Desensitizing to sounds

[Becky Horat]

We have a 12yr old driving mare that we have started driving out on trails. She is excellent and seems to enjoy it and very relaxed. All the scary "looking" things don't bother her at all. Our question is she is very sensitive to sounds, especially with her blinders on. One of her worst problems is the sound of sticks snapping.....or when I drove over a walnut the other day and it crunched. She startles every time, but doesn't try to run off. Of course, we have a whole pile of sticks that we try to get her used to. We do this while grooming, while she eats and places where she can see us doing this. Then we do it while she's ground driving in blinders. We re-assure her each time, without making a big deal about it. When we're doing this, the first time she startles....then realizes it's just "you" doing this and it's another test and settles right down. But, 5 minutes later, she will startle again at the sound. She did startle and actually jump sideways a short distance at a dog running in dry leaves outside an arena awhile back. She settles right back down quickly. I don't think of her as a really "hot" horse, but it makes you a little uncomfortable when she does this. Any suggestions on how to get her past this besides LOTS of desensitizing to this? While ground driving in outside, I rustle leaves/bushes with my whip and scuff our feet....and she handles these things, even though it startles her mildly at first. But, the snapping sound of sticks we find is her biggest problem.

 

[MiLo Minis]

First off you have to take into consideration that this is a horse, a prey animal. This startle reflex reaction is what would keep her alive in the wild. It is in her nature. What you have is an intelligent horse that knows it needs to be on it's toes to keep itself safe and yet doesn't react violently when it isn't really called for - in that split second she startles, assesses the situation, thinks it over, knows it isn't going to hurt her and she settles. No matter how much conditioning or desensitizing you do she is likely to always react to a certain extent. You say you have started driving on trails so this is a relatively new thing for her - an animal that prefers open spaces and company. You didn't say if she had a trail buddy or not but you might find that if you had a friend with an experienced trail horse that could come along with you she would be more relaxed and less reactionary. Experience will gradually make her less reactive but when you think about it - don't you always jump slightly at a sudden noise? What you have to be careful to do is not overreact when she does startle. You say it makes you "uncomfortable". That tells me that, although you may not overreact physically by clutching the reins or whatever, you are likely tensing which only serves to reinforce her reaction as having been the right one - if it makes you nervous she was right to be tense too. Horses are herd animals and are very sensitive to the moods and feelings of their herdmates. It would be best if you could just ignore the reaction and go on as if nothing happened. If you can see a possible reactionary situation about to occur (the dog ahead outside the ring for instance) you could do something to take her mind off the possible situation such as asking her to do something - turn, circle, change gaits, give her a half halt, whatever it takes to get her focusing on you.

With a horse like this it is even more important for the driver to be the lead horse, to lend confidence and support to her mentally. She needs to be able to depend on you to keep her out of harm's way just as a herd sire or boss mare would do. I don't think she is feeling 100% confident in your hands as you don't feel 100% confident of her.

There is a fine line between desensitizing and just plain aggravating. If all you are doing is snapping twigs around her every once in a while hoping that eventually she will not react you are likely aggravating the problem because she never knows when to expect it and so will always be slightly tense. To desensitize properly you are looking for less and less of a reaction to a cause that you repeat in a non aggressive way that will not get them injured or more upset until they relax and accept it as not harmful therefore not meriting a reaction.

My suggestion: Get yourself an armload of small sticks and leaves and fill your round pen with them. Turn her loose in there until she is comfortable walking/moving around on them. Just leave her alone until she is comfortable (keep an eye on her but don't ask her for anything). Once she is comfortable with that the next day bridle her in the blind bridle and turn her loose again. Again, don't ask her for anything but keep an eye on her. Once she is calm and relaxed with that start lunging or grounddriving her over them.

Because it is actually her nature (and at 12 you aren't going to do a lot to change that) she may always be a horse that is slightly reactionary and it will be up to you to decide if you can deal with it without getting tense yourself. Not every horse is the right temperament for all drivers. Another person that wouldn't be uncomfortable driving this horse may be quite happy with her and you might be happier and more relaxed with a less reactionary horse although I kind of think that if you were to just accept this as her nature and as she hasn't done anything foolish enough to get you (or her) hurt you would be able to relax more and that would relax her more and you could eventually work this out.

Good luck!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

If she is scared of the snapping noise if I can just drive back and foruth thru there I would do it. Like Milo says the more time your thinking in your head "oh my gosh I hope she won't spooked today" not only will she be looking for danger but you are as well and it just makes the horse even more nervous. What the driver feels the horse will certaintly pick up on it. If she spooks at something go over it many times do figure 8s serpatines, something will get her feet moving even when the noise pops up. If she is relaxed let her stand facing the object or on top of the object whatever it is. If you can just grounddrive her and do the same thing. The more noise you can make the better.

