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HorseAdvice.com » Training, Behavior, & Conditioning Horses » Behavioral Problems » Spooky Horse Under Saddle » |
Discussion on Horse Spooks at oncoming horses | |
Author | Message |
New Member: 9193 |
Posted on Tuesday, Jul 1, 2003 - 2:03 am: Hello, I recently purchased a 13year old TB gelding as a first horse for my 12year old daughter and as a horse for myself to get back into riding after a 30 year hiatus. He is a calm, easy going horse with excellent ground manners and has had training that enables us to do backing, side stepping and lateral moves. He is a bit rusty on these manuvers but we are all in training to learn how to communicate with each other.Our problem is this: Our new boarding stable has a huge covered riding arena. Our previous boarding stable and the stable we bought him from had much smaller arenas so everybody always went in the same direction when sharing the space. Two weeks ago, my daughter was riding in the huge arena when another horse cantered by on the outside rail while my daughter was trotting in a smaller circle in the opposite direction in the middle of the arena. When the horse on the rail was opposite my daughter, our horse threw his head up and bolted away from the other horse. He has since done this three times. If another horse is coming in the opposite direction at a trot or a canter and our horse is trotting or cantering, he will try to duck away from the oncoming horse as if he is trying to avoid a collision. If our horse is standing still or just walking he will stay steady in the face on oncoming traffic, but any thing faster seems to unnerve him. How can we help him overcome this fear? I would like to desensitize him without putting my daughter in harms way with the ducking and bolting that he is capable of doing. He must learn to tolerate horses going in the opposite direction because there can be up to five other horses in this arena working out at the same time. Any thoughts or suggestions are very much appreciated. BTW: He is fed grass hay twice a day with a supplement of LMF for lunch and is turned out three to four times a week in pasture. My daughter and I ride him four to five times a week in the arena and out on surrounding trails. He is pretty calm except for the above mentioned problem. Debra Dove |
Member: Hwood |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 3, 2003 - 10:35 am: Dear Debra,I have been waiting to see some responses to your dilemma . . . I'm not sure I can give you any solutions, but I can tell you what I would try if it were my horse. Since you now know that this horse is going to react in such a manner when someone is coming toward him in the arena, keep one step ahead of him and put him to major work before the ducking and bolting can occur. By "major work" I mean, circle him to the inside of the ring and bring him back around to the outside track several times as the other horses continue along the outside track. Ask him for some halts, forwards, side-passing, leg yielding, and just keep focused on him . . . forget the other horses . . . let the other riders worry about them. Just focus on your horse and on how he is responding to your cues. Keep consistent and focused and don't give in to any of his shenanigans. If he spooks, put him right back at the spot where he spooked and ask again for the move you wanted . . . and just keep on keeping on . . . . The only real problem I forsee is that your daughter might not have the upper body/arm strength to hold him to the moves she is requesting . . . so the horse will feel as if he "escaped" from being asked to perform for her, but she should just keep her cool and go back to the place at which he spooked and ask again. Don't forget to praise when he listens. Also, before the other horses get to the space that makes your horse feel that he needs to escape, ask for "forward" however you are used to asking (both verbally and physically) and don't settle for anything less than what you are asking. It may take a stronger rider than your daughter to help school this horse from this habit, but as she develops her upper body strength, deep seat and one-rein maneuver, she can help him face his fear. . . . and he will learn that it is okay for other horses to come toward him. I just thought of something else that might work . . . actually two things . . . Have the horse's pasture buddy be one of the horses coming toward him, and allow them to stand and "fellowship" for awhile . . . each time around . . . This could turn into a bad habit, to have him stop and chat with the horses that are coming toward him, but I am only looking at it is a step in the fear-calming process. Also, you'd have to think about this, and know your own strength and confidence and whether or not this is an unsafe proposition, but what about leading him from another horse as other horses approach and pass him? Maybe the combination of a strong arm holding a lead and a strong rider on his back will keep him facing and not turning to run. Whatever you chose to do, just be patient and consistent and don't give up!!! He seems like such a good horse in other ways, so I'd really put the time and effort into fixing this odd behavior. Best to you, Holly |
Member: Cassey |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 3, 2003 - 5:03 pm: Hi Debra,Gosh, when a horse is afraid, he thinks he's reacting to protect himself, right? He's not being bad or stubborn, he's afraid. I like the sound of Holly's suggestion of the pasture buddy as a training aid, seems like a gentle way to desensitize him without forcing him to face his fear. Think of it this way; all you folks (that includes me) afraid of heights...what if I forced you up a high ladder and told you to get over being afraid? Don't know about you but I'd probably throw up and then fall off and end up even more afraid. I bet there are many ways to work with this wonderful sounding horse to help him get over his phobia and this board is just the place to find them. There are some good articles discussing training issues, as well; I don't think this specific issue is addressed, but they can help you come up with ideas. Good luck }(from one who's horse used to be petrified of fly spray and being hosed down) |
