Jenny and I have just come back from three days at Chard where we continuing the work with Magic and Merlin. Their owner, Tabitha, has made great progress with Magic over the last couple of months despite some rotten weather that meant she couldn't even bring them down to their stables for several days. Merlin was proving more tricky as he is 18 months old, a colt and far more nervous than Magic. At the start of our stay this time, Magic could be caught and led out in the yard; Merlin would let Tabitha touch him on his left hand side only. By the end of the three days, Magic has been having his feet picked up, has been touched and groomed all over including having his tail combed out. He has been led all over the yard and consented to walk over a tarpaulin and was keen to follow an umbrella.
Merlin took quite a while to let me touch him with my hand on his left hand side and wanted to bite me when I went round to his right. He would allow me to put a scarf around his neck but seemed a long way from accepting a headcollar. In his case I spent some time using advance and retreat and another session teaching him the association between a click and a treat. By the end of yesterday I had put his first headcollar on using a combination of advance and retreat and clicker training and by the end of today he was accepting his headcollar really easily and letting Tabitha touch him all the way down to the base of his neck on the right hand side without any defensiveness at all. He had been led inside the stable and was moving his front and hindquarters in answer to a very gentle pressure i.e. a slight pressure on his headcollar or looking at his bottom.
I think I may call this ARC training or Advance and Retreat Plus. I no longer accept that it is unethical to use the two methods in unison where everything is taken very gently and incrementally. Both require careful shaping and a very sympathetic approach.
I have heard from Jo with Sunny (from Tuesday) and she is also employing a click and a treat to say thank you once he has accepted the headcollar and reports that he is now standing like a soldier while she put the headcollar on. (he is no longer skiing her into the field either!).
Last night, a gang of us went to see Monty's demo at The Hand as it was less than an hour away. It was a good demo with some lovely horses and who wouldn't envy Monty's borrowed Quarter Horse, Copy? Martin Clunes did a Join-Up with his big (very very big) horse Chester.
E-mail from tabs 28.2.10 - "Just to let you know I have haltered magic and de-sensitized him all over ran my hands down his legs and we have been for a walk. Merlin came straight up to me in the stable, I did a click and treat. He allowed me to put the rope over his neck as I haven't got a head collar to fit him yet. He allowed me to touch him all down the left side and around his head and face. Did a click as I removed the rope and click and treat at the end, he was brilliant.
Thank you for getting me to this stage, it feels wonderful !"
Thank you for getting me to this stage, it feels wonderful !"
