Hey, so those of you who've read my previous posts about Dayka know she can be very spooky.
There's been some improvement but unfortunately there is still one major trigger that makes her completely lose it (and i am sugar coating it to be honest).
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I've made a recording of the specific sound that scares her so much and I'm gonna try to play it to her regularly when she's doing something she likes. My hope being that she'll eventually and gradually get used to the sound and make happy associations with it rather than the "I've got to run for my life" that she has at the moment.
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Don't know if it'll work, don't know if you think it's a good idea but i've been thinking about this for a while so i'm gonna give it a try and I thought i'd share the audio files in case any of you might have any use for them.
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http://catup.pw/1TwwBFU - irregular violent rattling sounds
http://catup.pw/1WgEeqn - regular less intense rattling sounds
(if you play them on your computer turn down the volume BEFORE ;)
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And as always, feel free to tell me if that's a terrible idea, i'm here to learn i won't get offended !^^
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Horse Behavior and Training
Spookyness - using recordings
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Its a good idea according to Monty! Here is one answer he gave before from 2008. I put the keyword 'sounds' in the SEARCH BAR to find it: 06/04/08
Question:
I attended your demonstration at Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio with my mustang Cherokee. We were your Spooky Horse demo. And he really gave you a run for your money. But you helped me to see that a plastic bag really could come within 10 feet of him. In fact you were able to touch him with it!! Cherokee and I have been working together and he is now catching me regularly and he will allow me to rub him down with a white towel. Plastic is still REALLY scary but we are working on it. He has also become calmer in all situations.
My question for you is…. How do I help him over come fears in the saddle? I am at a new boarding facility in Kentucky were we have rough trails. We don’t have a lot of room for error. He is fine when I have another horse to ride with. But when it comes to just him and I in a new part of the trail, he is not sure that I am going the right direction! I don’t want to force him to go any where, so I have been riding to a scary spot, getting him to at least come up to the hill or obstacle then get off and walk him across. Then I get back on and go for a bit more. I worry that I am babying him too much by doing this. But on the other hand I don’t want to get him all upset. Am I doing the right thing? Thank you for all of your help!
Monty’s Answer: When dealing with a horse such as you describe it is of paramount importance to be safe. If you feel that it is necessary for you to make these compromises with him in order to remain safe, then do it. I would however recommend that you set up some challenging environments where you can stretch his performance a little bit at a time.
It is not easy to answer without seeing the facility you have described in your question, but I would ask you to be innovative with things like plastic bags on a fence, objects you can drag from a rope and even CDs that you can utilize to depict scary sounds with.
We have audio CDs available at our office that provide a variety of sounds to help de-sensitize. Please call +1-805-688-6288 to order. Hanging things from the ceiling of his stable can be helpful and the lesson can be improved greatly by strategically placing an oscillating fan so that the objects are in constant motion.
Thanks Debbie, I gave it a first try yesterday with Dayka at liberty in her field, she reacted like she was going to die for about 10 seconds then the temptation of the grain made her take a chance coming closer to the sound.
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It's nice not to have to be attached to the horse with a rope when she's scared like that, and she calms down faster, i'll definitely go on see how relaxed i can get her :)
Thanks so much for this. Never would have thought of the fan.
Well done Lucie! Its nice to be able to keep your adrenaline down too, for her.
The SEARCH bar and the Q&As are the best kept secret resources in the horse world ;)
Yes, I don't know why i had switched back to a shorter lead rope, that didn't help either when she was getting scared ...
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I'm proud of Dayka, I played her the sound 4 or 5 times in all since posting this topic, from the 2nd time she showed curiosity more than fear and the last couple of times she barely even turned her ear to the sound.
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We've also heard that scary sound while outside (on a long line this time) and she didn't even notice it until I went to give her a rub for not reacting :D
After a month off to recover from her injury Dayka has gone back to work last week and yesterday something happened that i thought i'd share as an update on our progress together and her spookyness that was so challenging at times.
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From 13 to 17 minutes we've got it all : a truck she doesn't even notice, people setting up a tarp tent with metallic poles banging, brushcutter in the back and a big tactor mowing the field and projecting grass behind it... everything that would have made Dayka completely panick just a month ago and see what happens when she's ridden by a 12 year old (and very little intervention from me)... We even had a lady spray water at us earlier in the video and my niece was able to stop her after one stride when usually she goes crazy with hoses.
