Haven't written in a long time because I hit a wall with Balthazar. The evading/avoidance. I finally wrote to the clicker list and received a reply from, of all people, Alexandra Kurland, the guru of clicker training for horses. She'd become interested in my problem and wrote to me privately to offer suggestions. She thought Balthazar was probably suffering from 'poisoned cues', in which a cue gets positives and aversives attached to it. As I am the only one who has ever clicker trained him it is my fault. Alexandra suggested I start from the very beginning with a. just treating without the clicker and then b. clicking with a treat. When he is taking them without hesitation, then start introducing simple exercises. Interestingly, Balthazar evaded with just the treats, no click. That's how confused and hesitant he'd become.

We've worked through those first two exercises and are now back to clicker training. I have also, not always, started adding another session during the day with another one after feed time. The sessions have been quite short. Have always wanted to end with him wanting more. I've also reintroduced the clicker to Pagan and Dakota who absolutely love it and have no hesitation whatsoever in playing the game. One morning they were out in the dressage paddock. As it was wet I decided to wait to treat their feet until the afternoon. Pagan saw me out in the paddock and came running into the yards followed by Dakota and Balthazar. Noticed that Balthazar, if he isn't shut away from the horse I'm working with, will nudge my back with his nose in an effort to get me to play with him!

Last week I seperated Balthazar from the other two and groomed him in the yards by himself. This was not the routine and Balthazar became quite agitated, whinnying and shifting around at the end of the lead. Managed to do a very little c/t, just to have one good thing happen and then turned him out. He bucked and galloped and pig rooted and looked absolutely stunning. The next time I took him out for grooming and a session, it was old hat. He stood quietly. The following time I took him for a walk down the driveway and across the road for a bit of pick. He was a little 'up' but was too tempted by the grass to let his emotions get away from him.

I have also decided against playing as though he's a dolphin and there is no connection between us. I've reintroduced negative reinforcement (NOT punishment) as a way of communicating with him. At the moment we're working on yielding the hindquarters to a feel. A bit iffy as my 'pressure' is a gentle touch with one finger at the distal end of his abdomen but we're getting there. He does know it from Parelli's games but I want the pressure I use to be so negligible and rewarded so well that I can eventually just point and he swings away. He backed up and I just stayed with him. At first he didn't step underneath himself but as I was rewarding any movement away it didn't matter. Actually we're still at that stage. He just needs to move. We'll refine it later. Did the same exercise with Pagan and Dakota. Bang! Bang! They got it and we're sometimes yielding with just a finger point. The difference in emotional make-up and fortitude.

Unfortunately Balthazar is the most difficult horse to do c/t with. If I was working with Pagan or Dakota, especially Dakota, we'd probably be doing Spanish Walk and Courbettes by now. Be that as it may, Balthazar is the one. Dakota is just so uncomfortable to ride. Pagan is a possibility. I did break him in to ride and I think he'd be good but since he tried to buck he off once and succeeded another time I'm not confident about riding him.

Balthazar performed a magic, absolutely perfect mirroring the other day. One step forward, one step back. He was getting quite quick about it. Was really proud. Now the main thing is just to increase his confidence and keep going.

I have broken exercises up thinking staying too long with one was akin to drilling but I'm not so sure now. Perhaps I'm using that as an excuse when it is I who gets bored and wants to try something else in the hopes it will be better than what I'm currently working on. The more I read about clicker training the more I know I'm not observant enough, patient enough, or clear in my game plan. I don't have a game plan. I go out and see what happens. I suppose and hope that once Balthazar is well and truly 'into it' we'll make more and better progress. Working with the other two horses just shows how much could be done. Pagan picked up head down, which I've never taught him before, very fast. Just clicked a few times when his head happened to drop and he started looking to replicate the behaviour, the movement that earned him a carrot. Pagan would learn how to saddle himself given the chance. Perhaps I should play with him. He's got such tiny feet in relation to his size that Balthazar's easy boots would probably fit him. It all depends upon how much I want to put into it. Now that the weather is getting cooler it is much nicer to be outside.