Help Make A List of stuff to Desensitize to

Last trail ride a turkey tried to fly up Zag's nose. 
[8|] Wait, did anyone say that yet? hmmm....
I think if you tied a chicken by the legs and let him flap around about your colt's feet it would be about the same affect. []
 
I use a tarp as a wind break and it flaps around all winter.  Tarps are pretty old news now.
 
Walking between stuff would be good.
Dragging stuff on the ground while leading him.
 
I was on a trail with a rider and her dog.  The horse had previously stepped on the dog who had screamed in pain.  From that point on the horse was really leary of that particular dog - not the others - just that one. []

Large balls (the bright colored ones you can find in the kids department)
pool noodles
cars/4 wheelers
Cotton rope tossed all over them & wrapped around the legs
branches w/ leaves
saddle blankets - we did these even when they were young & even took a bareback pad and girthed it lightly a few times so they got used to the idea of something restricting around the girth area.
 
 
What I used to do with my youngsters was hand walk them down the road and into the woods so they got to know what mailboxes were, blowing trash cans, cars, possible random wildlife jumping out at them, blowing leaves, moving underbrush, etc.  This helps them get used to things on the trail that I could never fully desensitize them to just at home.
 
Good luck!

Umbrellas
grocery bags
balloons
cars, trucks, 4-wheelers
maybe even pellet gun type loud noises
cats & dogs (mine really doesn't like dogs)
there needs to be a way to desensitize them to flying birds
 
that's all I can think of for now, hth!
 
edit: sorry, I repeated.. I couldn't remember everything listed already

Tennis rackets and tennis balls!  We were having a game day and our paint gelding dumped my daughter when she was trying to balance the ball on the racket.  Who would've thought!
 
Save your old wormer syringes, fill them with apple sauce and start treating him once in while so then when you do the real thing, he won't be expecting it at all
 
 

Water sprayed from a hose.
A bicycle alone. A bicycle & Rider. (Two different horse eating animals here)
Gunfire.
 
Loading in a trailer........walk him in & out over & over again.
Set up a couple of 5 gal plastic buckets at least 8 feet apart, fill them with sand around standing PVC pipe to form an upside down U, hang your pool noodles from theses and walk him back & forth through these.
 
Find an old childs Slip & Slide, turn the water on low preassure to start & walk him around, over & on this. A good way to cover water crossings & bright colored things on the ground.
 
Best of luck.

"it's been awhile since I've done alot of desensitizing with a horse, as normally I am saddle breaking them."
 
 
Isn't desensitizing part of your "saddle breaking"?  When you are tossing the pad and saddle up and down, its the same thing.  Your moving quickly, the pad makes a noise when it lands on him, and the saddle strings and stirrups rattle and is tossed up there like a predator.  You do more desensitizing than you give credit for if you are starting undersaddle work.
 
For our colts that young we bring them in and give them 30 days halter training, standing tied and try and show them many spooky things in that time period to build the colts confidence.  But after that we turn them out to pasture for a while and let it soak in and let them just be a horse.  We bring them in again several months later for a refresher and you would be amazed at how willing they are to tackle the new set of challenges.  This is when we will take them for walks in the woods, pony them a couple of times on the trail, and have them start lounging.  Afterward they are let to be horses again until they are almost 2 or just over 2 then the first several rides are on them with a good note and more time off.
 
I guess what I am saying is it is great to show them all this and makes a wonderful horse down the road, but be aware that as young as he is, his mind needs some down time.  Give him some time to think on what you have shown him and he will be better for it.
 
There are some great ideas on here!  Good luck and stay safe.

Surprised nobody mentioned the best de spooking tools ever. Empty milk jugs. ty a couple together an string it over the saddle horn an maybe throw a fe small pebbles in them to add some racket .Takem out an lunge them those ol jugs make plenty of racket its something you work them into dont just throwem over the horn an let'r rip.(Had to put that clause in sorry.)You can then ty one off a sturrup where the horse see's it hanging there swinging around they get to the point they care less I've seen it done where its been put on the hind leg with a loop that slips over the hoof fine with a foot of string to the jug.Just mind you this is not the first thing you do with the jug this is the advanced part of the course  You can use a peice of surveyors ribbon with the same effect with no chance that it would hurt the horse if it gets spooked they step on it an it comes right off. One indevidual was talkin bout chickens tie a couple loose hanging feathers off the  halter .A breeze will flutter them around after a bit the horse wont be so apt to come apart if it has something coming at them .Really a time saver  When your working with 4 colts every lil thing helps that an yer neighbors wont be callin the friggin SPCA to yer door for you "Assualting" yer poor innocent cluckers.

I would add sprinklers to the list. And "Caution" tape.
 
Oh, and how about printed signs... you know, the kind that surround most public/show arenas? My gelding hates those. I finally waited till after an election and got one of those big political signs to post in his stall. It helped.
 
Before I get back to trail riding this fall, I'm going to have to de-sensitize my "herd" to the sound of Rattlesnake rattles. I've lived in Arizona since 1993, and only ever came across 1 rattler, but you can never be too prepared!
 
 

Today Dani was out in the yard and I went running with my puppy-girl in the jogging stroller.  When we got back, Dani acted like the stroller was a monster.  Maybe a puppy-eating monster.  I started wondering if horses might spook out in public if they encounter someone pushing a stroller.  I can tell you DANI needs to be desensitized to strollers!!

Oh heres some i was thinking about earlier today tents,sleeping bags,tarps,fire,large sticks,whips,screaming kids,running kids,having boots put on,having vet wrap on legs/neck,sudden noises, and gun shots.

cell phones lol they might fall under the loud noises section but i dont know one of my cousins friends horses is terrified of a cell phone ring even if its a bought ringtone  but ive seen her dad shoot pigeons off his back lol im glad my horse could care less lol
what else?blankets...i dont know if anyone has suggested that one yet iforgot lol
ropes, old tires, small things that jump suddenly
good luck!!!!

 
small things that jump suddenly
good luck!!!!
 
 
 
liek bunnys?

Fireworks. Especially if they are legal in your area.