Desensitizing River (U3)

Instructions

A week after getting my first touch I am going to desensitize River. This basically means i’ll get her used to being touched all over, the feeling of riding equipment such as halters, saddles, blankets, and other things that are manmade that a horse would not be used to. usually people train using tarps, flags, and lights + sounds to get the horse ready for what is expected of them to learn for the makeover competition at the end (in real life they have tarps on the ground and other stuff that requires this) so i walked in and got the halter of the fence where i put it last time i came. I have walked up to her with it and held it while i pet her a little bit and hung it securely to the fence. she’s used to it now and knows it’s not gunna hurt her. so I grabbed the halter and took it to her and rubbed her a little with it, going closer to her neck, and then on her cheek. she squirmed away after that, but didn't run away. so i started back on the neck again and moved forwards, rubbed on both sides, and on her throat. and after a while i was able to put it mostly on her face. I let her just feel the halter before sliding up the knot and tying it (using rope halter, and goodness, took forever to find tutorial on one, cuz we only use nylon halters at my riding place, but rope halters are often better for training mustangs) I let her feel it out for a little before getting the lead rope and gently tugged on it. She freaked out and bucked away from me. I let her cool her head down a bit, then walked over, patted her, and tried again. After a few times of repeating walking up and trying to lead her, she yielded to the pressure, and took a step closer! I loosed the pressure on the line and then petted her. I repeated the process several times until she started following when i lead her around the arena! i gave her pats, took the lead away, and let her be until tomorrow. The next day i came with flags and other things. I set a tarp down over the fence. River had a fun time when i did that, it spooked her quite a bit to hear that sound. I also brought some different things like saddle pads, flags, and sticks. I got my flag and walked up to her and just petted her while holding it. She seemed a little put off, but relaxed a little when i pet her, that shows she has at least a little trust in me. I made sure she wouldn’t run into anything in the arena, before I stepped to the middle and waved the flag to sorta lunge her. The idea is to use body positioning and pressure to have the horse do what you want, the flag is an extension. you want the horse to focus on you, not the flag. after a while of doing that, i relaxed, which is body language for her to relax and come to me as well. she did, and we did it again, taking small breaks for a treat or a pet. during on of the pets, i started holding the flag part in my hand and rubbing it with my hand as well, slowly using only the flag part, and then stepping away so that it was only flag touching her. She wasn’t as spooked as i did it gradually, and let me rub her neck and back, and almost the belly. when i reached the belly she bucked and ran away. So i lunged her a little more, and started again from the beginning. we slowly worked up to her being able to be touched by the flag on her neck, back, belly, legs, and rear. so I held the flag and touched her face like i did when i started on her neck. she flinched a bit, but accepted the flag touching her. so i extended, and rubbed a little more. She did great, so i gave her a treat, and left. (I decided i’ll just let her get used to seeing a tarp first, i don’t think she’s quite ready or has enough trust for now.)