I’ve “taught” two horses to fetch, this one (I tragically lost him in 2020 to colic 🙁) and my current horse. It’s really just taking advantage of something they both do naturally - they are both mouthy geldings - they really like to put things in their mouths and chew - ropes, reins, my brushes, my sleeves - so I started by offering something to grab (with the horse in the video, it was one of my gloves, with my current horse I used this dog toy). Once they picked it up, I would ask them to drop it into my hand and quickly offer a treat. With my current horse, i set the orange toy on the mounting block and he would pick it up, then I’d say drop it with my hand under the toy and give him a treat. Then I’d graduate to placing the toy or glove to the ground, and get them to pick it up from there. Then I’d put it to the side a little so they’d have to turn their neck to get it, and then swing back to me to get the treat. From there I’d take a step back and have them come to me, then two steps, then sideways, and pretty soon I could toss it just a little ways, and so on. The biggest thing is making sure you don’t overdo. Just a few asks each session - 3 - 5 treats. Keeps them liking it, and still wanting more when we quit. I’ve played with it on and off for a few years with the new horse, he’s only just gotten really good at it - so take your time! I have a video of my new horse fetching on my instagram account. @kjodigear
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Gorgeous horse! I’d love to see how you trained him to fetch? Do you clicker train? Or just treats?
I’ve “taught” two horses to fetch, this one (I tragically lost him in 2020 to colic 🙁) and my current horse. It’s really just taking advantage of something they both do naturally - they are both mouthy geldings - they really like to put things in their mouths and chew - ropes, reins, my brushes, my sleeves - so I started by offering something to grab (with the horse in the video, it was one of my gloves, with my current horse I used this dog toy). Once they picked it up, I would ask them to drop it into my hand and quickly offer a treat. With my current horse, i set the orange toy on the mounting block and he would pick it up, then I’d say drop it with my hand under the toy and give him a treat. Then I’d graduate to placing the toy or glove to the ground, and get them to pick it up from there. Then I’d put it to the side a little so they’d have to turn their neck to get it, and then swing back to me to get the treat. From there I’d take a step back and have them come to me, then two steps, then sideways, and pretty soon I could toss it just a little ways, and so on. The biggest thing is making sure you don’t overdo. Just a few asks each session - 3 - 5 treats. Keeps them liking it, and still wanting more when we quit. I’ve played with it on and off for a few years with the new horse, he’s only just gotten really good at it - so take your time! I have a video of my new horse fetching on my instagram account. @kjodigear
(The instagram video is about 22 posts down from the most recent one)