So how's my plan progressing?  Well, I've walked Hokey down the road to a friend's arena and taken him to the RDA indoor again by himself, and each time he's been calm and connected (more or less).  He's getting the hang of all this and I think being off grass and on supplements is helping too.  

I've got costume and props sorted for the night show - can't show you what it is but I think it's pretty cute.  Also have the routine pretty much decided.  He has really been struggling with his 'park' while in the new environments though, so  I guess we'll have to see how that goes during rehearsal. I might have to minimise that particular part and let him stay close to me.

We've got our rehearsal times - we only get one 15 minute slot the night before the show to familiarise the horses with the big indoor arena. Not as much time as I'd hoped for, but it is what it is.

Using careful shaping and positive reinforcement, Ken Ramirez trained 10,000 butterflies to fly in formation between two points.  Here's the description of this amazing feat and how it was trained, it is well worth a read.  So there's my reality check.  Training like THAT is happening in the world right now.  Incredible, and humbling.

Next week I'm teaching the RDA holiday program as usual (Mon-Wed), and then heading straight to Equidays.  Not sure if I'll get a chance to do another blog from the event, but you never know. 

I will leave you with this rather entertaining video in which Dan & Dan demonstrate exactly how one should handle the situation when carefully laid plans go awry - with humour and calm confidence.  May I channel that attitude in the days to come!

So there you have it.  ​​Once this is over it'll be back to normal programming.  I've got a ton of topics to write blogs about but don't hesitate to suggest a topic or ask a question and I'll add it to the list!

xx Bex

OK so as I said in part one of this series, a key part of my nerves about all this is the fact that I don't feel I have had the time to get him out and about to the extent that I would have liked, in preparation for Equidays.  That said, any person's definition of the appropriate degree of preparedness for any situation is going to be different from the next person, and I do tend to be a worrier / over-preparer.    So to me, we are feeling very under-prepared.

However, I have had this horse his whole life, and taken him to numerous ribbon days and in-hand shows as a youngster.  ​ When I broke my arm I sent him away to be started under saddle by Ben Longwell so he spent a few months in a busy working "ranch" type environment.  And during that time, Ben actually took him to Equidays 2015 to be the green horse in his "First 50 rides" demo series.  So actually Hokey might argue that it's ME that hasn't been out and about enough - he has spent more time in the demo pens than I have.   ​​

To be fair, this happened mostly because I brought Cadence along and she was outside neighing to him.  In hindsight, I should have kept his leadrope on and kept the rate of reinforcement super high.  I probably should have brought her inside too, for a while at least.  I thought maybe it might help him to have a run and let some of the adrenaline jiggles out, but it was clearly the wrong decision.  He did come back to me numerous times, and gave me some focused work, but he was far more over threshold than I expected and the whole experience didn't exactly inspire me with confidence.  However, there's nowhere from there but up I guess!

I've taken him out twice this week and he's been MUCH better.  I am a little more optimistic now than I was after Sunday's episode.  ​The second time I took him to the RDA arena (Wednesday) he was focused and connected with me almost the entire time, and when he did run back to the gate he turned and came back to me almost immediately. 

This is us having a liberty play in the arena after my lesson with Cadence on Tuesday.  He's never been to this arena before.  He struggled a little with his park, but was totally connected and responsive the whole time.  I'm keeping my rate of reinforcement a lot higher than usual of course, and not asking for anything hugely difficult.  

More about him next time.
​
​There's this amazing TED talk by Kelly McGonigal, called "How to make stress your friend".  She basically talks about how our perceptions of stress are far more influential than we realise and that by viewing stress responses as a positive and helpful thing we may actually change the physiological and mental impact of that stress.  Basically, when our hearts are pounding and we break out in a sweat, we often see these things as a sign that we're not coping well with the situation.  Kelly argues that we should change our view, to see these as signs that, for example, our body is preparing us for the situation and making sure there's plenty of oxygen getting to our brains: "This is my body, helping me rise to this challenge". 

