how to de-spook your horse?

[nixxyz]

As above really, im looking to de-spook/bomb proof my daft ex broodie, as when she decideds something is scary her reaction is very extreme (vertical rear). Her rearing is mostly fear based so while shes off for the winter i thought it would be a good idea to try and introduce as many scary things as possible (she is newly backed).
So ideas as to how to introduce, as the way i see it the more ideas the better

 

[lcharles]

I have been 'testing' my horses braveness recently in preparation for an eventers challenge.......made a jump about 3ft, and put cones, water trays, a purple rug spread out and anything else 'scary' to see what he would jump.

I assume your not jumping yet, but you could always lay out a course of 'handy pony' type obstacles.....walk over a sheet/blanket/rug.......go throw poles, walk over a large wooden plank (makes different noises when stood on) walk between two lines of dangling items, past someone rusling food bags/shopping bags etc.

You could ride through it or walk in hand x

Best of luck with it all x She'll get better with more experience and by trusting you. Lots of praise and ignore spooky behaviour by pushing her on x

 

[nixxyz]

the hand pony course sounds like a brilliant idea!! im currently doing a lot of basic ground work with her so this would be ideal as it would keep her interested for longer and help her realise its not such a big deal

 

[Cocorules]

If very spooky it can be a good idea to move the scary object away from her and have her follow it. For example with a plastic bag have her loose in the field carry it near her let her come towards you then walk the bag away she will keep following and eventually let her catch it but don't move it towards her. It can increase her confidence before you move onto harder things. I tried the same thing with scary sheep on the other side of fence on bridlepath knowing sheep would move away and let nervy pony think she had moved them but not so good when sheep got curious and moved back towards her! General and regular exposure to lots of things really helps as does longreining. Nervy pony now quite likes sheep too.

 

[asmp]

If yours is like mine and finds wheely bins scary, put one in field, next to stable, etc and eventually feed off it

 

[poacher82]

I've been messing about with my yearling de-spooking him. He has a road cone in the barn, has hay in an empty alfa sack (only when supervised!) so he has to put his head in and get it, silly things like that. I'm also quite deliberately un-careful around him - throw rugs on (he's only 12.2hh!) instead of delicately place them on, clatter the wheelbarrow and shovel around etc so he gets used to sudden noises, that sort of thing.

I think it's just a case of introducing them to life really. If yours has a strong reaction i.e. rearing that might be dangerous to you in-hand/stable, then the more you can do around her whilst she's grazing the better I'd say, then she has somewhere to go and you don't get squashed. The hay-in-a-sack and clattering wheelbarrows etc can certainly be done in the field.

A friend of mine also tied lots of flappy bags, banners etc to her fences to de-spook her youngster she wanted to show in hand at bustling county shows, worked wonders - wou;dn't do for mine though as he'd just eat anything I left him with unsupervised!

Good luck with her!

 

[AshTay]

I've used clicker training to get my horse used to scary things (carrier bags, umbrellas) as he was also an extreme reactor (usually to pointless things). He'll always be silly but I've noticed that his reactions to completely unanticipated things is generally a lot more rational now (i.e. just snort rather than spin round and go).

I tried the following things around thing and it worked to an extent but then he'd still throw a fit if it came towards him. And I tied a plastic bag to his feed bowl and he did eventually eat but if he touched it it upset him. Now I can rub a plastic bag on his bare body and he's pretty unfussed (this would have been unheard of for him before).

 

[nixxyz]

Putting scary things about the field is a good idea too, but would make sure she cant get tangled up in it. Shes a strange horse as traffic, livestock, dogs, and rubbish dont worry her but go near her with a rattly box or the wormer syringe and she freaks lol. I think its the whole moving towards her thats the problem, as she got a fright from a cyclist coming towards her and reared, luckily not full height but enough to unnerve the cyclist lol.
so will definatly take the advice of Cocorules and see if she will follow said object I think with madam the more she sees the better, although shes 9 id say she thinks more like a little 3yr old

Thanks for all the great advice and ideas will definatly be able to keep her mind busy for the winter