I don't think I've written before about Balthazar, licorice and mugging, but if I have and am experiencing another menopaual moment, of which there seem to be many, than that's too bad. I have been building up to riding again with ground work. Peter, with an innocent air, told me how much horses like licorice. We've done well with carrot pieces but always on the lookout for some other way to ingratiate myself with Balthazar (and the others) thought I'd purchase some and give it a try. Incidentally, despite my weakness for licorice I've been steadfast in not nicking their share. Anyway, with the exception of Drifter, the horses adore it. Balthazar, who always got erections with clicker training, behaved in a way that was quite scary - and totally inappropriate. Our platonic relationship was in danger of becoming something much more intimate. Seriously. When doing ground work the idea is to move the horse around while maintaining ones position. With clicker training it is much less about pressure and dominance (in my opinion) than indicating what is required and rewarding the horse for, if not actually doing it, trying. The try is built upon until the horse is keen to offer behaviours that might elicit a reward. Balthazar's offered behaviour was mugging. Mugging while nickering sweet nothings in my ear, mugging while licking the treat pouch (and me), mugging while drooling, mugging while kicking at his erection. Mugging until I was saturated and he was prancing on the spot in anticipation, of what I hate to imagine.
This wouldn't do. I gave up and wrote to the clickryder group on Yahoo detailing my problem in a way that would not earn an X rating for the young readers. The responses and advice received were fantastic. The first writer wrote that I should carry a dressage whip and swish it through the air to get him off me and let him know what was an acceptable distance to be maintained. Yes, I thought, I could do that but I had written that I wanted Balthazar to voluntarily choose not to mug and to keep a distance. What is he learning except what he's always known, that a whip is an implied threat of pain. Sure, he'd stay away but it wasn't quite what was required. Still, if worse came to worse, and in the interest of safety, I could use a swishing whip. The second writer was gold. She suggested that Balthazar choosing not to mug so that he could get a treat was only part of the solution. He also had to learn to stay away. As he saw it, she said and it was proved true in his behaviour, he mugged, backed up or swung his head away, he got a treat, so he mugged, moved away, got a treat, etc. If I wanted to break that cycle he had to learn that treats came thick and fast for keeping his head away from me. Well, duh! Of course she was right. The third writer said, safety first, put a barrier between Balthazar and I until he got the idea. Well, duh!
So last night I cut up so many carrots the treat bag was bulging, left the licorice in the fridge, put Balthazar in the stall with me on the outside and began. Balthazar was frustrated by the railings from getting to me and the treat bag. That meant he had time to draw breath and actually think of what was happening. What was happening was this: when he moved away, I c/t and then c/t 5 or 6 times while his head was pointed elsewhere. This is great, he thought. I'm doing nothing yet getting lots and lots of treats. It went so well that I braved opening the stall door and letting him out. Ah Ha! I could almost hear him. The treat bag! He mugged. I waited, withholding a treat until he backed up and then c/t'd like a mad thing. Stopped. Waited. He mugged. No reward. He backed up. I c/t'd like a woman possessed. The light started to come on. I think he mugged once or twice more but without conviction. It just wasn't getting the response he'd had previously.
So we had success while I stood on his off side. As trainers always say do things from both sides as horses almost seem to have two brains, thought I'd better work from the near side too. He mugged. But again, it didn't take long before he got the idea and kept his distance. We were doing so well and I should've quit then but I had a few carrots left in the bag. Wouldn't you know at the second to last carrot piece he mugged? Only half heartedly, just swung his nose into my torso yet I'd rather the session had ended on a completely positive note. Still, I am very happy with how things progressed and feel confident that we can start serious work very soon. Once he's completely fore-sworn mugging, I'll reintroduce licorice as the Jackpot of Jackpots. And thank Peter for the tip.
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