All horses are born with an instinct of survival from predators. This fright and flight instinct allowed them to run away from danger and live in the wild, unfortunately it is dangerous in the world we live today. Instead of escaping danger this instinct now is dangerous in itself. Sacking a horse out,  can really help.

Two things need to be accomplished when sacking a horse out. First is to gain their confidence in you, the second is to desensitize them to movements and noises around them. There are many different methods for sacking out, and it is not so important what you do, but how you do it.

GETTING STARTED

Since we want to teach the horse not to run away from things that frighten it, it is best to start in the round pen. Be ready to spend some time on the first few lessons because you must keep up the stimulation until you get the response you want. I turn the horse loose an d begin by waving a whip with a plastic bag tied to the end. I use a 6 foot buggy whip with a Wal-Mart bag on the end. The idea here is not to scare the horse terribly but to make them uncomfortable enough to try to move away from the plastic bag. Keep moving it as the horse tries to escape by running around the pen. Only when the horse stops and faces you should you stop and back away. This teaches the horse that running from the bag only creates work , While stopping to look gets a rest break. Be sure to work both directions. What the horse sees from the left eye won’t necessarily translate to the right side.

 How long this process takes varies greatly from horse to horse, from five minutes to 5 weeks, but after a while the horse will let you approach with the bag. Use the length of the whip to stay out of harms way and stay toward the horses shoulder where you won’t be run over. Begin to touch the horse lightly with the bag and when he tries to flee, follow him around the pen until he stops again and faces you. Repeat this process until the horse allows you to touch him all along his body with the bag .

Next I move to a paper feed bag. These are light to work with and make a lot of noise, but do not hurt at all. I start in the round pen holding the horse with a halter and lead rope and begin moving the bag around. As the horse tries to move away from the bag I pull him in a circle around me and keep the bag moving until he stands and accepts the bag touching him. Once that is achieved you can begin   gradually increasing the movement and speed of the bag until it is popping loudly on the horse. Be sure not to increase more than the horse can cope with. Remember you want to gain confidence not frighten.  
 

Brendan Brown is an AQHA, NSBA judge and trainer from Gainesville Texas. We would like to thank Brendan for his time in writing this article for us!