​Coincidentally, a friend sent me this talk by Mel Robbins today, the central message being that the state within our bodies of fear vs excitement is exactly the same. We just need to tell our brains we're excited rather than scared.  

So when I head on into that Equidays arena, I'm going to try to remember that I'm excited (not scared).  My heart is pounding in order to give me strength and energy.  ​I will also focus as much as possible on being calm and connected in the moment with my little dude and supporting him through this.  After all, this is my silly little game and he didn't ask to be part of it.

If you haven't heard, I've been invited to be a clinician at Equidays, New Zealand's biggest equestrian festival.  This is pretty huge for me, and I'm super pumped to bring positive reinforcement training to Equidays in a really practical and accessible way.   My goal is to show the audience that this is something they can (and should!) all implement to some degree into their training programmes, no matter their chosen discipline or level of experience.  

But wait! There's more.  On the last night of Equidays there is a new night show, called Equidays Top Talent.  So the OTHER thing that's happened, is that Hokey Pokey and I have been selected as one of the finalists to perform on the night.  This involves a performance in the indoor arena, in front of grandstands full of people, complete with lights and music.  ("Woooah nelly!" thinks me, while lying awake at 3am. This is waaay outside my comfort zone!) I am by nature a teacher, not a performer.  However, I have discovered that I harbour a deeply stubborn streak that makes an appearance when I'm scared of something, insists that I won't give in and makes me dig my heels in and do it anyway.  Who knew.  But yeah, suffice to say this is not a small thing for me.  So as there's little to be gained by putting on a show of confident nonchalance, I will be blogging about the process between now and then.   That will hopefully help me to work through my feelings and also might provide some interesting reading or learning for you guys.

As I break through my comfort zones ("stretching" is for sissies! (just kidding)) I am, according to the wonderful Jane Pike from Confident Rider, "a Neural Highway Ninja".  Who am I to disagree with that?! She says, "Basically, all those neural networks in your body are connecting up new pathways, joining the dots together and building both your mental and physical muscles in ways that will allow you to get out there and repeat the same task much more ease-fully in the future. You getting out there and actually doing it- not thinking about it, talking about it, or drinking coffee about it- is the only way that you are going to make this happen. The only way."   (Yes ma'am).

As positive reinforcement trainers we often hold ourselves to extremely high standards, I think. We're on this journey due to a desire to do the right thing by our animals ethically-speaking (and we all know that path has virtually no end, there's always *something* we could be doing better). We often spend time pondering our personal training philosophies, ideals and ethical standpoints, and all of this can sometimes lead to a bit of mental self-flagellation.
Idealism can be a beautiful thing but pragmatism doesn't have to be sacrificed on the altar of noble principles. Sometimes life happens, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and a bit of self-love and forgiveness go a long way.
So if you didn't quite manage that training situation the way you'd have liked, if you accidentally forgot to check your emotional baggage at the paddock gate, if you got impatient or lost your temper, then so be it. 
Apologise. Make it right. Learn something. Let it go.

People often chat to me about how frequently they second-guess themselves and their training choices.  Sometimes they have a strong background in traditional or natural horsemanship but it feels like something is missing in their relationship with their horses.  Maybe they find themselves flitting from one 'method' or trainer to the next, unable to commit to any one thing for long enough to see real results (or a lack of) before moving onto something else.  Maybe they have followed a particular 'guru' or style of training but something has happened that they're uncomfortable with, to make them question their loyalty to that person or method.  Often they are absolutely convinced of the benefits of positive reinforcement for horses, but peer pressure from friends, coaches or social media and the desire to conform is overwhelming and causes them to continually doubt themselves.  And often they really want to train under a positive reinforcement paradigm, but old habits keep getting in the way.

