Irish Clicker Centre

04/12/2020

This page is no longer really active as I have set up Click That Horse.
For those of you with young children, lockdowns have made me embark on a completely different project and with a friend, we have written and illustrated a children's book "What's an Og?"
We currently have a Kickstarter up and running, which you can support for as little as £1 and share on social media. Your support would be HUGELY appreciated.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/malbabooks/whats-an-og-a-book-for-young-readers-and-preschoolers?ref=project_build #

A children's book to teach reading. With quirky and clever illustrations of the rhyming text, the book looks at sounds within words.

31/01/2020

Alexandra Kurland will be in Scotland in June 2020 - Don't miss this great opportunity to learn from the foremost equine positive reinforcement/clicker trainer.

Alexandra Kurland will be in the UK in June to give a Scottish clinic in Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, on 27-29th June 2020 Please click on the links for further details Alexandra Kurland is one of the foremost trainers in positive reinforcement. She is the author of many books and 19 DVDs on this work.....

01/05/2019

Wonderful opportunity to work with Alexandra Kurland!!

will be in the UK in June for 3 workshops. Amazing opportunity to learn from the expert. Check out http://clickthathorse.com/clinics/clinics-alexandra-kurland-june-2019/

20/03/2019

MOVING MOVING MOVING........ Despite repeated requests and appeals to Facebook, they will not allow me to change this page name to Click That Horse, so I have now set up a separate page Click That-Horse.

To see what's happening, please follow me over to there. Many thanks, Mary

11/02/2019

To all my followers here,
As my work takes me all over Europe (and places beyond at times!), the name Irish Clicker Centre has become pretty obsolete, so you can see that the website has become clickthathorse.com and a change of name request is making it's way through Facebook as we speak, so if you find yourself receiving posts from a different name....it's still the same good clicker training for your horses!

11/02/2019

25/12/2018

For all of my wonderful Friends and Clients.....

17/11/2018

And with Positive Reinforcement, they LOVE. it!

Thank you, Ken Ramirez, for this insightful info.

07/10/2018

This is an interesting press release from the International Society for Equitation Science.....

ISES MEDIA RELEASE

ISES ROME 2018

Licking and chewing – submission or stress?

Horses sometimes lick and chew during training and this has often been interpreted as a sign that the horse is learning or showing ‘submission’ to the trainer. However, a new study suggests that this non-nutritive licking and chewing behaviour is a natural behaviour that is shown after a stressful situation.

To gain insight into the function of licking and non-nutritive chewing behaviour in horses, a team of equine scientists from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences observed the social behaviour of feral horses under natural conditions.

M.Sc. Margrete Lie and Prof. Ruth Newberry spent 80 hours observing feral horse herds in Ecuador and collected data on 202 sequences of behaviour when licking and chewing behaviour occurred. Margrete Lie presented her findings at the 14th International Society of Equitation Science (ISES) conference in Rome last week.

The team wanted to investigate whether non-nutritive chewing was performed to signal submission to another horse and also to study whether horses performed the behaviour in between stressed and calm situations.

To find out whether non-nutritive chewing was performed to signal submission the researchers tested the idea that when one horse (the aggressor) approached another horse (the recipient) in a threatening manner, the recipient but not the aggressor would perform the behaviour. The team observed and recorded different behavioural sequences that involved aggressive interactions (for example if one horse herded or threatened another) and recorded whether the chewing behaviour was performed by either horse.

The results were fascinating: the team found that the chewing behaviour was performed by both the approaching and the recipient horses. Non-nutritive chewing was actually performed more often by the aggressor than the recipient, refuting the assumption this behaviour is a submissive signal.

The researchers also investigated whether non-nutritive chewing occurred between tense and relaxed situations. When observing the horses’ behavioural sequences, they found that the majority of the behaviours before chewing were tense and the majority of behaviours after chewing were relaxed. The chewing behaviour occurred when the horses transitioned from a tense to a relaxed state.

The researchers concluded that chewing could be associated with a switch from a dry mouth caused by stress (sympathetic arousal) to salivation associated with relaxation (parasympathetic activity).

The results of this study suggest that non-nutritive chewing was not used as a submissive signal by horses in the contexts observed, but it occurred after a tense situation, likely as a response to a dry mouth.

The research team acknowledge that further research is required to measure the stress responses associated with non-nutritive chewing. However, this study does highlight that licking and chewing likely occurs after a stressful situation and may be used as a behavioural indicator that the previous situation was perceived as stressful by the horse.

