Alexandra Kurland

Goat Diaries: Clicker Training Begins

I’ve just posted a new Goat Diaries entry. You can read it at: https://theclickercenterblog.com/2017/10/26/

Enjoy!

Posts from October 26, 2017 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on October 26, 2017

It's now easier to sign up for Alexandra Kurland's updates.

Here's the 2017 clinic and conference schedule! Hope to see you!

http://www.theclickercenter.com/ClinicSchedule.html

ClinicSchedule Clinic schedule for 2011 for Alexandra Kurland

To love a horse... (Peregrine has left us, and Panda needs your help.)

https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/12/17/

Posts from December 17, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on December 17, 2016

Posts from August 17, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on August 17, 2016

Hi Everyone,

I’m taking advantage of a few days at home and some very hot weather to catch up a bit with my JOYFull Horses posts. I originally thought I’d have the book completely published by April. Hah! Not on my crazy schedule!

In yesterday's post (June 26, 2016) I described how I taught Peregrine to line himself up to a mounting block. Today’s post continues this section on cue communication by looking in more detail at the “Capture the Saddle” lesson.

To read the post go to: https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/07/27/

Enjoy!

Posts from July 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on July 27, 2016

Treat Training Horses While Riding Our equine behavior expert offers advice for applying leaning theory and treat training under saddle.

Mats!

Posts from June 25, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on June 25, 2016

I have a new post for JOYFULL Horses. This one is packed with photos. I’m looking in detail at the “runway lesson. That’s the lesson I use to introduce horses to the mat. The runway lesson illustrates many important concepts. For many the Premack principle is just an intellectual exercise. The runway lesson turns it into a practical application. You’ll see what it means to be a positive, constructional trainer; how to release your learner into the behavior you want; how to layer the cues from your lead together with your marker signal to create clear communication. In the photos I point out many handling details that make a huge difference to our horses. It’s a post that is packed. Enjoy!

To read the post got to: https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/06/21/

Enjoy!

Posts from June 21, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on June 21, 2016

Another installment of JOYfull horses:

https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/06/09/

Posts from June 9, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on June 9, 2016

In the section of the JOYFull Horses posts (https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/03/27/) that I've just finished, I wrote about Panda, the miniature horse I trained to be a guide. Ann was asked recently by a British producer of a series about animals if they could film her with Panda. Usually Ann says no to these interviews. They are a lot of work, and they rarely tell the story she wants to talk about. They just see Panda as cute and as a novelty. Ann wants to talk about clicker training and the difference this type of training can make for both horses and dogs.

This time she agreed to the interview so yesterday morning just after nine the director and a cameraman arrived at Ann’s house. They had a wish list of things they wanted to film. The list was several pages long. As they read off all the things they had been instructed to film, my only comment was I thought they were being a bit optimistic.

They quickly found out why. Even when you're used to seeing Panda at work, it’s hard to resist the temptation of filming every little thing she does. They began by filming Panda and Ann leaving the house and walking down the driveway. Panda did exactly what she was supposed to do. She guided Ann to the foot of the drive, stopped, waited for Ann to tell her to go forward and then proceeded across the road and turned right in the direction they normally take on their walks.

“Stop. Come back,” called the cameraman. “Can we do that again?”

Now imagine taking your horse out for a ride, or your dog out for a walk. Your animal knows the routine. He is eager for the outing. You are on your way, and abruptly, for no reason that can make any sense to him, you stop and head back the way you’ve just come. And then, to add insult to injury, you make him stand about waiting while a cameraman tries to get his very high tech equipment to work properly. How patient would he be? If he’s anything like Panda, the answer would be very.

Panda never fails to impress. She was so good! She went back with Ann. She waited for the cameraman to change his equipment, and to make adjustments to his lenses. Finally the signal was given and Ann cued Panda to go forward. Panda guided her to the edge of the driveway and stopped.

“Could we do that again?”

And again. And again. The answer each time was yes. Panda could do it as many times as they needed. She could do it with the cameraman down on his knees getting a close up of her feet as she came to a halt at the exact end of the driveway. She could do it with the cameraman blocking her path; with him walking backwards just inches from her face.

