I started clicker training with her to give her brain something to focus on while her body is preoccupied. Her first introduction was to go, come when I whistle (which she already does), halt when asked and lower her head when asked. I worked her in the round pen at the new barn for the first time. She went from me, came to me and stopped when asked. She got an apple/alfalfa treat after the click each time. She slowly started to catch onto the lower head cue (hand on poll). I was surprised to see that she wasn't very food motivated. I repeated the clicker session on Tuesday in her stall. We focused on come and lower head. This time I used pieces of carrot. She started to associate the click sound with a action/treat. This is the beginning of learning/training through clicker training. I saw her ears flick forward after hearing the click- therefore indicating that she understood that the click meant "YES" -food coming. She tried a bit harder with the lower head cue after that. I plan on contining clicker training for ground skills and later to shape some movement/style concepts with her. I think it's a nice adjunct to traditional training and I think Drifter would agree.
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