Miniature Horses

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Comment by Peggy Hogan on June 2, 2008 at 9:02pm

Hey gang,
There's a photo in the group pictures. I think it's Saber, and he has little mini tennis shoes on. I'd love to know where they were purchased.
Thanks!

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 9, 2008 at 8:56am

I'd love to give you guys some starters. For the moment, there is a ton of free information on clickertraining.com. Many articles and free getting started stuff too.
Maybe you guys could look there and we could talk about setting a fun direction.

Debra...it works on big horses too... ;-)

Comment by pony gal on May 8, 2008 at 11:57pm

Yes, I think you have sold me on trying the clicker training. I am thinking of aquiring a miniature that is an untrained two year old. Is there a right age to start clicker training?

Comment by Becky (ridendurance) on May 8, 2008 at 11:25pm

I am excited about trying out clicker training. I think it can be a great addition to my tool kit! Do you have a suggestion for the best start up kit for this new adventure!

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 8, 2008 at 10:54pm

Thought you mini owners might enjoy this fun video of Mantra. He was a very troubled mini when I got him, even though he came from a very caring home. The good news is he's being "clicked" to a trusting relationship.

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 8, 2008 at 9:11pm

Hey Becky....look out, you're right, it IS addicting. 3 years ago I had 3 full sized horses and now I've got 3 minis as well. Yikes...somebody STOP me....LOL!

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 8, 2008 at 9:06pm

Hey Debra,
I used to be an area coordinator for Parelli and even though I left the program just before I completed Level 3, I went on ahead and finished those tasks. This was around 8 yrs. ago.
The thing that's different about clicker training is that it gives the trainer an opportunity to let the horse "create" a behavior through exploration and reinforcement. There is no pressure to choose a different answer, only the absence of the click/treat to let the horse know to guess again.

With clicker training I can "capture" a behavior just as it happens. So for example, there are many people who want to teach their horses to lie down, but with clicker training it can be very simple.

Once your horse really understands that click=remember what you did=treat, you can click him for lying down and actually "capture" that behavior.

McKee, one of my minis, actually learned to lie down with ONE click, seriously, it was ONE click. He was really tuned into what made me click and he actually got up and down 6 times in that first session, checking out if I was really clicking for that behavior.

So there's a lot of different information available to those studying NH. It's like a whole new toolkit that's available to you. Please explore the possibilities...you'll be glad you did!

Comment by pony gal on May 8, 2008 at 8:38am

Thank you Peggy for joining the disscussion!
Freestyle dancing sounds interesting, like the whole concept of clicker training.
Have you ever heard of combining clicker training and Parelli natural horsemanship?

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 7, 2008 at 10:58pm

Just a fun video sharing my current "mini goals" which is to encourage people to try the sport of "freestyle dancing" with their minis!
Hope you enjoy Handsome and McKee.

Comment by Peggy Hogan on May 7, 2008 at 10:56pm

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