Some horses are naturally braver than other, and some horses tend to be fairly skittish and flighty. Horses can become more confident when they are exposed to many different things – when they associate positive
experiences with the different objects/ environments.

Getting your horse to touch different objects is one way to build confidence. Provided the horse doesn’t get hurt or intimidated during the experience.

When introducing new things to your horse, remember the Natural Horsemanship Principle ‘Encounter, Wait, Reviist’ (to learn all 7 natural horsemanship principles, I recommend ‘Natura...).

The Steps to Encounter, Wait, Revisit:

1. You encounter a new/scary something.

2. As soon as your horse shows the slightest sign of worry or anxiety you stop and wait.

3. You wait at the exact spot that your horse first started to get anxious.

4. You wait until your horse asks a question or shows signs of being more comfortable.

5. Once your horse has asks a question or is more comfortable, you back away/move away to reward the horse.

6. Start over by revisiting the new/scary something again.

It is important that while you are waiting, that you keep your horse facing the scary object/ or keep the object touching the horse in the same place as when the anxiety first started. This way the horse doesn’t
learn to run or escape from what is scary. You simply wait in the exact spot
that you first noticed the anxiety.

For example, if you start to approach a scary tarp and your horse’s head goes high and alert. You would stop in your tracks with the horse (or your horse may have stopped all by himself) and wait for the horse to lower
his head more relaxed and/or flick an ear toward you to ask a question. You
answer that question by backing up a few steps, allowing a pause for reward,
and then asking the horse to move forward again (you are only asking the horse
to take steps forward that he was already okay with).

Another example would be if you are touching your horse with something new, like clippers, and you get to a spot where your horse starts to be uncomfortable, lets say his tummy. You would hold the clippers on the exact
spot near his tummy/on his tummy where you first saw signs of anxiety (the
horse starts to swish his tail, raise his head, prance about, etc). When the horse
is relaxed (stopped swishing his tail, lowered his head, stands still, etc) you
immediately take the clippers away. Then you start over by clipping an area the
horse is comfortable and slowly approach the tummy area again.

By following this approach you teach your horse that there is no need for explosive behaviour like bolting, biting, striking out, or kicking, because you respond to the slightest cue from the horse like tail
swishing, prancing, or head raising. You also teach your horse that if the
horse stands still/relaxes that the horse will be rewarded, not taken advantage
of.

Think about it. If your horse is really anxious about mounting, tossing the saddle pad on, clipping, etc – the horse shows you this by prancing a little, or raising his head in a worried manner – but then the horse decides
to offer to stand still…. So then if you react by quickly getting on, tossing
the saddle pad on, or sneaking in a quick clip – then you punish your horse for
standing still… you do exactly what the horse was anxious about. Instead if you
reward the horse by backing away (starting over) then the horse can feel
comfortable that you won’t advance until the horse is ready.

What’s more, is your horse will trust you more as a leader because you demonstrate that you understand the horse. You also teach the horse that you have patience and that you will eventually get on the horse, put the
saddle pad on, clip, etc but that you are willing to make sure the horse is
comfortable.

This means you are a partner, not a dictator to be feared.

Test your relationship and explore new objects: introduce tarps, balls, clippers, massagers, plastic bags, tossing lead ropes over the horse, go over poles, cross bridges, stand in water, stand on a pedestal, use
stuffed toys, hula hoops, and whatever you can think of! Keep it safe, keep it
interesting.

You can also change up the scenery in your arena/play area by posting signs, hanging drapes/curtains in different areas, moving different things around like barrels, jumps, etc. Your horse should be comfortable in a
changing environment so try NOT to always store your jumps in the same corner,
or always park the gator in the same spot, or always have the mounting block in
the same corner, etc.

Change is good, change builds confidence – just know how to encounter, wait, and revisit.