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UPDATED DEC 2024
The absolute most important step in using clicker training is to take the time to research how to get started, and how to use it properly. Positive reinforcement is extremely powerful, and the clicker makes it even more so. Using a clicker will improve your horse's success rate, minimize frustration, shorten the time it takes to learn a new behavior, and improve the relationship between you and your horse. (Trust me, once your horse starts realizing you finally have come up with a way to clearly communicate without the use of force things will start changing for the better and quickly.) But if you don't take the time to educate yourself before getting started it may not be powerful in a good way.
I don't mean to say that to scare you off, but I want to be completely realistic and honest with you. You can make your horse even more confused than they were before. You can also create an anxious and mouthy horse. However, if you just pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and do your research, that will not happen.
Just like any work with horses, there is a right way and a wrong way, a safe way and a dangerous way. Clicker training is absolutely no different than using natural horsemanship or any other training method. You can't just jump in a round pen with a wild horse and tame it without any training, guidance, or research. That only happens in the movies.
So in order to help you get started the right way, I'm going to walk you through my recommended steps. These are the same steps that many positive reinforcement trainers use, but some trainers vary on the order they train them in. So far this is the order I find most successful for introducing clicker training to both human the horse.
What you need to get started
A clicker or two (like this), or choose a unique word/sound that you do NOT use in every day conversation or during training. You should never use this sound except for when wanting to mark a correct behavior)
Learn more about the clicker in this video: Why Should You Use a Clicker? (The Willing Equine Academy inside look!)
A treat bag (like this) or (like this)- deep pockets will also work, just make sure the treats can't fall out. You're going to use more food than you realize, so make sure you can carry enough!
Food for training. This needs to be forage based food. Hay pellets, broken up hay cubes, loose hay, chopped hay, or similar. You can soak them or use them dry (if you're worried about choke, check out this blog post). The important part is that you do not use anything that is sweet, not frequently available to your horse, or really even flavored. (Avoid flavored treats, grain, fruits, and veggies.)
Scratches can be used in the place of food, but food is likely to be your most effective and motivating reinforcer. Most horses only want a certain amount of scratches, and it can be hard to work with scratches at a very high rate of reinforcement (which is needed early on), especially in protected contact. However, foals respond particularly well to scratches so if you're working with a young horse this will be a great alternative to food!
Learn more about what kind of food I train with in this video (What's In My Training Pouch (The Food I Train With)
A safe place where your horse can be at liberty (not tied or restricted) and you can easily put your hand through a fence to feed your horse. Usually for me this looks like a pasture fence, but you can also use a stall door.
A feed pan your horse is familiar with and will readily take food from. You can hang it on the fence or place it on the ground.
Something for targeting (you need to be able to comfortably hold it, but it needs to be big enough to be noticeable to the horse. A plastic cone, a tennis ball on a stick, or something similar would work. If your horse has ever had whips or crops used on them they may be a bit nervous at first, take it slow.
Learn more about the training tools I use in this video (Clicker Training Tools Explained)
Once you've got all your gear ready, it's time to prepare for a training session with your horse.
Get Familiar With The Clicker
One of the easiest ways to go about this is to start an inanimate object moving, where you can "mark" every time the inanimate object makes a certain movement. An example would be to start a tennis ball bouncing and to click every time the ball hit the ground.
Another idea would be to watch an animal move around (such as on the TV, don’t do this with an animal that knows what the clicker is or the sound makes them nervous) and pick a particular movement you're looking for. Such as wagging it's tail, or turning left. This is not exactly what you will be doing when working with your horse, but it will get you comfortable hitting that button or making your chosen sound/word.
Practice this without your horse first until you feel comfortable with using the clicker and that you’re hitting it right when you want to be. You might also try recording yourself and watching it back! Sometimes in the moment we think we are doing it, but on later review we see adjustments we should make.
Time To Set Up
Once you've got your timing down and you’re familiar with the clicker, it's time to get set up for your horse!
Find a quiet place away from other horses and people that your horse is comfortable. Your horse will need to be able to see the other horses, but the other horses shouldn’t be able to get to your horse during a training session. I would also recommend choosing a time that is not close to feeding times, and when they’ve had plenty of time chewing on hay before. (If your horse does not have 24/7 access to forage, give them at least 30 minutes of chewing time on hay before starting)
Have a fence or some kind of barrier between you and your horse. This is called “protected contact” and will help set both you and your horse up for success. This barrier provides your horse with information, and allows you both to safely learn how to communicate.
You will also need your feed pan, your training pouch full of the food you’re going to use, your clicker, and your target.
Build A Foundation
It’s time to introduce clicker training to your horse! The first most important thing to teach your horse is how to stand calmly with you and wait for a cue. I call this the Default Neutral. However before we can even start shaping the Default Neutral, we need to make sure our horse knows how to access reinforcement. I explain this process, and all the steps after, in depth in The Willing Equine Academy, however to get you started:
Stand at the fence with your horse
Begin tossing a few pieces of food into the pan, wait for the horse to finish eating the food and bring their head back up.
When they bring their head back up, on their side of the fence, toss food again. Repeat this step until your horse is quick to look for the food in the pan when they hear it.
