How to handle a situation when horse is out of comfort zone?

 

This is Hope, our PRE mare who is not conditioned to being sprayed. We worked on it for a few days and this is the result. It is important when conditioning a horse to something that we understand a simple rule. Horses learn when a stimulus is removed not when it is being applied, so it is our duty to make sure they accept what we are offering before taking it away from them. It takes some time and patience but without this understanding we will make the horse extremely nervous and distrustful, so pay attention to their reactions and approach with a calm energy. Never rush and never expect too much from them. Never restrain the horse and give them the liberty to move freely, but always going with their energy​

​If the horse begins to get frustrated or nervous, STOP and reassure the horse by stroking it, which will help you remain calm too. Here we see Hope at first being quite reactive but by remaining consistently calm and reassuring she quickly begins to trust me and realises that the spraying is not scary after all but actually feels quite nice.