A question for those of you who deal with issues in horses

[Slightlyconfused]

Right bit of back story, got two new ones three months ago straight from breeder. Have known breeder for years and know they produce solid horses temperament wise.

They are full brothers 8 and 10. The 10 yr old is the more nervous one, the 8 yr old just got on with things. Been doing a lot with the 10 year old to get confidence and he is a little gem but as 8 yr old came a cross as solid we still rode him but didn't push him as we did the 10 yr old.

Now que Friday and go out on the roads with 8 year old, all fine except when a motorbike or anything bigger than a transit van comes towards him he turns and walks the other way until they pass then turns back again, cars are no problem.
Took him out on roads again tonight ( he has had field and school work since) and the first bike he saw he turnt and ran the other way.
The bleep bleep biker didn't stop or slow down but was he was past him horse stopped and came back to me and the lami who just stood and waited.
Next saw a tuckwell driver so we put horse in a gateway with lami and I on the road side and two ditches either side thinking is I was near the road he would be okay........nope freaked out and tried to run but little 15hh lami stood rock still and tried not to let 16:3 tank past.

Third and last time saw another motorbike but this time he slowed down, horse still freaked as we put him in a gateway and lami horse blocking the way, sister and I locked legs and horse tried to get round the back of lami, once the bike had gone he was fine.


He can cope with them coming up behind him no problem it's when they come towards him that he freaks, it doesn't matter that lami doesn't care and doesn't react he doesn't stay with him and just ******* off. Once they are past him he is back to being a dope on a rope.


So any advice would be helpful on how you would deal with it.

Have already spoken to breeder and she said they never had any of these problems and says maybe just try to keep hacking him to help him get past it.
That's what my sister thinks we can do.
We can also get my dad in the lorry to come towards us round the village and will ask a friend to borrow her hubby and his motorbike.........anything else?

 

[Spring Feather]

Any of our youngsters who show any concern about traffic are ponied out. I take them on a lead from my cattle horse who is superbly trained and will do whatever I ask without question. I trot the whole way and keep the attention of the youngster . After only one or two ponying sessions out on the road they are totally different horses. I just don't give them time to think, keep them moving at a good decent speed and voila, next time they go out with a rider they're fine. I can't be doing with horses who aren't good in traffic, not that we ever have to ride on roads if we don't want to but I do think it's something that horses should be very proficient at dealing with. Before I sell my older youngsters they all ride out on the busy main roads and by that time none of them bat an eyelid and are used to huge trucks zooming past them and motorbikes etc.

 

[be positive]

It sounds as if every time you meet something coming towards him you have allowed him to turn and walk away so it goes past from behind, now he is not happy to even stand and watch in a gateway since he ran from the bike which didn't stop, you need to stop allowing him to turn away from things so he gradually accepts them coming towards him.
I would find a safe place where you can stand and meet traffic, start in the yard with the friend on the bike until he relaxes and is happy to face up to the bike there before trying on the roads, he needs to build up his confidence and learn to stand quietly in a gateway so vehicles can pass without him having a meltdown, it takes time to get there, once they have learnt to turn and run the flight instinct is being reinforced every time they do it.
General schooling will help, teaching leg yield so you can control his quarters is something I find really helpful when holding a horse in a difficult situation, praise once they have relaxed.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

It sounds as if every time you meet something coming towards him you have allowed him to turn and walk away so it goes past from behind, now he is not happy to even stand and watch in a gateway since he ran from the bike which didn't stop, you need to stop allowing him to turn away from things so he gradually accepts them coming towards him.
I would find a safe place where you can stand and meet traffic, start in the yard with the friend on the bike until he relaxes and is happy to face up to the bike there before trying on the roads, he needs to build up his confidence and learn to stand quietly in a gateway so vehicles can pass without him having a meltdown, it takes time to get there, once they have learnt to turn and run the flight instinct is being reinforced every time they do it.
General schooling will help, teaching leg yield so you can control his quarters is something I find really helpful when holding a horse in a difficult situation, praise once they have relaxed.

Thank you.....through will have to disagree about letting him do it as he is a tank, locks his neck and before you know it has turned the other way. He is ridden out in a snaffle.
In every other way he is perfect have no other complaints with him.

 

[Marydoll]

Any of our youngsters who show any concern about traffic are ponied out. I take them on a lead from my cattle horse who is superbly trained and will do whatever I ask without question. I trot the whole way and keep the attention of the youngster . After only one or two ponying sessions out on the road they are totally different horses. I just don't give them time to think, keep them moving at a good decent speed and voila, next time they go out with a rider they're fine. I can't be doing with horses who aren't good in traffic, not that we ever have to ride on roads if we don't want to but I do think it's something that horses should be very proficient at dealing with. Before I sell my older youngsters they all ride out on the busy main roads and by that time none of them bat an eyelid and are used to huge trucks zooming past them and motorbikes etc.

