Desensitising

Here is my interpretation of desensitising.

“Desensitising a horse simply means to introduce him to something that would naturally set off his flight instincts, and show him that he can put his trust in us; that he doesn’t have to be scared and that it is safe to stick around because we will guide him and keep him safe.”

I feel as though people have the wrong idea when it comes to desensitising; people seem to think that horses need desensitising to every single thing that may frighten them….now that is a lot of things! Or they think horses need “sacking down” to make them quiet. By "desensitising’ in this way people run into all kinds of problems and ultimately the horse usually ends up with a major fears or anxiety.

If a horse can look to you for guidance and can trust that you will make the right decisions to keep him safe he can be exposed to a number of different objects and situations without a fuss.

It is how I am able to take my young horses out to events and play with obstacles that they have never seen before without them being afraid.

Horses are very quick to trust which is why they often end up in bad situations, they can also lose trust easily too.

Horses are smart animals and their natural instincts tell them when they should be afraid of something. If we are going to work with horses and be a reliable leader to them then we need to create a relationship where they can look to us when they are afraid and they can trust our guidance.

If you create that trust you build the horses confidence in himself and in you, then you wont need to desensitise your horse to anything, you will simply show him the new object or situation let him assess it and with your guidance he will willingly oblige. If you make a big deal about it or if your horse trusts you and he gets a fright midway through the exposure then you have given him a reason to doubt your leadership and safety and he will lose trust in you.

Remember to always set your horse up for success!

My interpretation of desensitising you establish a point in the partnership where the horse looks to you. If your horse can look to you for guidance when he gets scared he will stop and wait for you to show him how he should respond.

This is a very exciting stage to get to with your horse because it takes away the fear that you had of your horse violently shying sideways about something in the bush.

You horse is naturally much more chilled because he knows that you have his back, and you can relax because you know that your horse wont overreact because he trusts you. So instead of the shying your horse may stop and take a look at something and you can just encourage him on with your voice, letting him know there is nothing to worry about.

Ultimately you will end up with a horse that doesn’t fear anything because his trust in you is so great.

Now that is a huge responsibility!

Some horses need longer than others to develop this trust, some get it in one session and others take more time, it all depends on the horse, his experiances and his handler.

Stop thinking about what your horse is going to be afraid of and start being a confident leader!

Less is more, quality over quantity. The quality of the time you spend with your horse will determine the level of trust your horse will have in you.

You can really look forward to this new milestone in your partnership!