Horse problem.?

Question

I have a wonderful 15.5 1000 pound horse that hates water, fly spry and the hose. Every time I try to give him a bath or just cool him down he almost runs me over trying to get away from the hose. We've had to resort to a bucket and sponge because he doesn't freak out when he cant see it. When it come to the fly spray he hates the sound it makes when it comes out of the bottle and the smell. I will put some on my hand and Quickly rub is on his legs, as fast as I can because it takes him a while to notice the smell. I've been working with him but we dont have a round pen or an arena where we are so its hard to do it out in the open. I have no Idea how to get him over his hose "problem" and I could really use some help.

Answer 1

sorry to say but the only thing you can do is continue to work with him make him walk over the hose, leave it running and let him look at it, see if you can get him to take a drink from it!! All you can do is keep on working with him, maybe that he had a bad experience with a hose before you owned him and you will have to get him over this!! Good luck

Answer 2

Ok you need to desysnsitize your horse to these 'scary' things. He is freaking out so much because you have resorted to trickery and to him that spells out predator. You dont have to have a round pen for this though. What you do is have your horse haltered and get the fly spray. Walk around with him following you and you holding the spray behind you. I would suggest though getting the bottle and fillling it with water so you dont waste fly spray. This technique works. Have you ever noticed that a horse is never afraid of a dog until the dog turns around and starts chasing the horse? This is just like with the fly spray and the hose, you are literally 'chasing' after your horse with these things, making him afraid. After he is comfortable with following the fly spray start to spray about 5 foot from his body. Even if he moves around dont stop until he is 1. his feet stand still 2. either licks his lips, lowers his head, or stands for 15 seconds. Then reward him by takin the pressure away (lowering the spray). Repeat this until you are actually spraying his body. When you think he is ready to spray his body start at his legs (because they are the least sensitive on a horse). Make sure to reward him, release pressure, when he gives you those signs mentioned above. Then move up toward his shoulder, then his stomach region, then his hindquarters, then his neck. I didnt mention the head because the head is the most sensitive part on a horse and it doesnt matter how much de-sensitizing you do to the head region he will not accept it. Would you liked to be sprayed in the face with fly spray? You do the same thing with the hose...

If you have any other questions I suggest buying one of Clinton Andersons videos. Although I do not support his training technique his videos give you a clear idea about de-sensitizing, release of pressure, and the signs. Good Luck!

Answer 3

You have to get your horse used to these things, not adapt your lifestyle to his problems.

All of these things can be delt with in the same way. Hold your horse on a rope halter (with lead) close to you. Keep yourself by his shoulder, and hold the lead with about a foot of slack in the rope. Then pick up whatever it is you want to desensitize him to. The flyspray bottle, for instance. Take it and rub it over him without making a noise. If you touch him and he spooks, hold him tight and make him circle you. Follow him and MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THE BOTTLE TOUCHING HIM THE WHOLE TIME. After a while, he will slow down and then stop. Do not say whoa...let him go until he decides to stop. When he stops, then you can take the bottle off of him and praise him. Then try it again. After he stands still just touching it, try moving it around to different parts of his body. Once he stands still for that, you can move on to spraying it. For this, you might want to fill an empty bottle with water, so that you don't waste fly spray. Then you do the same thing, but spray him instead of touching him.

Do the same with the hose. Make sure you can touch him all over then turn the water on and work with him with the hose running. You should see improvements within the first few days, but overall this will take weeks.

Answer 4

For the flyspray try the wipes they have. I have seen great success for those. As for the running water, try acclimating him to the sounds by watering around his stall and when he finally gets used to hearing it, have someone hold the hose while you walk him back and forth past it. Once he's on with that try just getting his feet wet. if you can do this reward him with a treat like a carrot or an apple. Remove him from the situation then come back a while later and do it again. repeat this until you can work up the legs, then the belly, then the chest and side, then to the back and neck. you may not want to push doing to head, but keep using a bucket to do that. that also gets you up close to him face so you can check his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Good luck and I hope this helps. and remember don't lose your patience or punish him for something he's afraid of.

Answer 5

you need to recruit a friend to help you work with him. get some treats, & have your friend run the hose while he is near by. give him treats & lots of praise, & gradually bring him closer to the hose. do this over several days before you actually turn the hose on him. when you do put the hose on him, make sure it is a very gentle stream of water. you stay by his head & have your friend put the hose on one of his front hooves first, slowly running it up his leg, then work to the other legs. do this for several more days before working up to his body.

the whole point is to take slow baby steps, & give him the chance to see that nothing bad will happen from the hose.

with the spray bottle issue, try getting a spray bottle of water, & just stand there pumping the spray & giving him treats. again, give it a few days before you actually spray him. if you think the smell is bothering him, have you tried a different brand? that can help.

I hope this helps, best of luck!!

Answer 6

u need to just keep working with ur horse. it will take a long time but dont get discouraged. with the fly spray, the best thing to do is get a empty bottle and fill it with water(that way u are not wasting fly spray). just continue to spray him/her until the horse gets use to the noise. over and over..... eventually the horse should get over it. for cooling him/her down with the hose, start by just letting the water trickle out and eventually turn up the pressure... also start on the horses legs. once the horse gets use to water on the legs, slowly move up... it may take awhile until the horse can get use to it but again, just take ur time. reward the horse after ur session, not during.... dont reward until the horse calms. if the horse is scared, it aint gonna be worring bout treats or feed.

i hope this helps. good luck!

Answer 7

That's pretty common with horses actually, most don't enjoy being sprayed by anything. I used to spray the flyspray onto a rag and then wipe it onto them. Always have him tethered while attempting to spray or bathe him so you aren't trampeled. You may want to use blinders so he can't see it coming or try it while he is saddled and someone is on his back if you have someone brave enough to sit on him. Then tie him to a hitching post and slowly work from his back feet up to his butt and over his body till he isn't freaking out so bad, he may have been abused with water or a hose in the past and may never get over it, or he could just hate cold water, try filling 2 buckets with water in the morning and letting them sit in the sun and then treat him like a car with a rag or sponge apply the soapy bucket full of water then use a clean rag or sponge from the clean bucket until he's clean.

Answer 8

You might try warm water out of the hose if possible. A gallon pump-up bottle makes a good spray with no noise. If you can have another person doing something else with him it will keep him from focasing strictly on the hose or spray. Have fun.

Answer 9

Yeah, just keep working with him. when you're bathing him with the hose and he starts to run circles around you, make sure you keep the water on him until he stops. when he stops, take the water away. You can't allow him to learn that he can run away from the water or else he'll never stand still. So when he stops, you have to reward him to tell him that is what you wanted him to do... I know you naturally want to spray him if he's standing still because it's easier, but to teach him, you have to take it away as the reward. When he runs around you, talk to him and stay calm and confident and say whoa in a strong (but not scared or high pitched or anything) voice. And when he stops, take the water away and talk to him to calm him and give him a second to relax. Then unfortunately, you have to spray him and he'll run around you again.

Answer 10

maybe get a little kid pool that IS NOT POPAB LE KIND and fill it with water and put your horse side by side to it (since they can only see to the side) and let him look at it! he will get interested most likely, and let him sniff it, then take it and put it in your hand and slowly bring it up and hold it to about his nose height! Then let him see that it isn't harming you....maybe he will try to do something with it....if not slowly (slowly) rub the water all in your hands and rub and scratch him! he will like the rubbing and scratching part probobly!

GOODLUCK!

if he doesn't like that then just have someone spray you with a hose during summer....then maybe he will realize there is nothing to be scared of!!!

♥MICKEY