Don’t Desensitize your Horse!

Howdy Friends,
 

We’ve all seen it, owners, trainers or friends working in round pens or rings, with a worried, sometimes terrified horse, waving a bag, a towel or some other object at the horse to “Desensitize the horse.” I understand some reading this think I’ve described an exaggerated scene, others will think it’s got to be done, and still others think they would never do that. I’m in that last camp—I would never do that or anything close. Nor could I recommend it.

“But they need to be taught a bag can’t hurt them,” some say. Or a pile of other explanations why “desensitization” is an important part of “training.” Training, another word I’m not real fond of. I don’t want to be “trained,” or “desensitized.” Do you? I’d rather be educated, or coached. Semantics, you think? No. Words should mean things, and they do. Take just a second here and truly ponder the difference you feel when you think, “train” ... or “educate.” They make you feel different inside don’t they?

So how do you help a horse understand flying bags and blankets, falling branches, loud noises and a mountain of other scary things won’t harm her? Easy. Education and confidence building. When a horse has confidence not much will frighten her. When she’s confident in herself, and her person, the scary things are simply, things—not life threatening monsters.

Confidence building is a long term strategy, and we can make it happen by being confident ourselves, and consistent in our manners, actions and support. Yes it takes longer than a weekend clinic on desensitization—which will surely get a horse less worried about the bag, flag, bucket or bang the weekend was designed to make unscary ... But in most cases it will not build confidence. What it most often builds is a worried compliance. I must point out that many horses are skilled in hiding their worry with compliance. But worry and fear can resurface in the blink of an eye, in a most dangerous way, when the next “scary thing” that had not been used to desensitize, suddenly appears out of nowhere. The weak link is the lack of confidence building.

It is totally impossible to desensitize a horse to every scary or worrisome object a horse and rider might ever encounter. And that is the flaw. And it is a big flaw, for when the desensitized horse has an incident after training, and the rider momentarily gets scared themselves and disciplines the horse for what is a natural reaction, the bond between horse and human suffers a strain, a little damage. That’s not a good thing. Not for the person, not for the horse.

Building self confidence within the horse is the answer. Conducting one’s self in a manner steeped in confidence, support and I might say mentorship, builds confidence in the horse.

Take time to understand the horse, as much time as she needs. When riding, doing groundwork, playing games, never push beyond what the horse is comfortable, confident with. Ever. In everything you do make sure the horse is ready to go to the next level. Revisit often things she has mastered, and enjoys doing. This will create layers, upon layers of confidence. Those layers of confidence will build a suit of armor ever present for any scary, unexpected or surprising thing that suddenly appears. And she’ll handle all the never-before-seens with inner strength of self-confidence—not suppressed fear.

Don’t desensitize your horse ... Empower her!

Gitty Up, Dutch Henry

 To have a look at my latest book, "It's For The Horses, An advocate's musings about their needs, gifts, spirit and care," CLICK HERE.

"Building A Horse's Confidence – and Fictional Characters"

Howdy Friends,
 

Let's see if I can tie two emails that are worlds apart (are they really), together. One a horse question and one about writing. A facebook friend emailed and asked how I build confidence in a horse. Another facebook friend asked how I build a character in a story. Both emails used the word, build, and they came within 5 minutes of each other!

Kessy and me writing - she has the confidence to guide me!

The writing question came first so … When I'm thinking of creating a character, at first of course I'll need to establish gender. Maybe. But I don't really care about any other physical characteristics, unless something jumps out and yells at me, "Hey I'm tall and very athletic." I might store that for future references. But mostly I'll address the physical characteristics as the story unfolds. I may set the stage with a brief hint such as, "With a delicate, quivering hand, she flipped open her phone, gazed at the tiny screen and carefully considered her next move."

I've never been real big on a horse's conformation, either. I see a horse from within. I believe every horse can perform at the highest level its body will allow. It's our responsibility to make that possible. So I guess, as with my fictional characters, I don't really care about physical characteristics of horses either. We can address them as need be, as we go along.

The first thing I might do with a horse who lacks confidence is ask for her to take a single step forward or back. I'll store how she took that step in mind for future reference.

After I establish in my mind my fictional character is tall, athletic and worried, I can paint a bigger picture. I look at the whole scene, like a painting on the wall. But I notice the little things in the picture. The big things will always take care of themselves, if you address the little things, such as how she enters a room boldly with long strides, but fidgets with her hands and dislikes eye contact during tense conversations. I can use these later when I need to add tension, or slow the reader down.

