Loading the Clicker

A horse doesn’t know that a click means anything good or bad.

Before you can do clicker training, you have to teach your horse that the click means a treat is coming.

Steps to Load the Clicker

1. If your horse is bargey, greedy, bitey, or otherwise unmannerly, you may want to have the horse in the stall for the first lessons. Safety first! Your horse cannot be allowed to run you over to get treats. More about safety in some other posts.
2. Find some treats that your horse likes. If your horse likes the treats a little, you may not have as much success as if your horse likes the treats a lot.
3. You can use a real clicker or use a ballpoint pen. I don’t recommend using your mouth to make noises at this stage in time.
4. Click. Treat.
5. Click. Treat.
6. Click. Treat.
7. Yes! Do it again and again until you see your horse’s ears perk up when he hears a click. It won’t take long for him to know that if he hears a click, he’s about to get a goody.

That’s it! Your horse now has the first steps towards learning almost anything. Trailer loading. Tying. Backing up. Standing for mounting and more.