page16

ALEXANDRA KURLAND - Colo. Clicker Clinic - Part 3

by Nancy Oly

HEAD LOWERING I have read about this and can do it with limited success from the ground on my horses, by touching their poll, If their head is Iow enough for me to reach...

The way Alexandra teaches it, with Clicker Training, with the lead rope which easily transfers to bridle is.... well, so effective, you can even use it on Thoroughbreds. (Joking about "TB moments" was on-going). I'll try to describe it, but you might want to go to one of her clinics or buy her book. It was crystal clear when you see it and can do it.

Anyway, you pick up the lead rope about where the buckle would be with your right hand, anchor it on neck/wither area, slide your left hand down toward head, taking slack out, the instant the horse lowers his head, release, click and treat. We get what we release for/click for and then build on that until horse is Iowering head to dirt. Every horse was soon doing it and partly because it is so relaxing to the horse.

Ok, so how do we do it from the saddle? Alexandra told us a couple times that the only difference between groundwork and saddle work is you are sitting down. Elaine was our volunteer on Hap (a TB, I might point out) to show us clicking under saddle. She was nervous. On previous outings with Hap in the 7 years she had owned him, it had taken him up to 2 hours to settle down with both the trainer and Elaine riding him and lunging him at the shows they competed in. I didn't much notice him all saddled up and ready to go because I was concentrating on Pat and Ruby making their exit. He certainly wasn't bouncing off the wails, even when Elaine got up on him: with all the commotion. He was just hanging out, calm, relaxed. She had never CT him from the saddle, but they quickly got the hang of it. Pretty much they worked on the head Iowering so she would have that in place, if and when, she needed it again. He did wonderful. If he moved a step (which was rare), one rein to back, calm, cool and collected. You would have sworn they had been practicing for days, weeks, hours and that Alexandra stacked the deck for this demo But it was decided only a couple hours before and Elaine had never done a one rein stop, one rein back or head lowering from the saddle. She had done it from the ground that day. Hap knew it and Elaine knew it. We didn't realize how awesome this was until later during our wrap up session, when Alexandra went around the room and everyone shared what they had learned from our weekend together. Elaine, very full of emotion, said she learned how great Hap was. She wasn't the only one with wet eyes in that room.

HINDQUARTERS OVER (OR WHAT EVER YOU CALL IT)

It certainly goes by a number of different descriptions - disengaging the hindquarters, displacing the hip, moving the feet, turning on the forehand. And there also seem to be endless ways to achieve what ever you call it. It must be very in vogue this season, since I seem to see people "doing it to their horses" every place Iv'e been lately.

Alexandra spoke about this phenomenon. She had a person stand with their legs crossed over and tried to push them over - no problem. Then she had a person stand with legs shoulder width apart while she tried to push them over, which was difficult. Obvious, but consider the horse who is a prey animal. They want structural stability, they don't want to cross over, they feel vulnerable. There is a need for it in modem riding, however, to control a bolting horse, upper level dressage, trail classes, etc. What Alexandra is seeing out there is that people are learning to whirl ropes, poke with whips & fingers, jab with spurs and keeping it on, getting that horse by god, to move off from "pressure". Horse is moving, feeling vulnerable and still the "thing" is chasing him. What she's seeing is a lot of very unhappy horses.

In Clicker Training, she uses the natural motion of the horse, by turning

the head to the side (we've learned to get the horse to target to the side,

so we don't need to yank or pull) and then the legs will automatically cross over in back to straighten out the horse. Simple. Click as soon as the legs go into motion and treat. Build on that until there are two or more steps over in back. Then the cue can be as gentle as a touch to the side or hip or a look to the area. It's really neat how quick and how lightly you can get this going well. I paired up with Carole and 2 Tone on this. He was telling her with his ears back and swishing tail that the cue was too strong, on too long and she was asking too much of him at one time. She started using the clicker, breaking it down into smaller chunks and what a difference. The ears became visible part of his anatomy again, his tail became still and he really got easier to turn & back, also. We had a real interesting discussion about ol' 2 Tone's previous life. It sounded to me like he had always been TOLD what to do, which he did with no question, but he didn't have to be happy about it. When Carole started asking him, when he was no longer being forced to do something, he started getting into it more, which is a great start for him.

FINALLY,

I liked so many things about this clinic, as you can tell by the length of my report. Alexandra's teaching style is one of the best, most effective, personable I've witnessed in a long time. She knows her stuff, but most importantly she can convey it to ALL her students in many interesting, hands on ways. For working with your horse, getting a better relationship, learning fun things to do with your horse, developing lightness and responsiveness, you can learn it all at her clinic. As an extra bonus, I also gained some ideas and insights on how to clicker train Cocoa, our GOAT. Wish me luck!

Nancy O