Agree with this, ^^^^if theyre busy looking and thinking where theyre needing to put their feet it can give them something else to think about and reduce the likelihood of tension and a freak out.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Any of our youngsters who show any concern about traffic are ponied out. I take them on a lead from my cattle horse who is superbly trained and will do whatever I ask without question. I trot the whole way and keep the attention of the youngster . After only one or two ponying sessions out on the road they are totally different horses. I just don't give them time to think, keep them moving at a good decent speed and voila, next time they go out with a rider they're fine. I can't be doing with horses who aren't good in traffic, not that we ever have to ride on roads if we don't want to but I do think it's something that horses should be very proficient at dealing with. Before I sell my older youngsters they all ride out on the busy main roads and by that time none of them bat an eyelid and are used to huge trucks zooming past them and motorbikes etc.

Thank you will give this a try.

 

[weebarney]

My youngster is doing this exact thing. It doesnt matter whether he is in his own or has a steady companion he still reacts. He is Fine when traffic comes from behind but has meltdown and tries to run away when approached head on. First it was just lorries, then he did it with a motor bike when a friend was on him and recently it is now cars as well. So I have had enough and next week he's off to a professional yard situated beside some of the busiest roads around.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

My youngster is doing this exact thing. It doesnt matter whether he is in his own or has a steady companion he still reacts. He is Fine when traffic comes from behind but has meltdown and tries to run away when approached head on. First it was just lorries, then he did it with a motor bike when a friend was on him and recently it is now cars as well. So I have had enough and next week he's off to a professional yard situated beside some of the busiest roads around.

Hope he gets sorted.

 

[be positive]

Thank you.....through will have to disagree about letting him do it as he is a tank, locks his neck and before you know it has turned the other way. He is ridden out in a snaffle.
In every other way he is perfect have no other complaints with him.

You may think you have not allowed it to happen but by accepting his turning even the once you have allowed it to become a habit that he is now taking further, however big or strong he may be he should not take it upon himself to decide what he wants to do. I would make him stop next time and turn back immediately to face the way he was going as long as the driver is prepared to wait, otherwise it can escalate until he really turns and runs.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

You may think you have not allowed it to happen but by accepting his turning even the once you have allowed it to become a habit that he is now taking further, however big or strong he may be he should not take it upon himself to decide what he wants to do. I would make him stop next time and turn back immediately to face the way he was going as long as the driver is prepared to wait, otherwise it can escalate until he really turns and runs.

Tonight with the first motorbike he just went from walking nicely, saw motorbike lock neck spin and run back the other way with sister pulling as hard as she could to turn him back the way he came. There was no warming, just motorbike appearing and then spin and gone. The driver of the motorbike didn't wait, didn't slowdown, didn't stop to see if she was okay he just sped up and kept going, the tuckwell drive didn't slow until I started to get pissy with him and the last bike slowed on his own.

Once he set his neck he just turns.....sister is going to teach him one rein stops. It helped the tb in a different matter but it also might just get him to listen to that too.

 

[Spring Feather]

If the horse is working properly with a confident rider on board, it shouldn't really have much time to even think about faffing around OP :smile3: keep him occupied, don't dilly dally around the lanes. Or move him to a livery yard which has fields alongside a busy main road.

 

[weebarney]

I do have to agree that getting them going forward in a good trot is a really good way to deal with this issue, I watch the driving people training their horses and they will send them forwards in trot at all costs.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

If the horse is working properly with a confident rider on board, it shouldn't really have much time to even think about faffing around OP :smile3: keep him occupied, don't dilly dally around the lanes. Or move him to a livery yard which has fields alongside a busy main road.

We are on a busy livery yard, the fields we hack round are next to,busy roads, the main yard sees a lot of farm traffic he doesn't bat an eye to.
My sister is a very confidant rider.
Will give the trotting towards traffic and just push him on a go, as his breeder said she has never had a problem him so could just be that he is trying to play up or just needs to to more forceful than we are used to being as our others (bar the tb who just plain doesn't do heaving traffic) just get on with it.

Thank you

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I do have to agree that getting them going forward in a good trot is a really good way to deal with this issue, I watch the driving people training their horses and they will send them forwards in trot at all costs.

Going to do this, as I put above maybe he just needs more grr than my others

 

[Queenbee]

I completely agree with SF... Occupy his brain with something else so he doesn't have time to question. When my old mare was being backed by her previous owners they rode her along a road and some guy came around the corner, came off his bike and the bike skidded past ebs, now this was a bad enough experience as it was but damned if the same thing didn't happen to her a week or so later only reinforcing that motorbikes were scary as hell

This was never addressed by the previous owners and fast forward a couple of years and I was told about these incidents at the time of purchase, they claimed it would never be fixed

What was worse was that my little mare, 7 when I bought her had only hacked out once or twice a month, mostly on the same quiet lanes, minimal traffic, and they had ridden her with her head turned to the hedge 'because traffic scared her!'

