Sacking Out in Horse Training

Hi I'm Rick Gore we are out here at Travis Equestrian Center, we are going to talk about sacking out today. Sacking out is basically de-sensitizing a horse or removing fear. A lot of people will see sacking out they just scare the horse, until the horse finally just says I can't get away, I'm trapped, and they end up accepting the fear. That is not a good example of sacking out. I want my horse to accept the fear, or accept what I am doing to sack him out, and try to remove the fear. I want to decrease his fear. If I just shove it in the face and keep pushing him, I'm just showing him that he can be scared. A horse is sacked out every day of his life. When a bush blows, when a plastic bag blows through, when a tractor drives by, if a kid rides a motorcycle by or a bicycle. Al those things is basically de-sensitizing a horse to something that they don't know what it is, so it is scary. So they have a reaction. So when we are sacking out a horse, not only are we trying to remove fear, but we want to make sure that we are enabling ourself to read the horse. Because when we are sitting on our horse later on a trail ride, and something scares our horse, we want to be able to know what that fear is caused by, where he is directing that fear, what he is looking at or what is causing the fear, and how we can deal with it, and at what level of fear he is at. So you are going to see different levels of fear with these two, because this guy is a little bit more de-sensitized, this guy is a little bit more sensitized. He is going to react more than this guy. But when I am sacking them out, I have to be evaluating how they are showing me the fear, how to stop the fear before they blow up and I push them so far that they panic. So I can show them that I can create the fear, and I can move it away. I can cause the fear and I can remove it. Because when I am riding on a trail, and my horse gets scare, I want him to think I am causing it, and I can remove it away. Just come back to me. So it is a lot about reading a horse, and a lot of people just want to shake things at a horse and scare them. So there's all kinds of tools that I use, you can use whatever you want. I have got a few tools here, a lariat, absolute necessity, you have got to have it. Makes a lot of noise, it kind of shakes around, it whips, when it hits the legs it makes a lot of noise. So a lariat is really good to use. Scarf, it blows kind of funny, doesn't make noise, it's different that a plastic bag. You can watch Tanner as I am using these different things, he is giving me a reaction behind me. And I am watching this. This is a quiet flapping, with no noise. This is a loud flapping with a lot of noise. And all I did here was get some plastic bags and tie them to a whip, I am sure somebody is out there selling some fancy sack out tool, but all you need is an old whip that somebody throws away, tie a string to it, attach some plastic bags, you've got you a nice little sack out tool. This is an old bamboo stick, I tied a black plastic bag, this makes a different noise than these light bags. This noise, this noise, they are different. To the horse they are different, to the horse they are going to be scary. This is long and high, so all these different things, a whip, you have got to have a whip when you are sacking out when you are sacking out a horse. I don't use it to scare a horse, I don't use it to chase a horse. I use it so a horse ignores it. My horses should not be responding to whips, cracks, the noise, they shouldn't care. Because if I have done it right, they know that whatever happens around me no matter how wild, or how scary it's not going to hurt them. This is a feather duster, it kind of moves funny, the horses haven't seen it, it's nice and soft, it's not going to hurt them, but it gets a reaction. And I'm always looking for different tools to get a reaction from my horse. This is a scarf, it makes a little bit different noise than the plastic bag. It makes more noise than this scarf. So anything you can use to get a response from your horse, you want to try and always look and search out things to scare your horse. This is a longer whip that I have attached a plastic bag so I can get them to fly, and move through the air. So this is very scary to horses. But I want my horses to know that no matter what happens when they are with me they are not going to get hurt. So let's try these plastic bags here, I'm going to sack out both these guys a little bit, and you are going to see the different responses. His head is going to go up, his neck is going to get a little stiff, he is not going to move, because he knows he should not. And because he is not moving I have to stop, I have to release the pressure. Horses learn on release, if I just keep doing this for whole twenty minutes the horse is going to go, you know what he won't stop, the right answer must be for me to rear or move. And I don't want to push a horse. If your horse gets scared, you did it wrong. So he can get a little scared, but as soon as he says he's standing still, good boy. So if he is okay with his back, then I'm going to move a little closer to his head, and he's okay with that. He's really okay with it. Now I'm going to get a little bit closer to his head, and his face, and his ears, and he did fine with that. Now if I just shook it like this in this horse's face, he would be scared. That's not sacking out. Remember, I want him to know that I can remove this, so I can make it scary and I can take it away. So if you just stay focused on me, you are not going to get hurt. That way we improve our relationship instead of tear it down. Tall plastic bag, different bag, little bit blowing in the wind, it moves, it's a little bit more scary. I can rub him with the pole to de-sensitize him, plus I can rub him with the plastic bag. Again, no matter what you use, whether it is a rope, a lariat you should be able to throw it, you should be able to do anything, the horse should not respond, should not react to it. Whatever I do around my horses, they need to know they are not going to get hurt. And that is sacking out, and that is going to help you and your horse, and keep you and them both safe on the trail.