08/12/2026
Non-horse people probably think this was just a silly idea to make him wear his feed pan as a hat. 😂
And while it is veryyyy silly & adorable, it was actually a training moment. I swear. 😂
A surprisingly controversial topic in the horse world (especially when it comes to foals) seems to be desensitization.
Some people want to call it abuse or torment because, frankly, it can look worse before it looks better. Others believe too much desensitization can make a horse dull or even suppress some of the natural instincts we want to see in a young cowbred horse who may eventually work cattle.
I personally think desensitization is a very important tool.
I’ve always been a fan of the Downunder Horsemanship Method, so that’s the philosophy I try to utilize with all of my horses, including Flash. Essentially, the goal is to teach them that when something is scary, they can think it through instead of immediately reacting to it.
Being that this is my first foal, I keep our sessions short & try very hard not to overwhelm him with too much at once. This particular feed-pan-hat moment actually happened while we were feeding. 😂 I went to throw his feed pan over the fence so I could put feed in it, but Flash got a little worried when I lifted it above his head.
So I took the opportunity to work through it.
I started by touching him with the feed pan, then rhythmically & softly “throwing” it over his neck & back before eventually pushing it forward onto the top of his head.
He was definitely a little unsure about his new accessory, but you could see the gears working in his brain. We did the same thing from the other side, he handled it beautifully, & then we were done.
Quick. Easy. Successful. 😎
Let your dreams run feral ❤️🔥
—J
