As the weather warms up, I often meet people who have trouble getting their horse to accept fly spray. I explain to them that the first step to solving this common problem is to look at it from the horse's perspective. Horses can be alarmed by anything strange or unfamiliar, and from their perspective, fly spray is triply strange. The horse has to deal with the sound of the bottle, the feel of the spray, and the smell of the ingredients, all of which can trigger their fight-or-flight response.
Start with plain bottled water as it is fragrance-free and spray it well away from the horse. This will also avoid wasting pricey fly spray! (Photo: Josh Nichol)
I assist them get used to this assault on their senses by first teaching them to lower their head slightly in response to a lithe sensation on the leash. Please note that I said “lower down” and not “down,” which is an significant distinction. Lowering down means calmly surrendering to relaxation, and that relaxation is what I'm looking for here, not just a downward movement.
It's significant to understand that a horse can learn to lower his head while still tense, and that's not helpful for the horse or us, so watch for signs of relaxation when the head drops – a slight flow in response to your pressure, a tranquil look, supple ears, etc. If you're not sure if the horse has really given in or just lowered his head, release your fists on the rope and see what happens. A horse that isn't gentle will often throw his head right back up when you let go, while a gentle horse is likely to stay in that relaxed position for a while.
Once the horse responds to gentle feeling, we work in the same way to tranquil him down by applying lithe pressure (like a slightly shaking flag in your other hand). Be sure to release the pressure as soon as the horse gives in. If done correctly, horses quickly learn that they can “control” the pressure by remaining tranquil and relaxed.
Once your horse knows how to respond to different forms of pressure, you can soon exploit a spray bottle as a pressure agent that the horse can “control” by relaxing. This makes the pressure you exploit much less frightening for the horse. (Photo: Josh Nichol)
Learning to think about stresses rather than simply reacting to them is a huge boost to the horse's strength. And teaching him how to do that is invaluable for training purposes and for our safety when our horses encounter potentially upsetting things outside. Starting with something like a flag that you can quickly turn “on” and “off” can assist your horse learn to think about novel stresses – like fly spray – in the same way.
The next step is to exploit a spray bottle as a “lever”. Start with just water in the bottle as it doesn't have an unfamiliar smell and you won't waste pricey fly spray. Start by spraying at a protected distance from the horse, asking him to relax his head and then stop spraying when he does so. Give him a break and praise him.
Gradually bring the spray closer to the horse and practice things like rubbing the bottle on him using the same technique. Eventually you will get to a point where a little of the spray is touching a leg. You tell the horse to relax and then let go and stop the spray when he does. If you time it well, your horse will believe that he stopped the spray by relaxing his head and he will gain a lot of confidence from doing so. When he can “control” the spray, the horse will be less afraid of it and soon you can spray more and more of his body without him worrying about it.
This “advance and retreat” method, where you remove a fearsome pressure/object as the horse softens, can be used for many things, including a horse that raises its head to avoid the bridle (always be aware of dental problems or other pain when the horse does this, though), or a horse that is afraid of clippers or blanketing. Understanding this technique can take you a substantial step toward better horsemanship.