Whatever they wanted, she could indeed do it again. Could she do that crossing of a busy street again? Could she pick up the keys Ann was dropping again - and again. Wait! Could she get in and out of the car again?

Every one of these requests took Panda out of her routine, but she was still so very solid. From a training perspective I was beyond impressed. I wish I could have filmed the filming. That was the real story. They were there to shoot a human interest story about animals helping people. They missed the better story about the details of Panda’s guide work. Panda is fifteen years old. She’s been in work for thirteen years now. She knows her job and even the disruption of a film crew didn’t throw her off her course. The better story, the one they should be telling, is the one about Panda’s life as a clicker-trained horse.

The film crew finished at six. That’s what I mean when I say these interviews are a lot of work. They took nine hours to film all the shots the producers wanted. It will all get edited down to a three minute story. Panda performed magnificently throughout. She is indeed a superstar of a little horse.

When it was done, Ann emailed me this:

"I hope the truly marvelous thing about the relationship between Panda and me came through in the filming and interviews, that is the joy we share in our work together and the clarity and subtlety of the communication between us brought about by the soundness and humaneness of the training method used in Panda’s preparation for guide work. The fullest expression of the joy of our relationship is shown when we are trotting freely down a long stretch of sidewalk, in perfect balance and exchanging cues and confidence through the lead, harness, and mind links, just enjoying the feel of sunshine and breezes and the sound of birds and fluttering tree leaves. This joy and freedom are difficult to convey under the conditions of filming and through interviews, but it is the essence of what my relationship with Panda has meant in my life."

This is a perfect expression of their work together.

Posts from March 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on March 27, 2016

New chapter!

Posts from April 6, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on April 6, 2016

In the previous installment of JOYFULL horses, Panda, the miniature horse I trained to be a guide, provided us with many examples of environmental cues. This has now brought us intelligent disobedience.

Intelligent disobedience refers to those times when a guide does not respond to a cue the handler has given, but instead responds to environmental cues. It might be ignoring the cue to go forward and instead backing up out of the path of an approaching car. Intelligent disobedience is an important part of every guide’s training. It is also something we would do well to be aware of in the training of our full-sized horses. In this section I share some stories of Panda’s early training, including a brief description of how traffic checks were taught.

You can read this installment at

Posts from April 3, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on April 3, 2016

New chapter! Enjoy!

Posts from March 5, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on March 5, 2016

More installments of JOY Full Horses - enjoy!

JOY Full Horses In 2014 I surprised myself by writing a book.  This is by no means the first book I have written, so perhaps some of you will be surprised that I was surprised, but I had just finished the monster-...

The next installment of my book on play - enjoy!

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/01/14/joy-full-horses-part-1-why-play/

JOY Full Horses: Part 1: Why Play? I've teased you with an introduction to this book, and with the Table of Contents. Now finally here is Part 1: Why Play! This is a short section - just to get your feet wet. Enjoy! ...

I’ve just posted the first installment in the new series entitled "JOY Full Horses" that I have started on my blog. You can read it at theclickercenterblog.com

Hi everyone,

I am slowly assembling my clinic schedule for next year. So far on my web site I have posted my 2016 conference schedule. First up is a real treat. I’ll be in England January 6-9 for the "Training Thoughtfully" Seminar and Land Cruise. Visit www.theclickercenter.com to see the rest of the schedule.

You are probably wondering what a “Land Cruise" is. It’s a variation of the Five Go To Sea Conference cruises that Kay Laurence inaugurated in 2014. In addition to Kay, the other speakers on the cruises were Ken Ramirez, Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and myself. The cruises were essentially an excuse for the four of us to get together to talk about training. We blended Caribbean and Alaskan adventures with conference presentations and discussions. We structured each day around a topic that the four of us wanted to explore in more depth. We created a relaxed format to give us time for the kind of discussions that I find so very valuable and entertaining.

