🐎 The problem with over-desensitizing...
✨ Something I see a lot and something I’ve done myself in the past - is over-desensitizing.
Now before anyone panics, I’m not against helping horses become confident.
Quite the opposite. But there’s a fine line between education and emotional shutdown.
Desensitizing should mean:
- the horse understands
- the horse processes
- the horse can stay curious
- the horse has a choice
What it sometimes becomes is:
- repeated exposure without understanding
- pressure until the reaction stops
- “See? He’s fine now.”
But is he fine…or has he simply stopped expressing?
A truly confident horse is not dull.
They’re attentive, thinking, responsive.
When we over-desensitize, we can accidentally:
- reduce sensitivity
- create delayed responses
- dampen expression
- teach the horse that their voice doesn’t matter
And here’s the subtle part, a horse that shuts down can look very obedient.
Still. Quiet. Tolerant.
But confidence isn’t tolerance.
Confidence is clarity plus trust.
If something feels scary to a horse, the goal isn’t to make it “not scary.”
The goal is to help them learn how to think through it.
That requires:
- timing
- release
- allowing try
- space to process
I’m curious, have you ever noticed the difference between a horse that’s genuinely confident and one that’s simply learned not to react?
Let’s talk, Zoë 🐴✨🫶
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🐎 The problem with over-desensitizing...
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