>>>>Oooh yeah! I'm not arguing that it works. What worries me more is when the horse not only learns to (in your example) pick up the feet, but suddenly wants to pick up his/her feet anytime you look at them, or when you need to bandage a leg or check a pulse. I think sometimes people get swept up by the quick results, and don't think enough about where it's going. And they don't think enough of their "exit strategy" - how to migrate the clicker training to other training.
Karen Thomas<<<<<< Those are all good questions Karen is asking, but they've been addressed over the years and there are valid solutions to all of them. Regarding foot pick-up- Once they understand you're asking them to pick-up a foot, that's when you add stimulus control (a cue). You touch a leg in a certain place or say a certain word, or both. The horse only hears a click and gets a reward when you have asked the horse to respond, not if he offers on his own. Once the horse has learned the behavior and it's on cue, you can fade the clicker out or occaisionally click to keep it interesting, and go on to training something new. It's like any other form of training. Start with baby steps. Then gradually up the criteria. The horse has to do whatever you're asking for a longer time or in a better way. Clicker training piggy-backs well to just about any other training system. Training is a creative process. Everyone will do things a bit differently. You wouldn't just start doing Parelli or Clinton anderson or any training method without learning the steps. Same for clicker training. If someone is uncomfortable with clicker training (or any training method), they won't be successful. _ Cherie
