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Discussion on Help ! no control after spook
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Richard Quinlan
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 3, 2000 - 11:12 pm: |   |
I have a 7 y/o arab gelding that I am having more excitement than I care to have. I have had him two months. He has been professionally trained by a Parelli advocate. On the ground he is a wonderful performer. I have been using the fine rope halters on him and at walks or trots he responds quickly to leads and stops. The problems come when he spooks , birds , confusion , he goes into full speed run mode , when this happens I cannnot turn him , slow him , it is look for a soft place to land time. This happened with his past owner. I have been given advice from put a hackamore on him to buy more life insurance. Any advice on how to approach this, on ground , in saddle , with tack changes. My gut feel is to try a lot of repetitive stop / go in a controlled and soft area with some diversions i.e. barrels,any help will make the knot on my head and my trashed shoulder feel much better. |
Eva B. Orndoff
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2000 - 12:32 am: | |
Are you trying to ride him in the halter?
Anyhow, on to the spooking Arabian. Seven isn't very old (mature) for the breed. Two months is not a long time to have had an Arabian (or any horse). Just as you have to get to know them, they have to get to know you.
Is he kept at home? How often do you spend time with him? Do you have an arena available to use for ground work and riding? Does he have sufficient turnout?
At my house--I have two Arabian geldings--I find it helps to set up scarey stuff for the youngsters that they can encounter during turnout, i.e. plastic bags, helium balloons, umbrellas, etc. Pretty soon, they just say "ho hum." We have lots of birds around too--including the neighbor's peacocks. You can't anticipate everything they're ever going to see, but they do become more sophisticated via this route, and best of all, nobody gets hurt.
Here's what I'd do before I went to the Bigger Bit method of horse training. #1. Stop feeding him any sweet feed (if you are). #2. Make sure that he gets plenty of turnout--24/7 is ideal, but most of us can't do that. #3. Find a safe, enclosed place to ride. #4. Set up challenges for him in this safe place (one at a time, please). If he won't stop in the arena, he's sure not going to stop out on the trail. #5. Get to know your horse--lead him around (inside)the perimeter of your property. Stop and look at stuff. All this helps. Good luck. |
Cheryl Anderson
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2000 - 8:44 am: | |
Hi Richard,
I agree with everything Eva has said. In addition you might want to think about some leadership issues. Remember that the horse looks (or should look) to you and to other horses to provide leadership, and consequently to assess the risks in the environment. You can use this to work through the problem (I did).
1) Are you riding alone or with other 'less exciting' horses/riders? Sometimes having old Dobbin along side (or in front) helps keep your horse calmer and allows him the space to learn his surroundings in a less threatening environment.
Understand that the horse is trusting YOU to evaluate/deal with scary things. If you freak out, so will he. On that note ...
2)What is your attitude when you start a ride? Is it 'Gee here we go for a nice ride' or is it 'I wonder how he is going to dump me this time and how much is it going to hurt?'. If you are worried/nervous, the horse will be too.
3) What are you looking at as you ride? Are you focussing on those branches waving (or whatever) and thinking 'better be careful, because the horse may spook at that!'. This kind of thinking is a self-fulfilling prophecy! If you must look at the object, then LOOK AWAY,and be BORED. Keep your head up! (You will also stay on a little better.)
4) Are you breathing? If not, then you are tense. Your horse will be too. Whistle, hum, talk you yourself, talk to your horse, recite poetry (there were some of limericks posted recently ...) or even sing if you dare! Just keep breathing.
Good luck! |
Daisy Bicking
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2000 - 10:19 am: | |
Richard,
I would recommend that you look into some of John Lyons training methods.
He has numerous books/videos, etc. out that deal with exactly what you are describing.
