Horse de-sensitizing?

Question

My boyfriend recently bought a horse. He is a beginner-intermediate rider, and although this horse is still relatively green, he is very mellow under saddle......until he gets nudged in the side with a loose stirrup. I have taken horses from being colts to adults and always made sure they were de-sensitized from the day they were born, or have bought horses that were already pretty much de-sensisitzed.
I have tried over many weeks to de-sensitize this horse's belly and sides and between his hind legs with gentle touch and just dropping the stirrups gently against his side, but no matter what i do he still flinches, and has bolted with a rider after a stirrup came loose. I have used my hands and a "Parelli carrot stick" and he has no issues elsewhere on his body with either.
This horse is almost 8 and had barely been started when we bought him, however is had been used to baby-sit colts and had no problems with them underneath him.
Need some suggestions as to what else i can do

Thanks for all the great advice
Susan - we have had him in a round pen for a long time, cantering and trotting and the bouncing stirrups aren't a problem then
Cowboyman - i don't release when he starts getting fidgety when we touch him, just keep our hands on him. he doesn't move on the ground when we touch him, his muscles just twitch a lot, he is also fairly cinchy which we are gradually working out with time and patience (tightening it slowly and gradually so he doesn't set back and learns it is not a bad thing)
it is such a sad thing that a horse that is so great most of the time has had issues in the past which can hinder his progress

Answer 1

It sounds like you are doing what needs to be done. The only way he is going to get used to being touched in that area is to keep touching him there. Use different objects like ropes, plastic bags, gloves etc etc until he gets used to it. It might take more time than you had anticipated, but in the end, patience and persistence will pay off. He will eventually get used to having this area touched. Also, he might be very sensitive or even ticklish down there. I have known horses to be so sensitive they can't even tolerate a brush going under their belly.

Answer 2

Wierd - I had a 4 year old paint with the same problem.

I tried a suggestion a friend gave me, and I was surprised. It worked like a charm.

Get an 8" wide strap of leather, and wrap it around the horse's belly so that when the stirrup contacts him, it only touches the leather. That makes it feel more like a hand, or something else non-threatening.

Once he gets used to this, get rid of the leather strap and attach some wool or anything soft to the horse's side of the stirrup. Once again, it feels less threatening. Often the horse is willing to allow a bare stirrup once he's done this for a couple weeks.

The hard metal in a stirrup can make horses feel vulnerable. Kind of like sitting on your keys while driving.

Answer 3

Yes, although these methods work for a lot of horses, they don't work for them all. You have to adapt to each horse. It sounds to me so far like you've been scaring the crap out of your horse with no results lol. So before you try to fix the problem, you have to pinpoint the cause. WHY is he so sensitive there?

First, have him checked out by a vet. Make sure he is sound and that health is not an issue. Their stomachs are very sensitive and something could be going wrong internally. So if this is not the problem, analyze the situation. He's mellow under saddle except for when the stirrups nudge him...or is it just that? You said you can't touch him on his belly, sides, and between his hind legs. The stirrups can't reach all those places, so don't concentrate on the stirrups for now. You want to be able to touch him anywhere before moving on.

Some horses are generally more flighty than others. How is his temperment? Put him in a round pen and watch him for a few minutes. Does he trot around, snort, flicker his ears, raise his tail, etc? And when you ask him with a lunge whip to trot, how well does he listen? If he IMMEDIATELY goes into a trot, or even bolts and all you have to do is show him the whip, you have a spirited horse. If this is the case, ask yourself a few questions. What are you feeding him? Are you feeding him too much? How much time in a day does he get to move around in a pasture? All this excess energy could make him flighty. But most importantly don't forget to check yourself. Are you nervous around him, even the slightest bit? do you anticipate that he's going to flinch when you drop the stirrup to his side? Horses read your body language so well, it's almost as if they're reading your mind. He's going to be nervous just by looking at your facial expressions, feeling your muscles tense, sensing your heart racing, and watching your actions if you aren't completely confident. Remember, if the leader is scared, the herd is scared. If the leader is content, the herd is content. Whether you like it or not, you are always in a herd when you're around any horse, and you are always training that horse.

Or it may just be him. I know a horse that all I have to do is look at and he bolts in the other direction. So if he's sensitive in this way, it's no different ON his body than AWAY from his body. You first want to calm him down and build up your relationship before even approaching him. Get him to WANT to be with you. Get him to want to be with you so bad, he wouldn't care if you flung a blanket over his head. Even if he's mellow in every other way, it doesn't hurt to do this.

