On "Clicker" Training

I accidentally published this post last night, but I really wanted to save it as a draft.  I was just about to leave work when the post caught my eye, and I intended to explore it further when I had more time.  So, apologies for those left confused!

On to the discussin - I'd love to have any input from my readers.

Last night, I stumbled across this blog post, when I was googling some horse-related clicker training.  I've been a fan of clicker training ever since I was introduced to it working as a dog trainer (at the most intelligent of chain pet stores).  The concept of marking a behavior is nothing new to animal training, and a clicker seems to be the quickest, most consistent marker there is - if it's used right.

"Ask nicely, Mr. Pockets!"

In some of my down time with Gali, I've clicker trained him to do a few things. If you put your hand out and say "Nice to meet you!", he'll extend his hoof for you to shake.  He's learned to target frisbees for a click, and if I had time, I'd turn that targeting into 'fetch'.  When I worked with the clicker more consistantly, he'd walk up and touch my hand when I extended it and said "Come in!" in the field - Katie does this, too.  It's always fun to teach a horse tricks, and with my not-that-smart Galahad, the clicker was the easiest way to do it.

Getting rewarded for asking nicely.

I've used the clicker for behavior, too.  When Gali began to expect treats and get lippy from being hand fed, I used the clicker to teach him to ask nicely for treats.  He does this consistently now, by turning his head to the side and waiting for the treat to come to him, when he's pointed at and told to "ask nicely!".  He also knows "leave it" and "don't interrupt!" when he's searching pockets or being impatient when he's on a lead line and I'm talking to someone.

If I had more time to spend with him, I'd teach him more and I'd use the clicker to reinforce ground behavior that I want from him.

However, this blog post seems to paint clicker training as a terrible and dangerous idea.  The author that with clicker training, you're treating your horse like a bad dog - "a food motivated animal, who has no true respect for you, only an expectation of treats." and then sarcastically adds "BONUS! If you have a gelding, your “special” clicker training relationship may also include erections every time you “work” with him".

I'll refute that last point right away - I've known several geldings who were nothing but pets to their owners and got a bag of apples or carrots a day, and even though they were the most overly-treated animals I've ever known, none of them ever got hard at the crinkling of a plastic bag.  To suggest that would happen is anectdoal at best, and stupid at worst.

What the author assumes happens when you click train.

But on to the creating a "food motivated animal" with "no true respect" for its handler - I'll also disagree.  The principle of clicker training isn't treats for everything all the time - it's mark a behavior so the horse understands what it is rewarded for.  In a successfully clicker trained horse, the click itself is the reward - and that can be supplemented by treats if the owner desires.  The goal of most clicker training, though, is to reduce or eliminate the need for constant treats!

In CT, when you "load" the clicker, all you have to do is create a positive association with the click sound.  Sure, the easiest way to do this with most horses is to treat load, meaning spend a few minutes a day clicking and treating until the horse understands that the click means something good is going to happen, but you can definitely load the clicker with "good boy!", scratches, and pats.  Even with a treat loaded animal, once they understand click = good, the reward for all future sessions can be reduced to praise, and the horses will seek it out soon enough.

The clicker has definite uses in behavior training as well as trick training.  I'm planning on re-introducing the clicker to my routine with Gali to address two issues we've been having - his excessive reaction to being girthed and his spookiness in certain corners of the ring and the track.  Regarding the girthiness, he has no medical reason for complaining, he's just a grump in the barn.  I'm going to begin clicking for the moments he stops fussing while I tighten and play with his girth and saddle, and hopefully by rewarding the behavior I want and ignoring the behavior I'd like to eliminate, we'll see some progress.  That is basic behavior conditioning, after all.  The clicker is just a tool to expedite the process.

For his spookiness, I have two plans.  I'm going to use the clicker to reinforce his one-installed head down command, to use on moments where he tenses up and tries to flee from a situation he sees as scary.  I am just trying to narrow down what cue I'd like to use - probably a light whip tap on his shoulder, because that's distinctly something I'd use for "head down" and nothing else.  I'm also going to use the click to encourage him exploring scary things - a nose touch of a scary lawn chair or steps towards the Tree Shed will get a click and praise.

He'll never excel in any athletic discipline.  Obviously.

The blog post claims that "a clicker trained horse is not going to excel in any athletic discipline."  I'm going to have to completely disagree here - even if I was just using the clicker to teach Gali circus tricks, I don't see any correlation between being able to fetch and not being able to leg yield.

Another point made by the author: "a clicker trained horse is not going to be a truly safe horse; the clicker trained horse is conditioned to do tricks for treats" - again, I could not disagree more.  An unsafe horse is one that does not understand what it is allowed to do.  Clicker training - treat based or not - can be used to create a safe horse.  Take my example on bomproofing (okay, okay, maybe more like poprocks proofing) Gali.  If you really think there is any other way to de-spook my Percheron-bodied Thoroughbred-brained 16 year old  besides exposing him to scary things and rewarding him for not freaking out about them, I'd really like to hear it.  Again, the clicker just facilitates the training process.


"With clicker training, you would wind up with a horse who will not only take your hand off, but who will also become severely aggressive with absolutely no respect for people. Because with clicker training, horses never, ever receive negative reinforcement (only “positive”, treat based reinforcement – the basis of clicker training), the “win-win relationship” coined by many clicker “trainers” would turn this once inquisitive horse into 1200 pounds of disrespect."

He's so disrespectful, he's actually trying to trample me.

This article finishes off as it started - reading like a poorly cited high school research paper written in the Study Hall before its deadline.  Every single horse who is clicker trained is going to become a disrespectful monster?  Gali is proof that that is not the case - his "ask nicely" command has actually significantly reduced his lippy, treat-demaning behavior that he acquired years ago, as a result of being overtreated.

And, it may be nitpicking here, but the author has her psychology mixed up.  Negative reinforcement, well, strengths a behavior.  Horse paws for attention, owner smacks horse, horse thinks "Oh!  Attention! Pawing works!".  I believe the term the author was looking for was "negative punishment", which sounds oh so scary and pretty much like you're beating your subject, but in reality, "negative punishment" is what is suggested in clicker training.  By only clicking for desired behaviors and ignoring - a form of punishment - the negative behavior, the negative behavior will be weakened or eliminated.  Psychology 101 - I apologize for the soapbox there.

So - that's my piece.  I believe in clicker training not just horses, but dogs, too - and not just to form a lovey-dovey relationship, like the blog post author assumes.  I like clicker training because it makes the training I'd be doing anyway quicker and easier.

What do you guys think?