I used to enjoy reading the yahoo horse clicker training lists (before fb) when I was starting out with positive reinforcement (R+) with my horses. 

I paid special attention to the early behaviours to teach, how and why, and happily went out playing with my ponies! We all enjoyed it, horses and human.

Once I’d been practising for a while, I got a bit sidetracked and didn’t read the lists as often. What I was doing was working, everything going smoothly. I’d done some intro/ basic behaviours with multiple horses, relatively successfully,  I thought I had a fair handle on things. Nothing really went wrong luckily.

Enter rainy days and boredom, so I went back to the lists to do some reading for some entertainment. Glad I did.

I was awakened from my initial (bad) mindset. 

I read the query – I thought to myself, yep, I know the answer, I know how to do that, but being me read the answers anyway - they call it fomo I think.  Well thank the universe for fomo!

I read the answers, expecting they would say what I thought the answer to be. 

Turns out there are SO MANY right answers! 

I kept reading, thinking, wow, that would work. Oh what a great idea, 

I never would have thought of that. That is excellent I am going to try that next time. 

That approach would really suit horse A, much better than my current approach. 

What a great alternate plan, my horses are doing ok now, but I will keep this idea stored away for when it is needed.

Humbling! 

It did make my fomo worse though, and I read even more now!

Another bit of enlightenment came from teaching puppy pre-school classes surprisingly. Ideas and correlations kept popping into my head while I was teaching classes. Who would have thought there were so many similarities, to puppy class, to R+ for horses, to life even.

My take away – remain open and receptive. Network whenever you can.

Listen to what others have to say, even if it seems irrelevant. 

Think about the advice – does it seem sensible? Salient? Relevant? Can it be adapted?      Is it force free? Does it give the horse a choice? Is it of value for the horse to learn?                           Which parts can I use efficiently and ethically? Does that resonate with my moral values?

And listen to your horse - they too have ideas and preferences and can help guide you to the right answer, for themselves and for others

Relevant information doesn’t always have to come from teachers or text books  - learners have great ideas too, thoughts that are often un-adulterated by pre-conceived notions. Learners actually also have great questions, that make you truly think about the answers. 

And answer IS plural, as there are many answers that can be right, for this animal, this trainer, this day, this repetition, this moment in time.

Remember to remain receptive; open, inquisitive and humble, and listen to your horse.

Written By Vicki Conroy of the Equine Sub-Committee