I suggest looking into Monty Robert's "Join-up" for more info. on it. But basically you want to get the horse to be submissive, trust you, respect you, and love you. If you do not have this, don't skip ahead. This is why people had to tie paper bags to their horse's manes and tails and scare them half to death. They didn't have a relationship with their horse, and probably never will after that. Sure they may have a one-sided relationship (they love the horse) but the horse in truth does not love them back.

So try and look at everything from the horse's point of view. You are a predator. You "attack" him daily with hugs, kisses, flapping stirrups, and rubbing Parelli sticks. Try and be a horse for a day. you may find what his problem is by looking at things from a different perspective. If one approach does not work, try another. Experiment.

Best of luck, hope all goes well! :)

Answer 4

I would lunge that horse a lot with the saddle on, no rider and stirrups bumping, until the horse realizes that the stirrups aren't a big deal.

Maybe since he is so sensitive to the feeling, you could tie the stirrups together under his belly to keep them from flapping around so much. Once he doesn't react to that, then try letting the stirrups loose and let him feel them fully. Keep doing that until he is OK and can stop from canter when asked.

Answer 5

It looks like you really know what you are doing I would do the same thing I know I am not answering your question but I think I would just keep up the repetition of rubbing the belly and using the carrot stick hard to beleive it is almost 8 and still doing that it must have been tramatized in some way within the years before you got it. I know there are just some horses you can not break of anything I have one with a bad habit also and I have tried everything

Answer 6

This may sound cruel, but it has worked wonders for me and the horses I have trained. I tie bells, plastic bags, and yarn all over the stirrups and the saddle. Dare him to bolt when you put him in the round pen and work him. You may actually for this exercise, reserve an arena if you can, so he has more room to bolt. In a roundpen it is smaller and he may still be flinching but he doesn't have room to bolt and move. I tied a plastic bag (wal-mart bag) to the horses manes and sent them off.After they calmed down from that, I tied it to their tail. Even my most broke mare, who never bolted, spooked, or ran from anything took off. Plastic bags are great for de-sensitizing horses. Tie a plastic bag to the end of your carrot-stick. (I do parreli too!) and rub the horses sides, belly, and legs with it. Really shake it and make some noise with it. If a bag rolls around your horse on a windy day, it isn't going to go, "hmm this horse is green, I should take it easy." Make that bag make noise!! Push your horse to react. How is he to learn if you don't push him? Baby-sitting foals is another thing. He knows them, knows what they are, and expects them.
When your horse stands still, keeps his feet in one place even tho he may still be trembling, take everything off and send him away again with the saddle. You may try even to put a back cinch on him and encourage him to buck a little, or hop around just to make the stirrups flap more. Every horse should learn to wear a back-cinch anyway. If you ride western. If you ride english, try to find someone who will let you borrow their western saddle and use it on your horse. They are bigger and the movement from the stirrups are better and hit a wider area.

Answer 7

It sounds like you may be on the right track, however, do you quit touching him if he tries to escape? The reason I ask is that many people teach their horse to leave them my removing bothersome objects when it seems to bother their horse.
Try this. Put yourself in a safe position to his side, put a rag on your carrot stick, start touching him, if he tries to leave keep it there and wait for him to stop moving his feet. He soon learns the reward for standing still is the pressure leaves, he is not rewarded for fleeing. continue on both side until you can touch him at will anywhere you want.

An after thought,,, could he have sand colic? That could be causing sensitivity in his underline. Good luck.

These drills I gave you not only help to physically help your horse, he starts relying on you for comfort and understanding.
Feel free to messege me if you need more advice.

Answer 8

you're in all threat nagging him once you have asked for the transition that's why he's now ignoring your leg aids. incredibly of harsher and harsher aids (spurs are for refinement, no longer for acceleration) attempt nudging with your calf to start up with, if he does not respond then nudge lower back and smack your boot with your whip on the comparable time. The noise is generally sufficient to wake them up. whilst he responds and strikes forwards, whether it is not very tidy, then compliment him (you're able to even provide him a cope with in case you employ clicker education). certainly have a robust seem at what you're doing. some issues out of your attitude that is inflicting the subject: - you're nagging with your legs - you're blocking off him, decrease back confident which you at the instant are not attempting to push him with your seat or squeezing your thighs/butt - you're asking him to bypass with your legs yet have too tight a sprint on the reins so which you're giving him blended messages yet another element to attempt could be to get somebody on the floor with a lunge whip (as long as he's happy with the lunge whip, do no longer do it if he will freak out). As you ask for the transition get them to 'flap' the whip on the floor in the back of them to get him shifting and then advantages him whilst he responds. it is not going to alter in one day yet i might certainly lose the spurs as they are in basic terms going to make the subject worse, not extra advantageous. you're able to under no circumstances poke a horse in the element with the spurs, that's in basic terms abuse.