So I wondered whether it was possible to introduce a horse to a plastic bag under a threshold of anxiety with tools that I have in my toolbox of training aids: Constructional Approach Training for Horses and Clicker Training. I think it is.
In the next couple of days I will add the video files to this blog to show you what we did.
Day 1 trial 1
So here is the first trial. My aim was to first introduce the bag to Star in CAT (Constructional Approach Training). The aim is to present the bag at a distance where Star is aware of its presence but not so close as to cause him to flee. Each time I present the bag and Star gives a signal conducive to calm I step back. We incrementally (on calm like behaviours) get closer and closer to each other. It is Star who has the control here not me. By Star controlling the speed of the approach by giving calm (and telling me when I am too close) we hope to turn anxiety (or fear we are not sure yet) into curiosity. Stars threshold is tipped at the end here at 5.46 - it happens but that's fine, we will move on. The idea is for me to be as consistent as possible - there will be times I blow it and I am going to put some of these up as Star is such an expressive horse and as he knows how to handle himself in both CAT and clicker it is great to watch how sometimes he has to 'yell' at me before I listen. If you want to know more about Constructional Approach Training for Horses we have some information here at http://www.equilog.com.au/CAT-H.htmlDay 1 continued
I hinted that not all went perfectly initially - or maybe it did as I continually learn things as I play around. This is the first 5 minutes of a 10 minute session after a brief break. I think it was too long in any event. I reduced it from the end as we just saw more of the same (Star not wanting to engage with the bag). I did not think it was a good trial at the time, and that's OK but on reflection a day or so later I realised that it was very informative. Notice what happens the few times in the first 4 minutes when Star wants to come towards the bag. At the time I did not believe that he was ready for a click and treat. I think it is a good idea to test his feelings first but I did not give distance properly. Instead of moving back with the bag, I just moved the bag back - this changed the distance criterion as far as I can see. We now had a moving bag giving distance.....not good!. But Star knows his rules and he attempted again to engage and I again remained in CAT. What I believe happened after this was Star showing me he was feeling punished - not only did I change the criterion for distance, but I did not offer him the reinforcement that he wanted. I believe that he wanted positive reinforcement here but I gave him negative reinforcement. Given that this was not what he was after it became punishing. I also feel that Stars eating the grass is a clear indication to me that he wants to think of something else - I suspect he was feeling nagged by me.
Day 2
I thought I would share one more short one before the penny dropped for me. In this clip it is clear to me that Star was feeling punished when I was in CAT - he is a very good communicator but I was not listening, as frankly at the time of his first approach on initially seeing the bag in trial 1, I did not think he could be so curious so quickly. In this clip you will see that Star still gave me opportunities to reward his approaches to the bag with positive reinforcement but I kept giving him negative reinforcement. This was not what he wanted so therefore it became punishing.Star knows CAT as this helped him overcome his fear of horse rugs. He also likes to target and with targeting he learnt to interact safely with horse rugs.
We remained in CAT for another trial because I still held an opinion that Star needed CAT and I gave distance for calm. The next day I tried gently shaking the bag. I thought that perhaps he needed to get used to the sound first. The idea was that I would shake the bag, as soon as there was a calm behaviour I would stop shaking - this just served to nag him even more.
Day 4 - when the penny dropped
I made a decision that I was going to see what would happen if I offered positive reinforcement if Star came to the bag. I was initially worried about this as sometimes clicker training can stuff a horses fear. This is what happened with Star before when we discovered he was afraid of coats. He would cope with the coats but during the time he was receiving a click and treat for having a coat on him he took treats hesitantly. So I had a good sign from Star to test with the bag. If he did take treats hesitantly or he walked away I would know that he was not ready yet.The following video is the first trial where I rewarded with positive reinforcement his targeting the bag. You will see that I began to shape behaviours. I asked for his head down as the bag was in different positions and then what I wanted was that when his head was down he needed to relax. This had previously been shaped by me with clicker training so he knew what to do. Some people don't necessarily agree head down equates with calm behaviour - that probably is true sometimes - this is why I wanted to get to more than head down and wanted 'relax' cued.
Another thing that is important for me to watch out for is that repetition can also be a form of punishment, so I could not stay at the same spot for too long. The reason for this is that if I stayed in the same spot without asking for more and simply continued to click and treat he might think that he was doing something wrong - so the feedback from me had to be yes this is good, great, so move on. Sometimes I think I did stay a little long in places though. You will also see I got ahead of myself at one point and he got a fright when he realised the bag was on his mane - but how kool was he - he spooked in spot and continued to relax his jaw. I also had a great helper here at this time and Jasper (the cat) would have let me know if there was real fear.
