How to 'desensitise' a horse?

M

MizElz

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 July 2007
Messages
6,295
Visit site
Many months ago, during a heated debate about disciplining an obstinate/spooky/naughty horse, someone mentioned that a solution to problems that may occur when hacking, eg. scary cars/tractors/blades of grass, is to 'desensitise' your horse. Well, if anyone has any tips, I would be MOST grateful. After an eventful hack this morning, during which we managed to execute a perfect pirouette - numerous times - in the middle of the road in order to avoid walking past a slurry pipe, carried out a wonderful canter half-pass to get away from a scary drain on our side of the road, and managed a leap that John Whitaker himself would be proud of, in order to clear the nasty SLOW sign written on the road, I think Ellie and I need help! A ride peppered with repeated whacks on the backside, constantly sawing arms to keep headstrong horse going in a straight line, and excessive use of the right leg to keep her from half-passing into the path of approaching cars is NOT my idea of Sunday morning fun.
mad.gif
And even more irritating is the fact that, the minute we turned for home, the naughty moo was as good as gold! I do not know whether to believe her when she tells me she is frightened any more; I have a sneaky suspicion she is simply being naughty.....

So, any suggestions on how to begin Operation-Desensitise-Ellie?
smirk.gif
 
I would get her eyes checked out by the vet.

If they are o.k. then she needs her hard feed cut out to get rid of any fizz and daily hacking down the roads early in the mornings at weekends when there is no traffic about to see if she improves.

Always ensure both you and the horse wear Hi-Viz and that you have taken the BHS Road Safety Course and Exam.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I would get her eyes checked out by the vet.

If they are o.k. then she needs her hard feed cut out to get rid of any fizz and daily hacking down the roads early in the mornings at weekends when there is no traffic about to see if she improves.

Always ensure both you and the horse wear Hi-Viz and that you have taken the BHS Road Safety Course and Exam.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand where you are coming from....but TBH it isnt traffic she has problems with! When she was younger I used to think she was having sight problems, but she is simply very spooky! Cars and lorries are fine - she doesnt bat an eyelid - its just things like branches, carrier bags, road signs etc. And she is inconsistent in her spookiness, too! Today was a bad day; Thursday, on the other hand, was a lovely day and she didnt spook at anything during a 3 hour hack!

She isnt on any kind of heat-producing food, and we are both high-vizd to the eyeballs! And I dont have the BHS Road Safety qual, but I did do my Pony Club Riding and Road Safety test, many moons ago!
smile.gif
 
Get as many 'scary' objects as you can i.e road signs, cones tarpaulin, bin bags etc etc and put them all around your yard, in the school, in her field etc and make her go past them all day every day. You need to keep moving them around though, so she doesn't get too used them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Get as many 'scary' objects as you can i.e road signs, cones tarpaulin, bin bags etc etc and put them all around your yard, in the school, in her field etc and make her go past them all day every day. You need to keep moving them around though, so she doesn't get too used them.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate to say this, but we do that already! She has the run of the yard for 4 hours each day; in the yard is my trailer (with a tarp behind it), a road cone stolen by my OH, an old school whiteboard propped against the hedge - looks like a white water jump - and a red jumping block (along with other random items!) And she is still spooky!
crazy.gif
crazy.gif
crazy.gif
 
Maybe if she has sight problems she can see the LARGE things such as vehicles OK, but can't quite make out the smaller objects.
So might be worth getting her eyes checked.
 
Echo the above with scary objects, put them in the yard, in her field, stable, near her at feeding time etc. Also scary objects that are slightly smaller (like bags/ branches) if possible, touch her with them, rub and stroke her with them until she's relaxed with them. I rubbed plastic bags on my youngster and he doesn't bat an eyelid at them now. As for spooking on hacks, maybe she has lost her confidence in being alone/ away from the yard/ maybe in you slightly? When she spooks at something out hacking I would take a lead rope with you and stop, get off and lead her over or as near as possible to whatever it is and touch it yourself and then just let her stand and look at it for as long as it takes while stroking and reassuring her. Once she quiets down lead her past, and keep leading her past it back and forth until she realises there is nothing to be frightend of. I think slowly slowly catchy monkey maybe worth a try for a while! Hope thats some use
smile.gif
!
 
>>> Oh and I would not tell her off for spooking as you will then only be reinforcing the fact that there is something to be frightend of.
smile.gif
 
Keep moving stuff round in her field/yard and adding new things, in surprising places. Every single day. Echo the get off and lead - had to do this with very spooky ex-racer (also great in traffic; tree stumps, stones, sheep etc were another matter) but after a few weeks she was brilliant. I also wouldn't discipline for it, in fact stay still and quiet as possible, I know it isn't always appropriate but as much as you can. Once we had a major rear/spin/attempted bolt in the middle of the road due to some fabric blowing in the hedge; I got off, led her up to it (snorting and on two feet) and picked the whole lot up. Once she'd seen me touch it, she was fine, and I carried it the rest of the way back to the yard just to get the message across. Patience, persistence and repetition are the key.
laugh.gif
 
That made me remember a incident I had.My horse pretended to be scared of feed bags ,I took one in his field for desensitising and he stole it from the wheelbarrow and ran round his paddock with it in his mouth .Couldnt stop laughing they are very fickle at times.
 
Maybe your demeanour is affecting her so you are inadvertently saying yes be scared! There is a difference at being determined and confident in getting them past something to being forceful and tense and not rewarding when she makes an attempt at going near something, all my ramblings are trying to say that if she has got all these spooky things at home and isnt bothered - it must be something to do with how she sees you handle the situation ie you not breathing, getting tense, angry therefore shes not learning that these things wont harm her. When i had a mare quite spooky i would literally breath out, drop my reins and let her look at the object and stand there until she lowered her head and realised it wouldnt kill her but your horse might be far worse than mine was!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top