Want to know how to train your horses to snooze next to working machinery... without lifting a finger?
Only a few months before this photo was taken, the bobcat (machinery) was TERRIFYING. Now, it’s barely disturbing their nap, even when it’s working quite close by.
Why? Because of one of my favourite training techniques – where the horses train themselves!! It’s called Habituation. Habituation is the easiest form of desensitisation, because if we set it up right, we don’t need to get involved and do any active training.
Hell Yes!
Habituation is occurring when the horse reacts less and less, each time the machinery is working, until eventually they don’t react at all. Easy peasy right?
Well almost. We have to set it up correctly, or we could end up making our horse even more scared of the machinery – yikes!
The KEY is to make sure the horses have lots of room. Enough room that they can move far enough away from the machinery (or whatever scary thing you want to desensitise them to), to feel comfortable. This is not something to do when they are locked in a yard or stable! The distance they need from the 'scary thing' will be different for every horse and it will vary for the same horse at different times. What is vital, is that they have the freedom to retreat as far as they need to, to feel safe. Essentially, we want them to practice feeling safe in the presence of the 'scary thing'. This helps it become 'not scary anymore'.
When they feel safe each time the 'scary thing' is present, horses will relax a bit closer to it each time, until eventually they don’t care about it all.
Nice!
© 2022 Sara Jackson
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