Next we are going to add in the sound of the clicker by clicking before we toss the food. So when your horse's head comes up from eating, you're going to click, and toss a few pieces of food. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
When you both get into a rhythm, start stretching the time your horse can stand with their head up (on their side of the fence) by just a half second, then click and toss food again.
Repeat each approximation of time you're asking your horse to stand quietly five times in a row before adding a bit more time (think half a second at a time).
Now For The Fun Part!
When your horse lifts their head from the food pan and is standing in the Default Neutral position, slowly hold out the target for the horse.
Often they will want to check it out, so that's a perfect opportunity to click/reward.
If they seem worried or like they aren't interested, click/reward just looking/moving towards it at a distance. Make sure to present the target slowly.
If they don't seem interested, you can try another object, or you can make it so the horse basically is going to "run into" the object when it moves it's head. click/reward even an accidental touch.
You may have to do this multiple times before the horse catches on, you may even end up taking a break before your horse catches on.
When they touch/look at the target, click and drop food into the pan you've been using.
Wait until they are done eating and lift their head again into the Default Neutral position, then present the target again.
Do this until your horse seems to really understand that they are supposed to engage with the target. From this point you can use this target for...
A following target (teaching them to walk with the target. I highly recommend receiving more instruction and coaching before doing this, as this can be an easy behavior to frustrate your horse with. I offer this with The Willing Equine Academy)
A touch target (this is a perfect introduction behavior, just be mindful that you will need a different target for following and touching. One target should not be used for both.)
For teaching a touch target, start slowly changing the position you offer the target in for the horse to touch. Make sure to make changes slowly, and to repeat the same position five times in a row before changing again.
Important Steps and Troubleshooting
If your horse is every anxious (such as grabbing the food, pushing against the fence, moving around a lot, or showing other displacement and stress related behaviors), take steps back in the training by going back to a simpler/easier step. I would also recommend checking out this blog article for more tips on this. (But My Horse is Aggressive Around Food)
Going too slow is rarely a problem. Spending more time setting the foundations is always preferable to rushing. Every horse and handle is different too. Some horses will pick up on targeting really quickly, but struggle with some anxiousness, you should also go slowly with these horses. Some horses will take a long time to pick up on targeting, but won't seem as anxious, you should also go slowly with these horses. As much as this is an exciting new adventure, take the time to lay that foundation.
You'll be ready for hand feeding when you have a strong default neutral, you feel very at ease and comfortable with the training, and your horse is calm and relaxed in the training. Hand feeding is an art form and there's a lot of precision to it. When you're ready for this step check out these videos. (Hand Feeding Safely and Hand Feeding Part II)
We are not training "head away" or a "freeze" with the Default Neutral. We are looking for a centered and calm body. I explain this more in depth in my courses within The Willing Equine Academy , but you can also see an older version here in Hand Feeding Part II
Don't be in a rush to remove the fence! Protected contact is not about being worried about your horse hurting you, it's about providing you and your horse information. To this day I work with even my most experienced, kid friendly, beginner friendly, horses in protected contact from time to time to help provide context and clarity. It's a powerful useful training tool and should be utilized frequently. Of course, there will be a time when you are ready to remove the fence though and begin incorporating clicker training in your day to day handling. This time will come when you and your horse feel comfortable, calm, and confident in the training. (Preferably you will also have a coach at this time too.) I recommend removing the barrier in stages if you can, going to slightly lower fences and even eventually ground poles before having no guide.
Don't be stingy with the reinforcement! If you're new to clicker training horses, you will need to click and feed a lot more often than you're expecting. Sometimes I even feed continuously to help establish a behavior. Even a half second can be too long for some horses to begin with, then you add duration. You won't be feeding every half second forever, I promise.
Reset when things get messy or an error happens. Don't hesitate to toss some food into the feed pan to "reset". Let's say your horse is starting to offer a bunch of behavior you weren't looking for, or you get distracted, or maybe you miss your timing. That's okay, just toss some pellets into the pan and start again. This is a much better alternative to withholding the food.
Keep your sessions short! Even 10 successful clicks over a minute or two is a productive and powerful training session, and far better than a messy draining 10 minute session. I would highly recommend not going over 5 minutes to start, and then eventually you can move to 10 minutes. Later, we can work up to more. Remember, this kind of training is very mentally taxing.
Start your session when your horse is relaxed and eating something else when possible. This helps go into a training session from a mentally calm and peaceful place. It will help set the mood for the rest of the training session.
End your session with extra food into the food pan, and leaving your horse with an enrichment activity or some hay. It's important you don't just disengage from the training session and take the food. This can be very punishing for your horse and make them more anxious going forward.
Final Notes
I hope this was a clear overview of how to get started with clicker training. Positive reinforcement and clicker training have such potential to transform your relationship with your horse. Even for pushy, anxious, aggressive, fearful, reluctant horses. I hope to have you join me in The Willing Equine Academy where you can really deep dive into all that R+ (positive reinforcement) has to offer.
With 1-on-1 coaching, a step by step easy to follow curriculum, a robust and welcoming community, a platform away from social media, an annual R+ friendly virtual show, connection groups, and exclusive Academy only events.... It's the place to be!