Re: Panic Attack/Saddling Problems

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

>My 10 year old mare, Mahriah, is giving me problems when saddling her. 
>She has always been the fidgety type (dances around when being
>fly-sprayed, and will move back and forth some when trying to pick up
>her feet - but this will only last a few seconds and then she stands
>still).  But with saddling, she is terrible, and it's getting worse. 
>Even putting just the pad on her back is getting to be a challenge
>(especially if it is white - anything white seems to scare her).  The
>minute I start to raise either pad or saddle to set it on her back, she
>jumps to the side and tries to avoid it.  I have never been one to slap
>a saddle on a horse's back.  I always lower it gently and place it
>there, so I don't think she is anticipating pain.  Once I manage to get
>the saddle on, however, she stands there just fine, does not mind being
>cinched up or anything.  Doesn't pin her ears, make faces or anything. 
>It is just the raising of the pad/saddle in my arms, and putting it over
>her back that seems to freak her out.  I don't know why it scares her,
>or if it is not even actually scaring her and she's just getting away
>with being a brat.

It sounds, to me, as if she needs a bit more "stand still" training.  Or,
as you may often here around here..."stand..STAND...you know, that part
where NONE of those 4 feet are moving!!" <g>  I have a couple of antsy
horses who have taken a long time to get the "stand still" concept...but
we're doggedly persistent and can see a lot of progress over time.  It
sounds like your horse has developed a habit of moving around right before
the saddle lands.  Work on the "stand" (with no feet moving <g>) while
putting on the saddle and removing it (don't cinch, just take it off and on
repeatedly until the concept of stand still is obtained.  Also work on
standing still in other areas so the concept is learned pertinent to all
ground work.)  Be prepared to discipline enough that moving around becomes
a less than pleasant experience.  Go at a moderate to slow speed...first
with the pad, then with the saddle, then with both.  Reward her when she
does it right ("goooood girl" pat-pat) and use "NO" and the game show
buzzer noise when she moves around.  It's important that she understand
what the command "Stand" means in other areas, not just saddling.

In regards to saddling, all of this is relative to a saddle that fits
correctly (of course) and doesn't cause pain.  Once you can put the saddle
on and off without any movement, start adding the cinch.  Only tighten the
cinch enough that it touches the body but doesn't put any pressure on it.
Do something else for a couple of minutes, then move the girth up a little
tighter...only as much as to put a very slight pressure on the girth area
-- all the while emphasizing "stand STILL".  

There is a nerve that runs down the centerline of the underbody.  This
nerve is very sensitive in some horses and they need to be approached more
gradually with pressure.  I had a 17.2h gelding several years ago who would
drop to his knees if the girth was tightened too quickly.  After someone
had done it to him a couple of times, he started dancing around when you
approached him with the saddle -- and would then drop to his knees if the
girth merely touched the girth area.  He had developed a behavior problem
that was now a "habit" and only a bit related to original cause.  It was an
interesting problem and took a while to eradicate, but we did it.  He was
not one to *ever* tolerate tightening the girth too quickly but we at least
got him to the point where he wouldn't collapse at the mere thought (a
rather scary event with such a big guy!!!) and would actually stand
perfectly still during the whole saddling/bridling procedure.  Because of
this experience, I'm *very* emphatic about girths being tightened very
slowly, one notch at a time...and, back to the original point, making sure
the horse stands STILL when putting the saddle on or off.

Sue