07/10/2018

Pick me, pick me, pick me!!!
The audience all waiting on their turn. At Centre du Bien Etre Animal Formation, Paris. Having fun with clicker training

30/09/2018

Great article by Ken Ramirez on Shaping and the many misconceptions that surround it. https://www.clickertraining.com/misconceptions-about-shaping

In 1999, Paul Chance defined shaping as “the use of successive approximations to achieve a target behavioral goal.” In 2017, David Pierce and Carl Cheney used an almost identical definition, adding only that shaping includes the use of “selective reinforcement.” Based on those definitions, m...

05/09/2018

What an amazing behaviour and duration! Can your pet play an instrument???

Please FOLLOW, LIKE, and SHARE Jokgu on her very own page: https://www.facebook.com/JokguChicken Jokgu of the Flockstars plays Puccini's "O Mio Babb...

22/08/2018

Alexandra Kurland has many "Alexisms" but one of my favourites has always been "Go to people for opinions and horses for answers"

This is an excellent article by Anna Blake which embodies that saying and also reminds us that every animal is a unique individual!

Bitted or bitless is idle chatter if there is no horse in the conversation.

19/08/2018

Very clever application of positive reinforcement. All we need is to be imaginative and creative in our thinking!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/08/11/french-park-trains-clever-crows-pick-litter/

Traditionally seen as harbingers of death or symbols of evil, crows are often considered to be pests, but a French park has taken advantage of their innate intelligence and trained the birds to pick up litter.

18/08/2018

Can you clicker train humans??
But of course :)
TAGteach is a brilliant system (developed by Theresa McKeon) used to teach human learners to perform skills and tasks.
And it's not just for silly tricks!

An orthopedic surgeon is using clicker training to teach medical students surgical techniques. Learn how clicker training can also help your horse learn.

20/07/2018

The very handsome Hans goes over the see-saw for the first time!
We had another visit to the Extreme Trail park at Herbstein in Germany again this year. Great to meet some new clicker trainersa and old friends.

Once again, Sabine Martini-Hansske did a wonderful job organising the course. We will be back again in end of May/June again in 2019....why not join us.

18/06/2018

Relaxing after a clinic in Scotland with Alexandra Kurland. What an amazing 3 days of incredible learning and fun! As ever, our wonderful hostess Dawn excelled herself. What a great location with perfect arena area, classroom and paddocks/stabling as needed.

And, of course, my fabulous Scottish students done me proud!!! :) :) :)

More of this later, but in the meantime a couple of pics!

16/06/2018

Alexandra Kurland clinic in Scotland. Riding on Day 1 - YES!

11/05/2018

Centre de formations animalières Chien Cheval
Pat Rérolle, Educateur Canin et Intervenante en Comportement Animal. Certifiée Karen Pryor Clicker Training (USA), formée par Jacinthe Bouchard (Canada), Dr Joël Dehasse (BEL) et Susan Friedman (USA)

24/04/2018

Still a few non-horse participant places left...Why not avail of this great opportunity to learn with Alexandra Kurland while she is in the UK.

663 followers

14/04/2018

Sometimes I meet people who say that it's all very well to use clicker training with a dog, but not their horse....Horses, they claim, aren't suited to it.
So what other animals are not suited? How about butterflies, condors, or entire troops of chimps. To quote Ken Ramirez in this article "Whether you’re talking about a butterfly or you’re talking about a Harvard graduate, we all learn the same way,”

https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/animal-trainers-are-teaching-wildlife-to-conserve-themselves/

Chimps have been taught to sound an alarm when poachers approach; polar bears and condors have been trained to avoid towns; and even butterflies can learn new tricks.

09/04/2018

Sitting in Dublin airport on my way to Vettweiss, near Cologne and my second workshop of 2018! Looking forward to meeting old clicker friends and new!

09/04/2018

Another wonderful article by Katie Bartlett where she gives a wonderful Synopsis of Jesús Rosales-Ruiz talk at ASAT
https://equineclickertraining.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/asat-conference-2018-dr-jesus-rosales-ruiz-on-how-movement-cycles-can-improve-your-shaping/

This the second in a series of posts based on my notes from the 2018 Art and Science of Animal Training Conference that was held in Irving, Texas on March 24-25, 2018. While I try to take accurate …

23/03/2018

Looking forward to my return to Oakfield Farm for some more Clicker Training over Easter.... Why not join us if only for a look :)
Details here: http://teaching-clicker.co.uk/Clicker/Courses_2018.html

23/03/2018

Looking forward to my return to Oakfield Farm for some more Clicker Training over Easter.... Why not join us if only for a look :)
Details here: http://teaching-clicker.co.uk/Clicker/Courses_2018.html

We have Mary Concannon visiting from the Irish Clicker Centre teaching at Oakfield Farm again in 2018. Mary taught an excellent series of clinics here over the last few years and we are pleased to have her back. All our 2018 courses are on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday with an introductory talk on the....

