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It’s amazing what you can use to teach your horse new tricks or to get them used to just about anything. I’m always on the lookout for cheap and fun items to use as my trick training equipment.
Fun trick equipment
I really like to use Pool Noodles to get my horses used to things that move and brush against them. Trigger is happy to eat his feed while these colourful noodles lightly bang against him and fly around on windy days. This helps when I am out riding and we are moving through some thick bush – he doesn’t mind at all if branches brush against him. He is also good when strange objects flap in the wind.
To get him used to the Pool Noodles I just started by tying up one (on a calm day). At first he was wary of it but his feed was just there and it didn’t take him long to move past it to his feed bin. He still kept an eye on it though!
After a few days he completely ignored the Pool Noodle so I added another and then a few more days another. Now he is completely uninterested in them.
This is one of the best ways to get a horse used to something strange. Introduce it gradually, into an area where they already feel safe and enjoying being (their feed area is a good place). Allow them time to get used to the item. No fuss.
Check out the Horse Trick ebook for some more ideas for cheap, fun equipment you can buy to help teach your horse tricks and to help make them unflappable in lots of different situations.
What a neat idea!
I’ve been toying with the idea of constructing a car wash out of an old tarp.
However, pool noodles would be even easier to set up and take down and would be easier for the horse to get use to at first. Thanks for sharing!
cheers,
Mary
(who is now off to see if she can find any pool noodles for sale in December!)
Hi
Do you know where I can get cheap pool noodles. My horse has a problem on the trail with brushy areas in rushing thru piles of brush and sticks. I saw your training tip and thought maybe this would help him to put a few in his stall for him to tramp on and they fly up and hit him in the legs. I would be supervising him of course and only let him w/them for short periods of time as he would probably start trying to eat them) Thanks Judy
Hi Judy, Sounds like a great idea. He will get used to things around his legs in an environment where he feels safe, before you head out into the big world. Trigger and I live in Australia and I buy my pool noodles from a shop called Go-Lo. It’s a chain store that sells lots of cheap items. They are about $2.00 each and can be used for teaching your horse lots of different things. They are also available from pool shops but are usually more expensive. Good luck with the training. Jain & Trigger.