We have been developing scentwork detection with equines since 2021, with our own courses gaining accreditation from UK Rural Skills so that we can teach other owners to train their own equines.
Our Scentwork started with a conversation between us and Veterans In Communities where we found a specialist dog trainer who was interested in working with us to explore the talent of equines in this sphere. So once a week, weather permitting, we work together on the equines, starting from understanding the range of smells attractive to the individual horse, to ‘runaways’ in the car park and yard, scent detection in the arena, on the bridleway and fields. The training starts in hand for a consderable length of time and requires a new model of leadership to be used, where the horse has autonomy to lead, but the handler can redirect the horse away from hazards and complete a thorough methodical search of an area.
We have equines working both in hand and ridden, covering several acres of field or up to a mile of bridleway. A typical search will involve locating 5 hidden artefacts, food or people in a limited time. Training sessions develop the horse into further scent detection, for example moving from an enclosed arena to a wider space, working on grass, on hard surfaces, with distractions etc.