5 comments about You Can Train Your Horse to Do Anything!: On Target Training Clicker Training and Beyond.

1. I appreciate that this review area should be for the book, but I purchased the VHS of the same name and was extremely disappointed in the quality of the production and ideas being presented. If you are already familiar with clicker training you will probably be too advanced for this book - Shawna's only for complete beginners.
   
   I've now read the book and am glad I didn't spend money on it. Highly repetitive and few ideas. Very basic information and some of the ideas may even put you on a different path from more recognised clicker trainers - such as the treatless click. BTW Shawna doesn't call her system clicker training simply for the ability to TM her marketing material.
   
   If you are looking for a really excellent book on clicker training I would purchase the Alexandra Kurland books instead.
   
   Update: I've just been to see a clinic with Shawna and have to repeat that I think this author is a bit light on theory. Shawna's background is as a trainer at Sea world so she has great presentation skills and can talk in a very entertaining way. However, she has fewer ideas on training and a lighter knowledge of operant conditioning (which is what clicker training is) than Kurland. If you knew nothing about clicker you would have enjoyed the clinic however I got very little out of it. Most worryinig is her lack of understanding (or ability to explain) the other consequences of operant conditioning which are still important for horse training.



2. This is a solid introduction to clicker training. You start by teaching your horse to associate the sound of the clicker with a treat, then use the motivation of the reward to shape behavior. I got my horse to willingly accept the bridle in one day after reading this book.
   
   I would offer three cautions to prospective purchasers of this book. First, there are three keys to training, regardless of method. First you have to figure out how to break your goal into steps small enough for the horse to get. Then you have to time the reward (the click in clicker training, or the release of rein or leg pressure in John Lyons, Monte Roberts, Clinton Anderson, etc. method) Finally you have to patiently and diligently perform your training over the necessary weeks to achieve results. Use a bad plan, reinforce the wrong thing with bad timing, or don't put in the work and no book can help you.
   
   Second, while clicker training can be a very efficient means of shaping behavior, I had difficulty using it to improve my leadership relationship with my horse. If your horse is spooky under saddle, he's telling you he feels like he's on his own. No matter how much desensitizing I did on the ground, my horse still got nervous on the trail. After one session of lunging for respect from Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship, his attitude and confidence was transformed. So you might not want to limit your training technique to just clicker training.
   
   Third, I thought the book bogged a little bit in the description of the scientific basis for operant conditioning and the author's journey from training sea mammals to horses. All good material, but it's not why I bought the book. I would have vastly preferred more practical horse technique. The video has a lengthy talking head section on theory, which I found very frustrating. Show us the horses!
   
   Those three caveats aside, I believe clicker training is a useful tool that anyone who trains horses should comprehend, and this is probably the best introduction to it.
   
   Update, November 2007
   
   I was recently invited to join a trail ride and hadn't been on my horse in months. I wanted to get in a few quick tune-up rides before the big weekend, but the first time I offered him the bridle, my horse raised his head and turned it away. Rather than fight with him, I decided to see if he had any memory of clicker training.
   
   I ran into the house for an apple and broke it into a couple of pieces. This time, when I offered him the bridle I waited until he turned his head back where it belonged, made a clicking noise with my tongue, and gave him a bite of apple. When I offered him the bridle the second time he opened his mouth for the bit! I rewarded him again, then put on the bridle and rewarded him a third time. Since then, every bridling has gone very smoothly, with rewards or without.
   
   I don't know of a faster, easier, or more effective way to deal with that situation than clicker training. And I don't know of a better way to learn it than this book.



3. An excellent introduction to the beginner, this book gives you a step by step guide to clicker training your horse - And it works! Although I don't use the technique on a daily basis, I have found it particularly useful in overcoming problems like mane pulling, accepting dewormer, desensitizing ears, etc.



4. Incredible! I just recently heard of this method so I bought the book. I applied the method to a 10 year old mare who had the following problems: Hard to catch, high strung, generally rotten disposition, scared to stand for the stallion, the list goes on. I am NOT a horse trainer, but the mare was headed for an uncertain future, so I figured I'd give this a try. Within our first two weeks she in now easy to catch and comes on the run when she sees me in or near her pasture. She willingly picks up her feet for farrier work, will back up straight for 35 feet on a voice command given from 10 feet away (no halter), she calmly follows me around the yard without restraint - even when we stroll past the stallion's gate. Within the next week she will be ridden for the first time and I expect, with her new calmness, she will return to the broodmare band in the spring.



5. This wonderful book is true to its name. I have taught my horse such highly advanced skills as rearing up on command and spitting. Getting creative, I tried this training method on the neighbor's girl that I baby sit. Highly effective. I am very pleased.

No comments about Thinking Riding Book 2: In Good Form (No.2).

1 comments about Understanding Equine Acupuncture: Your Guide to Horse Health Care and Management (Horse Health Care Library).

1. I couldn't ask for an easier purchase. Item was shipped immediately and was in perfect shape. Thank You!

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2 comments about The Horse's Mind.

1. This is by far the best book I've seen in decades on horse behavior and the reasons behind it. I couldn't recommend it more highly!



2. This must be one one the best books on this subject. One of Britain's foremost horse behaviourists, Lucy Rees was using a round-pen long before Monty Roberts hit the Europe. This book belongs in the library of every horselover. It is fascinating and enlightening. Don't miss it. There has been nothing better published on this subject and it has to go down as a classic. Also The Maze by the same author is a great book about her travels on horseback in Arizona. I loved them both.

1 comments about Horse Behavior Explained: Origins, Treatment, and Prevention of Problems.

1. An in depth look at horse behavior, complete with cited case studies. Not necessarily for someone who wants to casually pick up book and read it over coffee, this is a serious study of horse behavior. The books includes descriptions all phases of horse development and describes the normal and abnormal aspects. It also offers remedies for abnormal behavior and related problems. This book goes way beyond most other behavior books I have read and it is a book you can read several times and still find something new with each review.