Hi everyone, am kinda new to this site, but was just looking for a bit of advice as I have a bit of a dilemma, which is good and kinda bad, here goes…

I have been clicker training my rescued youngster since I got him 1 year ago and he is now 3 ½ and has done so well with his training. I had a bit of a break from training him over the winter and during this time the only thing I asked of him, was to have his feet trimmed, which was only his 4th visit, but was perfect for the farrier!

On the weekend I bought him another gym ball as during the summer we went through so many as he kept popping them! As soon as he saw the ball he cantered over and started kicking it around and after I had arranged myself, I started rewarding each kick.. not asking for anything more than just kicking it and following it.

After a while I started to kick it further away from him to get him to walk after it.. he did and then he would walk back to me to get the treat.. he then got really excited and started trotting after it and then as I kicked it further he started to get really really excited and started cantering after it.. I thought it was great and so did the passes by but.. he then got so excited he started charging after the ball, bucking, farting and throwing his head around… at one point he fly bucked straight passed me after the ball and then did a capriole when he got to the ball! I then thought that we had better do some calming exercises which as soon as I asked him to stand, he did and then I asked him to put his head down and he did.. we then went on to doing our other calming exercises and finished off on a calm note! I was amazed as I hadn’t done any clicker training with him for ages and he remembered everything, but was much more enthusiastic about everything!

He is a MW gypsy cob and and lives out in my humble herd of 4 with a 2 year old Shetland and my two oldies. They all play together and I have spent a lot of time watching them and have noticed that on some days all the two youngsters do is play.. it is great to watch.. shetland vs big cob! So, it is not as if he is deprived of social contact and play with his own kind… just a playful youngster!

So.. my dilemma now is that he is very excited when I do clicker training and he just wants to play and buck and canter around.. which is great and I am really pleased he is enjoying training.. but I want to kinda shape this so he does it at a safe distance from me so I don’t end up hurt in the middle of his playing. I was also thinking about using this play as a reward… i.e. like a dog.. ask him to do something before I throw the ball (lol, it sounds like I am training my puppy!)..

I was thinking about some sort of exercise I could do with him to allow him to release all his energy and need to play at the same time as being kinda controlled so no-one gets hurt! People tell me he needs to be lunged and I am adamant I will not do this as I want to use this play to bring out the creativity in him and get him doing great things..

If anyone has any ideas of how I can do this, I would be really grateful!

Laura

x

HI Laura! Only me! His response is due to a bit of complicated (or at least I think it is!) physiology. Heather will be able to help you with this. I think its called active feed foraging and is due to a release of ACTH. Very similar to a stress response, in fact I think it is the same! But good stress instead of bad stress. Ohh I'm soo technical!

Anyway back to the practicalities of staying safe. I guess cunningly placed barrels will help. Or perhaps training a calm behaviour inbetween bouts of excitement so that you don't have him galloping towards you full pelt for his treat.
Change the reinforcement schedule?

Hmmm, need to think about this one....

Lucy.

Hi Lucy, long time no speak.. how are you?

Physiology…hmm… I have only just done EBQ 2 so still have another module to do before I delve into this module! But I see what you are saying and as long as the release of ACTH is a good thing.. then I am happy with this.. just have to wait until the summer for mod 4 to understand it! :o)

So… I could perhaps use a barrier in case he does buck after the ball.. and then perhaps after he kicks it and comes back for the treat I could ask him to do something when he comes back to me.. i.e. put his head down.. ?? or would this confuse him?

Any other ideas would be really helpful!

Laura, e-mail me sometime.
lucy@equinesynergy.freeserve.co.uk
Will think some more about your little 'un. The only problem that you may have is that you can classically condition this excited response, I understand it can be difficult to get rid of. So I guess you don't want to train these excited responses at the cost of the calm ones! I think that was the question you asked wasn't it?
Comes back to Ross's triangle again, train the calm before you train the movement....sorry thinking out loud....
Lucy.