#CHCSophie

What to do when your horse is afraid of the target? And how to double dip to make the most of your training time by doing it with tack on too.
#OTTB Sophie has shown fear of the target and long things on sticks such as the manure fork, lunge whip, long target sticks etc. When presented with a long target she often jumps or startles when the clicker goes off, showing a level of anxiety that isn’t always apparent from her expression and body language despite being well versed in the clicker as a bridge in other contexts and even being over excited by it at times.
Here, I
-chose a short target stick and keep my hand near the target to make the stick part appear even shorter
-have another horse she likes nearby (I didn’t anticipate the teasing, oops but she made a great recovery and brought her attention back to me without any interference on my part or having to remove the gelding)
-provide an alternate food source
-use a context in which she has been consistently rewarded on previous occasions
-have her at liberty so it’s totally up to her if she wants to play or leave
Having the tack on while she’s being rewarded for other behaviors accomplishes 2 things. It provides a positive association to wearing the tack and habituation.
Notice that when I lengthen the target just a little she chooses to touch my and first before making the decision to touch the target. Interesting…
Lovely to see her leaving food on the ground to engage in the touch game.
Also, great to see her comfy enough to eat off the ground because this has been historically difficult for her.
Want to know more about Compassionate Horse Click Style Training opportunities:
-including online course and coaching to deepen your relationship with your horse (OTTB or other),
-enhance your own skills or help your horse learn to think,
-problem solve and enjoy learning while shortening learning curves
-and kindly and positively creating results that will serve you and your horse well?
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#positivereinforcementhorsetraining #clickertraininghorses #trainingwithtrust