Despooking in the Round Pen

One of the most common questions I get from horse owners is, "what's the best way to despook my horse?" It's critical to properly despook your horse for both your safety and the horse's. Almost every horse will spook at something, so what I've found in working with many different horses is that first you have to establish leadership and trust. If your horse sees you as the leader and trusts you, then you greatly reduce—but not totally eliminate—the chance of your horse spooking. 

I've found that the round pen is the best environment for effectively despooking your horse. Many horse owners tie their horses up or just try to work with them out in the open while despooking them. Sometimes this works, but many times it doesn't—mainly because it's unsafe, and you can't really control your horse's movements very well.

In the round pen, you have the perfect classroom for despooking. It's enclosed, it's safe and you can work with your horse on the ground using many different gaits. This is impossible to do out in the open or with the horse tied up.

For example, if you're trying to despook your horse to saddle bags, rain slickers and other things that may be attached to the saddle, you can actually place those things on your horse in the round pen. Then, have them walk, trot and even lope (don't wear the horse out, though). This gives the horse a real, actual experience with the situation at different gaits and helps speed up the learning process.

To see a demonstration of what I recommend, watch this short segment from my 5-disc training DVD set. You'll see how simple, easy and effective it is to work in the round pen when despooking. Of course, not all despooking training can take place in the round pen, but it's the best place to start and the best place to teach despooking in a safe, controlled way.

If you want to see my complete—and very effective—methods of despooking that anyone can use, I encourage you to order the 5-disc training DVD set. It will show you how to despook your horse to almost anything and any situation, and make your horse a much safer companion in the arena, on the trails and around the farm. Stay safe and have fun!