Hi,
In the last email, I described where I want to go with Blondie, working at liberty, and where we are now. In the process, we identified our starting point.
We found that she can be focused and engaged in the paddock and that training should start there.
I have asked you to suggest one of Alexandra Kurland’s foundation lessons as our stepping stone for building the base behavior.
Which one did you choose?
I chose the foundation lesson: Standing on a mat.
It is one of my favorite lessons. I use it a lot for all of my horses.
Now that we have our starting point, we can develop a training plan: Question 3 How can you get there?
The base behavior that I teach Blondie first is to go from mat to mat.
Lesson 1: the mat circle
I set out multiple mats in a circle. As Blondie steps on a mat, click/treat, and I send her off to the next mat, repeat…
As she begins to understand the pattern, I begin to “fade myself out.”
What does that mean?
As elaborated earlier in the story, you can shape behavior and keep the environment constant or maintain the behavior and shape the environment.
Initially, I taught Blondie to go from one mat to the next. Using my body language, I prompted her to step off the mat. As she reached the next mat, click/treat.
Once the behavior is fluid, I transfer the cue to the mats. I accomplish that by keeping the behaviour constant while changing the environment gradually.
I begin to slightly vary my position and distance. As Blondie steps off the mat, I turn away from the direction she is going. But I make sure that my action does not disturb the base behavior. As she lands on the mat, click, I walk to her to give the treat. And then she steps off to the next mat.
Every time she steps off the mat, I try to get away and out of sight a little more, and we meet back at the mat.
This way, she learned to go to the next mat independently of where I was going or standing.
The mat in front of Blondie signals her to step off to the next one.
This is what the target behavior “mat circle” looks like.
The next step is to further expand on this base behavior by applying more environmental changes.
I’ll show you the next addition to the lesson in the next email.
Michaela