Step-by-Step Technique
Now, here's how to begin desensitization training with your trail horse.
Step 1. Warm up. As with any training regimen, warming up is essential. Most mounted patrol programs use specific warm-up exercises that you can learn about, but at least use whatever exercises you normally use.
Step 2. Sack out your horse. Desensitize your horse's entire body - over, under, in front, and behind. To do this, rub his whole body with different objects, and allow him to hear all the different sounds they make. Start with an inflatable toy, then graduate to grocery bags, garbage bags, and tarps. Crinkle a paper map; shake your slicker.
Step 3. Use smoke and fire. For advanced desensitization, smoke bombs and fireworks work well. Smoke - an exceptional tool - teaches your horse to trust you enough to penetrate a wall he can't see through. Light two smoke bombs, place them far apart, send your horse from the ground, then ride in a line of horses between the bombs. As the horses relax, move the smoke bombs closer together, and make several passes.
Fireworks prepare horses to handle unexpected and loud noises. First, explode a single firecracker from 100 yards or more away. Gradually, over a period of days or even weeks, move closer until you can explode a firecracker a few feet away without your horse reacting.
Next, move back 100 yards and explode a string of three or four firecrackers, again moving closer as your horse becomes desensitized. Repeat the process, working up to bottle rockets, M-80s, and Roman candles. When your horse can handle the explosions, ride with others in a circle around a large arena, and ask one person to light fireworks from the center. As the horses accept the fireworks, gradually narrow the circle until everyone is within feet of the explosions. Enlarge the circle, and add smoke grenades and scarier fireworks to the mixture.
Step 4. Introduce from the ground. When first introducing your horse to any obstacle, do so from the ground until he seems comfortable. If it takes him 45 minutes to simply place one foot on a tarp or to take one step toward a gate, fine. Help him win. Be confident and firm, but never force or overpressure him. Pressuring him would cause him to associate tension with the obstacle. The level of adrenaline is inversely proportional to learning: Adrenaline up, learning down. Adrenaline down, learning up.
There are several favorable ways to get your horse over or through an obstacle. Sergeant Alan John, the founder of the Jackson Hole CMU, instructs his students to first send their horses in small circles, longeing them from the ground. He insists his students practice this skill to perfection before they introduce obstacles. Never ride your horse over an obstacle without first sending him over it from the ground.
Step 5. Ride over the obstacles. After you've worked all the obstacles from the ground, it's time to ride over them. Go easy at first, then, over time, ramp up the difficulty. If your horse refuses an obstacle, follow a more experienced horse. If your horse becomes too uptight with the obstacles, take a break, and play a game. Toss a ball back and forth among riders, play football from horseback, or knock a soccer ball around the arena with brooms.
Step 6. Follow up with trail miles. Trails pose new and different situations from those in mounted patrol training. An experienced New York City police horse on its first Rocky Mountain trail might bolt at the sound of a bugling elk or the smell of a bear. For a trail horse, there is no substitute for trail miles. But generally, mounted patrol desensitization will help your horse to remain calm during scary trail situations.
Step 7. Design your own obstacles. Mounted law enforcement units nationwide use similar training tools and obstacles, but there is no uniform course of study. A little imagination and creativity - combined with items purchased at your local hardware or dollar store - are all the props needed for building obstacles. Replicate the obstacles in these photos or design your own. If you have fun and view the training as a game, your horse will, too.
