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Never Named
Posts: 1837
   
Location: Southern Alabama | What all do you ladies and gents do for desensitization? Cans, bags, umbrellas? I like spicing things up a bit and really exposing them to everything I can. |
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Location: Not Where I Want to Be | Fire Crackers
I keep a bunch in my pocket and when ever they look relaxed I light one and toss it over.
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | 1DSoon - 2017-01-10 4:08 PM Fire Crackers
I keep a bunch in my pocket and when ever they look relaxed I light one and toss it over.
LOL.... |
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Never Named
Posts: 1837
Location: Southern Alabama | 1DSoon - 2017-01-10 4:08 PM Fire Crackers
I keep a bunch in my pocket and when ever they look relaxed I light one and toss it over.
Really?  |
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  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4641
Location: Texas | Anything and everything. The crazier the better. If I notice that something in particular is spooking my horses, I will spend a lot of time focusing on that and getting them use to it. |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6443
Location: Montana | I have decided you can't completely desensitize a horse, LOL. Case in point: I can walk out with a plastic bag in my hand, making noise in the wind, and there be apples in the bag, and the horses LOVE me and the bag, no spooking. Then I can go on a ride and have a plastic bag laying in the road, with no wind or movement, and it is the scariest thing ever, LOL.
Oh, and bales of hay and straw...if we happen to see one on our ride, it is literally going to eat them. I pull up with a pickup full of hay and I'm their best friend.
Mine will let a bird sit on their back while grazing, but heaven forbid a bird flies up while riding!
But even with all of that, I still do stuff...plastic bags, bottles, snow shovels, about anything I find or if they spook at anything I use that, it doesn't really matter. I let things rub and slap and blow against them. The more the better. |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | LOL, so true about the spooking over silly things, I think they love spooking over goofy things to keep us on our toes, lol..  |
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Never Named
Posts: 1837
Location: Southern Alabama | I had a mare that was petrified over hula hoops. I mean like... hurt herself to get away from it, scared. So, I put one around her neck and put her in a round pen, after that... nothing. My grulla mare will lose her marbles if you dump her water bucket over... but, you can stand a foot from her and crack a bull whip. So, I dump her water bucket... Lots. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 324
| My mare will spook at any barrel that's outside the arena. She loves barrels in an arena but if there's a barrel outside of the pen, all of a sudden, that isn't a barrel anymore, it's actually a bear and it's trying to eat her in her own imagination.
I just make her walk up to it and sniff it and go on about our business. In general for desensitizing I'll rub them down with any and everything. Blankets, bags, rope, pillows, and anything else they look at funny.
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Addicted to Baseball
Location: Where the stars at night are big and bright, TX | Desensitizing should first start with the horse having confidence in their rider. There are plenty of ruined horses from people thinking if they throw enough at the horse they'll eventually "desensitize them." Instead you've created a horse who doesn't trust you and goes looking for something to come undone about because they don't trust you to see them through it. You haven't built the horses confidence in you. You want to do a better job...RIDE them everywhere, haul everywhere, work them everywhere. Save the Pat Parelli garbage for when they already know you aren't a threat, they are already looking at you for assurances and you'll intelligently see them through something safely. |
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Location: in the ozone | Tilt The Kilt - 2017-01-10 6:12 PM
Desensitizing should first start with the horse having confidence in their rider.  There are plenty of ruined horses from people thinking if they  throw enough at the horse they'll eventually "desensitize them."  Instead you've created a horse who doesn't trust you and goes looking for something to come undone about because they don't trust you to see them through it.  You haven't built the horses confidence in you.  You want to do a better job...RIDE them everywhere, haul everywhere, work them everywhere.  Save the Pat Parelli garbage for when they already know you aren't a threat, they are already looking at you for assurances and you'll intelligently see them through something safely.Â
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
Location: OH. IO | slipperyslope - 2017-01-10 8:43 PM
Tilt The Kilt - 2017-01-10 6:12 PM
Desensitizing should first start with the horse having confidence in their rider.  There are plenty of ruined horses from people thinking if they  throw enough at the horse they'll eventually "desensitize them."  Instead you've created a horse who doesn't trust you and goes looking for something to come undone about because they don't trust you to see them through it.  You haven't built the horses confidence in you.  You want to do a better job...RIDE them everywhere, haul everywhere, work them everywhere.  Save the Pat Parelli garbage for when they already know you aren't a threat, they are already looking at you for assurances and you'll intelligently see them through something safely.Â
AGREE ! |
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Never Named
Posts: 1837
Location: Southern Alabama | Tilt The Kilt - 2017-01-10 7:12 PM Desensitizing should first start with the horse having confidence in their rider. There are plenty of ruined horses from people thinking if they throw enough at the horse they'll eventually "desensitize them." Instead you've created a horse who doesn't trust you and goes looking for something to come undone about because they don't trust you to see them through it. You haven't built the horses confidence in you. You want to do a better job...RIDE them everywhere, haul everywhere, work them everywhere. Save the Pat Parelli garbage for when they already know you aren't a threat, they are already looking at you for assurances and you'll intelligently see them through something safely.
YES! Agreed!
But, I was asking in a since.... like, ground work stuff. You know? I know everyone has their own way of doing things. What they expose them to on the ground, etc. I totally agree with exposing them. I try and haul one everywhere I can. |
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