Whether you are working with a colt that comes in to get started under saddle, or problem solving a training issue with a more seasoned horse, desensitizing is one phase you should never skip in your training sequence. Desensitizing is about presenting stimuli to your horse that may be scary and helping them learn that they do not need to react or spook. We’ve all seen those horses who react to anything that has changed within their environment… God forbid the mounting block moved to a different corner of the arena. Or how about when somebody opens an umbrella…Lord help us all. My own horse was certain the world was ending the other day when he saw an ant hill and the dirt looked different while on a trail ride. Desensitizing will be especially key for those horses who tend to be more spooky or reactive.
Horses are prey animals and generally operate under the premise of react now (run away, spook, etc) and think later. When a horse spooks at something in the field, they may run away (react) and at a certain distance when they feel more safe, they will turn around and look at whatever scared them (think). We can help our horses to get to the thinking phase much more quickly through systematically desensitizing them to different stimuli and situations.
When starting desensitization training using objects, the following progression may be helpful for your horse:
- Start by desensitizing your horse using your lead rope and stick/string, and/or lunge whip. Begin by throwing the end of the lead rope, or end of the lunge whip, over your horse’s back. While doing this, it’s important to watch your horse’s expression and reaction. Initially do this while your horse is standing still. If he starts to walk off, don’t make him stop but rather keep throwing the rope over his back while allowing him to walk around you in a small circle. For the more tense, anxious horses, I will move my hand towards their hip to encourage them to yield their hindquarters and stop, but I don’t force them to do it- the point is that you want your horse to figure out that standing still will result in the pressure (the rope being thrown) stopping. You are waiting for 2 things to ultimately happen: his feet to stop moving, and for him to show a sign of relaxation. Some examples of relaxation would be dropping his head and neck, blinking, letting out a deep breath, licking and chewing, or cocking a hind foot. As soon as you see one of these signs of relaxation, remove the stimuli, in this case the rope being thrown over his back. This is his release…you took that pressure (the rope) away and rewarded the fact that he showed a sign of relaxation. Let him stand for a minute while rubbing his head and neck before returning to the same thing again. You will want to repeat this process until your horse has no problem at all with standing still and relaxing as you throw the rope. When your horse shows he is calm and relaxed with the rope being thrown over his back, you can progress to throwing the rope over his butt, over his neck, and finally around his legs. Many horses will be more reactive to the rope going around their legs. If your horse starts to walk away or spooks, do your best to stay with him and keep throwing the rope around his legs until those 2 things happen: his feet stop moving, and he shows a sign of relaxation ***Some horses (usually the more tense and spooky ones may not show a sign of relaxation very quickly in the beginning. In this case, as long as his feet are standing still, I will keep throwing the rope for about 10 seconds and then will remove the pressure (the rope) and allow him to take a break for a minute.
- Start desensitizing your horse to a feed bag. This can be a scarier part for some horses as the feed bag now adds the element of making a sound. Let your horse smell the bag you use if they would like to. Start by rubbing the bag on your horse’s shoulder and moving up to his withers and back, then progressing to his butt, coming back up to his neck, and finally rubbing it along his legs. If he stands and is relaxed with this, then start gently flapping it against his body, starting by his shoulder moving up to his withers and back, moving towards his butt, then coming back up to his neck, and finally his legs. You may notice your horse start flinching or twitching in the area whee you are flapping the bag. Keep flapping the bag at that spot until the flinching stops and he shows a sign of relaxation (blinking, head and neck lowers, licking and chewing, deep breath, cocking a hind foot.) Then immediately stop flapping the bag and rub your horse.
- Tarp time! Once your horse is very solid with the above steps, you can move onto desensitizing with a tarp. Initially, fold the tarp up so it is is smaller and you can still hold it with one hand. Start by rubbing your horse’s shoulder, moving to his withers and back, around his butt, back up to his neck, and finally his legs. If your horse appears relaxed, open the tarp up a little bit more. Maybe go about half way so that it makes a little bit more of a sound when you move it around. Proceed with the same progression of rubbing your horse’s body down. Once he’s relaxed with this step, then you can open the tarp all of the way and rub his body down. At this time you can start to let part of the tarp lay over your horse’s back and then his butt. The most important thing is to watch for those signs of relaxation and to remove the tarp. Your horse learns that when he relaxes, the scary thing stops.
Tips & Troubleshooting
- Don’t be in a rush. Take your time with these steps. Be thorough and make your sure your horse is very comfortable and confident before progressing to the next step. With some horses you can move through several steps within one training session, while others may need several days to ensure they understand and are confident. This comes down to reading your horse and meeting them where they’re at in their training.
- If your horse keeps trying to move away while you work on desensitizing, it’s important to not force him to stop. The whole point of desensitizing is teaching your horse to think, and by doing so, recognize it’s far easier to stand still and relax in order to get the pressure (stimuli) to go away. Many times if I have a horse who I know could keep walking circles around me for days, I will move my hand up and back towards his hip to suggest that he disengage his hindquarters and stop moving. I will repeatedly suggest that the horse disengage his hindquarters and stop moving, and the moment he does actually stop moving, I take the pressure away- even before I may see a sign of relaxation. It’s important to break down the steps with these horses to ensure they understand what you are teaching. Some horses can move through the progression of desensitizing very quickly, while others need some extra time and communication to understand.
- Once your horse is confident with different stimuli being applied while standing still, the next step will be to work on applying that stimuli in the same way while you keep the horse moving around you in a circle. I know this may seem contradictory to the above troubleshooting tip, however in having your horse becomes confident standing still with stimuli being applied, you are preparing him to learn how to be confident with stimuli being applied while he is moving. Many horses will start walking around you in a circle and as soon as you start throwing the rope they may immediately stop (as this is what they just learned to do.) When this happens, ask them to walk again and throw the rope again. You may see him stop again and his head and neck go straight up or get tense. This is your telling you he is not comfortable with that rope being thrown while he is moving. Continue the same steps until your horse can calmly walk around you with the rope being thrown around his body.
- Be aware of where you are standing and positioned with your horse. As some horses initially are very reactive with desensitizing, they may be more inclined to read, strike out, or kick. Make sure you are in a safe position where the horse cannot reach you if he was to become more reactive.
I hope these skills are useful for you and help your horse to become more relaxed and confident. Please feel free to reach out, I would love to hear your experience!