How to Spook Proof a Young Horse

Spook proofing a horse decreases the risk of injury for you and your horse. Being prey animals, horses rely on speed and quick reactions to escape danger. Their first reaction to being startled is running away, and they will run right over you. Here are some tips for how to spook proof a young horse.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Training ring or corral
• Two lead ropes
• Dirty shirt that carries your scent
• Plastic bag
• Empty horse-feed bag
• Something that rattles

1. Take the horse to the training ring and let it loose inside the ring to run, buck and roll before beginning.
2. Place the lead rope on the horse's halter and walk the horse around a bit.
3. Get your dirty shirt. Having your odor on the shirt is important because it will be familiar. Hold tightly to the lead rope, speak calmly to your horse and begin shaking the shirt down near your thighs. If the horse spooks, stop shaking the shirt and calm the horse. Repeat this step until the shirt does not bother the horse.
4. Begin slowly flapping the shirt against your horse's shoulder, all the while talking calmly to the horse. Continue until the horse remains calm when the shirt flaps against him.
5. Repeat the last step, changing where the shirt touches the horse until the horse does not spook, no matter where the shirt contacts it. This will take several sessions, depending on how much the horse trusts you.
6. Repeat these steps using the extra lead rope, a feed sack, a paper or plastic bag, and your rattle. If you remain calm and are patient, eventually the horse will remain standing calmly while you flap things against him, between its legs, under its stomach and across its back. Change locations for training once your horse is calm, so it gets used to the distractions wherever the location.

Tips & Warnings

• Give your horse treats to reinforce the training when it stands calmly.
• Limit your training sessions to no more than 10 minutes at a time, but you can have more than one session if you let the horse relax and play between trainings.
• Ultimately, it is the horse's faith in you that lets it remain calm.
• Gaining the horse's trust and confidence is a must. The more trust the horse has in you, the more it will depend on you to keep it safe.
• Work from beside the horse's head in the beginning. Avoid the hindquarters.