Equine Clicker Conference Programme 2013

DAY 1- Saturday 21^stSeptember RICHMOND EQUESTRIAN CENTRE, NORTHYORKSHIRE
8.00	REGISTRATION OPENS
9.00	WELCOME
9.15	ALEXANDRA KURLAND LIVE HORSE DEMONSTRATION
10.15	HANNAH DAWSON LIVE HORSE RIDING DEMONSTRATION
11.15	SHAWNA KARRASCH LIVE HORSE DEMONSTRATION
12.15	MOVE TO ALLERTON LODGE HOTEL, NORTHALLERTON
13.00	LUNCH
14.00	BECKY CHAPMAN, THE HAND THAT HOLDS THE CLICKER Becky will be looking at the human side of the training couple. What expectations do you bring to your training sessions? Are they realistic for you and your horse? What are your overall goals and how are you going to create an effective plan to get there? From her strong background in performance coaching, Becky will encourage you to think more deeply and widely about the reasons you even own a horse and therefore, how training your horse can help you to achieve your dreams. Her presentation will be fun and interactive, helping you to a clearer mind and a stronger sense of purpose.
15.00	JENNI NELLIST, FROM THE HORSE’S MOUTH How can a knowledge of equine ethology help, hinder or yield unexpected results when clicker training? JenniNellist works as an equine behaviour counsellor. Her approach is to understand the motivation for the old behaviour before devising individual programmes for new behaviour. She works from first principles of natural horse behaviour and learning, having studied feral ponies on the Gower Peninsula for her BSc. In this presentation she will look at the natural ethology of horses and show how, working with the grain of the horse yields happier results than working against it. She will explore how the way your horse is kept can influence the training outcomes, for better or worse. Delving deeper, she will explore the science of neurethology (the evolutionary and comparative approach to the study of animal behaviour and its underlying mechanistic control by the nervous system) as it applies to horses.
16.00	TEA & COFFEE BREAK
16.30	SHAWNA KARRASCH, ON-TARGET TRAINING Shawna’s first presentation will be on using the combination of target training and the clicker to build performance in the ridden horse. Shawna has worked with Olympic-level trainers to show them how to incorporate the power of positive reinforcement into their training. From dressage to show-jumping, performance can be rapidly and greatly improved with the power of a well-timed click and Shawna’s creative training approach.
17.30	DAY 1 – FINISH
18.30	WORLD CLICKER EQUINE GAMES FINAL
19.30	CONFERENCE DINNER

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DAY 2 – Sunday 22^ndSeptember ALLERTON LODGE HOTEL, NORTHALLERTON
9.00	WELCOME
9.15	HELEN SPENCE, SHOW ME SOME EMOTION Dr Helen Spence will be looking at the emotional side of clicker training. How do you help your horse to be enthusiastic, focused and calm? Horse lovers have always known that horses are highly emotional. This aspect has been down-played in traditional behaviourist approaches to conditioned learning. But modern neuroscience is now proving what horse lovers have always known. So how do you work with your horse in a way that keeps you both calm and happy? Helen will be bringing together her backgrounds in psychology, equine ethology and teaching people to train their horses, to create a holistic view of training with the clicker.
10.15	HANNAH DAWSON, TAILORED TRAINING Explore using the clicker as a versatile tool that can be adapted to each horse and situation. Getting creative in how you use the clicker to improve and teach behaviours has a big impact on the success of your training. From Zonkeys to Thoroughbreds, on the ground, to in the saddle, you will learn that each equine is individual and take away ideas for tailoring your training to fit your horse.
11.15	TEA & COFFEE BREAK
11.45	KAY LAURENCE – PRECISION TEACHING, PRECISION UNDERSTANDING, PRECISION APPLICATION Examining 1% of the learning cycle that can make 100% difference to the result. Does it matter how we acquire the behaviour? Can the reinforcing process strain the behaviour? Are we teaching the way that learner chooses to learn or just teaching the way we like to teach? We can teach with exquisite precision and achieve error-less results when we fully understanding every component that affects our learners’ learning experience. This begins with our own attitude to the interaction through to taking responsibility for our own competency.
12.45	LUNCH
14.15	SHAWNA KARRASCH, HORSE LESSONS FROM MARINE MAMMALS Shawna worked with marine mammals where she learned positive training using a bridge signal. From her rich fund of stories, Shawna will explain her approach to training horses (very like sea lions, she says!) and the art of creatingco-operation, joy and great performance.
15.15	ALEXANDRA KURLAND, THE COMPLETE CLICKER TRAINER Alexandra Kurland will be exploring what it means to be a clicker trainer, by examining some profound questions:What are the training choices that we make as clicker trainers? What do we include, what do we exclude – and why? What qualities do we look for in our clicker-trained animals? Do our training choices support or unintentionally undermine the development of those qualities? Are our choices based solely on personal experience or is there good research to back them up?
16.15	TEA & COFFEE BREAK
16.45	KAY LAURENCE,CLICKER REVOLUTION Clicker evolution began with talented behavioural scientists and evolved through hundreds of practioners to where we are today. We are presented with a wealth of principles, theories, strategies and techniques. These are often flavoured with tradition and superstition. The cycle continually revolves under our critical examination. By sharing our experience and passion we can strive to teach better. Animals are master learners and deserve only the absolute best. As revolutionists we need to filter our choices with deep respect for our learners that comes from our heart, not a scientific viewpoint. Who is going to stand on our shoulders and take it forward?
17.30	SUMMING UP AND THANK-YOU
18.00	CONFERENCE ENDS

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