My horses are desentizied to throwing the lead rope all over them, and trust me there are those out there that are afraid of that, I will smack a lounge whip on the ground, it moves and makes a noise, plastic bags, anything thats safe that moves and makes a noise use it on them. If you have someone with you do this while you are grounddriving or in the cart, and just desensitize her to the nose while your driving. Sure she's going to be scared of some things but what your trying to teach her is not to react to it. Like Milo says horses are a prey animal, mother nature has told them if they get scared run so you won't get killed. You can't breed that out of them but you can try and help teach them not to react to things.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I had a boy that couldn't stand the sound of velcro. I worked with treats, and he finally got used to noises, didn't take long. I know biggie horse people that have teach their horses to walk on bubble wrap and they give them treats for it. I think the sound desensitization is as important as the visual, but the process is much the same.

 

[Becky Horat]

We were actually thinking of using carrots...the snapping of carrots....but maybe the sound could be put with a "good" thought. Thinking it was kinda corny. Have never really used treats for training horses....LOTS on our obedience/agility dogs. The visual stuff she's really good with. I have done lots with ropes, whips....the "cracking" of whips gets her, but she will relax quickly. I've never done lots of desensitizing with our big horses. They all were started with things bumping into them, ropes, dragging things, walking over everything. Never worried about the "sound" thing like with the driving guys. We don't really stiffen up or take ahold of her when she does this, as it's "over" just as fast as it starts. I wouldn't worry about it except the one time she actually did jump sideways a few steps. When out on the trail....this could be a major wreck....if she was to do this over a ditch, or down an embankment. So, trying to get her more accepting to these things hoping they will become nothing. But, also am figuring it's "her nature"....as our others don't have the same reaction. Besides this, she's very relaxed and not anxious or spooky. So will continue with lots of our "sounds" and trying to not drive her nuts with them. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[brasstackminis]

I remember a horse that was boarded in a stall a few down from mine when I was in the military. The little saddlebred mare was super jumpy and whenever they made the raspberry sound, she'd pop her head.

They did it over and over and over again. She jumped everytime. She never stopped jumping. Some horses (and people) are just more jumpy! I mean I can see my brother behind me, sneeking up on me and I know what he is going to do, but when he says, BOO I still jump! I can't help it!

My sheltand was originally jumpy when I was ground driving him. I would drag my feet and make all sorts of racket and ignore his silliness and continue on like it was nothing. Eventually he ignored it too... Sometimes, your reacting to the stimulus makes the horse think that there really is a reason to react!

I have to say that while he is less likely to jump at EVERYTHING, he is still naturally more jumpy than any of my other minis, ponies or horses! My guy eventually stopped being as jumpy, especially when his mind was able to be challenged and he is focusing on other things, like bending and turning and listening to my requests. As he gets further into his training it is eaiser to challenge him.

I always found that my Arabians were more spooky, jumpy, whatever you want to call it, when they were board. They would end up thinking themselves into silliness.

A few mins of leg yields, half halts, shoulder ins, etc focused them back on me and they forgot about butterflies, lines drawn on the ground and little purple flowers. My half Arabian gelding is so funny...I make him touch anything he spooks at. SOOOO what does he do? He spooks quietly! I will try to get him to move towards something he thinks might be a "saber-toothed, horse eating monster" and he pretends to not hear my requests. He knows if he reacts any more than that and he will have to touch it!

I have been known to walk that poor horse up to the "horse eating" fill in the blank, and as he is sneaking up on it say BOO! I can almost see him roll his eyes, like he knows I am patronizing him! That is what you get after an 18 year relationship!

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

if she's scared of the noise in blinders, then you have 2 choices here, either take the blinders off permanently or work with her on the noises with them on. it wont help getting her used to noises with blinders off because she can see whats making the noise. with blinders on, the big thing for her is she cant actually see whats making the noise so it spooks her. you have to get her to realize that even though she cant see whats making the noise, its no reason to be afriad.

 

[Becky Horat]

Exactly. She is more bothered by sounds with her blinders on. We've been doing LOTS & LOTS of sound work with blinders on and also where she can see them as well....so she knows what it is. She handles it OK....I think it's just her and she'll always be more reactive. For the most part, she just startles and doesn't do much. We are trying to make her accustomed to hearing lots of different stuff with blinders on and to reassure her as well. We just drove her today and she's doing so well. I think time & exposure will help her more and more. I also know she's more reactive to it & that's just her personality. Our 3.5yr old....could care less about sounds....funny how they can all be so different.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

MiLo wrote an AWESOME reply for you, I was nodding my head through most of it and agree with her whole-heartedly.

