The Art and Science of Clicker Training for Horses by Ben Hart. Finally a long awaited down to earth book on the successes to be had and the pitfalls to be avoided with clicker training. The book deals in great detail with all the questions you ever wanted to ask, worrying questions such as won’t feeding treats make my horse bite too more detailed questions about why we need to view working with equines differently to working with dogs. Ben talks about the importance of the trainer learning how to break down what seem like large problems into small behaviours that are much more easily dealt with and how using shaping plans will help you achieve great results to tackle any problems you may be having in your relationship with your Horse, Donkey or Mule.
The first few chapters talk about the importance of knowing the science behind the training technique .It talks to the reader about how and why a little plastic box can communicate so much to the horse. By teaching the trainer this, not only does the trainer start to understand how the horse learns, but also begins to understand how we ourselves learn. We can then apply this knowledge to all our communications with horses no matter what the problem and help us develop a more thorough understanding of our relationship with them.
Further on Ben goes into details about where people can go wrong with using the clicker and how to avoid falling into these traps by using it very clearly and with specific boundaries right from the start.
Ben comes across as clearly passionate for Horses, Donkeys and Mules but the honesty he has for imparting information without Ego, Showmanship or Self Congratulation is the biggest success of this book. Through his vast experience in working with equines, donkeys and mules and his large experience of teaching others to use clicker training and positive reinforcement he is able to show how much fun can be had as long as it is used in a responsible way with much forethought.
I would highly recommend everyone either starting out on the journey or already using clicker to read the invaluable words in this book.
My only criticism is why we had to wait so long and when is the next one ???
