Horse Problem - Blanket/Rug Fears - Horse is afraid of horse blanket/rug
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QUESTION: Hi Sylvia! I am having a little trouble trusting a new horse that I have. He is 2 years old, a gelding quarter horse and unbroken to date. He has a lovely abiding nature when in a halter and in ground work (sometimes cheeky), but when it comes time for his rug he has a tendency to cow kick. I put his rug on at feed time since that's the most suitable time, and I find I have to be very short and abrupt with him to be able to get it on him, and even then he makes me nervous.
I have never dealt with a horse so young before and I am now wondering if this was a good idea and I know he senses my uneasiness which makes it worse. Is there any way I can try and have him a little more obliging, or is this going to be something I need to work on when he is broken in?
I don't like being so aggressive in my manner towards him, but it seems to be the only thing he responds to and even then he may just swing or kick and it's not in my nature to be dominating either, so do you think this could be a problem?
He wasn't like this when I first dealt with him and he used to be the one at the end of the herd (group), but now it's himself and another (Shetland, which is just as bossy) and he's becoming rather big for his boots. So at present I'm a little unsure of what I should do or how to handle this. Can you suggest anything?
REPLY: Hi. Thanks for writing. I agree with you that you don't want to get aggressive there, that's never the answer. You just need the right methods put before you.
First, rather than jumping to such a big "obstacle" as the rug/blanket (and hitting a wall with that), break this down into smaller, digestible lessons. I would want to start with desensitizing him to plastic, then tarps, then the rug, in that order. This will more properly A-B-C him there learning-wise, rather than jumping "A to N" there. Horses don't learn well in A to N leaps and that's when people tend to get themselves in trouble with horses. Knowing how to gently A-B-C baby step them there actually, in the end, speeds them along the learning curve.
To start, I want to direct you to a link on my web site to show you how to first desensitize him to plastic, start with that:
After he's surmounted all that, then desensitize him to tarps, baby step by baby step, and I go over here how to do that here:
By the time you surmount that, the rug (blanket) will be no big deal at all.
But I think you also need a "bigger plan" in place there, and I wanted to suggest you think about getting my Whispering Way™ 12-Step Total Training System DVD set, because I know it's going to help you multi directions there (including showing you visually how to do all the above, and much, much more, to build your horse's foundation, as well as increase your own confidence in handling him). I can see exactly what you need there, even from here, and after you watch the DVDs and implement my program with your horse, you are going to see a huge turnaround there, and all foundation holes closed up safely. Creating the quiet, cooperative, respectful horse that you envision having. And as you get going in my program you learn in my DVD set, if you ever have any questions as you go along, I'm always only an email away for backup support. Happy to help any way I can!
Additional Note: I like to take opportunities like this to point out that most healthy horses do not need to be blanketed. I go over that issue here:
And here:
This is something we in the natural horsemanship training world are working hard to educate horse owners about, the unnecessary blanketing of normal, healthy horses.
Regardless, however, all horses should be desensitized to all of the above, even blankets, as part of your overall foundational training program.
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