Don't forget about a jacket or slicker. If the first time your horse sees a slicker is on the trail when you pull it out of the saddlebag and start whipping it around in the air to put it on, you could end up walking home in the rain. Get the horse used to it at home, tying it on the saddle and taking it off many times from the ground, then doing it while in the saddle.
THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Barking dogs can be a problem for some horses, so try to expose your horse in advance to dogs other than your own-ones that will bark (but not bite, of course). Neighbors' dogs are good-particularly if they are in kennels.
One thing you want to practice for sure is flicking a soft rope around the horses feet and legs. Get the horse used to standing quiet with the rope loosely wound around its fetlocks and remaining still while you unwind it. This lesson will pay you back a hundred fold if your horse ever gets tangled in wire out on the trail.
THE POWER OF A SIGH
While all of the gimmicks and groundwork you can do at home to desensitize your horse help, nothing can make your horse totally "bombproof." You can't practice every sight, sound and situation, and things are going to happen that might startle or unnerve your horse.
The main ingredient that can keep you from having a wreck on the trail is you. If you establish yourself as the leader in your partnership, when a scary situation presents itself, the horse is going to look to you for guidance. Clamping up tight in the "monkey position" and shakily calling out, "Easy! Calm down," isn't a vote of confidence to a horse.
What can help is to keep your body relaxed and balanced and to sigh deeply and out loud, apply your control cues and look in the direction you want the horse to go. Horses sigh when they are relaxing and your horse will hear, and feel, you relaxing and take its cue from you and usually relax, too.
If you practice desensitizing your horse to loud or unusual noises and you keep yourself calm and in control, you should start seeing magical results on the trail.