Regardless, my heart truly goes out to those people. To you, if you're one of them.  I've been there.  What it means is that you are a seeker of truth, you're trying to better yourself for the sake of your horse, you're thinking critically and striving for improvement.  That's a beautiful thing.  ​

And I get it - there's so much information available out there, online and in person, and it seems that each trainer you listen to, or article you read, is recommending different methods/techniques (and sometimes dishing out judgement or subtle derision of alternative ways of doing things). It can be difficult to sort through it all and feel confident and consistent in which parts you should take home and actually implement with your horse.  This is only made worse when the path you're walking is a lonely one, and outside of the accepted mainstream, such as it is for positive reinforcement or clicker trainers.

​I have personally sat in the audience at clinics of very well-known and respected international horsemen and listened to them mock and denigrate positive reinforcement training, while clearly having little to no idea of how it works (let alone having given it a proper try themselves).  I have left those clinics rather irritated at the ego on display, but still with a degree of respect for the horsemanship they practice and with a few ideas to take home with me.

So in practical terms, what can you do if you're feeling that way?

1. Find your tribe.  I feel SO strongly about this one.   It can be a lonely road sometimes, and if you train with positive reinforcement but are surrounded by opinionated traditional horse people, it's very helpful to have friends and allies who 'get it'.   They can lend an ear, give advice, critique your training and listen to you vent.  The easiest way to find these people, in my experience, is either online or through clinics.  (You can join the "Positively Together with your Horse" Facebook group here, it is a safe space for people to learn, ask questions and share their experiences.  I also admin a group specifically for New Zealand-based equine clicker trainers that has over 800 members.  (If you're a kiwi, come join us!  If you're not a kiwi, have a look for a similar group in your area/country, or consider starting one up).  
2. Do some soul searching.  If there's something in your gut that says "I don't like doing that to my horse but so-and-so says it's necessary", stop and just have a listen to that voice.  You do need to provide your horse with consistent, clear boundaries and good communication. You do NOT need to do anything that compromises your integrity or ethics, no matter how 'normal' other horse people might consider that to be.
3. Do some research.  There's a lot of tradition and myth in horsemanship.  When in doubt, look to the science, and to your gut, and ultimately to your horse for answers.   
4. Question things.  Just because a 'professional' says you should do something, doesn't mean you should.  Never mind how much you've paid for his/her advice.  Your horse is without a voice and at the mercy of whoever is holding the reins or rope.  If a trainer/clinician can't explain to your satisfaction why they are recommending a particular technique or method, that should raise alarm bells. If they get defensive or dismissive when you question them, that should escalate to a full-blown siren!  

​So there's some slightly rambling thoughts about my own journey (so far) which hopefully helps to make you feel less alone, and also some tips on how to manage the nagging self-doubt or second-guessing that so many of us subject ourselves to.  I hope it's helpful.  

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the  comments.

Cheers,
Bex


*  (To be clear, the operational detection work was all trained positively, using play rewards and no corrections.  It was the other early-stage obedience stuff that I am describing above.  Also, things have improved a lot in NZ drug and explosives detector dog training since then, largely thanks to some inspiring and dedicated trainers who have introduced and implemented marker training into the detector dog community here in NZ.  Unfortunately, any improvements were too late for me and Oscar).  ​

• NO PRESSURE: ​Tricks are a fantastic opportunity to practice full focus, zero pressure training. This sort of training is like a beautiful flowing conversation between you and the animal. There is no risk of ego or ambition tainting your purpose; you'd be hard pressed to get even a little bit impatient or downcast if things don't go quite right when you're teaching your horse to smile. In contrast, if our overwhelming focus day after week after month is preparation for the next show we have already paid entry fees for, or fixing that problem behaviour, we are much more likely to pour on the pressure and the negative talk. The horse suffers for it. (Doesn't mean you can't compete. Doesn't mean you shouldn't do "serious" training. Just means you should be aware of the potential impact of doing nothing else but that).

​​

• KEY SKILLS: It's also a great way to practice timing and training plans and reinforcement schedules and adding cues and getting stimulus control and all that important stuff.

