I have an 8 year old stationbred pinto that is nice to ride and generally respectfull.The problem is he is sacred of his covers, and also very wary of saddles,blankets and farriers with flapping aprons etc. I have done quite a lot of approach retreat desentisng with him and he seems to relax and I think the problem is solved but the next day we are back to square one with him. He tenses up and holds his breath whenever he feels wary and pulls back madly if he is tied, but ok tied if you are not doing anything with him. I am not sure if he has had a big fright , wether he has been abused at some stage or wether he just hasn,t been broken in very nicely. Any advise would be appreciated. I have owned him for 6 months and don't feel we have really made any progress with these problems.please help!

Hi there!

It sounds to me like he hasnt had a lot of desensitizing training done on him, either that or he was abused... either way the bottom line is: he is scared.

First of all, get someone who is somewhat experienced to help you with this. Im sure you have heard of people tying bags to the end of a lunge whip and waving it in front of horses, etc. etc.

Great technique... but people usually go about it wrong.

First off, you need to find a rhythm with the whip and wave it in the same place at the same speed to the side of your horse until he relaxes. Have someone hold him while you stand next to them (in front, off to the right) and start gently waving the whip/flag. Up and down, nice and easy, a good couple feet away so he can see it. If he moves away keep going with him until he stops and relaxes. AS SOON AS HE STANDS STILL AND YOU SEE EVEN A GLIMMER OF RELAXATION GET THE FLAG AWAY FROM HIM. And pet him. A LOT.

Then repeat going a little faster and a little closer. Each time he stops and relaxes, GET THE FLAG AWAY AND PET HIM. That is his reward for relaxing. The "pressure" goes away. This is the most important part of the exercise.

This is the first step. Let me know how this goes and we can go from here.

Oh yeah, and dont talk to him while you are waving the flag. Thats a distraction and it can screw up voice commands. For example, dont sit there telling him to whoa if he decides to move away from the flag. It is ineffective and "untraining" the whoa.

Hope this is helpful!!! Good luck!!!

Thanks Chenay, you're right i have done the bag thing but after reading your answer I think I wasn't consistent enough and would have been using voice as well.Will try your advice and see how we get on, thanks so much.Have donelots of approach retreat work with him and he responds well,I think I have solved things and next day can be bak to square one,I'll go slow and make sure I'm doing things right for him.

Chenay's got a good post. Remember, slow is fast when training a horse! In other words, building small goals and rewarding for small steps rather than trying to push for big goals and demanding bigger steps.

Baby steps really gets you there faster if you're consistent and effective. Let us know how it goes-

Ps. you might find some short helpful videos on desensitizing horses/ground exercises on youtube.com ...

Totally AQHA- slow, slow slow, baby steps, baby steps, baby steps!!!

Your very welcome!!! I didnt see your post!

One thing I did fail to mention, this exercise needs to be done on BOTH sides of the horse. VERY IMPORTANT.

Let us know!

Hi Chenay, have been out with Banner and got my husband to hold him while i waved the stick and bag, He was head up and wary, stepping sideways for only a moment, so i stopped when he seemed to relax, and then repeated twice and then to the off side, he was more nervous with this side but still settled quickly. I wasn't sure of the next step so we just left it there with lots of praise. I think because i have rubbed him all over with the bag a few times previously he was quite used to it. Where should i move onto from here?

Hey Brandi!! Glad to hear he is getting better. Keep working with the bag every day since you said it's always like starting over from square one.

What other things is he scared of? When does he get nervous? In general, horses are scared of two things: things that move and things that make noise.

Make sure you shake the bag all over his body, in between his ears, around his head, down his legs, under his belly, etc, etc. This is not an overnight thing.

Does he spook when you ride? Does he pull back when you tie? When you lead? Etc. If I know a little bit more about the situation I can give you some more techniques to try!

Thanks Chenay! I will carry on with the bagging , when we finished last time he did a big sigh , dropped his head and closed his eyes , he really was trying for me! Banner has been pulling back when tied and you go to do anything with him, fine if just standing there.Prevoius owner has suggested I tie and innertube to the post and she found that it would give a bit and help him not to feel trapped, without breaking like twine. She said he did it when she got him but this seemed to fix it. He's much more settled when you ride him than when you handle him. Have been on quite a few 3 hour treks around here, he loves it. Quite spooky in traffic, particularly trucks even though we are on a quiet country road, much better when another horse is with us.When he gets a fright he usually takes 3 or 4 strides sideways and stops and thinks, you can read him like a book! He's very well mannered to lead and not bolshy at all, quite submissive and he is also good to groom,saddle,do feet etc if someone is holding him, he's just nervous when he is tied (trapped?). Also this boy seems to love any new rides and very happy to float, he's not scared of small spaces, floats,gates etc.
He is very cautious of anything being put on him or draggged near him and i have been told by previous owner that he was broken in, fairly roughly, where he was born on a station, is gisbourne. Thanks again for your help, we so much appreciate it!

I posted something (only I think it was on another forum) about horses pulling back and how to fix that. If I can find it, I will re-post here.

After he has gotten SUPER DUPER comfortable with the baggie grab he blanket and shake it around all over him (same principle with the baggie, consistent speed, distance, go with him etc.) I would start on both sides and eventually move to his head (stay away from the rump) but DONT put the blanket on yet. Basically, it's an extended version of the baggie. Once he gets used to it shaking everywhere and knows it is nothing to be afraid of (unfortunately I dont have a time frame for this as every horse and situation is different, but you seem to know your horse rather well so you should be a good judge) the next step is to put in on him. I will cover that when you are ready.

You're doing great, keep it up!

Oh yeah and P.S.- I would be scared of traffic too! lol