Ideas to De-Spook Horses

Despooking a horse should be an essential part of training for this animal. Horses are large, powerful and extremely reactionary, meaning they act before they think. A spooky horse that a rider or handler has no control over is a danger to himself and to the humans around him. Despooking tools and exercises can be used to help a horse overcome fear and accept new objects and situations. Always work slowly and calmly to gradually turn something the horse thinks is dangerous into something that is nonthreatening.

  1. Understanding Instinctive Behavior

    • Before you can begin to despook your horse, you must understand why he spooks in the first place. A horse is an instinct-driven prey animal, reacting first and thinking after. His primary way of surviving is to run away from predators, which means it is instinctual for the horse to make moving away from any perceived danger a priority. Horses also possess the "flight-or-fight" instinct. The horse's first reaction is to run but if that option is eliminated, he will resort to fighting: kicking, biting or striking out. Understanding how a horse thinks as a reactionary animal and how he perceives the world is the first step in successfully despooking him.

    Becoming the Leader

    • Another instinct horses possess is the herd instinct. They are social animals that establish a hierarchy which includes a leader. In any training session, you should establish yourself as the leader. Horses do this to each other by controlling the movements of other horses; leaders direct where the followers go. Using an enclosed arena with your horse in a halter and on a lead, begin by asking the horse to flex his neck to the left and then to the right. Next, ask the horse to move his shoulder around his rear legs (meaning the rear legs should stay relatively still while the front turns to make a full circle) in both directions. Do the same with the hips (with the back feet moving and the front feet relatively still). Working on movement and control exercises like these help establish you as the leader and builds your horse's trust in you.

    Despooking Tools

    • Once you have established yourself as the leader and you can exercise control of the animal on the ground, start working with new props. Any stimulus that a horse initially finds frightening makes a good despooking tool. Tarps are excellent because they are not usually found out in the horse's environment, they can make noise and they are easy to move and manipulate. Used feed or shavings bags are also good tools to use. Umbrellas, banners or streamers, milk jugs filled with rocks, beach balls and ropes can all be used to despook horses.

    Despooking Exercises

    • When working with any tool, use gentle repetition until the horse accepts the item and can categorize it as nonthreatening or not dangerous. Work slowly; the key to successfully despooking a horse is gradually moving toward acceptance of an object. Allow the horse to investigate items with this senses before stepping over bags or walking across tarps. Rub ropes or plastic materials over the horse's body and legs. Shake milk jugs filled with rocks to help desensitize the horse to different sounds. Roll beach balls around where the horse is standing. As your horse progressively learns to accept more items as safe and not dangerous, he will become less spooky, safer to be around and easier to handle.