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So proud of my girl and of my niece & I for earning her trust in this moment
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https://youtu.be/YYtCeuuy2HQ
Hi Lucie, HOORAY FOR YOU! You are step by step getting Dayka closer to being the horse that you can depend on. I would not have thought about the different sounds that can send a horse sideways in a heart beat in my training routine. You`re right-on because there are certain sounds that can panic a horse. Thanks for posting your discoveries with Dayka.
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All the best
Bud
HI Lucie
Well done on getting the video, know it's awkward when you're trying to multitask when recording.
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I'm going to comment on your niece's riding as it's going to help Dayka relax more when riding and help bring your niece on more.
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I know your niece has only ridden about 6 times, but you need to change her body position and movement of her hands when she's riding, this will be of benefit to both your niece and Dayka. Your niece needs to lower her stirrups, sit more upright not leaning forwards, not lean backwards when trying to stop the horse.
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You'll see Expressions on Dayka's face showed confusion and where there was head shaking you'll see your niece did lots of yanking on the reigns prior. Dayka is stay no to that with her head shaking.
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This image is a good one of position to show your niece http://www.besthorsestalls.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/twopoint.jpg so she can adjust her balance in the saddle to help Dayka. If the rider is balanced the horse can work better.
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To stop the horse rather than pulling on the reigns, you can use the leg, pushing both legs forwards onto the shoulder area signals the horse to stop by the pressure on it's shoulder, keeping the body in the upright position. As you push the legs forwards the pelvis automatically rotates backwards and down into the saddle. Adding woah into the signal at the same time the horse very quickly picks up you want to stop and will quickly learn to stop on the leg alone.
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Keeping the hands still is really important, the flapping of the reigns is giving so many signals that it looked like Dayka didn't know what was being asked. So if you could get your niece to keep her hands still, this will be of benefit to both.
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I noted where Dayka was getting a bit frisky, you started speaking louder and faster which would have added to her become frisky, keeping calm and quietly giving instruction will help calm Dayka, you'll notice your niece body position changed too, so asking her to breath slowly and sitting down into the saddle rather than forwards will help them both.
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Head movement - Horses know which direction another horse goes or is going to go because it's head makes the change of direction first. We can use this when communication with our horses both in the saddle and on the ground. You know when doing a jumping course you're normally told by the instructor look to the next jump as you go over one jump so your horse knows where you want them to go next, by the time the horses feet touch the ground it already know which way it has to turn. To help Dayka know where you want her to go, start to focus on directing with your head, if you want her to go forwards look forwards, if you want her to turn left or right, look left or right. At all other times try and keep your head still. A head that is continually looking around at the scenery or 'spooky' objects can make the horse become more spooky as 'your' focus is on that object. As you still have your niece on the lunge line, come into Dayka's sweet spot as in Monty's videos, so she can focus on what your head is doing. This way to your niece will be looking forwards to chat with you and not turning her head to the left lots.
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Breathing, so very important when handling a spooky situation, rather than talking aim to focus on diaphragmatic breathing and as you breath out, imagine blowing the spooky item or sound gently away. This will help to control your breathing, which in turn will help Dayka become calm too.
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Dayka is coming on well, keep up the good work, look forward to seeing another video in a month ;)
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Mel
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Mel - thanks for all the advice, i made the adjustments you suggested and my niece said to say thank you because she was a lot more comfortable rightaway :) Since then i've had her ride bareback once and a couple of times without stirrups so she could feel Dayka moving and for the last couple of days with all of that she's been able to walk and trot with Dayka without the long line on (in quiet environment of course), and in a couple of stressful moments with the long line on both our instructions were a lot clearer for Dayka and it went really well. Can't wait to get back to riding her myself :)
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Bud - yes i think we're going to have great times together. I need to work on my confidence in my abilities as well because there are times where it gets in our way. As for sounds, it was a surprise to me how sensitive she is to it. Now when she can see where a scary sound is coming from she doesn't react or she just stumps her feet a bit, but if she can't see where the sound is coming from and it's close to her she can still be really difficult, dangerous even (last time the farrier did her feet he let his dog in the car, we moved behind a wall to do her, she's usually really quiet with him but she went CRAZY, almost threw him down a couple of times, we thought it was because of the rain until we realised she could hear the dog but not see it, we moved her so she could see the car and she didn't move an inch for the rest of the trim...)
Brilliant well done Lucie and Niece. Look forward to seeing them both progressing.
Mel
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