​​

• GOALS! With tricks you have a concrete, black and white goal you are working towards. Your dressage horse will never be "finished" (unless his name is Valegro in which case omg Charlotte what the hell are you doing reading my blog PLEASE leave a nice comment?!). There is always something more to work on, to improve upon, and that's precisely why so many of us love the sport. I know that Western and jumping are the same. BUT this complexity does make it more difficult to have clear criteria for each training session. With tricks, you hone your instincts by shaping a single specific behaviour and rapidly seeing the horse progress towards the goal (or not) as a result of your training choices. ​​

 

• "TRICKS"? An equally valid argument is that to the horse, it's all tricks. If you break up the components of basic groundwork and your chosen ridden discipline into small chunks (as you should, because you are a good trainer), then who decides what is "trick" and what is not? A clicker trained horse performing piaffe in hand at liberty... is that a trick? Or an advanced dressage movement? Certainly the horse doesn't differentiate, unless the training methods and/or the attitude of their human is different for one vs the other.   ​​

THE GOAL
As with all training, we start by thinking about our ultimate goal. What do you want your horse to do? 
(If you said “I want my horse to stop mugging me”, then rewind and try again.  What do you want your horse TO DO?)

​If you said “I want my horse to look away when I have treats” (a common answer), then that’s a good start, but I’d say you’re not quite there yet.  If we are talking about the end result, the ultimate goal, do you really want your horse to constantly angle his head away from you?  Or do you just want him to keep his nose off your body, for example?

Either way, we’re still not getting to the guts of the issue yet, and the only way to get there is to acknowledge the underlying emotion that drives the behaviour we're seeing.  

I’ll tell you what I want: I want a calm horse that behaves much the same way whether I have food on my person or not.  I want him to be eager to play and interact, but also to understand how the game works.  That means he is confident in the knowledge that I will let him know when it’s time to play the "training game", and until then he can rest and just be.  I want him to have a really solid foundation of suitable behaviour that he can offer me if he wants to earn a reward.  More tangibly, I want to be able to ask him to keep his feet still while I work around him, or walk away from him.

That is my end goal.  And of course as with any behaviour, I can't train all of that in one go.  I must first slice it up into a multitude of tiny pieces and start at the beginning, moving up as the horse shows me he is ready.  So, next comes my plan to put structure to those steps. 

​Before you do anything more, stop.  Step well away from the horse and take a moment.  Breathe down into your belly, slowly.  Quiet your mind.  Soften.   Feel the ground, deep beneath your boots.  Breathe out your to-do lists and time-frames and let them drift away in the breeze.  Your horse lives in the moment - go and join her there.  Return to her with calm energy and zero expectations and let's try that again.
​
TRUST & CONFIDENCE
Whatever a horse's unwanted behaviour might look like (sniffing, nudging, licking, biting etc), the issue generally boils down to anxiety around how to get the food - where will it come from, when will it come, how do I get access to it.  So as you go along you are going to show the horse that he can trust you not to be stingy or unpredictable with food.  Through consistent and thoughtful food delivery you will prove to him again and again that he doesn’t need to panic about where the food is coming from or whether it's going to be snatched away.  You will reward only desired behaviour.  And you will take responsibility for yourself and won't exacerbate his anxiety by adding your own frustrations and expectations to the mix.  

(Guys, this means not taking it all so personally! Stop thinking "he's being disrespectful", "he knows better".  Don't shove or poke or push him away.  If you're feeling annoyed, he's feeling worse.  We humans are the ones that landed on the moon - take a short break and apply your considerable brain to the problem.  YOU figure out how to help him be successful and calm, and then go back and do better.  
Hint: the answer is almost always 'click more often, for the right things').

​SHAPING
From here we quickly move on to something specific like targeting.   These sorts of behaviours solidify understanding of the "clicker game", and get the horse seeking the click by offering behaviour. If we train nothing but manners for too long then the horse doesn't get the chance to learn to experiment and feel safe volunteering behaviour, which is an important lesson for them and one of the biggest benefits of clicker training.  

