Tag Archives: tricks

Ringing a Bell

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Introduction

This is one way to teach a horse to ring a bell. It has the bell suspended at nose height so it is easy for the horse to move it with his lips. Some horses may easily pick up a bell attached to an object and nod their head to cause it to ring.

Aim

On request, the horse nuzzles a bell to cause it to ring.

Prerequisites

  1. Horse and handler are clicker savvy.
  2. Horse understands putting his nose on a variety of targets to earn a click&treat.
  3. Horse and handler agree on signals the horse gives when he is ready to do something again. Number 11 in my Blog Contents List: Seeking the Horse’s Consent Signals. Click here.
  4. Handler has developed a clear ‘Zero Intent’ signal so the horse knows when standing quietly is what is wanted. Number 10 in my Blog Contents List: ‘Zero Intent’ and ‘Intent’. Click here.
  5. Revisit the Rule of Three in Chapter 1: Click here.

Videos

#229 HorseGym with Boots: Ringing a Bell as a hand-held target.

#253 HorseGym with Boots: Ringing a Bell. This clip introduces the bell hanging freely.

#252 HorseGym with Boots: Bell Ringing.

#231 HorseGym with Boots:  This clip looks at introducing the idea of picking up the bell and walking with it.

Materials and Environment

  • A venue where the horse is able to relax. Ideally he can see his buddies but they can’t interfere.
  • Horse is not hungry.
  • A large bell that can be hung.
  • Something on which to hang the bell so it is freely suspended at the height of the horse’s nose.
  • For generalization, a bell attached to a rope or similar easy for the horse to pick up.

Notes

  1. The horse will think about it and be willing to try again next day. If we turn it into a drill, we usually lose willingness to engage again.
  2. With tasks like this we can fit several mini-lessons of three repeats in-between chores or other things we are doing with our horse.
  3. When the bell is a hand-held target, remove the bell behind you to take it ‘out of play’ each time you click&treat. This will allow the horse time to enjoy his treat and let you know with a consent signal (Prerequisite 3) when he is ready to do it again. Also, it will be obvious to him when you present the bell into view again.
  4. Some horses quickly progress through the early slices as soon as you start. Others need a great deal of patience over may days of mini-sessions.
  5. Click for any interest in the bell, even if it’s just sniffing the bell, then gradually click&treat for any sign of moving his lips to nuzzle the bell, even if it is not yet ‘ringing.

Slices

  1. Ring the bell yourself, followed by a click&treat for the horse. We want to let him know that the sound of the bell results in a click&treat. We also want to be sure that he is not spooked by the sound of the bell.
  2. If you think he might find it startling at first, use protected contact. Start ringing as softly as possible and make it louder as the horse shows confidence.
  3. Attach the bell to a hand-held stick so you can hold it out as a target. Click&treat when the horse puts his nose on it. This is outlined in video clip #229.
  4. Repeat 3 above with a major celebration if the horse nuzzles the bell enough to make it ring.
  5. Once it is reliable on one side of the horse, teach it again standing on his other side.
  6. Attach the bell to an object where it can hang freely at the normal height of the horse’s nose. This is outlined in video clip #253. Click&treat for targeting the bell.
  7. Wait in ‘zero intent’ until the horse nuzzles it enough to make it ring. Time your click as closely as you can to the very first bell sound. If this is not happening, try taping a string to the bell which you can quietly pull to make the bell ring a tiny bit as the horse puts his nose on it: click&treat at the very first bell sound. We want the horse to make the connection between the bell sound and the click&treat so he is motivated to make the bell ring himself.
  8. Once the horse is nuzzling the bell enough to make it ring, gradually withhold the click&treat, one second at a time, to encourage him to ring it for a bit longer. We might consider the task ‘complete’ if we get up to five seconds of bell-ringing.

Generalizations

  1. Set up the dangling bell in new venues and around other distractions. It could be part of a ‘circuit’ of different tasks.
  2. Once the horse is ho­-hum about ringing a dangling bell, we can generalize to him picking up a bell and walking with it as in video clip #231.
  3. Once the horse is carrying the bell attached to a soft item easy for the horse to carry, play with that in different venues. It could become part of your ‘Fetch’ games.
  4. Teach him to use his nose to ‘ping’ one of the little metal devices some shops use to let you announce that you need attention.
  5. Teach the horse to ‘play’ a keyboard with his lips
  6. Teach the horse to squeeze a bicycle horn for another novel sound.