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Temple Grandin urges sensory-based desensitization to reduce horse spooking
Summary
At a Missoula conference, Dr. Temple Grandin said horses perceive the world through senses, not words, and urged slow, specific desensitization methods — using examples such as rotated objects, flags, tarps and trailer loading — to reduce fear and improve rider safety.
Dr. Temple Grandin, an animal scientist, told an audience in Missoula that horses live in a sensory-based world and that handlers should prioritize slow, specific desensitization to reduce spooking and improve safety. "You gotta get away from language, any animal. An animal lives in a sensory based world, not a word based world," she said during a keynote talk.
Grandin said that animals do not automatically transfer learning from one side to another and that novel objects can be both attractive and frightening. She described demonstrations in which a small plastic ‘‘bony pony’’ remained novel no matter how it was positioned, while simple plastic chairs sold at common stores were not…
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