A little advice please?...

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hannah_karina

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I have just started sharing a cob who i am having loads of fun with. However, he is not great with big traffic...(ie. Tractors, lorries etc.) he will see it and start walking backwards. this isnt a huge issue when we are hacking with company as the other horse will over-take him and he will walk behind them. however when he is on his own this obviously cant happen. The issue is-the more you kick etc. the more he goes backwards, is there anything else i can do? i really want to be able to go out on our own and not worry about knocking his confidence and going back to square one as he is better then he was with big traffic!

what do all you helpful people suggest?

sorry that it is so long!!
 
Hi,
my horse is like that she can't cope with big traffic, so to give her confidence out on the roads i only ride out when it is quiet.
Sat and Sun mornings are the best times and when she gets more confident i will ride out at other times.
Hope this helps.
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Is it possible for you to just get off him and walk him past the big scary horse eating tractor and then get back on him? I know a few people that will do this with unconfident horses.
 
Can you make it stand? My piny (who I've had 14 years) is a git for this and I don't think he's improved with age, well he has in the fact they can come passed him (although he's better if they pass from behind, he doesn't get a chance to see it first!). You are supposed to make them walk backwards if they do this until they stop then ask them to walk forwards again. However, this has no alwasy worked with mine and sometimes he will just NOT go the way i want and will NOT pass something he is scared of. i have worked out a way for him though that seems to work every time. i actually ask him to reverse past the scary object be it bus or scary bag whatever! bizarrely it works for him and it seems to calm him and, as soon as he's reversed past we can turn round and carry on!

Some horses are strange animals, it think with mine it comes down to him bheing claustrophobic as he is fine if we are on a busy main road it is just the narrow lanes he panics on as if he's judged it and thinks there is no way enough room for him. The best thing to do is just stay calm. If all else fails, get off and lead him past. Do not let him 'win' by reversing away from the object/vehicle. Sounds like is a confidence issue with him as much as anything.
 
Roads are not really the place for schooling it's too dangerous. Can you take him some where safe where there are tractors to desensitize him? You can do ground work to help instill confidence in you hopefully he'll then trust you when you say it is OK. I've found in the past that if I remain calm on a loose contact and allow the horse to asses the situation they will often sort themselves out. Don't permit backing off or turning because that'll lead to napping/spinning round but let the horse stand looking at the monster and wait, forcing them past can panic them and make it worse. Then praise any good behaviour. Sometimes this works sometimes it doesn't but maybe worth a try?
 
you could practice on a yard thats got big things and tractors, each horse has its own comfort zone and when a horse goes through its comfort zone it tends to panic, see if you can find your horses comfort zone around the yard, when you have found it, ask for a bit more then turn back , and keep repeating untill the horse can pass the monster and still be in its comfort zone, remember plenty of praise and soft voices,
 
My pony is like this, goes backwards! sometimes he does a 180 degree spin back home!
What I do first is put my hand up and make the vehicle stop by putting my hand up
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( farmers etc are usually very good)
Then I put my leg on remembering not to pull him a the same time. With a bit of "get on with it you silly horse" he will usually go past...but sideways and quickly!
I would not advise getting off, strong horses are easier to control when on top of them!
 
My little mare was exactly like this. She just could not tollerate large vehicles.

I would always insist that the vehicle stopped, and would ask for the engine to be turned off. Providing the road was wide enough she would walk past, albeit nervously. If the road wasn't particularly wide I would actually either turn off the road if poss, or turn around until I was in a suitably wide part of the road for us to pass each other safely (again asking for the engine to be turned off).

Amy never got any better and taking a firm attitude just made matters worse - she was genuinly frightened.

DO NOT GET OFF the horse - it is incredibly dangerous thing to do. And most people driving the larger vehicle are very sympathetic to the problem you are experiencing.
 
Do you have a place you can school the horse, even if it is in a field for 10/15 mins before you ride out?

I would make sure the horse is moving off your leg well in the school and that you have him moving forward into a soft contact and hes listening. If you can achieve this then take him for a ride and make sure you have him like this the moment you leave the yard.

Be a relaxed, positive rider, try not to worry about what traffic may/may not come around the corner. I sometimes do a few steps of leg yield left and right down a quiet, empty strech of road to make sure my horse is listening to me and that shes moving away from my leg. When a car comes past your then so much more in control, your horse should be much more willing to move forward when you say and to step to the side when you say. Again make sure you have a soft contact and your relaxed!

If something big and scary comes along, put your hand up and slow them down/make them stop. If there is not enough room for you to saftley pass or your horse starts feeling tense, quietly turn him round/ walk him on and find a lay-by, gateway etc. let him stand facing the lorry and calmly pat him, talk to him and thank the lorry. If he jumps a bit or starts top back up you should have a little more space.

In my experience with this, I find the horse can worry that they dont have the space to be safe. Its like a huge, scary mostor coming at them head on, and of course they're going to want to go backwards! Be the horses leader, be confident so he can trust you, dont get emotional, be cool and calm.

Good luck
 
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walk him on and find a lay-by, gateway etc

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I would never do this - as there is no escape route. You are much safer asking the vehicle to stop so that you can pass them, rather than the other way round.

A panicked horse will try and find an escape route - even if there is physcially not enough room - and the result could be catastrophic.
 
I always felt like getting off and leading him was sort of getting his way and i didnt want to back down. I'm not worried about it, however his owner is, which means that i can do all i want but it can all go down the pan as i am not the sole rider!

Thank you for all your advise!! Much appreciated!
 
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I always felt like getting off and leading him was sort of getting his way and i didnt want to back down

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It has nothing to do with the horse getting his own way - it's about recognsing what the problem is and dealing with it appropriately. Horses simply don't think like that.

Good luck - the important thing is to remain safe.
 
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