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from Livanne33

from Hannahxx in Australia

from Lily5

EagleGirl's Clicker Club Training Column

In the last column we talked about teaching your pony to fetch. This week we are going to finish going over the steps. For the purposes of writing, we will assume you are using a rope bone, like the one I use with my Welsh mule. But you can use whatever sort of toy you and your pony both enjoy. I will use the word "bone", but you get the idea.

If you missed last issue's column, take a minute to go here and scroll down to the Clicker Column.

Once your pony is consistently picking up the bone and giving it to you, it is time to move on. You want your pony to eventually go wherever the bone ends up, pick it up, and bring it back to you. You actually have a choice here in regards to the order in which you do the steps. I will go over the way I taught my mule, but you can certainly swap the steps out if you wish. To do it the way I did, you will start out with dropping the bone in front of your pony, but when he puts his head down to pick it up you take a step AWAY from him, towards the side. The idea here is to move in such a way that your pony has to turn his head in order to give you the bone. You can alternate between left and right. Once he is turning his head, you will want to take another step away so that he has to take a step in order to give you the bone. You can work in stepping back so he has to take a step forward. Keep working in this way until he will bring you the bone no matter where you are standing.

Once you have this down you can proceed to the next step, which is dropping the bone where your pony has to move towards it. Some people call this step "send". Then you will click for his moving towards it. Here is where your observation skills and the relationship you have built with your pony come into play. You may KNOW that your pony will not only move towards it, but will pick it up. So, if you KNOW this, then just wait until he picks it up before you click. If YOU know this, but your pony turns out to not know it, then just pick up the bone and drop it again. Only this time click for any movement towards the bone. Remember, any time your pony isn't "getting it", just back up to the last place he was successful, and move from there. Be patient, and gradually increase the distance between your pony and where you drop the bone.

You will need to teach "give" if you haven't already backchained the behavior and taught it during earlier steps. My mule seems to enjoy holding on to the bone, and on several occasions has attempted to play tug o' war. I didn't cooperate though, so he finally gave that up. To teach "give" you will reach out and take hold of the bone. Do NOT pull it! This will encourage the tug o' war response. You may, however, put just a little pressure on it, or wiggle it ever so slightly. Hold it, and say, "Give". Wait, repeating the voice cue if necessary, and as soon as he loosens his hold on the bone, click! If he hasn't released it by the time you offer the treat, he will when you hold out the treat. Continue with this, eventually waiting to click until he completely releases the bone. Click the instant he lets go, and offer a jackpot!

Some people merely reach out and take the bone, as I do, and others like to teach their equines to drop the bone into their hands. Since I did not teach this, I do not have first-hand experience with it. But if you have come this far, go ahead and teach "give" as previously outlined, then work on holding your hand out, palm up, under your pony's mouth. Say, "Give", and click at the slightest indication that he is loosening his hold on the bone. He will probably drop it as soon as he hears the click, since he can't get a treat with a bone in his mouth! Continue to work until he is dropping the bone in your hand when you say, "Give". I personally prefer grasping the bone and asking for release, as I feel there is less chance of dropping it. However, if you do drop it, just have your pony pick it up again. He probably will do this without your directing him to.

Continue to observe your pony, and he will tell you what he needs to work on. It won't be long before you have a pony that will go to the bone, pick it up, bring it back to you, and ENJOY the whole process! Remember to use a jackpot treat when he accomplishes a step that is really important or that was a bit difficult for him.

Once you have completed all these steps, you are ready to have fun and come up with all sorts of entertaining variations. You can toss the bone on the other side of a log, just under the corral fence so he has to reach for it, inside a bucket, in the crook of a tree (within his reach, of course) . . . Use your imagination. You can even work on having him go over, around, or through obstacles to fetch the bone. Be sure to write in to the Clicker Club and let us know how you are doing and what you come up with! And don't forget to take pictures so you can send them in to the Wiggins Weekly!

My Welsh mule completed all the steps of the Challenge by Day 19. He did complete retrieves - going to the bone, picking it up, bringing it back to me, and giving it to me. We kept "playing" and we took our official Challenge Video on Day 29. On this day he not only retrieved the bone from quite a distance, he also went up a dirt hill to get it, and he brought it to Nat2 when she tossed it. I was very pleased that he was able to figure out that he needed to take the bone to the person who threw it! At the end of the video you will see that he took it upon himself to announce that it was dinner time; he walked over to his bucket and stood expectantly. My husband stopped taping at that point, but I asked my mule to fetch one more time. I wanted to be sure that stopping was MY idea, not his. He willingly fetched the one one more time, then he got his dinner! I was very proud of him, as we were out working way past his usual dinner time, so he was doing well to play at all.

Now, if your pony, like my Appaloosa mule, simply does NOT enjoy fetching, then by all means let him do something else. Before you stop, though, be sure to try out different toys and different places to work, as well as different times of day. I am planning to let my Appy try again, but I will follow my own suggestions. If she still doesn't enjoy it, there is no reason to require her to keep at it. Just like people, equines have things they simply do not like or are not suited to do, and if it's not necessary then why force her to keep at it? If, after trying all sorts of options, your pony doesn't enjoy fetching, there are lots of other things you can do. We'll talk about some of those in another column.

