Overcoming Fear

There are so many ways to support a horse through fear, this list is not every option, but most techniques we can actively do with our horses fall within these.

Systematic Desenstization is commonly called the approach and retreat method, we introduce a scary thing, when the horse relaxes around it we remove the scary thing. The goal is to introduce scary things and show the horse that they don't need to be afraid, then allow them to relax again. It's important when we introduce and relieve the scary stimulus, we need to do so at a level the horse can handle and can come back to relaxation. If we push to higher levels of scary, allowing the horse to fully react and become fearful, this is flooding which can lead to shutting down and learned helplessness.

Habituation is alot like desensitization, without the systematic part, this just allows the horse to introduce themselves to the scary thing in their own way and time. This allows the horse to explore and engage with concerning things however they choose. But this runs the risk of the horse never choosing to face the hard challenge.

Those 2 methods take the scary/aversive thing and ideally bring it down to neutral (at best). Sometimes, though, the thing remains just at a low level aversiveness, where they are able to tolerate the thing with minimal reactivity. UNTIL it becomes a part of a stimulus stack. They may be able to tolerate the saddle pad, the girth, the annoying flies, and the tractor in the distance... but when all are together, it might just be too much, leading to exploding "out of nowehere".

We can help break down and get rid of these stimulus stacks by not just desensitizing, but counter conditioning scary things entirely. Changing the feelings behind the bad thing to predict good things.

We do this by pairing the scary thing with things the horse enjoys. The important part is that the scary thing has to predict good things - good things should not predict scary things (or it may become poisoned). So we change the way the horse feels about the scary thing, not just bringing it to neutral, but to enjoyable.

We can also allow the horse to counter condition things themselves, just like habituation, but better. We can allow the horse to explore the scary things in their own way, on their own time, but making sure that when they do, good results happen. This is important because it builds the horse's resilience and try, it encourages optimism. If something new appears in their life and the last few times it turned out good, it makes it more likely they'll try new things in the future.

Social learning can also engage the horse's desire to try something hard. If they see their peers doing things, having good results, and overcoming challenges, it can really build their confidence. It can also inspire some competitive edge to help them try a little extra. Social peers can be so supportive in fearful situations, because horses are SO good at reading each other's feelings.