Desensitizing a Horse with a Lariat - Jesse Krier - Greatmats Horse Training Series
Date Published: 12-09 - 2021
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The next thing we’re going to do with this filly is… We’ve done a lot of rope desensitizing already with her. Now we’re just going to kind of do it a different way. This is a lariat, or lasso. We’re going to ask her to take this lariat - accept it. We’re going to use it in a cowboy fashion.
We’re gonna just ask her to move around a little bit. I’m gonna rope her. Once I rope her, she’s going to realize - “Hey, he roped me, and he let me go.” It wasn’t a rope and pull and pull you down like we do to a calf or something.
This is another trust gaining technique.
So we’ll ask her to move around a little bit. And then I’m just going to start swinging the rope. It really ties into that ground driving to where I was already swinging the rope. I’m just going to swing it in a different fashion now. Now we’re going to start moving it around. We’re just going to ask her to move a little bit.
Throw it on her. She doesn’t take off running. That is huge! I really expected her to move a little bit more. This is the first time we’ve ever done this to this filly, and she accepted it perfectly. So now, we’ve roped the hip. Now we’re going to rope the head and neck.
Move her around a little bit more.
The next step, we’ll actually take this rope and rope that saddle horn. We’ll teach her to work a little rope and we’ll also be manipulating that saddle a little bit. It works on her body, pulls that back cinch tight, and that is one thing she never, never liked.
You can see, as I start bumping this, it pulls that saddle up into her belly. But also, she’s learning to not take off and run, which is really cool that she’s doing this good with this.
Not that this filly will ever see a calf and ever have to rope a calf or a cow, but she’s going to be a little more prepared if she ever were to have to.
Bump it over to the other side and she’s got to sit there and hold that.
She’s more worried about her surroundings.
Come up and reward her.
Now we’re going to ask her to pull a little bit.
Sometimes we go skiing here.
This pulls off the hip, off the same saddle horn.
Pulls off the other side.
She’s having to pull pretty hard. I’m pulling pretty hard as well.
Get her to move around the arena just a touch, let up on her a little bit; get her away from the gate.
What we’re going to sell this with is, I’m going to work my body around to the front - just like if a calf were to run around in front of her.
Then she needs to plant those feet and hold this - not worry about everybody else.
Hold it.
Now we're pulling her off balance.
But she’s learning how to do this and we’re not tied to a calf right away.
I cheated a little bit so she faces…
I want her to face me, as opposed to turning sideways. That puts her in a vulnerable state.
Really try not to hit ‘em in the face with this, but I want her to back her feet.
It’s okay that she moved that foot. She’s just getting better balance, but we really want to sink it in stone that she keeps those feet solid.
She passed that test.