Step 29 – Accustomizing with Cat-H
Step 29 - Accustomizing
with Cat-H
This exercise involves accustomizing your horse to various stimuli while communicating your awareness of their awareness. Accustomizing, or desensitization, in this context, means gradually exposing the horse to various stimuli that touch, move around, or make noise near the horse, ultimately helping the horse overcome fears or anxieties.
Tips for Success:
– Focus on perfecting one side before moving to the other.
– Pay close attention to timing and aim to stay below your horse’s threshold, stopping before they move their feet. If they exhibit worried movement, cease the stimulus immediately.
– Maintain awareness of their facial expressions, especially their eyes. If they stop blinking, remain in place until they start blinking again. You’re observing for a positive change in focus.
Common Problems and How to Address Them:
– Starting with stimuli that are too overwhelming or intense.
– Failing to recognize stress indicators.
– Exceeding the horse’s threshold by progressing too quickly.
– Not halting the stimulus immediately upon observing any signs of tension when the horse moves.
– If the horse does move, waiting for them to stop moving before removing the stimulus (incorrect approach); instead, promptly remove the stimulus if the horse moves (correct approach).
By following these guidelines, you’ll work on gradually accustomizing your horse to various stimuli while incorporating focus techniques, promoting their confidence and trust in different situations.
Even though this is listed as a step, you should incorporate this approach with everything you do with your horse from catching, haltering all the way up to ridden work.
A reminder how to use this course: click on Mark Complete below and go to the next step when you and your horse are ready.
I have been working on separation anxiety with my horse. She is now able to stay relaxed in the arena about 200 yards away from the barn where my other horse is. I have recently tried taking her out of the arena and walking farther away from the barn. At a certain spot after I close the gate behind us, she starts whinnying and gets very tense. Would I use this technique and just walk back in the arena then go back out when she relaxes?
Id just revert back to the flow chart.
Knowing Simon has saddling issues, I felt CAT H with a saddle pad was a good place to start. I was unable to even get to a place of introducing the pad…when I lead him into the pen where I hung the pad on the panel, he locked on to it and went to chomping on it.
Ignoring that I just continued, picked up the pad and went to tossing. Soon I became aware I was missing where, at what point he shut down.
My thought process was to give him an easier “no” option. I took the halter off.
Just holding pad he would chomp it, bite the edge, pull on it. I then got an old pad I wouldn’t be concerned about if it was destroyed.
Now judgement worry free I let him do what he wanted…he would chomp on the pad, like he used to on my hand. When I offered my hand he would rip the pad away, fling it to the ground, paw it, and chomp it, eventually to stop and yawn, then wander off.
After letting him wander and graze a bit, I would ask for his attention, he would hook on, follow round, bend in the rib, soft, to the place where he was centered and facing. Then he would yawn and yawn!
After about an hour of rinse and repeat he seemed to not care about the pad anymore. Yet when I tossed it on, I note no blinking no lick and chew.
OK go back to where is his threshold. It feels like it is just the human holding the pad in a matter one would to toss it on.
I went back to the flag…to my eyes that looks good, breathing, relaxed, blinking, lick and chew.
Pick up pad, head comes up, goes inside his head.
Lots to think about!
Any ideas on how to cut picking up the pad to smaller parts?
Hopefully after we both have time to soak, it will be better tomorrow…not going to allow myself to just try harder, and go back to it this afternoon.
Yes steps 1 thru 28 are looking pretty good…still doing lots of send and draw on his left side, but improving, right side is nice and with me. He meets me in the pasture, puts his nose in the halter. The chomping and picking up the lead rope or halter has been completely gone for weeks now.
It went to sh8t when the pad entered the area.
Thanks for listening.
T
You could either go to scratching for connection, or try a hyoid release.
Thank you!
That was my plan today, and I did eventually use those things. Since he was obsessed with pad I used a lot of what you did with the FAB mare on grass, and the drive and draw like the bay roan mustang with the odd name.
Wish I had video of him packing around the pad, with a nice bend! LOL
When he would drop the pad I would set it up to draw him to the pad. Several times he just picked it back up, so back to FAB. He quit picking it up himself, but would rip it from me when I picked it up.
When he didn’t seem interested in the pad anymore even when I picked it up, I started tossing it on his back. That is when I would scratch for connection. The first time his head was still up, so I did a hyoid release.
From then on he would stay connected, and relax on his own, to a lick and chew.
Wasn’t long until he gave some BIG yawns! That is when I pulled the pad off and the halter and just left him.
He immediately yawned, rolled and yawned again!
I then caught him, (with the pad safely put out of sight), and turned him back out with his buddies.
No clue if I did this right, but it felt better than yesterday.
Curious to see where we go tomorrow.
Thank you for your time!
T
Great work
Thank you! It felt pretty good, but having you say that is even more confirmation I may be going to get this.
Dug out an old beater saddle I used to use with colts…lighter to toss, and he can chomp on if he must.
Many days from that work, but getting there!
Thanks again for the time and help!
T