I got a late Christmas present. A GoPro!! Yay! So of course I had to go home and test it out... sadly I got out of work late and it was getting dark and I forgot to set it to low light mode so the pictures are blurry. I can't wait to try it out during the day. :D
It actually got over thirty degrees today so I was planning to ride anyway. Chrome was great (which is awesome considering he and Zep were being nutso right before I went out to get him)! I saddled up and just walked around for almost fifteen minutes and then I decided to work on having him yield his haunches to my leg in the other direction from last time.
I tried not to tilt his head too far to the left (about the 10 o'clock position) while asking him with my leg. I tried just pressing with my leg behind the girth and when that didn't get much of a response (it worked once then he ignored it) I started bumping my leg. He kept trying to walk forward or backward and was generally just confused. He was moving his haunches right, but he was also moving his shoulders left... so spinning kind of.
Finally he stepped his haunches over without moving his front legs so I told hubby to give him a piece of sugar (hubby was standing in front of us to block Chrome from going forward and he had snitched some of my sugar cubes....). Hubby gave him sugar while I praised him. Then I asked again............ Chrome stepped his haunches over immediately with a light leg cue!!!!!!!! Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke I asked two more times and he did it perfectly! You can so tell this horse was clicker trained. When he doesn't understand something we both end up frustrated. When he knows exactly what he did right he does it perfectly and catches on so quickly. I have to start using the clicker again (so he doesn't start mugging and because it works). I was amazed at how he immediately understood what he was supposed to be doing.
Before I asked hubby to give him the sugar I was releasing the reins for correct guesses, but I don't think I was consistent. Sometimes I wouldn't release quick enough and sometimes I would release the cues accidentally for a wrong response, so it's really understandable that he was confused. When he did it correctly and got a clear reward he finally understood what it was that I wanted. So it's not like he was holding out for treats (he didn't even know hubby had them) or anything like that. If I'd given a clear release and reward without treats I probably would have gotten the same response. Let's face it though, he's very food motivated so I definitely get faster results using clicker training. So yeah this totally has me convinced to start using the clicker again. It's something he understands and something we both enjoy. :D
I also forgot to mention that the sugar cubes are helping with bitting. I've posted a video before of how amazing he used to be to bridle, but after he banged his teeth a few times by accident he got very resistant to taking the bit. He was throwing his head in the air and backing away from me (there is nothing wrong with his teeth, but it hurts when you accidentally bang metal against your teeth). Now he's slowly getting back to how he was before with the help of sugar cubes. I'm giving him one cube before the bit, putting the bridle on and then giving him another one. Since he's being cooperative he's not banging his teeth anymore so hopefully with that and the positive association of sugar cubes we can get back to our awesome bridling that we used to do. :)
The ride was only fifteen minutes and .25 miles. I used Endomondo and although I looked at it when I dismounted I forgot to hit pause so I didn't bother taking a screenshot. I'm glad I at least looked at it hehe.
What a clever clogs he is, I must check back to your posts on clicker training. It is something I have never tried but deff want to look into!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun! It really is like speaking the same language instead with the horse!! Here is the direct label link to my clicker training posts. http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com/search/label/Clicker%20Training I love clicker training. I don't know why I stopped using it (probably because feeding treats from the saddle is awkward). I really need to get back to it!
DeleteThanks, I hadn't yet discovered your blog journey when you started clicker training. So i am looking forward to catching up by reading those posts ☺
DeleteReleasing the pressure for the wrong response is a problem that I have, because when a horse begins to panic I automatically loosen all restraints so they don't feel trapped. Clicker training and treats does sound like a good way to get around that.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the GoPro camera. The two biggest problems I have had with it are keeping the casing at a level that gets just the right amount of earth and sky in frame, and pressing the shutter release hard enough to take pictures. There have been times when I set the timer up to take a picture every 60 seconds, but the camera never turned on when I pressed the button, so now I try to remember to press the button before putting my helmet on so that I can actually see the timer counting down. If I forget and mount, I just keep pressing the button every once in a while knowing I will at least get a few manual shots. Also, sometimes the lens casing gets smudged on the inside or out and it shows up in the pictures.
I originally tightened down the casing to consistently get the frame I wanted, but then the sun got so low in the sky that I started tilting it down more to avoid sun flare and sun spots in the pictures. By constantly adjusting the casing, I loosened it and it began flopping all the way down and getting pictures of my belly. Ha ha.
I was hoping you would chime in and share some tips with me!! Thank you!!! I definitely clicked the button before putting my helmet on. When I try to do it manually I always forget which button takes the picture and which changes the mode. Then I forget which one turns it on and off hehe. I'll figure it out with more practice. :) Thank you for the help! I'll definitely watch out for the smudges and the loosening thing.
Deleteomg i LOVE go pros!! super excited to see your footage!! and yea, softening as a reward is super difficult for me bc my timing pretty much stinks... but good to know Chrome is so tuned in to it!
ReplyDeleteHehe yeah I think it's a good thing... maybe... with my poor timing and lack of consistency it might be a bad thing. That's one thing I love about clicker training though because even if my timing is off it doesn't hurt anything like it can with traditional pressure/release type training. It really is a good thing that he's such a laid back, forgiving guy. :)
DeleteI really, really need to look into clicker training for Red. I feel like he could actually do well with it and I'd love to teach him a few things.
ReplyDeleteOoooh! GoPro in your hands means exciting stuff for future blog entries! Can't wait to see what you get on future rides :)
ReplyDelete