A Sappy but Powerful Experiment

Here’s a fun little exercise I did with DaVinci. I was patting his neck and admiring his beauty. Part of me was wishing he’d hurry up and get over his deep-seated fears of things that sound weird, things that smell weird, things that move fast, things that move suddenly, things that are in the wrong place, people who he doesn’t recognize, people who sound weird, people who smell weird, people who move fast and so on and so on.

Things to Smile About

Many thanks to my friends in cyberspace that sent me these two videos and a funny little story.

The videos demonstrate creative, attraction-based ways to encourage humans to get exercise and be responsible.

And a little story demonstrating a not so attraction-based sentiment:

A cowboy and his wife had just got married and found a nice hotel for their wedding night. The man approached the front desk and asked for a room.

He said, “We’re on our honeymoon and we need a nice room with a good strong bed.”

The clerk winked, “You want the Bridal?”

The cowboy reflected on this for a moment and then replied, “Nope, I reckon not. I’ll just hold onto her ears until she gets used to it.”

For me this was like a two for one. Not only was it a nice play on words, it was also a great example of habituation for both horse and human.

Cheryl

Whoops and Mutual Operant Conditioning

I just received a comment from a very insightful and great proofreader that the Animal Management Resources blog that I was so excited about, hasn’t had a post since early 2008.

That little tidbit of information completely explains why I couldn’t connect to their members blog page. Silly me, I just thought my computer was having issues again.

If anyone knows of any such blog or similar resource where there is an inter-species positive reinforcement forum, please let me know.

Until then, I’m finding that many of the resources pertaining to zoo animal handling to be very informative. Especially when its core is based on mutual operant conditioning. Here’s Wikipedia’s description:

Mutual Operant Conditioning is the relationship between an animal owner or trainer that turns to the exclusive benefit of the animal rather than the trainer. Marine biologists have mentioned that they often feel they are the trainees rather than the trainer.

I completely love that the focus is on the benefit of the animal rather than the trainer. This has to be why this type of operant conditioning works so well for medical treatment of zoo animals.

I’m in awe each time I read about zoo animals being trained to voluntarily stand still to have blood drawn. No cross ties, no shanking, no yelling. Just a wild animal offering up it’s body to be poked by a needle.

If these are the things that can be accomplished with wild animals using mutual operant conditioning, I’m really excited to see what can happen with our domestic horses.

I offer my apologies for posting out dated information

Cheryl

R+ Trainers Unite

I’ve just been inspired by a comment from Mary Hunter (Stale Cheerios). She mentioned the fantastic idea of having a group of Positive Reinforcement Trainers from all walks of life, aquariums to aviaries, to paddocks and living rooms, come together and share their experiences. With the click of my mouse, I found this site Animal Management Resources. Here’s how they describe themselves.

NutriBit For the New Year

I can barely contain my excitement. There is a new product on the market that feels to me like a direct answer to a prayer. My prayer was, “How can I make a seamless transition from ground work to under saddle using attraction-based methods?” Before I tell you about this new product, I feel the need to explain why I’m so enthused, even before trying it.

The Practice of Appreciation

I’ve been told and have read that successful positive reinforcement training (or attraction-based work or clicker training) is both an art and a science. It certainly helps to observe, as an artist with a trained eye would, the subtle nuances of your horse’s behavior. And the knowledge of science can shed light on the ins-and-outs of operant conditioning. I’d like to add a third category that compliments both the art and the science: appreciation.

New Paintings Now Online

New paintings are now available on the Art Gallery page, created with DaVinci and Juliet. As we were creating these paintings, something occurred to me. Ever since my realization with DaVinci about the importance of communion–the act or instance of sharing–our painting sessions have taken on a new tone.

Teaching a Horse to Target

All this talk of attraction and why targeting works so well and I haven’t explained how to target. The process is a weird combination of being technical and observant. There are a few rules for the human to follow, but the rest is simply watching your horse to gauge his interest. For me, the moment is absolutely magical when I see a horse’s eyes widen, his ears perk forward and I feel him say, This is great game. I know how to play it and I’m good at it. Let’s play again!

New Paintings

Just a quick note to let you know the horses and I will be painting tomorrow.  I’m planning to post the new 11×14 paintings on the Art Gallery page by the end of this week (Dec. 11/12).

‘Tis the season!

Cheryl

“Good Become Normal” Videos on Sources other than YouTube

Wow. I just found out that not every country has access to YouTube. In response to that, Mary from stalecheerios.com so graciously added a list of “Good Becoming Normal” videos from Vimeo. Thank you Mary!