Let the mare work it out for herself in a low-stress, no-pressure environment.

Never worried about the "sound" thing like with the driving guys. We don't really stiffen up or take ahold of her when she does this, as it's "over" just as fast as it starts. I wouldn't worry about it except the one time she actually did jump sideways a few steps. When out on the trail....this could be a major wreck....if she was to do this over a ditch, or down an embankment.

The plus side is if she's mostly doing a startle response but thinking through it, she's unlikely to run you over an embankment because that would involve HER going over an embankment! LOL. I know you're concerned about her falling into something she can't see, but check below for related comments about blinkers.

Exactly. She is more bothered by sounds with her blinders on. We've been doing LOTS & LOTS of sound work with blinders on and also where she can see them as well....so she knows what it is. She handles it OK....I think it's just her and she'll always be more reactive. For the most part, she just startles and doesn't do much. We are trying to make her accustomed to hearing lots of different stuff with blinders on and to reassure her as well. We just drove her today and she's doing so well. I think time & exposure will help her more and more. I also know she's more reactive to it & that's just her personality. Our 3.5yr old....could care less about sounds....funny how they can all be so different.

If the problem is getting her used to sounds when she's in blinkers, can you break the process down into smaller steps? You don't have to go straight from an open bridle to full blinkers. You can add halter fleeces to the side of her open bridle to start blocking her view rearwards then progress to KantCBacks (a sort of half-blinker they sell for big horses), then use a set of blinkers that are set very far apart with wire winker-stays. Just because blinkers are required to show doesn't mean they have to be right up against her eyes!

Heck, if you aren't going to be showing her you might consider driving her open permanently. Many horses do very well that way and are much happier.

Another thing to consider is that her hearing may be physically different from other horses. Have you experimented with putting cotton balls in her ears and seeing if dulling the sharp sounds (like sticks breaking) eases her reactions? I also think you're on the right track with creating a positive association between sharp sounds and something she likes such as a carrot. How does she react to a metal clicker? That's a pretty sharp sound but you can program her to think that sound is pretty darn spiffy and wonderful! She may always be this way but you can choose to take it as a positive, fun challenge and look for creative ways to address the problem. She'll certainly teach you more than a relaxed horse would have and will make you a better trainer!

Leia

 

[Becky Horat]

Leia,

Great suggestions. And I like the idea of the clicker. That isn't something I thought of in this situation. I have a pile of sticks that I snap while she's eating. And try to do it just out of her direct sight. She's fine with this now. We have been doing these type of noises in the open bridle and where she can see them as well...so she knows what they are. Our next thing to try is while she's in the cart in our arena with the help and reassurance of my husband. She hasn't darted off with this stuff and just "startles." We're hoping the more we do this and reassure her (which she really responds to) that she will be less worried. Have thought of the open bridle, but she is also extra reactive to the whip and movement from that....so just worried about doing that...but keeping that in consideration. Yes, we do tons of work with the whip while longing and snapping it around her while I'm standing there and petting her. She has improved. We first noticed that when you're in her stall cleaning....she will actually leave if you are raking too closely to her with the pitchfork. She doesn't go running out, but is just uncomfortable with it. This is while she's eating too....of course we do lots of work with that as well. I don't think she's been hit, but don't know this for sure....I just believe this her personality. The good thing is she doesn't really panic in most situations. Just the one incident with dog rustling leaves outside arena. We had just walked into this new arena. So, we try to get her out to new areas and I longe her and ground drive her first around the area. She is more relaxed after this. I'm sure she will eventually get more used to these things. I also like the idea of the halter fleece as working up to full blinders....great idea. I do try to pull blinder out away from her face as much as possible. Thanks again.

 

[Sandee]

One other thing to think about is are you "waiting" for her to startle. It's an easy thing to overlook but if you are sitting there thinking about her startling and just waiting for it to happen you may hold your breath or tense just slightly when a sound happens. This translate to her that you are also concerned about the noise. Try to remember to breathe and talk to her and remain as "low key" as you can. She may settle down more as she gets more "faith" in you.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Is there any reason she has to be in blinkers??

 

[Driving Miss Dixie]

I have been driving my new gelding around my farm for the last month. He does not spook at anything. I drove Dixie, my spooky mare yesterday and found the things she always spooked at she didn't, the most she did was look. So I am thinking I was doing the anticipating for her to spook, and the gelding made me forget. My confidence is better because of him. I wish I would have started driving with a nice quiet horse and so I would not have formed that.

I should note that she is more sensitive to everything, including the reins, me turning my head, and I am sure the tension I put in the reins.