Sacking out

Another example would be the need to desensitize a horse to the sound of traffic, music, loudspeakers and other stimuli seen at public events.

In some cases, a previous bad experience may have given a horse reason to fear a specific situation, requiring a form of systematic desensitization to gradually overcome its fear.

A typical method to desensitize the horse to things like plastic bags is to begin in a step-by-step process with a mildly worrisome object, such as a towel or blanket.

Through multiple sessions, the horse will first become accustomed to a specific object, then, as the horse is introduced to additional stimuli, including large blankets, plastic bags and other potentially frightening but harmless objects, the animal learns to not fear items that a human handler presents to it.

Some training methods advocate putting only slight pressure on the horse, allowing it to gradually become accustomed to a frightening object, while other methods sometimes advocate techniques that are based on the operant conditioning principle of flooding, for example, waving a large blanket on and over a horse tied to a sturdy post so that it cannot escape -- the latter methods often being quicker at first, but also far more dangerous because rapid exposure to frightening stimuli can cause a horse to panic, and, if tied or confined, to risk injury to the animal or handler in an attempt to free itself.