“You are just a silly circus trainer – you don’t know anything about really difficult horses. Your stuff maybe good, but it only works with good ponies.”
Positive reinforcement training, often known as clicker training, has a strange reputation in the horse world.
It’s often ridiculed and very often deemed as the little girls trick training practice that has nothing to do with real horse training.
The fact of the matter is that clicker training is one of the only animal training methods scientifically proven to work. Look up neuroscience behind positive reinforcement training and classical conditioning – this stuff is mind blowing! You have heard about Pavlov, but I can assure you he wasn’t the only scientist studying how learning happens in animals.
Think about it – if this method trains rhinos, tigers, lions, sharks, wolves, eagles and even bloody goldfish, then why is not a widely acceptable method for training horses?
Is it because it’s too easy? Too calm? Doesn’t make for a good show? You don’t get to be the boss?
In the horse world each one of us has our own tools – so don’t ever be ashamed to rock up to train your horse with a treat bag and a clicker.
Some people choose to use whips, we choose to use clickers – what’s the matter with that?!
