Chewie and I are both happy about the cooler temperatures and rain. Chewie, as well, is quite pleased about rolling around in the damp dirt.

This week, we’ve starting expanding Chewie’s stay behavior. Up to now, I have stood still while we have practiced stay.

Now, I am beginning to vary my location and position, as well as what I am doing. We started out with small variations. But, fairly quickly, we’ve been able to progress to more interesting variations.

We’ve been having a lot of fun so far with these sessions.

In the photo below, I’m in a new location, I’m facing away from Chewie, and I’m moving around on a red plastic block. Chewie watches me, but she stays on her platform. Good girl, Chewie!

As well, I’ve been thinking about fall training plans and goals.

Chewie and I spent a lot of time this summer working in the barn to escape the sun. We’ve made a lot of progress on Chewie’s stay and her chin rest. As well, we now have a really nice routine for putting on her fly mask.

Heading into the fall, I’d like to work on generalizing some of these behaviors to other locations around the property. I’m also excited for the cooler weather to work on some behaviors that involve more movement.

Several weeks ago (in Diary #79), I shared a video of Chewie standing on her platform for about 40 seconds. And now, we’ve now worked up to a two-minute stay!

In the video below, Chewie stands on her platform for a little over two minutes while I stand at the other end of the barn. The video is a bit boring, but you’re welcome to watch it if you’d like to see our progress.

This behavior will be useful for some of the fun training that we do related to agility and tricks. In addition, it will be very useful for veterinary care and daily care tasks.

Building from 30 seconds to two minutes has been an interesting process, and it has taught me some new things about building duration.

In some ways, I think I’ve learned even more than Chewie!

So far, I’ve walked to the same spot each time, and I’ve been mostly still. My next task is to begin introducing some variations in my behavior. I’ll begin waiting in different places and doing different activities while I wait.

These changes will be small at first, so that Chewie is not tempted to leave her platform. Then, we’ll gradually introduce larger variations.

I’ll keep sharing as we continue working on this behavior.

I can use the camera to see what Chewie and Liberty are doing and monitor the property for anything unusual or unsafe. Most of what I catch on the camera is rather mundane, which is just fine!

However, every once in a while, the camera catches something that’s just too good not to share.

Here’s a short clip the camera recorded recently.

Liberty, Chewie’s donkey buddy, often badgers Chewie, trying to get her to play with him. And, she does sometimes play with him!

I have seen them playing together in the pasture. And, they will also stand together and play the bitey-face game that geldings often engage in.

What you’ll see in this clip is that Liberty brings Chewie a traffic cone, ever hopeful that Chewie might play with it and with him.

But, Chewie’s not in the mood today, and she declines his offer.

Poor Liberty! I think Chewie should have said “yes,” after Liberty went to all that effort to carry the cone to her!

Liberty, of course, is a very good donkey. And, he does what any good donkey should do. He returns the cone back to the barn.

Earlier this week, Chewie and I spent some time playing with a small tambourine!

We’ve spent a lot of time exploring new and interesting objects, including various objects for Chewie to stand on. (You can check out the exploration sessions tag to read about some of our past training sessions with new items and experiences.) However, Chewie and I haven’t experimented as much with novel sounds.

So, I wasn’t sure what Chewie would think of the tambourine.

When I first tried shaking it, she raised her head and pricked her ears forward, listening to it. She was curious and interested and not at all scared!

Later on, I tried shaking it closer to her.

And, Chewie showed her true colors as a clicker-trained horse. When the tambourine was closer to her, she definitely thought that it was a target!

She immediately wanted to reach out and touch it with her nose, as you can see in the photo below.

I was pleased that Chewie had such a positive reaction to the tambourine.

Still, since I wasn’t 100% sure how she would react, I set up this training session so that she had plenty of space and options if she did decide she needed to move away from the noise.

In the coming weeks, I hope we can continue playing with some other novel sounds.

Positive reinforcement trainers often use a clicker as a marker. However, many other types of auditory and visual signals can also be used effectively as markers.

Trainers often think of markers as “yes” signals. The marker tells the animal, “Yes! You did the right behavior.” By delivering the click at the right time, the trainer can highlight a certain behavior that the trainer wants to reinforce.

However, marker signals are also cues!

That’s the big idea that we discussed for almost two hours during the webinar.

A marker may inadvertently become a cue, even if the trainer didn’t mean for it to be a cue. For example, when the trainer clicks, the animal might shift their gaze downward, looking at the trainer’s hand and anticipating that the trainer is about to reach for a treat.

A marker may also inadvertently become a cue for an unwanted behavior. For example, when a trainer clicks, their dog may start whining.

However, we can also purposefully, deliberately teach our markers as cues. In this way, the marker starts the reinforcement system and signals to the animal what behavior they should do next.

Check out the following video clip of Chewie and I practicing one of our reinforcement systems.

In this reinforcement system, I’m using a tongue click as my marker signal. I’m also feeding treats in a raised rubber bowl.

As you watch, ask yourself, “In this context, the click is a cue for what behavior?”

I’m hot. Chewie’s hot. Liberty’s hot.

We’re still doing a little bit of training every day, but we’re definitely ready for some cooler weather!

