How to Teach an Adult Horse to Be Sprayed With a Spray Bottle

Horses have very good long-term memories. If they were frightened by an object once, they tend to stay clear of it for years afterward. This can be a problem when the horse is afraid of spray bottles, since they are used so often as a fly repellent and for grooming. You need to train your horse with positive reinforcement. Here we'll look at clicker training to make a horse come to terms with a spray bottle.

Things You'll Need

  • Small clicker
  • Stick with soft end
  • Bag of cut up small treats such as carrots
  • Spray bottles
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Instructions

    • 1

      Make a target stick, which is merely a stick with a soft and white end, like a dowel rod wrapped with a cotton bandage fastened onto the end.

    • 2

      Put your horse in a stall, small paddock or somewhere where that horse feels safe and there aren't many distractions.

    • 3

      Bring the bag of treats, the stick with the soft end and the clicker to the horse.

    • 4

      Click and then immediately give the horse a treat. Repeat this several times until the horse expects to get a treat every time there is a click.

    • 5

      Introduce the target stick. Touch the horse's nose with it, then immediately click and treat. Only click and treat when the horse touches the target stick with his or her nose. End the lesson there.

    • 6

      Have your horse follow the target stick, clicking and treating over the course of as many lessons as you feel are needed. Have the horse follow you around a paddock or an enclosed arena, or around trees or cones. End the lessons on a good note.

    • 7

      Introduce the spray bottle. Leave it on the floor and ignore it. Whenever the horse moves toward it, click and treat. To encourage your horse to move towards it, use the target stick, which the horse will follow.

    • 8

      End the lesson on a good note, doing something the horse knows how to do, even if it's only standing completely still. Praise lavishly. Gradually, the horse will either mouth the spray bottle without fear or ignore it.

    • 9

      Use the spray bottle on yourself or something else. Click and treat for calm behavior. Gradually add spraying the horse with water, again clicking and treating for good behavior. If your horse falls asleep, don't wake him by clicking and treating. Just let your horse nap.