
To desensitize the horse to pressure on his legs, I start by simply picking up the horse’s feet. The horse will usually respond correctly the first time by lowering their neck and standing still. When the horse has this down, I throw a lead rope over the horse’s neck and apply pressure to the rope. I can also ask the horse to hold its head lower for longer periods of time. Sooner or later, I can ask the horse to stretch their nose all the way to the ground. In the beginning, the horse will want to brace against the pressure and throw its head up when this happens, it’s important to keep the pressure on them until you see them respond correctly. All I do is apply slight pressure to both the poll and the lead rope as if pushing and pulling the horse’s head down.Īs soon as I see the horse drop its nose towards the ground and give to the pressure, I release. I start by putting one hand on their poll directly behind their ears and then with my other hand, I grab the lead rope close to the buckle. With this technique, I’ll usually start with desensitizing the horse to pressure on its head this is quite simple to do. A Technique for Desensitizing a Horse to Pressure On Their Limbs Instead of fighting the feeling of being trapped, the horse will remain calm and keep its head lowered. In order to avoid this, you can teach your horse to give to pressure when applied to the top of the head. I’ve heard of horses breaking their necks this way. Same with the horse’s head if a horse gets its head stuck between fence panels, it may cause the horse to panic and fervently pull back. If you train your horse to give their leg to pressure when it’s applied, they’ll learn that if they ever feel something pulling at their leg, they should just stop, stay calm, and not fight the pressure. They’ll pull and kick and topple over, which could damage the leg greatly. Horses will tend to panic if they get something wrapped around their leg and is keeping them from going forward.
#GREEN STUFFED HORAE HOW TO#
We would often discuss how to handle a situation where your horse would get stuck like that. I grew up foxhunting, and the thing that was always stressed while on the hunt field was to keep your eyes out for loose barbed wire that your horse’s legs could get tangled in. By teaching your horse to give to pressure when applied to these limbs, you can potentially save them if they are ever caught in a dangerous situation. There are more reasons to do this besides just to make your bombproof training easier.

If you take time to desensitize these areas to pressure ahead of your bombproof training, your horse will be able to better handle scary objects touching the limbs. This pressure will make the horse feel trapped. In the beginning, horses will usually fight unwanted pressure when it’s applied to these areas. Horses can be more sensitive when things touch their legs, head, and ears. If mine doesn’t work for you, don’t worry there’s one out there that will! Desensitize Your Horse to Pressure On Their Limbs Why You Should Desensitize Your Horse to Pressure On Their Limbs These techniques have all worked for me with numerous horses, but it’s important to remember that there are many training methods out there to learn from and try out. I’ve included a description of the techniques I use for each of these desensitizations in order to help you better understand how to communicate with your horse in these instances. If a horse is rushed or not properly prepared, you could possibly make them even more scared of the situation than before. It’s important to know how to correctly handle a horse when desensitizing, as it can be quite easy to have the opposite effect on the horse. I find that these categories and the techniques that I use for each end up covering most of the things that horses may be scared of. Desensitize your horse to certain noises.

Desensitize your horse to things touching them.

Desensitize your horse to foreign objects.Desensitize your horse to pressure on their limbs.So, what are some ways to bombproof your horse? Here is a list of desensitizing training that I put my horses through in order to make them bombproof: Desensitizing is when you introduce your horse to everything they may be scared of and help them understand why they don’t have to be afraid.

The way to make your horse bombproof is by putting them through desensitizing training. Bombproof is a term used in the horse world to describe a horse that isn’t afraid of anything the idea is that a bomb could go off a few feet away from the horse and it wouldn’t even flinch.
