Tex, minus the winter hair

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I took these picures last Sunday. What a striking difference from when Tex arrived at my house. He's now 13 hands tall! My friend Kristy helped me move Tex around in his new pen during feeding time. There is food in the trough, but I've been trying to teach Tex not to be aggressive with food. I put the food in his bin (or trough, depending on if he's in the stall or out), and then I use my elbow and body language to keep him out of the feed. I only back away and let him eat when he puts his head down and is calm. I've also been TRYING somewhat of a clicker training, after reading an article in John Lyons' Perfect Horse magazine. The article was written by an animal behaviorist who has trained many exotic animals. She described that "clicker" training is simply using some sort of audio signal to "bridge" between the desired behavior and the reward. Instead of using an actual plastic clicker, I use the word "good", quickly and short, in the same voice tone. Horses have an approximate 3 second time interval in which to receive a reward. That's not always enough time. I'm guessing the "bridge" is what helps the horse understand that he did the right thing within the 3 seconds, and the reward (petting, or getting to eat his food) comes soon after the 3 seconds.

For an example, when I'm teaching Tex to be nice when fed, my desired behavior is for him to stand quietly. I put the feed in the trough, and as SOON as he stands quietly, I say "GOOD" one time and back away, allowing him to access the feed. Desired behavior = GOOD = REWARD (food).

Clicker training isn't popular in the cowboy world from what I can tell, but since I've never done this before, and haven't seen it done much, I'm willing to try anything that seems sensible to me. If it doesn't work, I'll quit and try something different. So far, my theories have been proven right- Tex seems to be learning quickly. On top of that, while working with Jade, our 8 month old border collie puppy, the "good" seems to "click" with her, too :)


One of these pictures is of Taz, husband's goofy-sometimes-uncoordinated-unpredictably-spooky-horse.








The last picture is of some of the horses that husband and I have taken care of during our time at the camp. We know each one's name, personality, habits, and pecking order. I will miss them, but it will be nice to only have 2 horses to care for instead of 26!