My Opera3 Proven Ways to Bomb Proof Your Horse
Saturday, August 28, 2010 7:35:14 PM
Horses that spook easily are risky to ride, they are a risk not only to themselves, but to others as well. Horses, being prey animals, have a good fight or flight reaction, and when presented with a threatening situation, they deal with it by shying or even worse, bolting. When this occurs the horse is usually classified as a trouble horse and is viewed dangerous. A seemingly innocent object such as a plastic bag or chicken coop can send the biggest of horses into a bolting frenzy.
There are some things you can do to desensitize your horse. This trouble horse preparation is ideally started when the horse is young and in education as it will ensure a spook resistant horse. Begin by lunging the horse for a couple of minutes to let him to work off any excessive energy. Leave a halter and lead rope on the horse and approach him slowly with an old saddle pad or blanket allowing him to sniff it. Work at the horse's pace and if he spooks or takes a step back, introduce the blanket again slowly until he is comfortable having it close to him.
Once he's more at ease around the blanket, you can start moving it around and swinging it slowly. This will aid desensitize the horse against flapping objects. The horse will most probably feel uncomfortable and may even shy, so be patient and work with him until he is used to to accepting the blanket swung around him.
The next step is to contact the horse with the swinging blanket, gently swing it onto his back and all over his body. Once the horse accepts the blanket on his head you're halfway there! Place the blanket by his feet to help desensitize him to objects under his feet, this is an essential part of the desensitization exercise. That's it reward him profusely for a job well done!
The next desensitizing exercise you should try is to use a soft rope and work with it in much the same way as you did with the saddle pad or blanket. This teaches the horse to support accepting a rope moving around his legs and body. Learning your horse to support this type of sensation can prove to be life saving if tack fails and the horse finds himself with bits of tack flying around him. This makes the horse much safer in dangerous situations when tack breaks. Throw the rope on the ground and in-between the horses legs and belly until he is no longer afraid of it. If the horse allows you to move the rope around his face and head, you've successfully completed this exercise.
Last but certainly not least is the plastic bag. Many, many horses are afraid of plastic bags and this exercise will help eliminate that fear of plastic bags in your horse. Show the bag to your horse and allow him to smell it, then tie it to a long lunge whip and wave it around while holding your horse on long lead rope. The horse will inevitably shy and try to get away from the terrifying object. Shake the bag around the horse until he becomes comfortable to having it around him, once this happens, touch him with bag all over his body. Move it around his body and under his stomach, when he provides you to touch his head with it, you're done.
Work at your horse's pace and always end your training session on a positive note and with a lot of pace. Never force your horse into an uncomfortable situation or you may end up scarring him for life. Make sure you do these exercises regularly even after the horse has become desensitized to ensure the horse doesn't fall back into his old familiar practices.
If you like horses you can play some horse riding games online.
There are some things you can do to desensitize your horse. This trouble horse preparation is ideally started when the horse is young and in education as it will ensure a spook resistant horse. Begin by lunging the horse for a couple of minutes to let him to work off any excessive energy. Leave a halter and lead rope on the horse and approach him slowly with an old saddle pad or blanket allowing him to sniff it. Work at the horse's pace and if he spooks or takes a step back, introduce the blanket again slowly until he is comfortable having it close to him.
Once he's more at ease around the blanket, you can start moving it around and swinging it slowly. This will aid desensitize the horse against flapping objects. The horse will most probably feel uncomfortable and may even shy, so be patient and work with him until he is used to to accepting the blanket swung around him.
The next step is to contact the horse with the swinging blanket, gently swing it onto his back and all over his body. Once the horse accepts the blanket on his head you're halfway there! Place the blanket by his feet to help desensitize him to objects under his feet, this is an essential part of the desensitization exercise. That's it reward him profusely for a job well done!
The next desensitizing exercise you should try is to use a soft rope and work with it in much the same way as you did with the saddle pad or blanket. This teaches the horse to support accepting a rope moving around his legs and body. Learning your horse to support this type of sensation can prove to be life saving if tack fails and the horse finds himself with bits of tack flying around him. This makes the horse much safer in dangerous situations when tack breaks. Throw the rope on the ground and in-between the horses legs and belly until he is no longer afraid of it. If the horse allows you to move the rope around his face and head, you've successfully completed this exercise.
Last but certainly not least is the plastic bag. Many, many horses are afraid of plastic bags and this exercise will help eliminate that fear of plastic bags in your horse. Show the bag to your horse and allow him to smell it, then tie it to a long lunge whip and wave it around while holding your horse on long lead rope. The horse will inevitably shy and try to get away from the terrifying object. Shake the bag around the horse until he becomes comfortable to having it around him, once this happens, touch him with bag all over his body. Move it around his body and under his stomach, when he provides you to touch his head with it, you're done.
Work at your horse's pace and always end your training session on a positive note and with a lot of pace. Never force your horse into an uncomfortable situation or you may end up scarring him for life. Make sure you do these exercises regularly even after the horse has become desensitized to ensure the horse doesn't fall back into his old familiar practices.
If you like horses you can play some horse riding games online.
