This is the story of my quest to train my three Dales Ponies for classical dressage, primarily by using Alexandra Kurland's clicker training methods, with a touch of others such as Philippe Karl and Anja Beran thrown in. I turned to clicker training because I had come up against some issues that I didn't know how to fix and because I wanted to inspire them to become enthusiatic partners. Bella and Jack are all my own work and have never been ridden by anyone else.


Bella, Grace and Jack

Bella aged 6

Bella aged 6

Treat Delivery

Jack aged 7

Jack

Monday 10 November 2008

I have started working on Bella's canter, just the transition to begin with. She favours the right lead and is quite difficult to get to strike off on the left leg, even on the lunge. I began by clicking the transition, regardless of which leg she struck off on.

Then I started to looK for the correct lead. She is 100% successful on the right rein but only about 20% successful on the left. I feel quite mean, only clicking about 1 attempt in 5; I usually try to keep things on a high success rate for as long as possible, especially when what I am asking is hard work or difficult. I try to make up for it by jackpotting her every time she gets the left lead, but it still seems as though she is doing a lot of work for nothing, on that rein.

I altered my criteria, mostly to make myself feel better, by only clicking an immediate transition into canter when I ask. Again she is 100% successful on the right rein, 20% on the left. If she struck off immediately I asked her to, she would be on the correct lead, but she throws it by delaying her response so that she is on the right lead again.

Obviously if she starts to lose motivation to try on that rein I will return to clicking every canter transition for a while (she hasn't yet), but I wondered if anyone could see a way that I could split the transition down, to make it easier and increase her success rate? I have racked my brains but can't see a way. (I am trying to be a splitter, not a lumper!)

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I am a clicker training addict and there is no cure - thank goodness!!!