Wobble board training!

[hilary]

 At the most recent clicker course,  I had my mattress with rubber mat out in the arena. CAllisto ( the second horse in the clip) was able to pt a foot on, but found the boinginess when she took her foot off the "scary" part.

So i remembered the mantra " be a splitter not a lumper", and remembered my wobble board, which I got after a knee op. It has three attachments underneath -  one ( which is on at the moment) where it can only rock from side to side, then 2 halfballs of different sizes, making it easier and harder. I put woodchips o the surface cos it was slightly slippy ( need to look at that), With Ben the first horse , it was his second session ( first one last night on the woodchip). With Callisto I will keep it on the woodchip till she is totally happy. Then a pillow may become a traning aid, to provide a different surface.

The uses  -  like wobble boards , it helps with proprioception, and core stability. KAy Lawrence uses separate wobbly balls to help with dogs proprioception. IN horses, as well as exercising core muscles, it helps with balance, and also simulates  a moving trailer floor.

Here is a little clip of Ben and CAllisto from this morning.

The wobble board

[hilary]

And my next little session from this afternoon. CAllisto was so much surer about the whole process, and got a big wow when she had both feet on and it was rocking under her feet
http://youtu.be/87hOtx4PSB0

[Trudi]

  fantastic Hilary, so lovely to have a clear vid with audible clicks too, makes it easy to follow. What a clever girl, the 'wow' was well deserved. I can see how this could be good physically but also mentally.

[hilary]

Decided I would video Callisto towards the goal of her loving mattress work. It has been interesting. Firstly, I tend to use body language more than verbal -  but these sessions involve me peering down into the iphone , so I'm nor actually looking at her at all .
I decided to introduce a new surface, then change one criterion  -  namely the surface that the wobble board is on. To go straight to concrete would be too much ( on which ben was confident on his second session), so  I put the wobble board on a rubber mat on the woodchip -  much more tippier. 2 or 3 times she wandered off for some hay  -  didnt surprise me, as this session was at 7 ish, after a day at work, I had just fed them , and they were waiting for haynets ( so she was doing a bit of clearing up !). But the choice to come back was hers ( though I did edit some out to make the clip shorter -  and apologies for the shake in the video- as the phone was in my hand)

I used 2 tactics. When she had one foot on, and the position of that foot meant it would be really difficult to get the other foot on I used my treat delivery for her to back off the board, and then she got another chance to step back on. If the first foot went on in a position where she could get her second foot on, I rewarded her on the board.

When she did a really good one, eg stood with both feet on and had a wobble in particular,  then used my fist ( would normally use a cone as a target but I only had one hand for all of this) and gave her the opportunity to earn some treats ( targeting is a really well known highly reinforced behaviour in the past) while still standing on the pedestal, in other words, extra rewards for the really good tries ( really good varies as the sessions go along)

And now I have to go buy another pillow before a houseful in a couple of weeks!
http://youtu.be/zjBzWGvdt_k

[Trudi]

  that's cool that she wants to come back and play, is there anything sacred in your home Hilary  mattress, pillow, wobble board..........

[Lyndsey Lewis]

Cool Hillary!  What a great idea. My guys love standing on and in stuff but I've never had them try something that 'wobbles'.

I guess I wouldn't need a board to be round...just a square on a smaller square...??

Thanks for the idea!

[hilary]

HI Lyndsey,
The only thing with a sqaure one is I dont thing it would wobble! Here is a link to the one I have  http://www.physiosupplies.com/acatalog/Wobble_Rocker_Board_-_Adjustable.html , You can see the three options. I have the easiest option at the moment ( ie not either of the balls). NB this is not built for horses !!

Trudi -  not much 

[hilary]

Today we had 2 little sessions ( the second rudely interrupted by shouting from the top end of my field  -  my 3 others had got onto the lane ( totally my own fault). All I say is thank god for c/t  -  it makes catching them so much easier!!)

I moved into my arena ( the woodchip is a smaller area in front of my stables) , and had three "obects" -   the wobble board, pillow, and mattress.
HAD to edit out quite a lot ( you can only watch so much paint!!) but the basic principle was as well as getting clicked for the mattress , she then got a chance to play on the wobble board, or pillow, which have had a stronger reinforcement history, before going back to the mattress.

I used treat delivery for her to step off the mattress, and also the wobble board. By the end, she had 2 front feet on the mattress -  and was able to take a small step forward - ie she is begnning to be able to cope with the boinginess under her feet.

She also had a short session of teaching her colours,. I was looking after Kate ( friends daughter who is 10). So she taught her yellow and red, with 2 cones, whilst I did the c/t. We had a short practice before with me/her pretending to be a horse ,  showing how to make it "easy" for Callisto to be right , and if she didnt get it right, represent in such a way she will. She ( and CAllisto ) were stars. Callisto hasnt played much with others - Lottie was always the one I used. And then we trailered to a friends for her first trip out for over a year.

