How long does it take to see results?
Not long at all! When you first begin training your horse, the first step is to associate the clicker with a reward, and with a simple action such as looking away from you (not begging). Some horses begin to pick up this association within one or two minutes, others may take five to ten minutes to understand it.

The basics take roughly a week and about 10-15 minutes a day. Once your horse has bridge conditioning and target training (the fundamentals) down, you are ready to move onto your specific goals. The progress will vary depending on your horse, your goals and your horses' history with this subject. For example, let's say you want to teach your horse to load in a trailer. If he has no history then he will progress more readily than a horse that has an unpleasant history with a trailer and panics as soon as he sees one.

 

How do I start?
Our training video shows you all you need to know to get started! Check out our product catalog for assistance with tools and techniques.

 
How old (or young) does my horse need to be before I can apply the On Target Training system?
The On Target Training system is simple and easy to use on horses of any age. The sooner the better: you can start as soon as your horse is weaned. We recently began working Dandy when he was only five months old, and began training him immediately. He's still young and learning, but has adapted to the training system extremely well. We began working with Hershey when he was 14 years old. He had begun having some problems due to lost confidence in himself. It only took a few 5-minute sessions with him to see positive results. You can read more about Hershey in the October 23, 1999 issue of Hunter/Jumper, in the article, "Getting Hershey Back On Target".

If you want to begin with your horse as soon as it has been weaned, we recommend you begin with basics such as learning to walk beside you, to stop, and how to be mannerly around people.

 
How often should I do the training?
We recommend you incorporate On Target Training as a part of your daily routine. If you see your horse once a day, do a session when you first get there and one before you go home. The more often the better. But horses really retain the lessons they learn. Gaps in training do not usually result in setbacks, just pick up where you left off.

We recommend three five-minute sessions a day if possible. After three days, you should begin to see recognition of the clicker, and recognition that food is coming. This is a very important step. Soon, the clicker will take on a value of its own in your horse's mind. Be patient and take the time to go through each repetition.

 
It looks like you don't always feed when you click. How do I know when to feed to reinforce the right behavior?
As the clicker begins to take on a value of its own, the horse understands that he did something right, he did what you wanted him to do. Operant conditioning has proven to be even more highly effective though if you vary the rewards (type of feed, for example), and how often you give the reward. At the beginning of the process, it's critical for your horse to associate food with performance. Once the horse begins to recognize this, you can gradually begin to back off how often you reinforce with food. But only begin varying your reward once your horse consistently performs the behavior to your criteria. Eventually you can build up to many complex behaviors between reinforcements, like jumping a course, riding a test, running a pattern, etc.

 
How often do I click?
Every time you ask for a behavior and the horse does it right, until the horse has mastered the task. As the horse succeeds, you can begin to make more complicated requests.

 
When do I click?
Immediately upon the horse doing the right thing. It may take you a moment to find the feed to reinforce, so you want to be sure that the horse associates the click at the same time he performs the correct behavior.

 

On Target Training Principles
On Target Training tools
Undesirable Behavior