Desensitising a clueless 4yo?

[fuze]

I'm aware everyone will have differing ways / means, but I'm interested to hear them

Scenario: You have a 4yo who has grown up at his breeder's private land, been loved to pieces, and very well looked after, but has never left the yard. Now imagine the look of awe / horror on his face when all of a sudden, we have big scary yard-type nasties to deal with. Vehicles, concrete, meneges, drains, mounting blocks, pipes, wheely bins, sheep, tracks that lead to a nightmarish abyss... and god forbid you go anywhere near the front yard gate and the world beyond D) Imagine he's a very, very sweet guy, just highly inexperienced, rather spooky and bit unsure.

How would you go about desensitising him to the world? Curious to hear methods.

Thanks!

 

[horsehappy]

the best advise my trainer gave me with my rising 4 year old was treat him like a 10 year old- ie dont avoid things because hes a baby. my boy came from a very similar back ground, but i had the added problem that he was attached to 1 gelding that he had followed round since weaning!

natural horsemanship was something i'd not really used previously- mainly due to having 'made' horses rather than ready made ones. i use a rope halter on my boy and i think when you have something full of beans and scared of everything YOUR health and safety needs to come first. unless they see you as a leader they will easily barge you out of the way to jump away from a monster! i did loads of ground work getting my horse to back away from pressure on the halter and keeping him out of my space which i could then transfer to spooky situations. also make sure you wear gloves and a hat i also got a parelli ball and did loads of exercises with that- to be honest to a horse nothing could be scarier than a huge green ball rolling round- it took time but i now can roll it over him and he pushes it round with his nose. i noticed a massive improvement in his confidence after using the ball.

my boy took around 6 months of ongoing ground work to build up his confidence fully- he will soon get used to everything as long as you dont avoid it

good luck and keep us posted

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We just make sure that our youngsters get as many experiences as possible during the normal course of events, so coming in for your tea involves leading past a flapping tarp etc. If there is anything particularly scary an older, sensible companion makes all the difference.

 

[cptrayes]

I find that they usually take a massive leap in confidence after their first trip away from home. It's as if they suddenly realise how big the world is, and stop sweating the small stuff at home. It's happened with both my current four year olds, one of which was jumping when I opened a two inch strip of Velcro on my coat when I was six feet outside his stable !

 

[pippixox]

just relax and try to ignore the youngster on the end of a lead rope spooking at a chicken!
my friend got a 4yo who similarly was born and raised on a tiny yard with no traffic, very very quiet. just taking him out of his field to eat something he was on edge and spooking at things you cant even see!
he moved to our yard- a busy ex-farm with loads of gardening and building companies. he is stabled and on chip where loads of vans drive past, chippers, tractors, diggers. there are chickens, dogs, lots of people. he actually very quickly got used to it all- we didn't really have to do anything, he just takes it all in. just had to be aware that he was much more likely to spook- did at first find the walk to getting turned out very scary going past lots of things.
it helps that he is with other older horses who don't bat an eyelid at anything!

 

[Jenna1406]

Like Horsehappy said - just treat him like a 10 year old. This is what I have been doing with my youngster (first youngster and now 2, so slightly different). Good luck

 

[Suelin]

Relax and just get on with it. He'll take his confidence from you and very quickly realise that there's no point in having a turn. Lots of patience and lots of praise when he gets it right. He'll work it out. Good luck it sounds a fun project.

 

[fuze]

Thanks for the replies!

I've always been a believer in "if I expect them to do it and be okay, they will be" in regards to youngsters, however this guy has had a few minor meltdowns and walks around with his eyes on stalks haha. He is adjusting to the everyday things pretty well, but the minute he sees something slightly out of the ordinary he just doesn't know what to do with himself, bless him. I think he's going to be a fab project and I'm sure he'll get a lot braver as his confidence builds with a new handler, however I do wonder how he'll cope with seeing roads / leaving the yard for the first time when the time comes? Any thoughts on the best approach?

Thanks guys

 

[horsehappy]

Thanks for the replies!

I've always been a believer in "if I expect them to do it and be okay, they will be" in regards to youngsters, however this guy has had a few minor meltdowns and walks around with his eyes on stalks haha. He is adjusting to the everyday things pretty well, but the minute he sees something slightly out of the ordinary he just doesn't know what to do with himself, bless him. I think he's going to be a fab project and I'm sure he'll get a lot braver as his confidence builds with a new handler, however I do wonder how he'll cope with seeing roads / leaving the yard for the first time when the time comes? Any thoughts on the best approach?

Thanks guys

could you put him in a field next to a road? driveway to yard so he can see cars whilst turned out? i also put things out in my horses paddock that hes been spooking at- he wouldnt go past a flapping bit of haylage wrap once so i nailed it to his fence- by the morning he strolled past it like it wasnt there!

 

[ironhorse]

You do need to give him a bit of time - ideally he needs to cope with one scary thing at a time, although this isn't always possible. A sensible friend is always helpful - I always used to go in the school with the reining horses when my guy was a 3/4yo and they would mainly ignore the diggers, flapping banners and rampaging chickens, which gave him loads of confidence. When he has encountered something scary encourage him to drop his head and get his adrenalin levels down (a handling lesson with someone who's good with a rope halter and long line is very useful, but you can also do it from the saddle) before moving on to cope with something else.
Within reason, try to leave scary things in the school - jump wings etc so that he can get used to them, rather than taking them out. Sorry - just realised you haven't said if he's been backed, but if not you can do a lot of work in hand in a school or round pen to get him really used to scary things before you get on him! A hard hat, good boots and gloves are essential at this age, plus a long lead rope (find this easier to handle than a lunge line).

 

[fuze]

He can actually see a motorway from his field, but we don't have any directly next to a road? lol.

He has been backed (prior to me buying him), but I think the groundwork is going to be essential before getting him going as although he's not naughty, he can get a little panicky. We're trying to expose him to as much as possible without blowing pony brains, it's just a hard one getting the balance right

 

[tallyho!]

A routine always helps at this time. Treat the youngster like any other that has just started "work".

By creating a routine it helps them to cling to a repetitive pattern and is really quite comforting. It is to babies too.

Totally agree with poster who said treat them like a ten year old. So, if you don't have a routine, create one that involves bringing in, feeding, going out to "exercise" (whatever that may be), and coming in and being turned out at the same time. Be deliberate with everything you do as if it's completely normal.

Treat 'em like a baby, you'll always have a baby!

 

[Dry Rot]

I'd say all the above is sound sense but never to confront them with more than they can cope with. What I mean by that is scary stuff that makes them a bit nervous is fine so long as it is not so scary that they panic. When animals panic, sense goes out of the window and instinct (flight!) takes over. Just trying to restrain a panicking horse will cause even more upset. In other words, avoid confrontations and give them time to take it all in and think things out.