Member: 9193 |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 3, 2003 - 6:15 pm: Dear Holly and Mr. Barry,Thankyou both for your time and thoughtful suggestions. Since I posted this problem, I have been in contact with a trainer at our stable who recognized this behavior and has had experience dealing with and helping several other horses overcome the same problem. She has seen this problem in TB and QH that have had some racing experience in their past. Justin has the tatoo on his lip, but I have not been able to deduce any racing in his past. The theory is that perhaps at a young age he had a bad experience that frightened him and as long as he has a rider on that he feels confident will not let him get "hurt" then he is able to deal with the experience. My daughter has had lessons twice a week for almost two years, so I call her a novice rider, but certainly not experienced. I rode for years when I had horses as a kid, but it has been a while since I have been able to ride regularly. He has two scars on his left knee and back cannon bone that were the result of an "accident" in his past,but his previous owner can tell me nothing more. He was a show jumper for about seven years and then a series of unfortunate ownership problems that had nothing to do with him relegated him to pasture before he was bought by his previous owner. She miscalculated how much time a horse takes with small kids, part time job and household, so again he was not ridden very often for the last three years. When I bought him three months ago he was underwieght, and viewing the world in black and white. He was still a gentleman and performed so honestly and has such an affectionate nature that we bought him after three days of visiting and playing with him. He has now gained about a 100lbs and is a gorgeous chestnut with lovely manners both on the ground and riding to match. I will share these suggestions with our trainer and I am comfortable that with time, patience, and as both my daughter and I get our riding abilities improved we can help our Justin learn that we will not let him get "hurt" and give him the confidence he needs to overcome this quirk. I will be happy to keep our progress posted as the summer goes by. Thank you again for your time and concern. Take Care, Debra |
Member: Lorid |
Posted on Monday, Apr 10, 2006 - 8:28 pm: Hi. It seems my Morgan has the same fear of oncoming horses. He's okay if standing still, and even at the walk, but at the trot (I haven't even tried it at the canter), he tries to turn around and go the other way. If you let him, he will spin when he gets anxious and I try very hard to give him leg and push him thru whatever it is that he fears. He doesn't bolt (not yet anyway), just will spin. Because of this, I am a little scared to take him outside on our big track (the size of a football field), but I am dying to do this! We have a large indoor ring and two large outside rings and I have only ridden him in the indoor and outside rings. When I first got him a little over year ago, he was much spookier and is better now. He's afraid of the hose and of the bug spray bottle too.The other day, I was riding him in the outside ring, and there was a small cluster of spring bugs. Every time we passed them, he lowered his butt and skipped a few steps. At first, I couldn't figure out why he was doing that, but then I saw the bugs and it made me chuckle. He was so afraid of them! But if I fed in any way off of that, he would have tried to spin, but I didn't let him. My question is how do I get him desensitized to oncoming horses, while under saddle, so he doesn't spin on me unexpectedly? I definitely think it is a confidence issue, but how do I know that he won't just explode on me one day and bolt, especially if I'm out of my safety zone (the ring)? |
Member: Sureed |
Posted on Tuesday, Apr 11, 2006 - 1:15 pm: I folks,My OTTTB had the same problem, whirling and bucking with oncoming horses. I am in professional training and so relied on my trainer to help him work out of this dangerous habit. After she got him pretty reliable I was able to use the techniques and ride him in the exercises myself. It takes the cooperation of someone on another horse and lots of repetition. I think using a pasture buddy is a great idea. The person on the contrary horse must be strong enough to put the contrary horse back into motion on the circle. Starting slowly and working up with the two horses working in circles going counter to each other, walk and then trot with big reward (stroking not patting) each time your horse successfully passes the other. You can also start the circles so the horses are not passing too closely and then allow to them be passing closer to each other as the contrary horse gains confidence. Not until the contrary horse is feeling confident at each gait should you move to the next one. Once the circles are going well, then you can alternate and have the horses go around the arena once and then do circles that cause them to pass each other head on. Again, do each gait successively. We accomplished this by putting two barrels 60 feet apart and 30 feet out from the sides along the side of the arena. Both horses travel in the same direction and when the first gets to the first barrel, it circles and then moves to the next barrel to circle, the following horse does the same. This brings the two horses into passing each other head on. Once your horse is comfortable with this exercise you can move the barrels, and therefore the circles, a little closer together. This exercise should be done routinely but not until the horse is warmed up and has expended some of its fresh energy. I also wonder if your horse would benefit from the Parelli squeeze game on the ground. In this game you ask the horse (on a 12 foot lead) to pass between two objects (barrels, barrel and the fence), that are pushed closer together once the horse has passed through the larger opening in a relaxed mode. This is a real confidence builder for trailering and tight situations that you might get into out on the trail as well. Hope this helps. Good Luck. Suzanne |
Member: Lorid |
Posted on Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 - 12:20 pm: Suzanne.....I'm so sorry it took me so long to respond to your excellent advice. I have had such a busy work week!I am going to work on this using your great advice. It is very logical and I think it will work. He has no problem at the walk, but at the trot it is a different story. He does not have a pasture buddy, so I will have a trainer at my barn ride her horse simultaneously when I ride Nate. We will go slow and hopefully this will work. Again, thank you ever so much! Take care, Lori |
Member: Sureed |
Posted on Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 - 2:58 pm: No problem. Credit goes to my trainer who devised this system. I hope it works for you. Let us know!Suzanne |
Member: Oscarvv |
Posted on Friday, Apr 14, 2006 - 7:12 am: No coffee...deleted.-B |