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Alexandra Kurland

Alexandra Kurland

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The Click That Teaches - changing forever the way we train horses She happened to mention Karen Pryor's book, "Don't Shoot the Dog". Not only hadn't I read it.

Clicker Beginnings
Alexandra Kurland

In 1993 I was chatting with a friend who trained Irish wolfhounds. "But of course you've read it," she said in an off-hand way. I hadn't even heard of it. Perhaps if Karen had titled her book "Don't Shoot the Horse", it might have come across my radar sooner, but as it was, the dog world was getting a head start learning about clicker training. The way my frie

Episode 299 Christa Pt 1 Join The Celebration! 10/22/2024

Equiosity Episode 299: Christa Culbert Pt 1: Celebrations and Teaching Children

I’ve just published the newest book in the Kenyon Bear series of children’s book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. This week we’re talking with the illustrator, Christa Culbert. In case you’re wondering what this has to do with horses, the answer is everything!

In this week’s podcast we talk with Christa about art, animals, imagination, clicker training, and teaching children about horses.

Christa starts us off by saying art is about perceiving the world in a new way. Isn’t that what we are doing with clicker training? We are perceiving training and our relationships with horses in new ways.

Christa talks about the programs she has developed to bring horses and children together. It is about so much more than simply teaching them to ride.

So join us in the celebration of the new book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas, and enjoy a wide ranging conversation about horses, imagination, working with children, entitlement, boundaries, and the convergence between what we’re discovering through science and what we knew as children about our animal friends.

Episode 299 Christa Pt 1 Join The Celebration! I’ve just published the newest book in the Kenyon Bear series of children’s book, Kenyon Bear’s Christmas. This week we’re talking with the illustrator, Christa Culbert. In case you’re wondering what

Posts from July 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 07/28/2016

Hi Everyone,

I’m taking advantage of a few days at home and some very hot weather to catch up a bit with my JOYFull Horses posts. I originally thought I’d have the book completely published by April. Hah! Not on my crazy schedule!

In yesterday's post (June 26, 2016) I described how I taught Peregrine to line himself up to a mounting block. Today’s post continues this section on cue communication by looking in more detail at the “Capture the Saddle” lesson.

To read the post go to: https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/07/27/

Enjoy!

Posts from July 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on July 27, 2016

Posts from June 21, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 06/21/2016

I have a new post for JOYFULL Horses. This one is packed with photos. I’m looking in detail at the “runway lesson. That’s the lesson I use to introduce horses to the mat. The runway lesson illustrates many important concepts. For many the Premack principle is just an intellectual exercise. The runway lesson turns it into a practical application. You’ll see what it means to be a positive, constructional trainer; how to release your learner into the behavior you want; how to layer the cues from your lead together with your marker signal to create clear communication. In the photos I point out many handling details that make a huge difference to our horses. It’s a post that is packed. Enjoy!

To read the post got to: https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/06/21/

Enjoy!

Posts from June 21, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on June 21, 2016

Posts from March 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 04/15/2016

In the section of the JOYFull Horses posts (https://theclickercenterblog.com/2016/03/27/) that I've just finished, I wrote about Panda, the miniature horse I trained to be a guide. Ann was asked recently by a British producer of a series about animals if they could film her with Panda. Usually Ann says no to these interviews. They are a lot of work, and they rarely tell the story she wants to talk about. They just see Panda as cute and as a novelty. Ann wants to talk about clicker training and the difference this type of training can make for both horses and dogs.

This time she agreed to the interview so yesterday morning just after nine the director and a cameraman arrived at Ann’s house. They had a wish list of things they wanted to film. The list was several pages long. As they read off all the things they had been instructed to film, my only comment was I thought they were being a bit optimistic.

They quickly found out why. Even when you're used to seeing Panda at work, it’s hard to resist the temptation of filming every little thing she does. They began by filming Panda and Ann leaving the house and walking down the driveway. Panda did exactly what she was supposed to do. She guided Ann to the foot of the drive, stopped, waited for Ann to tell her to go forward and then proceeded across the road and turned right in the direction they normally take on their walks.

“Stop. Come back,” called the cameraman. “Can we do that again?”

Now imagine taking your horse out for a ride, or your dog out for a walk. Your animal knows the routine. He is eager for the outing. You are on your way, and abruptly, for no reason that can make any sense to him, you stop and head back the way you’ve just come. And then, to add insult to injury, you make him stand about waiting while a cameraman tries to get his very high tech equipment to work properly. How patient would he be? If he’s anything like Panda, the answer would be very.

Panda never fails to impress. She was so good! She went back with Ann. She waited for the cameraman to change his equipment, and to make adjustments to his lenses. Finally the signal was given and Ann cued Panda to go forward. Panda guided her to the edge of the driveway and stopped.

“Could we do that again?”

And again. And again. The answer each time was yes. Panda could do it as many times as they needed. She could do it with the cameraman down on his knees getting a close up of her feet as she came to a halt at the exact end of the driveway. She could do it with the cameraman blocking her path; with him walking backwards just inches from her face.

Whatever they wanted, she could indeed do it again. Could she do that crossing of a busy street again? Could she pick up the keys Ann was dropping again - and again. Wait! Could she get in and out of the car again?

Every one of these requests took Panda out of her routine, but she was still so very solid. From a training perspective I was beyond impressed. I wish I could have filmed the filming. That was the real story. They were there to shoot a human interest story about animals helping people. They missed the better story about the details of Panda’s guide work. Panda is fifteen years old. She’s been in work for thirteen years now. She knows her job and even the disruption of a film crew didn’t throw her off her course. The better story, the one they should be telling, is the one about Panda’s life as a clicker-trained horse.

The film crew finished at six. That’s what I mean when I say these interviews are a lot of work. They took nine hours to film all the shots the producers wanted. It will all get edited down to a three minute story. Panda performed magnificently throughout. She is indeed a superstar of a little horse.

When it was done, Ann emailed me this:

"I hope the truly marvelous thing about the relationship between Panda and me came through in the filming and interviews, that is the joy we share in our work together and the clarity and subtlety of the communication between us brought about by the soundness and humaneness of the training method used in Panda’s preparation for guide work. The fullest expression of the joy of our relationship is shown when we are trotting freely down a long stretch of sidewalk, in perfect balance and exchanging cues and confidence through the lead, harness, and mind links, just enjoying the feel of sunshine and breezes and the sound of birds and fluttering tree leaves. This joy and freedom are difficult to convey under the conditions of filming and through interviews, but it is the essence of what my relationship with Panda has meant in my life."

This is a perfect expression of their work together.

Posts from March 27, 2016 on The Clicker Center Blog 1 post published by theclickercenter on March 27, 2016

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