I think the problem is that your training isn't strong enough to overcome the distractions that are going on around your horse! Obviously his instincts are to flee when he sees something that is scary or startling to him, however John teaches that we should train our horse to a specific cue that he will respond to in ANY situation. The cue he teaches in your situation is called the "calm down" cue. It involves teaching your horse to lower his head on cue while you are in the saddle (or not). And obviously, a horse with a low head is not a horse that's fleeing or freaking out! You have to teach it SO well that when he sees something and wants to run, you ask him to lower his head and before you know it he's listening to you and relaxed and not paying any attention to that scary thing!
It's pretty neat stuff, and I'll tell you....it works REALLY well on my 9 yr old Arab gelding!
Daisy |
Pamela Griffin
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2000 - 10:33 am: | |
My 7 yo Arab gelding sometimes bolts after a spook, too. Basically I stop him with brute force, then make him turn around and go back to the spot where he spooked. However, in addition to the above suggestions, he is much less apt to do this when he is exercised 7 days a week, without fail - if not ridden, then lunged. Turn-out alone does not help him - he lives in a huge pen and doesn't really get out his excess energy when turned out. He just rolls in the sand! |
Richard Quinlan
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 4, 2000 - 9:01 pm: | |
Thanks for all the good advice. This horse is a tireless worker and really wants to please. At slow speeds he is wonderful. He is in pasture 24/7 and is given much attention every day, a 1200 lb dog might be a good description. The feed issue is valid , had him on strategy through the winter and after the other day decided he didn't need anymore energy.. I don't think fear is an issue, I'm pretty calm even in the out of control situations, I read your responses today at work and tonight worked him at high speed in the round pen on a long line. I saw on the ground what happened. At speed he would not stop initialy , as we worked further he started turning his hind quarter to stop and a little further into it began planting quickly. I think I need to start at zero with him on the ground at speed and then move into a small high fence area we have.In listening to your advice and thinking this through it seems that he has skills at low activity but not at high activity. Eva , Cheryl ,Daisy & Pamela , thanks for the feedback.I'll try hin in saddle again after a few weeks of ground work , when he's stirring up dust on his stops , and when my shoulder heals up "ouch" I'll let you know how this is going. Thanks again
Richard |
Richard Quinlan
| | Posted on Saturday, May 20, 2000 - 9:05 am: | |
A little update , Bailey is noe the most behaved and best performer in the herd. This horse put his last owner in the hospital with a broken pelvis and messed me up pretty good for about a month. ... but I spent that time reworking all of his ground work and did make the switch to a light mechanical hackamore for control. This kind of fits some of the discussion between old style and natural horsemanship. He had the trust and loved to work but in saddle and out in the big scary world he would freak. I looked at a lot of hacks and found a very lightweight setup, most are huge , the moment I put it on him the mood he displayed was a 100% turnaround , he knew that someone was in control and he didn't have to worry anymore , in the lunge ring it took pressure to get a trot , and due to four solid weeks of ground work he moves on voice , stops on voice and has more cues he can listen and respond to. I am just amazed at the turnaround. We are working at speed now and as I increase the complexity and speed he has not failed once. We still spook but now we take two steps and look and settle right down. Its so cool !so for all who get tossed , hurt , or other , step back , work again , and the craziest horse can turn into an all-star.I must add that it takes a very light hand for this hack and we have to give the obligatory nose massage when done !
Thanks for the advice as this site has been a tremendous resource. |
Zoe English
| | Posted on Saturday, May 20, 2000 - 6:23 pm: | |
Rich, which hackamore did you choose, and where did you get it? |
Richard Quinlan
| | Posted on Sunday, May 21, 2000 - 12:20 am: | |
Zoe ,
Read your profile , I thought two horses would be enough , but now all the kids come home every day , I need more !
On the hack .it is a no name , sets up in a normal headstall , is has a steel cable with a braided leather wrap , about 3/8 in diameter , if you look for these you will see these Godzilla ones that are about 5/8' diameter. You will have to buy a curb chain , I took one off a bit. I am probably going to cover this one in sheepskin pretty quick !I think I paid in the range of $30.00 for the hack . If you need one and can't find there , holler!
By the way we went out and played cow pony today at full gallop . hoooo , hoooo ! |
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