So I went back into CAT a little after this but tried not to ask for targeting, just so I could make sure that he wanted to engage, rather than him feel that he needed to target. You can see a nice release at 5.52 when we were in CAT. He then ignored me a little whilst I was in CAT - he is a good communicator - I am just not a good listener sometimes. So we played his favourite game of trying to pose and then I let him explore the bag. You will see that when I pushed it a little (I accidently touched him) he let me know that he did not find my behaviour acceptable!
Day 5
So here is one from the next day. There was one before this but it was similar to the first trial 4. The idea now in my mind is to remain in clicker (positive reinforcement) unless Star shows me he needs CAT (distance from the bag - therefore we would be giving him negative reinforcement). In this clip I think that Star gains confidence by targeting. He has a little too much confidence very early on and scares himself. But I still like how he handled it. His body language was very clear (I thought at least), and it seemed quite easy to tell when he was working towards the bag (then he gets a click and treat) or away from the bag (he needed distance).
Some might not like the fact that Star sometimes turns his butt - I can understand that. But I cannot see any nastiness in his body language and I do not feel unsafe. I feel that if it was all too much for him he would just move away (or flee). I am taking his body language as communication and for me and him, his butt turning is letting me know that he is not a happy camper....go to CAT. Anyway here it is:
Day 6
Here we worked on head down and relax positioning the bag around different parts of Star's body. There are times when he was a little worried - and he showed me - eating the grass for him here, in my opinion is a demonstration that he is worried - if he needs to show me more (kind of like shouting) he seemed to turn his butt. Each time I tried to meet his communication with the reinforcer that I thought he needed the most. What I tried to do was to move on a little each time I thought that Star did a good relax, so as not to risk repetition being punishing. Sometimes I took him for walks to take a break - some might notice his ears being back as he is walking - I think we have finally worked out what this is all about and it is that he is on his forehand and leaning - kind of like stretching to target but tipping forward- we are working on this!
What also happens during this trial is that I get the opportunity to touch him with the bag near his withers at first - this worries him a little and he shows what a great communicator he has become.
Part 2 of day 6
This is the second part of the trial 6 (after a 15 minute break) - here we progress a little more. Star is staring to feel the bag on his body now and it worries him a little - so when I can I go back into CAT. His targeting attempt towards the last couple of minutes I thought was a tell all - targeting is a security blanket in some ways for him. He wants so much to get a click and treat, but he is no longer prepared to stuff his fears. I think that CAT taught him that way back. I think for Star's emotional safety it is better that he makes his feelings clear and he seems to be able to do this now. My job is to listen and respond with the right reinforcer at the right time. The more I get this right, the more consistent I become and the more consistent I become, the more Star trusts his choices.
Day 7
The next clip is the next trial 5 days later. We had some bad weather. Star seemed to be gaining more confidence. His targeting is quite forceful now when he touches the bag, I had to be a little careful here that he did not get ahead of himself. So I thought it would be better to try and incorporate the bag into games. His relaxing head down was steadier and more confident. We now have begun to touch Star with the bag. Yes I made a big deal of it and yes I am a dork - but as long as he gets it...who cares :-)
Day 8
This is the next trial after a few more days of bad weather (9 days of it in fact). I have to be on my toes here as Star is learning that he can cope with the bag on him, but is still hesitant. At the time the best thing I could think of was to play with him - support him and hope that he works it out. Around the 5 minute mark I tipped him a bit. It was almost to me that he wanted to engage with the bag but was not yet sure. So I tried to remain in CAT as best I could but I have to admit there was a bit of approach and retreat going on here as well - but the way I am using clicker training can be akin to it in any event. The important thing for me was to ensure that I give the reinforcer that he needed at the time. We are progressing though - his near side is getting very soft. Yes I am still being a dork :-) GOOOD for Star I a keep going signal in clicker.
Day 9
This next clip shows the next trial 3 days later. Star seems to start where we left off and then some. I am managing now to get more softer touches around his body. There were a couple of times where we needed to go back a little - but if I maintain the reinforcement he needs I think it wont be long now.
Day 10 -The final day
Here is the last video of the plastic bag. Star seemed to incrementally get better each time and this is the end result of it. Now on to generalisation and this time I am going to listen and not assume he cant manage in clicker training.
Generalisation
The process with CAT is that once we feel that our horse is not in fear of the object any longer and is working towards something - in Stars case this was clicker training, we need to generalise this new outlook to other things and other environments. So first I used a couple of real flags and picked reasonably windy mornings. Start in CAT and see what Star wants - he soon seemed to want positive reinforcement - It is probably no use to speculate what would have happened if I listened to him on day 1 with the plastic bag. This is the only trial of the small flag we needed to do.
and the next day a larger flag