03/03/2018

For those of you in the USA:
Alexandra Kurland will return to Mad Dog Ranch near Fayetteville, Arkansas Apr 14-16, 2018 & Nov 3-5, 2018. The remainder of her calendar and that of her coaching guild, is online here,
http://www.theclickercenter.com/ClinicSchedule.html

She will also be teaching in Half Moon Bay, California, Apr 28-30, 2018 and Oct 6-8, 2018.
Contact [email protected].

These events are very in-depth. Check out Alexandra's blog for more details. http://theclickercenterblog. com/2014/12/02/

Alexandra teaches the basics of training your equine (horses, donkeys and mules!!) using Positive Reinforcement. Then she takes it further; exploring how our body movements influence the horse; how to use lead ropes and reins in a clicker-compatible way; and how to cultivate willing participation, as well as physical and emotional balance in ourselves and our horses. She integrates Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, Classical Dressage, compassion, clear thinking and common sense in her clinics. www.theclickercenter.com.

http://theclickercenterblog. com/2014/11/16/in-search-of- excellence-effective-practice/

Alexandra is a pioneer in applying clicker training and R+ training with horses. She studied Animal Behavior at Cornell University. and is a featured speaker at the University of North Texas ORCA conference and Clicker Expo each year. She is the author of three books and 18 DVDs about clicker training horses. She has trained a miniature horse to serve as guide for a blind human. That horse has been working successfully for more than 10 years. People working with other species (birds, dogs, zoo animals) have attended her clinics and made discoveries that enhanced their own work.

INFORMATION and REGISTRATION:
For further details on the event, and registration, please email me privately, [email protected].

Reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis, secured by a deposit. Details are outlined in the registration materials. Directions will be sent to registered participants.

CEUs for IAABC, CCPDT, PPG and KPA pending. They have been approved for past events.

Permission granted to share with interested individuals, or on other lists that are appropriate for this type of information

10/02/2018

Great article by Anita Schnee on the benefits of combining Feldenkrais work with horse training. Thanks for sharing Cindy Bennett Martin :)

https://dreamsincognito.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/the-significance-of-a-strong-neutral/

A person lies quietly on the floor. Slowly, gently, the person moves a little – and rests. Moves a little – and rests. Horse and rider walk in a circle. Gently, imperceptibly, the rider shifts her …

23/12/2017

Happy Christmas everybody. 🙂
Enjoy a wonderful festive season and hope you all have wonderful presents, hanging from, or under your tree!

21/12/2017

Alexandra Kurland will be returning to Aberdeen, Scotland this summer for a 3-day workshop. Hosted by Dawn Saunders n Monymusk, this promises to be an amazing weekend of learning and fun.

Early booking is advisable as places fill up very fast. See the link below for full details.

Alexandra Kurland is one of the foremost trainers in positive reinforcement. She is the author of many books and 19 DVDs on this work. She works with trainers of all species. Her background is in training horses and classical work but trainers of all species have benefitted hugely from her expertise. Her speciality is balance for the horse and handler/rider. She is on the faculty of many International conferences, WOOF, ClickerExpo, ORCA etc and gives regular clinics in Sutton, Canada, the home of Cavalia.

Places are limited and will be on a first come, first served basis. There are a maximum of 6 horse places and 9 places for non-horse participants. As with all of Alex’s courses, there will be rope-work, balance work, human-horse simulations etc so the non-horse people will be kept active and busy too.

Clinic: Alexandra Kurland, June 2018 Alexandra Kurland works with Icelandic stallion Loki Alexandra Kurland is returning to Scotland to give a three-day clinic from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th June. There will be an Introductions session on the evening of Thursday 14th. The clinic will take place in�...

05/11/2017

So do goats enjoy being scratched?
https://theclickercenterblog.com/2017/11/05/

04/11/2017

Alex is still working on the best training technique for goats..... https://theclickercenterblog.com/2017/11/03/goat-diaries-day-1-continued-cups-of-tea/

Please Note: if you are new to the Goat Diaries, these are a series of articles that are best read in order. The first installment was posted on Oct. 2nd. I suggest you begin there: Collecting Da…