“Desensitize” your horse….what does this really mean and what is the best way to go about it? Before I work on this I make sure my horse understands very basic training. They need to move away from you by backing up or moving their shoulder or haunches when pressure is applied. This pressure can be movement from you, use of a tool such as a rope or stick and even voice commands. They must be respectful of your space and clearly understand your leadership roles. I stress this because if they become frightened while working on desensitization exercises you do not want to be in a dangerous situation. I also want to make sure they move forward quickly and quietly when asked as well as stand calmly with their attention and focus on me when invited to do so. I make sure to rest and reward my horses just as much as they work. This is a great way to reinforce what you want and also keep your horse eager to try harder for you. Relaxation is key to all good training. I find achieving relaxation with a horse even during particularly scary situations is a testament to good leadership. When a horse looks to you as herd leader so to speak they will feel more confident and less reactive. They learn to respond to your cues versus react to the surrounding environment.
When all these things are in place it is time to start testing their reaction versus response with desensitization. I will start small and work up to more advanced desensitization. You may also find some horses are more sensitive to sound, movement, environment changes (object in a place it normally is not), or all they above. I find ways to work on desensitization with many types of stimulation. I may start by cracking a whip beside the horse while making it clear in my body language that I am not asking them to move. I may then work up to rustling objects beside them, walking over things, pulling objects beside or while riding. I use whatever desensitization exercise as my rest/reward. For example if I am using a tarp or bag as a way to desensitize to sound and sight I will rub them with it in between bouts of work or movement.
If your horse begins to react to the desensitization object keep it around as much as you safely can till they start to relax and then immediately take it away. This lets the horse know that by not reacting the scary thing goes away. Here is an example, if I am working on my horse standing calmly when a whip is cracked beside him/her and they move I will gently keep cracking the whip away from them till they stand for a few moments while I am doing it. Once this is achieved I immediately stop cracking the whip give them a pat and rub them with the whip to reinforce that is all I wanted.
Desensitization has its place in training, have fun with it and move forward at a pace that sets the stage for success!