If you have ever considered clicker training your horse, this video may be just what you need to finally convince you! Rebecca Tasker of Katikati, New Zealand is a professional horse trainer specializing in positive reinforcement techniques. She travels around the country under the business name Positively Together teaching clicker training, a method that involves food rewards and a marker signal.
Last month Tasker uploaded a video of her six-year-old Palomino horse, Hokey Pokey to the Positively Together Facebook page. The video became an instant hit with more than 32,000 views to date! Hokey's impressive skill - opening a cooler and delivering a bottle of wine to Tasker - has since been covered by Daily Mail, MSN, Yahoo, AOL, The Daily Telegraph, The Australian and many more.
Tasker told the New Zealand Herald:
"Hokey loves learning tricks, but he also tries his heart out when I'm riding him because he is rewarded for his efforts."
As for clicker training, the trainer says it is useful for far more than just party tricks. Tasker uses it to teach dressage and other riding methods, as well as to recondition horses with problem behaviors.
"Clicker trained horses learn faster, they retain their learning for longer, and they genuinely love being trained. They're very engaged in the whole learning process. People are always really surprised and excited at the immediate difference in their horses and how well they respond," she says.
Those in New Zealand interested in learning this training method - or who simply want a bartending horse - can find Tasker's contact information on the Positively Together website.
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H/T to the NZ Herald
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