Spooked by harness

DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Draft Animal Power › Training Working Animals › Training Horses and/or Mules › Spooked by harness

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  • June 30, 2010 at 3:28 pm #41799
    Melissa
    Participant

    A Clyde mare that is 6 years old and has not been broke yet has taken to bucking in harness. She was able to buck the breaching over her back. Is there ways to keep the harness in place? I did have quarter straps on and I can get a tail crouper. An over check was also recommended. Anyone dealt with this successfully?

    June 30, 2010 at 4:19 pm #61182
    jac
    Participant

    Never had that problem but a question… What stage is your mare at when you say she isnt broke yet ? Any time I find a horse plying up I always go back to basics again. I think finding ways to keep the harness in place might not be the best option.. Me.. I would go back to the stall and start at the beginning and introduce the harness over a period of time with plenty praise. Conditioning/desensitising her to the harness is the way I would go.. Some might say throw it on and let her fight it out but thats not the way iv done it over the years.. Im sure you’ll get a few different replies..As I always say “It works for me”…good luck …
    John

    July 1, 2010 at 10:22 am #61178
    Donn Hewes
    Keymaster

    I would second JAC. I wouldn’t be looking for more straps to keep the harness on, especially an over check. I my opinion horses are basically calm, relaxed and alert before we mess with them. I try to take enough time in each phase of training to maintain that disposition while they are working with me.

    July 2, 2010 at 3:17 am #61186
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    Is she afraid of the harness itself, or does she just throw a fit when you ask her to work in it? Can you ask her for work in the ring without the harness ok? In the ring with harness, but not out of the ring? Sometimes we humans oversimplify the situation when we change multiple factors at once on the animal. Break it all back down and isolate the problem and work on that one thing. If you just strap the harness on tighter, you may be missing valuable training opportunities, trust building, command reliability, and growing yourself as a trainer.

    July 3, 2010 at 1:57 am #61183
    Melissa
    Participant

    Thanks for the reply’s, she is sensible in that sounds and things around her doesn’t bother her. We’ll be going back to step one because it is the harness that she doesn’t like, not the work. She is willing to work she is just very uncomfortable with the harness around her bum (after her teammate spooked her). I was talking to teamster that does things the let them work it out way, but I would like her to be more than just a horse in a hitch.

    Thanks again. Anything else that has worked for others would be appreciated.

    July 3, 2010 at 7:59 pm #61180
    CharlyBonifaz
    Member

    as others have said, I’d break it down into pieces:
    harness saddle and girth first, after she’s comfortable with that I’d start adding pieces; I also once started to clean (soap and oil) my harness on the animal, taking pieces off, putting more on, having them used to my approach with leatherpieces in my hands and getting them used to movement of the harness in their back…..
    Does she buck after being untied from where she is harnessed, or after she has been hitched to a cart? does she buck immediately when put on?
    deviate her attention: food in front might give her a more opportune outlook on being harnessed…
    does the harness fit her? some will react to “loose” as they would to “tight”
    what happened when the teammate spooked her? was the breeching too low and it pulled her legs away from underneath her?

    July 4, 2010 at 4:13 pm #61184
    Melissa
    Participant

    She is fine while tied it’s after when she’s moving with it she panicked. She has not been hooked, I want her solid before I’d even cosider that. The harness got pulled over by her teammate which is what set her off.
    I did round pen work and went back to the begining, she responded better than before and didn’t get upset with the work.
    I was baffled as I have started a quite a few to harness and haven’t had one get this upset. It has been a while since I trained one so I’m going to go through the whole process again and find the holes I must have left. I’m just thankful she didn’t wait show me this until we were hooked, then I would have had a real mess.

    July 4, 2010 at 7:45 pm #61179
    grey
    Participant

    Horses that have been spooked in harness often fixate on the sound of the heel chains. Make sure that at a later stage in your harness desensitization, you let the heel chains down and drag, first on soft ground and then later on noisy ground, such as gravel. This desensitizes them to the sound of the heel chains as well as the feel of the tugs brushing the legs.

    You will probably want to work on having her drag noisy things as well, while ground driving, prior to hooking her to a vehicle. A bag of tin cans is a good one. Start by dragging it with a rope tied with a quick-release knot to your belt so you can jettison it if it bothers her too much.

    July 9, 2010 at 3:46 am #61185
    Melissa
    Participant

    Just thought I’d give an update. She is doing really well with the surcingle and I laid the breeching on her and let it hang in place. Took it on and off a few times without incident.

    Progress will be slow and hopefully all will go well.

    July 9, 2010 at 5:16 am #61181
    CharlyBonifaz
    Member

    sounds good!

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