Keep on working, and you will be amazed and impressed at what you and your pony can do with a clicker, some treats, lots of patience and love, and your imagination!

Until then, happy clicking!
EagleGirl

Harley the Horse Cartoon
by Nat2

Q. I have a pony that bites! He does it to me, he does it to other horses, he even tries to bite my dog. What do I do?

Well first off your pony doesn't have respect for you, other horses and your dog. Your horse dosen't respect your, the other horses and your dogs space. You need to get him to respect you by respecting your space. Space is always something your horse/pony should respect but you should also respect his space. Don't be scared to go near him as that can make them try to bite to. At my barn we have this mare and if you act scared near her she tries to bite. If you go confidently towards them and show you are no threat to them then they will respect you and your space and not try to bite. If that doesn't work and he still tries to bite then when leading him around make sure he stays at the distance you want him to be at. if he comes to forwards or out of that distance stop and wither back him up back to that distance or push him over. to back him up use either your fist or two fingers and push near the area between his shoulder blade and his chest. He should back up. To move him over to the side use your and and push his hindquarters while saying 'over' then push his shoulder and say 'over' eventually he should gain respect for your space. To stop him from biting over horses i suggest keeping him away from them and the same for your dog keep them away and let him gain your respect first before gaining respect with other horses and dogs. Everything starts with something so check to see if he had a bad past or if anything is uncomfortable to him. If you ride him check that his tack isn't nipping any of his skin. Check his rugs aren't nipping him. when you groom him check his expression as you brush certain parts of his body. Ask your vet to see if anything could be causing problems or if its just a bad habit.

CPP Editor note--
Cesca's opinions and advice are her own and not the responsibility of Club Pony Pals.

Breed Profiles Section by pp2

Welsh Mountain Pony

Color
Every color but spotted coats like pinto or Appaloosa

Height Range
13 to 15 hands high

Temperament

Gentle, trusting and willing

 Distinguishing features
Hardy and sure-footed

Country of origin
Wales

What are they used for
Driving, Eventing, and Endurance

Are They Suitable for Their Jobs?
Yes they are

Famous Welsh Mountain Ponies:
Tilly’s Tail

Shetland Ponies

Color
Shetlands can be skewbald, piebald, black, chestnut, bay, brown, gray, palomino, dun, roan, cremello, and silver dapple.

Height Range
7 to 10.2 hands high

Temperament

They are sometimes spoiled because they are often called cute, but if trained properly they are a great mount for children

Distinguishing features
Strong, Intelligent, Small Size

Country of origin
Shetland Islands

What are they used for
Riding in shows and pulling carriages

Are They Suitable for Their Jobs?
Yes they are

Famous Shetlands
Hollywood Dazzle was a ten-time Grand National Champion Modern Formal Pleasure Driving Pony.

JT’s Sprinkles on Top was a champion classic halter stallion and won multiple national championships in driving and CDE competitions.

Connemara Pony

Color
Gray, bay, dun, and brown,  Sometimes roans, chestnuts, blacks, or palominos occur.  

Height Range
13 to 15 hands high

Temperament

Gentle, trusting and willing 

Distinguishing features
Hardy and sure-footed 

Country of origin
Ireland 

What are they used for
Driving, Eventing, and Endurance 

Are They Suitable for Their Jobs?
Yes they are

 Famous Connemaras 

Member Photo Gallery

from keely feeding squirrels

from horselover971

My user name is horselover971and the pony's name is King Arther. He is a quarter pony with a blonde mane and tail. He has blue eyes and black stockings on his legs. The stables I ride at has over 35 ponies that live there.

from Haily Horse

from AlexandraAlways

These are some pictures from my betta fish`s here at home. The red one came from a bad petshop and died of swamp-infection. The blue one with a sharkfin on the back was sold to my friend, and the great blue one with the tag-fins is my newest sweetie called Jerry. Hes color is called "Royal Blue" and his fins are called "Crowntail"

 

Member Art Gallery

by AlexandraAlways

by Haily Horse

by pp2 for fluffyandfurry

 

by anniepk

 

Dear Pony Pals Send in your photos, stories and drawings for our contests. e-mail them to Contests@ClubPonyPals.com or mail it to: Club Pony Pals 16654 Soledad Canyon Road #382 Canyon Country, CA 91387 USA If you want a bookmark make sure and include a mailing address where we can send it. Please include your user name and the email address you used to register in your letter, too. Webmaster

 

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Pony Pal Thoughts for the Day:

" Riding a horse is borrowing freedom. That's why your horse bucks, refuses a jump or is stubborn in the arena - to remind you that his freedom repayment (a.k.a. carrots) is overdue."
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____________________

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~ AlexandraAlways

_______________________

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