This lesson is extremely important as it prepares your horse for the movement and noise of the saddle when he is in motion. Lots of horses are fine with desensitizing when they are standing still, but get worried when you start to desensitize them while they are moving. In this lesson you will teach the horse to accept stimulus while in motion, which will prepare him for your movement in the saddle when being ridden.
Desensitizing To the Whip in Motion
The way you lunge the horse in this exercise is different compared to what you have been doing. Because you are desensitizing the horse while he is moving you don’t want to walk behind the drive line and use the whip or stick to desensitize the horse while you are using assertive body language as the horse will become confused as you are asking him to do two different things. As the goal of this lesson is to have the horse relax while he moves around the circle as you toss the whip over him. If you stay in a normal lunging position he may just go faster as your body language and whip asks him to. Instead, face forward in the same direction as your horse and walk a small circle as the horse lunges on a bigger circle around you. This way your body is pointing away from him, putting less pressure on him.
Ask him to circle just as you have done before, but instead of walking toward the rib cage after he has started moving forward walk a small circle parallel to the horse. Keep your belly button facing forward. On a circle to the left your lead rope will be in your left hand and your whip or stick will be in your right hand. Once he is walking forward nicely toss your whip over his body starting at his withers and working you way back just as you did on the ground when standing still. The whole time you are moving the stick be sure to keep walking and have relaxed body language as that will be the only clue to the horse that you are desensitizing him. If he gets worried, keep desensitizing with your stick and bump him back on the circle. When he relaxes by slowing down or relaxing his body, click, stop moving the whip, and feed. Yield the hindquarters and have him go the other way once he accepts it all over on his left side. Get him used to this on both sides of his body at a walk, trot, and canter.
Problem Solving
Runs Away– Bump the horse’s nose toward you while at the same time continue with whatever movement that scared the horse until he slows down or shows a sign of relaxation. Stay with the horse the best you can. Click, stop desensitizing, and feed every time the horse relaxes.
Won’t Go Forward– Point with the hand that has the lead rope to put forward pressure on the halter. Say ‘walk’, cluck, then use your whip to make him go forward. If the horse is chronically not wanting to go forward, go back to a normal lunging position and have him move quickly, right when you ask. Then go back to facing forward once he is moving out.
Circles Too Quickly– Bump the horse’s nose toward you to create a bend in his body. If he is rushing because he is worried about the whip, keep tossing it over and off of his back until he slows down, them immediately click. Then stop tossing the whip and feed before starting again. You must reward him for relaxing.
Desensitizing to the Saddle
Next, you will desensitize your horse to the sound of the saddle and the stirrup leathers. Ask the horse to circle around you to the left by facing him, pointing with your left hand, stepping toward the horse’s shoulder, then smacking the ground with your whip getting closer until you smack him on the shoulder. Keep up the pressure until he moves off, forward, and around to the left. Then, start walking a small circle with your belly button facing forward. In this lesson you are going to want the horse to make a small circle around you so you can smack the saddle or hold the stirrup in the hand closest to the horse, right hand, and your lead rope in the opposite, left hand. It may be hard to have the horse circle really close, or if you think your horse may kick out, put a lead rope on the inside stirrup to create more space between you and the horse. Once he is circling at a walk, start rhythmically smacking the saddle with your right hand, you can also attach a lead rope to your saddle horse or to a grab strap on an english saddle and slap that again the saddle. Continue until he either slows down slightly from a worried pace, lowers his head, or blows his nose. When he does one of these things click, then stop making noise with the saddle, feed, and start again. When he is good to the left, yield his hindquarters by facing the horse, sliding your left hand down the rope, bending slightly at the waist and looking at the hindquarters, then take a step toward your hand and his hind end, use your whip toward his hindquarters until he steps underneath himself and faces you. When he does, stop cueing, stand up straight, and let him stand for a second before asking him to go off in the other direction. When he is relaxed while you smack the saddle at a walk on both sides do the same lesson at the trot.
Now that the horse the is comfortable with the saddle making noise, increase the sound and add movement by moving the stirrup up and down while he lunges around you just as you did in the previous lesson. Send your horse off onto a lunging circle, remembering to keep your body facing forward. Once he is circling, grab the stirrup with your right hand and start moving it quickly up and down so the leather makes a snapping noise. You can also use the rope attached to the stirrup for the same effect. Continue practicing this lesson on both sides until the horse is completely accepting of you moving and making noise with the saddle.
Problem Solving
Gets Worried When You Move the Stirrups– Stay with him and keep making the same motion or noise that scared him until he lowers his head or slows down a bit. When he slows down and/or relaxes click while you are still desensitizing, then feed. Do not stop making noise with the stirrup until he relaxes even a little bit. If you stop making noise with it before he relaxes you are teaching him that when he reacts to whatever worried him it will go away and that is the exact opposite of what you want.
Breaks Gait– Point up with the hand that has the lead rope in it, cluck, and use the stirrup on his side where your leg would be as pressure to go forward.
Pulls Away– Bump his nose back to you and continue to desensitize him until he slows down.
Kicks Out– The horse may be reacting to the whip, or you may be nagging him to go forward. If he is kicking out in response to the whip, continue to toss the whip over the part of his body that you were on when he kicked until he stops reacting. Also, make sure that he isn’t pushing his hip toward you when circling and disengaging. The horse should fully disengage each time you ask him to; that means crossing his hind legs and bending his body.