Desensitizing
Many horse folks talk about “worming” their horses. Is the use of that phrase a shortcut of speech? We humans are well known for shortcuts of speech and colloquialisms. The correct phrase for ridding your horse of possible worms is deworm or deworming. Generally, in the horse world, we horse folks understand the generalization of terms.
Now, shall we talk about Desensitizing the horse? There are at least three parts to the definition of this word-
1. To render insensitive or less sensitive
2. To make (an individual) nonreactive or insensitive to a stimulus
3. To make emotionally insensitive or unresponsive, as by long exposure or repeated shocks
Now the definition of Sensitize-
To make someone sensitive or responsive to stimulus
In our experience, our training results work in part, because we sensitize the horse to our cues. In most cases, we horse folks want our horses to be sensitive to our cues and requests.
General desensitizing seems similar to the concept of “practice makes perfect.” With humans this phrase may be true but with horses, not so much. Horses are said to be the most intelligent of all domestic species of animals. They remember for a lifetime the object that scared them on a trail. ONE scare. Most modern behavioral scientists now believe horses learn in about three repetitions.
It is our opinion that horses should be SENSITIZED to cues, situations and objects.
This means we TEACH or acclimate horses incrementally what the expected, proper, and controlled reaction should be. This way, the horse remains attentive, and not shut down.
Often with DESENSITIZATION horses give the outward appearance that they have no reaction to the object (tarp for instance) or situation when they have given up reacting. They may be shutdown to the object or situation. Horses are contextual learners which means when an object or situation is presented out of context the old behavior, pre desensitizing may pop up in new settings. Did the DESENSITIZING fail? No, the trainer failed to fully understand equine nature.
Desensitization or flooding when done incorrectly can result in a state of learned helplessness. Do we really want our horses to “give up?” Perhaps some folks do.
What we want is a sensitive horse that turns responds to our cues even in the face of a scary object. Horses are meant to be horses.
Should we truly understand equine nature before we subject our beloved horses to popular training fads?