Mary wrote: “I have some videos there and I know a few others have some clicker training videos. Not as many there as on youtube, though, unfortunately.

Here is my Nika learning the parelli friendly game at liberty:

And some others of me clicker training some of our horses:

http://vimeo.com/user2366019

Here is a video I love of a very creative horse playing with cones and rings: http://vimeo.com/258735

Judy Ryder has quite a few videos on vimeo:

http://vimeo.com/iceryder

As does Leslie Pavlich:
http://vimeo.com/user401552 http://vimeo.com/user556201

Search the site for “clicker horse” or “clicker training horse” and there are several other users with videos as well.”

Courtesy of the amazing Mary H.

http://stalecheerios.com/blog

Yay!
Cheryl

More “Good Becoming Normal” Videos

In my ongoing quest to find and share examples of attraction-based training I found these two clicker trainers.

This trainer has 19 amazing videos on her YouTube channel. I love the videos teaching her horse to do belly crunches. A valuable exercise for any horse. http://www.youtube.com/user/AVotreSante2008#p/u

This trainer has a whopping 136 videos of wonderful videos sure to make you smile and say wow. http://www.youtube.com/user/Lucy04574#p/u

Enjoy!
Cheryl

Random Acts of Scritchy-Scratch

There’s a mantra in the field of sales that says, People don’t care what you know until they know that you care. DaVinci, my post traumatic stress gelding, has caused me to tweak that saying to fit his point of view — DaVinci doesn’t want to interact with me until he knows that I care. Which leads me to a question. How do you show a horse that you care?

The Gift of “Good Becoming Normal”

‘Tis the season of giving and I found a few gifts online in the form of awesome websites. The first is a dog training website chock full of phenomenal training information. It’s called Dogmantics. If I could snap my fingers and fast forward into the future I would love to provide a resource like this for horses.

My First Official Clyde Ride

I’ve just descended from the back of my lofty, three-and-a-half-year-old Clydesdale gelding. I can’t seem to wipe the smile from my face. This was our very first trail ride, his very first time leaving the safety and security of his pasture under saddle, and my very first time riding a horse of this magnitude on the road.

My Monthly Column on Going Gaited Magazine

I thought you might like to take a gander at my latest musings about attraction-based training in December’s issue of Going Gaited Magazine. Not only do I write about attraction-based horse training, I also include a bit about moth and kitten training. Fun stuff for sure! And a really great magazine.

Enjoy,
Cheryl

Art for Sale

After a year’s hiatus from painting, we’re back. I had been creating paintings with Romeo since 2004. As I added horses to my herd, each learned to paint. We all painted happily for several years together. But after a while, I thought that we all might need a break from painting. It turns out I was wrong.

For Every Action there is an Equal and Opposite Reaction

Here’s a video showing exactly why I’m in favor of force-free, pressure-free, joyful, attraction-based interaction that feels good for both horse and human.

Note the angry face on human. Note the angry response from the horse. I think it’s safe to assume most horses don’t like pushing, jabbing, shoving, smacking gestures as means of communication. And here we have a horse that took the bull by the horns, or the human by the hair and said, enough.

I lump this video into the category of “Don’t Give Your Horse a Reason for Bad Behavior.”

It’s my sincere hope that there were no injuries and this young force-full horse handler may experience the beauty and simplicity of attraction-based work with horses. I have a sneaking feeling she’ll be a fan of helmets.

-cw

Guess What?

What?
There is a new fantastic magazine online called Going Gaited.

Who?
The talented editors Tracey Buckalew and Teri Overbey have conspired to create a fabulous resource for gaited horse enthusiasts.

Why?
One visit and you’ll know why.

The Force of the Treat Pouch

Here’s a comment I received from Ulrika in Sweden in regards to attraction-based training.

“Thank you! GOOD name for a NEW way of using the force of the treatbag…ie without force.”

It got me thinking about a very important relationship that I’ve taken for granted until now. And that is the one I share with my treat pouch. I swear, if an alien landed in my pasture and saw me working with my horse, no doubt they’d probably think I was of the marsupial family.

Bad Becoming Normal

‘Bad becoming normal’ is simply the concept that when something bad happens within an environment, gradually but prolifically, it becomes perceived as “normal.” Unless you approach the situation from a clean perspective, you don’t notice it. The conditions worsen slowly over time and no one notices the change.
- Shanyn Silinski with Dr. Temple Grandin & Dr. Bill Muir

After I read about this concept of bad becoming normal my thoughts immediately began pondering the current state of whack’em, smack’em horsemanship. It’s not only become normal to whack, slap, stomp, shush, wave horses into obedience it’s what’s expected.