Anyway, more paint!!
http://youtu.be/Bj5yobIhMv0

[hilary]

Next quick session this morning. She was a litle reluctant to come to the arena - I think some was due to the fact that she had found the alpaca food on the way ( camelibra -  equivalent of equilibra) which I then went and put behind the electric. I also wonder whether her feet were a ittle sore from yesterday 's hack out a my friends.
Much more confident, and now able to to take 3 plus steps on top of the mattress with her front feet. She was slightly stretching out as she left her hind feet behind. I dont want to cue her to walk on, as I don't want to create the habit that she must move the front feet forwards as the hind feet come on.
So , the last bit of the video is going down to a pedestal. This is my hardest ( my  more easy rectangular wooden one disintegrated) , and for a long time the noise of Callisto putting her foot down would make her snort backwards ( so haven't done much with her on this one). Lottie( my hipo) can get all four feet on it  -  but I think I taught her that on a bigger one. I think you can see on the video that I am c/t movement of her back feet towards the pedestal ie encouraging her to keep front feet still whilst back can come forward.  A pedestal makes it more black and white that they have to keep their front feet still somehow. I have round the back an old pallet sized one, so will play wth hind feet on that tomorrow.
http://youtu.be/qtSSbCk4kc0

Edited to add some really badly timed clicks!! need to get a video  -  so dont have to multitask and hold my iphone!

[Lyndsey Lewis]

Love it!  Ok now I'm left wondering if she ever got off the pedestal!! 

Ruby had so much trouble getting off the pedestal I decided not to ask him to get on it anymore...until I get a lower one. I just wasn't sure if it was mental or he really found it physically difficult. Actually, it might be a particularly good exercise for them...?? Have to engage their backs to lift themselves down..??

Anyhoo what a good girl she is! You have to leave in the terribly timed clicks so it can prove that they can learn stuff in spite of our terrible training!! 

Now all you need to do is throw a bag of shavings on the mattress and she'll probably lie down on it...?????

Are you thinking about teaching her to lie down on it? I would love to get one for my pony and teach that. I've never taught a horse to lie down and don't think I'd do it with my large horses but the pony could do it fine I guess.

[hilary]

I taught Lottie to lie down - or rather, when one of my horses was pregnant , she kept sneeking in to lie on the big straw bed, and I "captured" it with the clicker.
No, I dont intend to use it to lie down. What has been really interesting is using the mattress ( best with a equimat on board) for doing abdo engaging work, and balance work. To do that, they really have to "love" it .Also Calllisto isnt a stand still for very long girl really. So.. using the mattress ( when she can go on it) means you can do core stability work, btu she also practises getting to stand still ( without realising it !!!)

No she is not still stuck on it ! Getting off "elegantly" is something they do have to learn -  and I think getting off the wobble board, and then the mattress will definitely help.With those 2 lower "pedestals" I have used  my treat delivery to helpe move them off. With the higher pedestal I havent tended to do that  -  to specifically ask I tend ti use a target ( dont know why)

[hilary]

I was thinking about this and my timing   -  I need to go on a chicken training workshop! They do exactly what they train.
I got to listen to this podcast recently -  it is about what to do if there is a mistake in training. I think it is Ken Ramirez ( he trains amongst others beluga whales, and also the Obama's dog) talking about the speed of clicking a sea otter vs a beluga whale , and how long a pause would be if a mistake was made  -  and like the speed of c/t is soo quick!
http://www.clickertraining.com/files/KPCT_PC_1104_ExpoPanel.mp3

[hilary]

So.. looking at the last vid I have changed a couple of things. I am not looking through my iphone any longer -  helps me, but means the video makes me slightly seasick!! I also went back to using a clicker  , ( means my food delivery wasnt brilliant as only had one hand for both but well)

Found an old flat pedestal , and concentrated on hind legs. Then , when she touched the pedestal with one of her hind feet, she got a chance to play targeting game for 2-3 clicks as an extra reward. This put the emphasis on touching the pedestal. Then ( I don't think I filmed this bit) she got the extra chance to target when she had a v slight weight shift onto the hind leg that was on the pedestal , rather than resting it on.  What I havent done is targeted her to walk over the pedestal , and then reinforced her hind legs as that would teach her to move her front legs as her hind legs come on.
My end point was not scientific  -  I need to get some nonslip surface - and I didn't want her to slip as she weighted the hind leg coming on.
Time of session - about 10 minutes.
http://youtu.be/rdR24zluLRQ

[hilary]

Another very short session , as I went up to check 2 of the alpaca boys microchips.
She easily got one hindfoot on, and then got the other -  but only by walking off the other end. I did reward as the other hind came in, but the walking off was definitely in the loop. I think she outs her hind foot under her quite a way, so cant find the balance yet to put the other one down without moving the front end.

So.. I  could get her to target as well as ask for back end , but that looks too much like multitasking. If she went on the short side ie used the longer rectangular length for stnading on, and had her front feet well out, ie was slightly stretched before I asked for her front end then that may make it easier for her to get the concept of hind feet on, without front feet off.
So , think I will look for square of carpet -  do some mat work, place that on pedestal for front feet, then look at hind feet again. Will do that next session otherwise will get stuck at the walking off stage.

[hilary]

Well I did a little bit more on the low pedestal yesterday and she stood on with all four feet. Today she went on with fewer attempts, and even when she came off, was able to stop for her treat with her hind feet on the pedestal -  yesterday - her motion would have meant she would have come straight off altogether.

So we transferred for a very quick session to the mattress -  and got our first walk over with all four feet. I transfer the same as with the low pedetal ie she is now confident with the front feet, and I rewarded any movement forwards of the hinds. She was unable to stop as yet, but that will easily come.

A little alpaca interlude as CAssiopia and Kitkat came looking for their tea in the middle
http://youtu.be/7VSwtFmxW4g