We have enjoyed this format of mixing beautiful landscapes with head spinning discussions so much that after the 2015 Alaska cruise we decided that we didn't want to wait for another ocean adventure to get together again. Kay has come up with a solution. She has figured out a way for us to go land cruising. Our first destination will be in England near Stoneleigh in Warwickshire.

The "Training Thoughtfully" Seminar will include three days of presentations given by Kay Laurence, Jesús Rosales-Ruis and myself, a Friday evening dinner with the speakers, and on Saturday, Jan 9th we’ll go land cruising through Medieval and Tudor England with some Roman flavouring thrown in.

For more information and to register for the seminar visit: http://www.learningaboutdogs.com/acatalog/TrainingThoughfully2016.html

And to see the rest of my 2016 conference schedule visit: http://www.theclickercenter.com - I’ll be posting my 2016 clinic schedule in the next few weeks.

Remembering "Five go to sea"

Resurgence and Regression: Five Go To Sea Conference Presentation It’s been just over a year since the first Five Go To Sea conference cruise. Kay Laurence organized it to celebrate her 60th birthday. She invited Ken Ramirez, Dr. Jesús Rosales-Ruiz and myself t...

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2015/04/19/todays-peregrine-story-8-they-dont-feel-pain-the-way-we-do/

Today's Peregrine Story: #8 They Don't Feel Pain The Way We Do Shortly before she became mine, Peregrine’s mother was injured in a handling incident. One of the teenagers at the barn had been given the assignment of pulling her mane. In case you aren’t familia...

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2015/04/18/todays-peregrine-story-7-pulling-down-the-brick-walls/

Today's Peregrine Story: #7 Pulling Down The Brick Walls Imagine you are riding your horse towards an enormous brick wall. There will be a few horses who are athletic enough and riders who are skilled enough to go directly over the wall. If they’re succe...

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2015/04/17/todays-peregrine-story-6-ground-work-redefined/

Today's Peregrine Story: #6 Ground Work Redefined They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In 1993 when I went out to the barn with my pockets full of treats, I had no idea the journey that first step was going to take me...

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2015/04/16/todays-peregrine-story-5-intelligence/

Today's Peregrine Story: #5 Intelligence If you’ve read my first book, “Clicker Training for your Horse”, you might have noticed that there are very few pictures of Peregrine in it. That’s because throughout the period that I was working...

Today's Peregrine Story: #4 Determination Peregrine taught me about determination. I was told that most horses outgrow locking stifles. I just needed to wait. Peregrine’s stifles got worse, not better. By the time he was two, they had in...

http://theclickercenterblog.com/2015/04/13/todays-peregrine-story-early-lessons/

Today’s Peregrine Story: Early Lessons Peregrine was a perfect foal. I know. I know. We all want to say that about “our kids”, but he really was. He was so people oriented, so easy to handle. He was exactly the foal you want when y...

This will be in Cincinnati. Hope to see you there!

We’ve had several days of grey, sleeting rain - perfect weather for staying in and writing another installment on Deep Practice techniques. This one is called "Futsal for Horses". It traces the connection between mat work - one of the foundation lessons of clicker training - and piaffe.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the post:

“Piaffe is made up of one quick decision after another. Linger too long deciding if you like the result of the previous request, and you will interrupt the balance and the flow of the weight exchanges. Piaffe is for nimble thinkers - both human and equine.

Handlers don’t start out with this ability. It isn’t a talent you’re born with. It’s something you learn. That’s also true for the horses. They have to learn how to process and respond to quick exchanges of what can at first seem like conflicting cues."

That’s one of the connections between piaffe and mat work - mat work helps to develop this nimble thinking. Whether your training goals include piaffe or just a walk down a country road, this is a skill that is worth developing. Horses have a way of throwing unexpected curve balls at us where we need that ability to respond fast with good training decisions.

This post needed to be illustrated with photos. By the time I was done there were a lot of photos. I haven’t yet figured out how to insert one photo into a Facebook post much less a couple dozen, so rather than try to post it here, I have put it up on my blog: theclickercenterblog.com. Please look for it there.

Enjoy!

Alexandra Kurland
theclickercenter.com
theclickercenterblog.com
theclickercentercourse.com