On Target

This target training stuff is pretty amazing.  Using free resources on YouTube, mostly Connection Training, I’ve been able to teach all three horses to touch a target stick(hillbilly version, a Gatorade bottle on a piece of wood trim), a variety of fixed targets, use my hand as a target, and touch fixed targets under saddle.  I’ve also learned a lot about target training, marking a behavior with a click or praise, and gotten much better at shaping an action with positive reinforcement.  The horses all love it and are super engaged.  I didn’t know how much I didn’t know until I started this training.

I’m at the point now of using the fixed targets that the horses know in the spooky places to give them something positive to focus on and do.  It works like a dream.  I’ve also gotten to where most things are becoming targets, which makes the horses see slightly suspicious things and walk towards them to play the target game instead of looking sideways to spook.  Using my hand as a target in spooky places has been interesting as well, especially with some poll flexion sideways.  Yesterday Jet and I stood 20 feet from a garbage truck using the robot arm to pick and dump a trash can and he targeted my hand a couple of times and was totally chill.  Amazing.

Anyway, we are transferring the targeting to under saddle work right now.  The principles are the same and the horses LOVE it.  They are so eager to “work” and have a lot of motivation.  Not strictly dressage, but really fun stuff.