow-Irick. Here's a link to her book:
Before Clicker Training can be used for anything truly useful, you have to teach your horse, and yourself (it takes more coordination than you might think!) how it works.
This is done by training the horse to touch a target object. It helps at first to work with another person - one person holds the object and the other holds the clicker. Either one can hold the "reward" treats.
Here Michael and another LRTC member work with one of the Olympic Wild Horses
1. Show Target. Say "Touch It"
2. Horse Responds (perhaps randomly at first, but that's okay)
3. CLICK the clicker to emphasize that this is the desired response
4. REWARD: feed a carrot (or other treat)
Once this is mastered, you can go on to teaching useful things, like backing up, bowing, leading, lifting a foot, accepting a halter, standing to be brushed - really just about anything. Just break the task down into tiny parts, and teach each one before going to the next.
Here's a quick video showing a BLM Mustang who is being trained with clicker training. I don't know this person, just found the video and thought it was pretty interesting.
copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Nancy Kerson, all rights reserved - I'm happy to share, just need to be asked and have credit given where due.
Disclaimer: Horses are inherently dangerous. Use the information contained within this website at your own risk.
Clicker Training is a form of "operant conditioning" or "behavior modification" in which a horse learns to perform a set behavior, by being rewarded for correct response. Punishment is never used. The reward is withheld until the horse does the thing asked, but no punishment is issued if the horse does not respond correctly.
This is done by training the horse to touch a target object. It helps at first to work with another person - one person holds the object and the other holds the clicker. Either one can hold the "reward" treats.