We revisit manners again and again in between presenting the target, and we begin to morph it into "park", aka "ground tying" (in which he stands still while you walk away or move around him).  We do this by continuing to reward for the calm stillness but also begin to change our body position, move our feet and add some distance between us and the horse.   In other words, we're now adding in another criteria, of "keep your feet still".  Teaching the horse a mat target (place his front feet on a mat and stay there) is a closely related exercise which is incredibly valuable for cementing this concept.

We also begin to generalise the behaviour by changing location.  We can reinforce park while we're grooming, while we open a gate, when we're putting rugs on and standing at the mounting block.   (Just remember: we are climbing the staircase step by step. Don't expect your horse to grow wings and fly directly to the 5th storey).

Alexandra Kurland calls this whole concept "The Grownups are Talking, Please Don't Interrupt", which I think portrays beautifully the intent behind it.  Whatever you want to call it, this behaviour of calm, relaxed standing still is our horse's neutral. His default.  It is the baseline we will return to over and over again, both as a valuable behaviour in its own right and as a contrast when we are teaching other behaviours and adding new cues (more on this in a future blog).   It also feeds directly into relaxation and balance while moving in-hand and under saddle. ​

Just don't forget that YOU are half of this equation, and make sure you regularly turn a critical gaze inward to assess how you may be impacting upon your horse.

I have just spent 3 intense but incredibly rewarding days learning from the incomparable Bob Bailey. It was a full-immersion R+ training geek out and I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

If you don't know who Bob Bailey is, then, in short, you should! Go here to read more about his fascinating role in the history of positive reinforcement training and the roots of modern-day "clicker training".   (When I say "fascinating" I mean it - I'm talking about pigeons trained to guide missiles by sitting inside and pecking at a screen, ravens conducting surveillance by flying to upper-story windows and taking photos with cameras attached to their heads, Navy dolphins trained to swim in the open ocean on circuitous routes of up to 12 hours and return to the trainer, and more).

It will take me some time to process all the learning and reflect on how I will integrate it into my own practices as well as my teaching, but here I will share some highlights and brief "take aways" from the seminar. 
 
Keys to good training:
- Precise timing
- Observing behaviour
- Quick decisions
- Fast trials
- More trials
- More reinforcement
- Higher expectations (of yourself too!)
- Changing your behaviour

You can understand the principles of good training, you can read about it in books and on the internet and write academic papers on it, but if it doesn't go from your head to your hands (i.e. put it into practice) then it means nothing.

Hearing about good training, thinking about good training, believing in good training, planning to do good training, is NOT the same as DOING good training!

Good training is not about hierarchies and relationships - relationship with the animal is nice, but we don't NEED it in order to train.
(My interpretation: Good training deepens relationships, but the one is not dependent upon the other). 

1. "ANY trainer, using ANY method, can train ANY animal, to do ANY behaviour, given enough time"
Don't just ask "did the animal learn the behaviour?" instead ask yourself "how could I have trained this in less time?" and "Could the behaviour be better?" 
(Plus I would personally add, "was the horse a joyful and eager volunteer in this learning experience?")
Every trainer can point to some behaviour or other they have trained. Success is not just getting behaviour, it's getting behaviour quickly and accurately.
(My interpretation: Good training is both ethical AND efficient)

2. If you are making poor decisions and training badly, and the animal manages to figure it out despite you, the ANIMAL should take the credit, not you.

3. "Animals are built to learn. They are learning all the time, not just when we want them to."
(Training is learning that happens in the presence of a human)
"Evolution prepared animals to learn well, and learn quickly. If learning occurs slowly there is a REASON!" (Spoiler alert: it's probably you).
If the animal is not learning, most likely the trainer has done something wrong - e.g. not defining behaviour, not making it worthwhile for the animal to do it, not controlling distractions.

