How to Desensitize

[nicole]

Hello all,

I have a young horse (4 yrs) and I would like to do some work with him to desensitize him to scary objects. I am wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction regarding methods and books that might help me along with this? I have looked at clicker training but don't know much about it. Thanks for any advise.

[kate n gem]

Hey. When i went to one of Monty's and Kelly's demos Monty started to desensitize a mare wiht a plastic bag on the end of a stick. At first he wrapped it tightley ont he stick and lay it gently on the mare who got a fright but he just held it there until she settled down. Once she had settled he immedieatley took the sticka way from her as a reward. He continued to do this for a while and then progressed to a stick with a plastic bag attatched but that could flap about and did the same. My mum and i have just bought a 2 year old and to get his leg straps of his rug done up we used the same principle and held it to his leg until he settled then took it away as a reward. Hope that was some use, let us know how you get on.

[BuckSkinBabe]

Also be really attentive on what new things scare the horse. Just today I was using a new pair of thinning shears for the first time on my gelding. At first when I tried using them on his bridle path he tossed his head and pulled away to tell me, "I don't like this." So I moved the shears into his line of sight and let him sniff them as I opened and closed them slowly. After he started to ingore the shears as something that didn't interest him he let me continue trimming. Although he was too occupied by trying to grab my hat that was hanging near him anyway.

[milo]

a friend of mine, tied plastic bags along the fence to a small paddock, she put cds hanging from trees she put a sheet on the ground , balloons, and trafic cones up and she hung an old fringe curtain for the horse to walk through, not all at once but bit by bit until horse got used to things flapping around and rustling in the wind, and now she rides her youngster anywhere without fear of it spooking, it takes time and patience and understanding and dont do too much at once, she got an ra out to work through an initial program first as she had loads of problems with her horse because it was an untouched 7 yr old and had really bad panick attacks while being ridden and it took her nearly a year before the horse would accept the saddle, most people would have given up but she got help and it worked,

[nicole]

Thanks to everyone who replied. BuckSkinBabe, LOL at your horse being preoccupied and trying to grab your hat ;D Mine is exactly the same, he must get a hold of any interesting object he can reach. Kate, would you believe I tried the bag tied to a stick last night and he didn’t even bat an eye. I was quite surprised by this as he dumped me a good one over the summer because he was afraid of something similar. LOL, strange how they behave sometimes. Last night he was quite bold, reaching out to touch the bag, letting me rub it on his face, legs and entire body while it rattled. He was not afraid in the least.

Does anyone know if the color of the bag could make a difference in his reaction to it? I used an orange plastic bag and am wondering if I would get the same reaction if I used say a white plastic bag. Milo, that idea sounds brilliant! I will check with the other boarders and see if a similar set up would be alright with them. Thanks again guys, just trying to get him more settled before I start hacking him out again this spring. I had a very serious fall and was injured this past summer and am just now regaining confidence. He is a very big boy (approaching 17 hands) and I have decided that I need as close to a bomb proof horse as I can get if I am going to continue to hack out. I think I can turn my boy into this but just need a little direction, I am willing to put as much time into him as it takes. Thanks again.

[sooty]

Hi Nicole
I have a book called 'Bombproof Your Horse' by Sgt. Rick Pelicano which I found full of really useful ideas. (ISBN 0-85131-896-7). You should be able to get it from Amazon

[nicole]

aahhh...thanks sooty I will definately go have a look ;D

[Caroline]

It seems to me that horses keep a list in their heads of things that arent going to kill them. Anything not yet on the list is obviously the antichrist until proven otherwise.

To illustrate this theory, a friend of mine had a travelling horse that pulled a wagon through all sorts of places. She seemed to be so bomb proof that one could drive her through cities without her getting worried. One day she was by the side of a quiet canal and saw a longboat sailing silently along. She had never seen anything like it, presumably didnt understand how a vehicle could move without noise and promptly bolted. Longboats werent yet on her safe list!

I have been desensitising a couple of previously unhandled wild horses for a couple of years. I see it as an ongoing process. I try to add new things to their "safe lists" all the time. I find it makes a huge difference if I walk calmly and confidently up to the object of terror and stroke it, leaving the horse to follow on a loose rein if they want to. They are very curious, even when worried by something, and cant seem to resist edging forward, sniffing and eventually sniffing and licking. The day I worked out that I need to take the lead and be the one to touch and stroke the strange object first was the day my horse stopped worrying about new things so much.

In a similar vein, I can also be regularly observed wearing tack and anything I might ask my horse to tolerate. I get teased lots, but I reckon there is method to my madness!

Note also that the horse is least likely to panic and run *into* the scary thing, so right next to the scary thing is also the safest place for you to be standing. If you are between the horse and its escape path, you might get flattened! I wish someone had told me that a couple of years ago. It would have saved me a lot of stress in situations where my horse is threatening to run me over because she is scared.

This approach has worked with pigs, motorbikes, caravans and today a frosted log that was apparently an axis of evil until investigated.

Like many aspects of horse training, I dont think desensitisation can be rushed or shortcut. There will always be new things, although we can try and prepare our horses for as much as possible. The important thing is how the pair of you handle new things when they arise. There has to be the trust that grows over time and with a good relationship. There has to be a structure (e.g. you up front, not forcing the horse, taking the lead by touching the scary thing first).

I think it is important that the horse doesn't feel trapped or forced when dealing with new things.

Walking out with an old, sensible, bomb proof horse helps a lot too. I think it is important not to become too dependant on that as a strategy though. Sooner or later, you and your horse need to work out how to face the world on your own.

I tried the bag on a stick method that Monty demonstrated at a demo. It worked very well. She went from freaked by bags to not bothered in about 10 mins. Now she thinks bags contain interesting things, ideally apples..

I would be interested to see how Monty would desensitise a horse to something less moveable than a plastic bag or clippers e.g. vehicles. I guess boxing is the closest analogy.

Best of luck - keep at it and I am sure you will get where you need to be! The book mentioned sounds like a good idea. I shall be interested to read it myself.

Caroline

[kas]

If you are using approach and retreat, like the bagonnastick technique, I would say that you need to keep the object with the horse for just a couple of seconds after they stand still, not remove it immediately. Their last impression needs to be of being able to stay still with the scarey thing there and live, rather than stay still as a way of removing it.
With stationery objects I'd work the horse away from the object where they can be relaxed and concentrating. Let the horse relax and walk and drift towards the object, but away again before they get scared and need to leave. Then work some more in the comfortable zone, drift into the not-so-sure zone etc etc. The horse will actually start to want to go and look at the scarey thing, but you have to bear in mind that when they do this in the field with their friends they tend to touch and then run away! Then return... So don't make a big thing of them having to touch and accept it, just treat the area close to it as the space where they can relax from working, and soon the comfort zone gets bigger and bigger.

[Lynn]

Kelly's new book Perfect Partners has a great section on this plus lots of other fab info,well worth buying. And you can order it on-line.

[nicole]

Thanks to all of you A lot of great advise here, guess its time for me to get to work! Thanks Lynn for the tip on Perfect Partners. I was given a copy as a christmas gift but have not had an opportunity to look through it yet. I will do that right away! Thanks again!