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Part 4 - Bombproofing Your Horse A bombproof horse is a horse that is not scared by anything.
Police horses need to be 'bombproof' to deal with sudden loud
noises, crowds of people, traffic rushing close by, dogs,
attackers, objects that flap, and sights and smells they have never
come across before. It is a rare horse that can cope with all of
this 'naturally'. It is up to you to train your horse not to react
to items and situations that would previously cause him fear. This
process is referred to as 'desensitization' or 'bombproofing'. How
bombproof a horse can be is determined in part by his temperament.
A very highly strung horse may never be as reliable and safe as a
calmer one, but huge improvements can be made. Through the process
of desensitizing your horse to objects, sounds and situations, you
make him so accustomed to whatever it is that makes him nervous
that he literally gets bored with it, loosing his initial fear. It
takes time, patience and sensitivity, but the process is very very
simple. Here's the process in a nutshell. First, allow your horse to approach a suspicious item from a
distance, slowly working him closer and closer to it. If he comes
to a stop, you can mark this spot as the edge of his comfort zone.
Double back a little, allowing him to relax again, and then gently
urge him a little closer to the item this time, gradually asking
him to expand his comfort zone by moving closer. Repeat this
process until he is comfortable enough to come close to the item.
This may take more than one session. Your horse may only be
comfortable getting within 100 feet of a scary object at first, but
that's ok. Little by little you will expand his comfort zone. Remember to be sensitive to when your horse has had enough in one
session. You are not aiming to scare the daylights out of him.
You are aiming to develop his confidence in your judgement. As
leader, you say what's safe. Bombproofing is as much about
building trust as desensitizing. Convince your horse you make a
good leader by staying confident and calm yourself. You also need
to convince him that the scary object is ok, and you will only
achieve that by keeping him calm. Once you get close enough, allow your horse to take a good long
look at the item, smell it, and check it out with his mouth if
necessary, whatever it takes to make him comfortable enough to
relax. Once he knows he's not in any danger, he looses his fear.
When your horse has dropped his head, is walking around the object
in a very relaxed, even bored, manner, you have succeeded. You can also desensitize your horse to smaller items by cautiously
approaching him and allowing him to look at and sniff the item.
When he seems relaxed, you can begin to gently rub his head with
the item, speaking reassuringly. Slowly progress down his neck and
shoulders, across his back and down his rump. Work on both sides of
your horse to completely desensitize him to the item. Prove that
it's so harmless that it can be used to rub him all over. Patience
will pay off. You can apply the same theory to sounds, using repetition to
desensitize your horse. The sounds need to be made in a
predictable manner first. Only when the horse is completely
desensitized (bored) by the predictable noise can you gradually
move on to a less predictable pattern and then slowly move to
random noise. In this way, your horse won't be upset when
unexpected noises happen. Now that you know the basic process for desensitizing your horse,
you can customize it to nearly any situation. And when your horse
learns that he can trust you to keep him safe at all times, he will
gradually begin to obey your commands with less and less
desensitizing. While there is no way to 100% bombproof your horse, this type of
training will result in your horse becoming a very good, calm
companion to you, making all your interactions that much safer for
you both. Hope this was useful to you. Your next instalment will cover
another very useful - and really weird - piece of horse psychology
that will help you a lot with bombproofing your horse. Thanks! Phil Tragear
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