Hosing and Bathing: Teach Your Horse to Stand Quietly

There are some simple techniques you can use to help teach your horse that hosepipes, water, sponges etc are nothing to fear. In this video, you'll see Poppy change from saying a strong, "NO!" to being bathed to actually enjoying it. That is the key to great training - changing the horse's emotions to joy, relaxation, confidence and clarity about the exercise. To do this means that we have to observe the horse and look for signs of tension or fear and make sure that we keep the training at a level where the horse stays under-threshold, meaning that the horse stays calm enough to be able to think and learn. To help Poppy learn to be calm about being bathed, we approached it in lots of different ways, making it a fun game. We also incorporated plenty of breaks and downtime so that she had time to process and wasn't over-faced. We also included praise, targeting and scratches that Poppy loves. It was so rewarding to see Poppy standing happily, enjoying her scratches, while being bathed. The best thing about this approach, though, is that Amy strengthened her bond and trust with Poppy further, even while over-coming a difficult behaviour. They both enjoyed the session and will look forward to their next session together because of it. Want to know more? The bestselling Connection Training BOOK is the place to start 📖 Get it on Amazon or download Chapter 1 free here: https://connectiontraining.com/book/ for a preview 👀 More info on us, our training approach and the CT Club can be found at: https://connectiontraining.com/