I have a coming 5 year old...

Question
I have a coming 5 year old AQHA gelding that I started riding as a 2 year old after he had 60 days. I've used him in ranch work, herding cows, riding along highways and etc.I'm wanting to sell him this year.  

A have a lady that is interested in him.  She wants to do calvary re-inactment and needs the horse to be able to be shot off of.  How would you recommend training the horse for this?

Thanks,

Answer
Hi Regan,

Quarter horses are really excellent for these types of re-enactments because they tend to be pretty stable and not real spooky about things.  The biggest thing you'll need to do is to de-spook him around noises.  

I'd start out by using a plastic grocery bag with some empty soda cans and pennies in it.  Soothe the horse and make sure he feels very protected, then quietly begin rattling the bag.  Continue with this, a little bit every day, until he's completely calm when you rattle the bag.  If you have a b.b. gun or cap pistol, these are great tools to use to de-spook him around guns.  Both of them make a loud enough noise, similar to the kind of gunfire he'd hear at a re-enactment.  Remember that the key to success with this is to calm him down and soothe him between spook sessions.  This way, he understands that he's safe, but just has to deal with scary things.  To a horse, these can be like horse-eating monsters.  You want to make sure that he is able to stand these odd noises and not overreact.

Anything else you think of to do to de-spook him is a good idea.  These re-enactments often have many noisy people milling around, so make sure he's okay around a lot of people.  Other than that, he sounds like a great horse for what the lady wants him for.  Good luck!

--Susan