I wrote several weeks ago in Diary #78 about how Chewie and Liberty have started mutual grooming with each other. Since that post, I’ve seen them grooming each other multiple times.

And, I’ve even been able to capture a little bit of video!

This behavior is hard to video. If I get too close, they stop grooming each other and come over to see what I’m doing.

It’s a bit awkward for both of them since Chewie’s so much taller. But, Chewie does really like being scratched on her shoulders, belly, and legs. And, Liberty really likes being scratched on the top of his back.

So, these factors help make the interaction work out well for both of them.

Here’s a short video clip, for your enjoyment!

Chewie and I worked a lot last summer on sponge baths. However, Chewie still doesn’t like to be hosed off. She thinks the hose is pretty scary.

So, for now, I don’t give her baths with the hose.

And, up until fairly recently, she didn’t even like being anywhere near the hose when the hose was turned on.

But, recently, she’s started to be a little curious about what I’m doing when I fill up the water trough.

I don’t try to force her or entice her to come over. But, I let her watch me, and I talk to her, and I give her some scratches, if she wants them.

Previously, she would not come over to the water trough or drink from the trough if the hose was on.

But, recently, she has started coming over and taking a drink, while the hose is filling up the water trough. And, I’ve noticed that she looks comfortable as she comes over. She doesn’t look scared or worried as she approaches.

So, I’ll celebrate this as a little bit of progress!

We first gradually increased the distance until I could walk about 12 feet away.

Why twelve feet? It’s about as far as I can walk away from Chewie in our current training set up in the barn.

Later, I would like to add more distance. But, right now, with the August sun beating down, staying in the shade is important for both of us!

Our next step has been to gradually increase the amount of time that I wait before I walk back to Chewie. I can now consistently wait 30–40 seconds before walking back to Chewie.

That’s a lot of time! Good girl, Chewie!

Here’s a video clip from one of our recent training sessions.

Watch on YouTube: Chewie practicing staying for 40 seconds

This behavior will be useful for many different things!

I plan to do more agility training with Chewie, and stay is an important foundation behavior for many agility tasks.

It’s also a really helpful behavior for many daily care tasks and veterinary tasks.

As we keep working on this behavior, I plan to add more duration. As well, I will start adding in some variations to my own behavior, such as standing in different places, moving around, and changing my position. We will also start practicing this behavior in a variety of different environmental conditions.

I will post more as we keep practicing!

Chewie and I are still doing a little bit of training, but I can tell that she’s wishing for cooler days. Chewie and her buddy Liberty, the donkey, are both pretty itchy, and I spend a lot of time standing around scratching on them.

Equines will often groom on each other at the same time. Horse people call this “mutual grooming.”

Sometimes, they will also engage in this behavior with a person. For example, in the photo below, I’m scratching Chewie’s belly, and she is being very nice by returning the favor. She is using her big nose to scratch my leg!

Up until this week, I have never seen Chewie and Liberty scratch on each other.

Chewie has definitely made some attempts. There have been a few times this spring and summer when I have seen her try to scratch Liberty’s back.

His response has been to put his ears back, bite at the air in her direction, and then quickly walk away!

But, earlier this week, as I was leaving the property, I looked over and saw the two of them standing under the trees grooming each other. The photo below is a little difficult to make out, as I was some distance away. But, Liberty is grooming on Chewie’s shoulder, and she’s using his nose to scratch his back.

Chewie and Liberty have enjoyed each other’s company almost from the beginning. I wrote last fall in Week 38 of Chewie’s Diary about their developing friendship.

But, it makes me very happy to see them becoming even closer and engaging in more activities together.

I had a horse friend who used to say that it really takes a horse up to a year to adjust to a new home. Chewie has now lived on this property for about 10 months. In some ways, it feels like we have been here forever. But, it’s also important for me to remember that she may still be finishing settling in.

Update: Check out Diary #81 to see a video of Chewie and Liberty grooming each other.

Currently, Chewie can stay on her platform while I walk about ten feet away. I am expanding this behavior by adding more distance. We are also increasing the duration of time that I can wait when I walk away.

Here’s a photo from a recent day when we were working on stay. We had just finished a short practice session, and we were about to start another session.

However, after the first session, Chewie left the barn and walked out into the yard.

You can’t see what is happening in the distance, but one of the neighbors and another individual were struggling to load a bed frame into the back of an SUV. The whole scene was definitely out of the ordinary for what usually happens on this quite street.

Chewie was very interested in watching the neighbors! She was not scared or concerned, she was just curious to watch what was happening.

When I was a younger trainer, in this type of situation, I would have tried to use food, perhaps higher-value food, to entice Chewie back into the barn to continue training. However, it’s much more difficult to teach a new behavior if Chewie’s attention is divided between me and something else.

Long term, I would like for Chewie to be able to stay on her platform and engage with me even when there are interesting distractions happening outside.

But, in the moment, I realized the commotion at the neighbors was going to be too challenging of a distraction.

One big part of training is knowing when it’s a good time to train and when it’s a good time to take a break!

So, we took a break for a bit, and I did some barn chores. Chewie followed me around the yard and helped me with my chores. She also got to satisfy her desire of keeping an eye on the neighbors.

Then, when she was ready, we continued with our training practice.