*THINK:
This is the best time for novelty and creativity. Use your imagination, visualise what you want.
*PLAN:
Define, describe, simplify, make mistakes (rehearse without the animal).
First (before we start training) we must ask ourselves "what do I have?" then, "what do I want?". The training plan describes the path from what you have, to what you want. Train to fill in the gaps.
"Split, but do not reject opportunistic lumping!"
Don't get in the way of learning - have a plan, but if the animal is ready to leap ahead, don't hold them back
E.g. We might have a plan to get from A-B-C-D-E-F but the animal may leap straight from B to E. (Get out of their way, and for Dog's sake keep up!)
*DO:
Execute! Don't waste your most precious resource - TIME
Over-analysis (thinking too much) can get you into trouble.
"Don't allow INDECISION to paralyse your ACTION! " You must be able to make fast, good decisions in the moment. Having a clear plan is key to this.

DEFINITIONS:
Training period (e.g. 10 minutes)
Training session (e.g. 1 minute block or 10 trials)
Trial (one attempt)

Train ONE behaviour per session; ONE criterion per session.
Approx 8/10 trials should be successful before you move on / add criteria (that doesn't mean it will always be 80% successful - it may be a much lower ratio early on).
Define new behaviour for any training session in ONE SENTENCE! If you can't define it in one sentence then it is too complicated for one session.
"If you can't precisely define the response you are training, STOP TRAINING"
Every session should have an objective. If you have 3 consecutive session failures then go and bang your head against a wall 3 times and then review your plan.

PAVLOV & SKINNER - Pavlov's respondent (classical) conditioning works on reflexes, and Skinner's operant conditioning influences voluntary behaviour.

Don't rush to start training. Hang out with Pavlov for a bit - i.e. just feed the animal. How fast does he eat? What is his behaviour like? Is he anxious? Is he ready to start training?

When you're training, Skinner is on one shoulder, Pavlov is always on the other -
"Operant and respondent behaviours lie along a continuum. All operant behaviours are accompanied by respondent behaviours."
"An animal's behaviour may appear totally under operant control, yet there is always an underlying respondent component"
Don't try and train an anxious animal!

(My notes: the emotion that the animal is feeling while learning becomes tied in to the specific behaviour they are learning. This issue is commonly overlooked by horse trainers. Look into 'poisoned cues' for more on this.)
​
If you're training your animal, you're utilising operant conditioning. You may not be doing it systematically or mindfully or even consciously, but believe me its happening anyway.

GET behaviour with reinforcement.
REDUCE or ELIMINATE behaviour with extinction.
SUPPRESS behaviour with punishment.

Both primary reinforcers (e.g. food) and conditioned reinforcers (e.g. a click, whistle, word etc) strengthen behaviour. Conditioned reinforcers lose strength with improper use, i.e. always pair them with a primary reinforcer! (In simple language - click AND treat, not just click).

The delivery of the conditioned and primary reinforcements is two separate acts.
"Click for ACTION, feed for POSITION"

Generally speaking, the LONGER THE DELAY in delivery of the reinforcer the LESS EFFECTIVE the reinforcement process.

"You get what you REINFORCE, not what you WANT" 

Use measurable behaviour. Don't try to work out what you think the animal is thinking. Just look at the behaviour.
If you're getting more of a behaviour, it is being reinforced somehow. This applies whether or not YOU perceive the behaviour to be "good" or "bad".

"Reinforcement of unwanted behaviour is worse than failure to reinforce wanted behaviour" - i.e. if there is junk behaviour in amongst wanted behaviour, you're better off NOT reinforcing it.

80% of training problems stem from issues with A) timing B) rate of reinforcement C) criteria.
​
Timing must be PRECISE. RoR must make it worthwhile for the animal, otherwise they will find other behaviours more worthwhile. Criteria - if its too high, RoR will be low. If criteria is too low, you are likely feeding the animal for non-contingent behaviours and therefore may be training unwanted behaviours.