Horses can become nervous for a lot of reasons. Abuse, neglect and lack of human interaction and sometimes it's due to their emotional make up and they are naturally a little more skittish than other horses. Fortunately, working with your horse on a steady basis will help him become desensitized and learn not to react to people, places and things he would have previously feared. Another name for this type of training is called "bombproofing".

Basically, the training entails exposing your horse to things that make him nervous (one thing at a time) to the point he accepts it as part of his daily routine and no longer fears nor even pays attention to the object or place.

The process is simple, first allow your horse to approach a suspicious item from a distance and work him slowly closer and closer to the object. He will stop as soon as he isn't comfortable any longer. This is the distance you need to bring him in from. If you're riding, dismount and lead your horse slowly forward and talk to him and reassure him he's okay. He may not make it to the item the first or even fourth time you try this and that's okay. Repetition is the key to getting your horse comfortable. It must be the same every time or the process won't work. Meaning, when he approaches the object that makes him skittish such as a car, he needs to know it won't do anything different every time he sees it.

Once he will be get near enough to touch the object, allow him to sniff, taste and bump the object with his head, in this way he'll learn it will not hurt him and soon he'll get bored with it. You can use this method with almost everything your horse is exposed to, just remember repetition and constant, patient training is the key.

Labels: horse, horse-training