Putting Fly Spray On Your Horse Using Clicker Training
Do you have a horse that goes crazy when you go to put fly spray on them? Do they try to bolt away, run backwards, kick or strike at you? It doesn’t have to be that way. I can show you how to have a confident horse that will stand still when you put fly spray on them and they’ll be happy to do so.
If your horse is afraid of having fly spray put on them do the following.
- Fill an empty bottle with water instead of using your expensive fly spray to get them used to being sprayed.
- Start out by spraying the air beside them and keep spraying until they stand still. If you quit before they stand still you’re reinforcing that behavior of running away.
- Once they stand still I click and treat. Now ideally you want them to be relaxed when you click and treat, but at first you have to break things down into steps to make progress. Make sure you take note of your horse’s breathing and body language, are they relaxed or nervous.
After a few seconds start spraying the air again beside them and do the same as above. Do this 3 or 4 times during the lesson.
When I’m working with a horse on this I do 3 to 4 short lessons a day and will work on one side until they are confident then I switch to the other side and start the process over again.
When your horse is standing confidently with you spraying the air on both sides then move to spraying the legs. Be careful when doing this for the first time as some horses may strike so don’t bend down and put your head in a vulnerable position. When spraying the back legs make sure you stay out of kicking distance.
They don’t always kick straight sometimes they will cow kick you. I know from experience because when I was a kid I had a horse cow kick my hand when I was putting fly spray on her. Thank goodness she didn’t break my hand instead it knocked the bottle out of my hand.
When they are standing quietly with you spraying their legs from both sides then move to spraying their back. When they’re good with their back being sprayed you can move to other parts of their body, but go slow and take the time the horse needs to get used to being sprayed on different parts of their body.
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