Tuesday Video: Desensitizing the Tarp

Well, this is one way to do it, anyway.

Tarps are an equestrian’s go-to object for desensitization (because, you know, you’re likely to run into a wild tarp in its natural environment of the forests or fields at any time? I jest, I jest). We teach our horses to walk past their billowy crinkle, to accept the unusual sensation of walking over them, we drape them on our horses’ backs, we walk through them like curtains suspended from gateways, we throw them over our own heads and run around like fools while our horses most likely roll their eyes in boredom…

Turns out we could have skipped all of those intermediate steps and just let the horses figure it out for themselves.

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There. This is what makes all those training hours so worthwhile.

Go riding!