I found that working ebony did help shift her focus and whilst she was wary of bikes she could tolerate the small bikes with considerate riders - just. The breakthrough came when I decided to introduce her to more 'heavy' traffic, when riding through a local village she was so focused on watching the scary white road markings (she had never seen before) and not being eaten by them that she ignored all traffic, her brain energy had nothing left to give to spooks and freak outs! Then I heard the roar of a bleeding big bike and I can remember it now... My stomach lurched, I'm sat there waiting for a reaction from her but it never came... The white lines were far more interesting . From that day forward I ALWAYS diverted her focus and have her some form of work to 'drain her' of her nervous reactions around bigger vehicles and motorbikes.

Gradually she became better and better, at our last ride before she fell ill, we rode through helston on one of the busiest days of the year, we went past the fairground in full swing, rode along the main thoroughfare and must have met all forms of scary vehicles known to man. With time and patience they absolutely can get over their fears, but they must be guided to face them in a controlled manner.

I'm not a fan of changing up a level bit wise unless its needed, however I would suggest that since this fear is giving you control issues, for the moment you invest in something a bit stronger so it makes it harder to tank off with you. This is by no means a 'fix it' for the issue, but it will certainly make it easier to control him while you get him over the issue and thus make fixing the issue a bit easier too. He absolutely can't be allowed to tank off with you and pull you where he wants to go. It's simply rude and isn't going to solve anything, in actual fact that in itself will more than likely become an issue and a bad habit if not put a stop to now. Snaffles are great, but only for the job they are supposed to do. One of my favourite sayings is that the harshes bit in a horses mouth can be the snaffle. If you are having such a fight with him and having to use extra force to stop/control him, all this is being administered by the oh so gentle snaffle. Use something that is a bit stronger and your battle won't be quite so hard.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I completely agree with SF... Occupy his brain with something else so he doesn't have time to question. When my old mare was being backed by her previous owners they rode her along a road and some guy came around the corner, came off his bike and the bike skidded past ebs, now this was a bad enough experience as it was but damned if the same thing didn't happen to her a week or so later only reinforcing that motorbikes were scary as hell

This was never addressed by the previous owners and fast forward a couple of years and I was told about these incidents at the time of purchase, they claimed it would never be fixed

What was worse was that my little mare, 7 when I bought her had only hacked out once or twice a month, mostly on the same quiet lanes, minimal traffic, and they had ridden her with her head turned to the hedge 'because traffic scared her!'

I found that working ebony did help shift her focus and whilst she was wary of bikes she could tolerate the small bikes with considerate riders - just. The breakthrough came when I decided to introduce her to more 'heavy' traffic, when riding through a local village she was so focused on watching the scary white road markings (she had never seen before) and not being eaten by them that she ignored all traffic, her brain energy had nothing left to give to spooks and freak outs! Then I heard the roar of a bleeding big bike and I can remember it now... My stomach lurched, I'm sat there waiting for a reaction from her but it never came... The white lines were far more interesting . From that day forward I ALWAYS diverted her focus and have her some form of work to 'drain her' of her nervous reactions around bigger vehicles and motorbikes.

Gradually she became better and better, at our last ride before she fell ill, we rode through helston on one of the busiest days of the year, we went past the fairground in full swing, rode along the main thoroughfare and must have met all forms of scary vehicles known to man. With time and patience they absolutely can get over their fears, but they must be guided to face them in a controlled manner.

I'm not a fan of changing up a level bit wise unless its needed, however I would suggest that since this fear is giving you control issues, for the moment you invest in something a bit stronger so it makes it harder to tank off with you. This is by no means a 'fix it' for the issue, but it will certainly make it easier to control him while you get him over the issue and thus make fixing the issue a bit easier too. He absolutely can't be allowed to tank off with you and pull you where he wants to go. It's simply rude and isn't going to solve anything, in actual fact that in itself will more than likely become an issue and a bad habit if not put a stop to now. Snaffles are great, but only for the job they are supposed to do. One of my favourite sayings is that the harshes bit in a horses mouth can be the snaffle. If you are having such a fight with him and having to use extra force to stop/control him, all this is being administered by the oh so gentle snaffle. Use something that is a bit stronger and your battle won't be quite so hard.

Thanks QB, and thinking about changing bit anyway to something with a sweet iron in.

He was much better this morning, lami horse was up front with him and a friends beast was behind us and tho he freaked when the tuck well gig came towards us and then a buss straight after he didn't turn and ****** off, sister just rammed her legs on and told him to get foreword and he did after she blocked his trying to turn.

As it was morning traffic too he did fab.

 

[cheeryplatypus]

I've not dealt with your exact problem but do have a horse who will set his neck and spin off.
The thing I've found is that when this happens he hasn't 'given' me control of his quarters beforehand. If you can control the quarters and keep the neck soft it may buy you some more time so he cannot react as fast. I spend the entire time hacking checking his neck is soft (he always sets the same side) by feeling the contact. If he has locked it I will ask for some sideways (yielding etc) until he gives again. The neck setting is rude, try to keep his attention while hacking if possible to keep safer.

I guess a good going trot is the same, controlling the quarters