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Here is an article that I wrote for my free monthly e-newsletter for the 
pleasure trail rider that is about jigging/prancing.  (You can sign up by 
sending me an email at judiemail@xxxxxxxxx)

Clicker Training the Prancing Horse

Horses that prance or jog out on the trail when the rider prefers to walk are 
very frustrating, and the habit takes the fun out of the ride.  It is a very 
difficult thing to change, too.  Many a frustrated rider has had to deal with 
this annoying behavior.

Those of you who read this chapter in my book “Trail Training for the Horse 
and Rider” know that I experienced this with my first horse.  Brandy had such 
a hard mouth, that often a death grip on the reins was the only thing that kept 
him from taking off for home.  Just loosening the reins was his signal to go 
faster.  He caused many blistered hands over his long life.  I changed the 
habit after a year of ring work.  The most important thing that I taught him 
was that it was pleasant and relaxing to travel with a loose rein.  When I 
brought him back out on the trail, I was able to convince him it was a better 
way to go than struggling against the bit.

Now, more than 20 years later, I believe I found a better way to explain it to 
a horse than to spend a year working in the arena.  

We know a woman who has a pretty, white horse named Lady.  I have ridden with 
her when they were going back to the barn.  Cruiser would be at a walk, and 
Lady would prance next to him.  Her owner was very frustrated.  Over the years, 
she tried everything with Lady to no avail.  If she trailered her somewhere, 
Lady behaved perfectly.

When I started working with clicker training with Mingo, I saw her out on the 
trail.  As usual, Lady was a handful.  The light bulb went off in my head—she 
should try the clicker.  I suggested it, and to my surprise, she was 
enthusiastic.  As it turned out, she was currently taking a class where they 
were teaching operant conditioning.  

I saw her the next week, and though she had started clicking, they were still 
on the targeting phase where you teach a horse to associate the click with a 
reward.

It was a couple more weeks before I saw her, again.  She passed us on the trail 
as we were going up a hill, so we couldn’t stop and chat.  She expressed her 
deep gratitude for my suggestion.  

“Do you mean it worked?”  I asked.

“Take a look,” she said.

Sure enough, I glanced back and her horse was walking down the hill.  She still 
went fast, but she was walking.

Unfortunately, I haven’t’ been able to talk to her to get all the details 
because I haven’t seen her since.  I’m sure I know how she did it.  
Previous to clicker training, she was able to get her horse to walk a few steps 
on request, but then she’d go right back to her prancing.  All she had to do 
was click on a walking step.  Her horse would stop, get her treat and then 
repeat.  Soon, Lady figured out why she was getting a reward, which probably 
didn’t take long.  That is the joy of clicking—it is easy for a horse to 
understand what you want.  At that point, all her rider needed to do was 
gradually make her walk longer between clicks.

At this point, the Brandy Factor probably kicked in.  Just as Brandy figured 
out that walking on a loose rein is an easier way to travel, Lady probably did, 
too.  At that point, her good behavior became a reward in itself.  

Clicker changes attitudes.  Whatever caused her to prance, (most likely plain 
old barnsourness) was replaced with a new emotion—seeking a treat.  Since 
seeking is a positive emotion replacing a negative emotion (fear/insecurity), 
it completely changed her way of thinking; opening up her ability to change an 
uncomfortable habit with one that felt so much better.

I sure wish I knew this when I had Brandy!

If anyone has a jogging/prancing horse and gives clicker training a try, please 
let me know how it goes.  I am very excited about the possibilities of the 
clicker with the prancer.

Judi
www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com
Home of my free e-newsletters for the pleasure trail rider and my two awesome 
books "Trail Training for the Horse and Rider" and "Trail Horse Adventures and 
Advice"




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