I notice the little things about a horse's confidence. How does she stand, walk, hold her head. How does she respond to requests? Does she focus on me, or look far away? Just as in creating a character, I'll keep them in mind as we move ahead into her story. I can use these foundations to build her confidence.

Now that I've laid the groundwork for my character, I can move ahead in the story and continue to add layer upon layer as I write the scenes in which she interacts with other characters or tackles situations, or thoughts, on her own. As I build the character I can always go back to the basics the reader already knows. She's tall, can be bold, but can be nervous, is athletic and thinks deeply. It's important, as I continue building the character, to keep the basics in mind to fall back on in times of impact or excitement. It's important to the reader to have characters they can rely on. Fundamentals matter.

When building a horse's confidence, after I've noticed her basic characteristics, thought process, what she's worried about, things she can tolerate and most importantly, things she really enjoys and looks forward to, I can begin building her confidence, one layer at a time. I do this by spending a lot of time asking her to do the things she already has a liking for, and the confidence to be able to handle. As we work together, adding layer upon layer of confidence by adding new challenges, I'll keep going back to those basics she understands and enjoys. Those basics are the foundation on which all else is built. They are the things the horse can rely on.

So there you have it, I guess … Whether I'm building a fictional character for a novel or building confidence in a horse, it's a matter of seeing the solid foundation and carefully adding layers until I have the picture I see in my mind established for the reader, or the horse. One little step at a time.

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

Seeing With Her Feet-A One Step Exercise to help your horse Find Her Feet

Howdy Folks,
 

A very important and easy thing you can do to help your horse maintain proper posture, soft body carriage, and self awareness, as well as self confidence is a little exercise I call the, "One-Step." This is so easy to learn, and do, and will make such a huge difference in not only the things I've already mentioned, but your horse will start your ride relaxed and confident too.

You see horses, because of the things we ask them to do, often lose connection with their feet. They have that momentum thing down alright. They're going from here to there, but that's just it, it's all about momentum. They see the rail, the jump, the turn in the trail, the cavaleties, the barrels, they see it all, and they're going where you send them … But their energy, their momentum, is flying ahead of them often not aware of their feet. Sometimes they stumble, trip, or feel pushy as you lead ... It's not their fault; it's not a training or discipline issue. It's a physical issue ... They honestly don't know where their feet are. They are unable to "see with their feet" -- because they don't know where they are. This exercise will fix that.

Stand in front of your horse holding the lead softly, and simply ask for "One Step Forward," then stop, and rock back off the forehand. Let her stand and process that feeling of lightly taking only one, easy, soft step. Please note – One Step, is a complete step – One front, and the alternate hind.

When you begin this exercise she will most likely take more than one step, because she'll have the momentum started, just as she's been taught. That's okay, go with it – wherever she stops, tell her good girl, and let her feel the softness. – Then ask for "one step back," the same two feet you had asked her to step forward. Allow her to feel the softness, process the moment, then ask for "one step forward again – allow her to feel it, process it, congratulate her, then one step back again. Repeat forward and back 3 or 4 times, then switch to the other side and do it all over again. You should see her softening overall, and lowering her head ... Remember one step is a complete step, one front and alternate hind each time. 

Don't forget to allow time, every time, for her to process and feel the moment. And don't forget to rock her back off her forehand. (You can add the rock-back later, on another day, if she's having a challenge mastering the "One Step.")

This is one of the exercises I do every time before I step into the saddle, or do any ground work. Once you and your horse master this it'll be a fun and healthy game. You'll feel the difference in everything you do together too. So let's look at a few pictures.

We're all saddled, ready to go, Kessy is standing nicely, and I'm about to ask for one step forward (notice how she is not on her forehand) You can see I'm looking at her left front, sending the signal, before I ask for the step.

Kessy stepped forward with her left front, right hand - and is clearly on her forehand, so I'll ask her to "rock back" and feel the moment, before I ask her to "step back."

Asking Kessy to "Rock Back" feel & process the moment - Then I'll ask her to "Step back." Again, notice it is the left front & right hind that have stepped forward.

And here we are stepping back with the left front & right hind. Notice how she stays off her forehand. If you look closely you'll see I have her ear. We do this so often she does it on voice command.

The more you do the "One Step" the smoother, softer and more confident each step will become, in this exercise, and everywhere else as well. After all, you've helped her find her feet again. … I'll do a post on another day about how we can take this exercise, one step farther ... It's all about, "Seeing with her feet."

I hope you'll have fun with this.

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry