Advice for getting my girl used to traffic

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Hancoxfamily

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Hi everyone any advice would be great I'm just training my mare in traffic she's brill with cars and lorries coming towards her but when they come behind she bolts forward and I struggle to stop her we live on busy roads so I'm trying to ether lead her out or ride is someone will go with me everyday she's got a little better but today she was a right hand full is it worth trying something to relax her ?
 
my horse also hate things coming up behind him but he's got better over time! I think its just, practice, practice, practice. I've not done anything special just lots of hacking out! he's not too bad with cars, its more bikes, trains and other horses! so I just spent about 6 months hacking with a real confidence giving mare and that really helped him! now we can happily go alone without any issues!

also if a car is coming too fast make sure you ask them to slow down! I assume you wear a high vis asking people to pass wide and slow?
 
Walking out in hand and rewarding/distracting with food if she stands nicely. Ignore any scared behaviour, and yes, hi viz up to the eyeballs
 
If you can, take her in hand to watch the traffic go by without asking anything of her except to watch and be calm. Can you turn her out next to a busy road maybe?
 
She's very nervous so I didn't want to upset her by moving her to another field it's taken her a while to settle in I'll defo just stand at the road with her x
 
Could you borrow a confined driveway? I shut the gate on mine and tie the pony to the gate she will get cars coming up behind her as she moves around and faces different directions. it has been very useful
 
We did a lot of work with a horse that was nervous, simple things like dropping a rug behind him, then something louder like a tin bucket. When he was comfortable we moved on to pushing the lawnmower behind him. This was all done before he met traffic. It is well worth taking lots of time to sort the problem out, because once it is sorted it will set him up for life.

I am sure people will disagree with me, but I did allow the horse to turn and look at what was worrying him and even encouraged him to turn around. Admittedly my horse was extreme in his anxiety, but he did turn out good eventually and is now excellent in traffic, he remains frightened of people, but is very good with things around him.

The most important thing to remember is to not feed the anxiety, the handler has to be the right person. It is so easy to escalate the problem with the wrong rider or handler.
 
Have you got a quiet lane somewhere that you can ride her, with a friend in a car driving up behind her then dropping back, then repeating the exercise?
 
My gelding was similar when he was younger and I put him in the middle of the group until he learnt from the other horses that traffic isn't bad. They didn't react and gradually he stopped being scared although he still likes to turn his head and check what it is but is quite happy as they go past. A good tip I was given was as soon as the scary lorry goes past you go straight into trot as though you you are chasing the vehicle down which teaches the horse that it's nothing to be feared.
 
A good babysitter or two would be a big help. If you have two, pop your mare in the middle so she has an example in front and 'protection' behind. If you only have one, ride double file with your horse on the inside. They soon learn from the others that there's nothing to be frightened of. Following a nasty near miss about 10 years ago, one of my boys is genuinely scared of large things coming towards him (he doesn't do anything, just freezes and shakes bless him) but if he has his brother on the outside of him, he deals with it so much better.
 
saskiahorsey said:
Can you pit her in field near road ?? My two dont flicker at anything as they live beside a very busy a road ?
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This really does help my friend has a youngster who ran on the New Forest and doesn't worry about any type of traffic from any direction fast or slow.
 
I agree with adorablealice when she said about allowing horse to see traffic coming from behind. Just allowing her to flex her neck right so can eyeball what's approaching from behind, before it's upon her may well help and stop her panicking. Also the advice given about trotting after vehicle is good, this really helps!!
Whatever you do and no matter how upset or frustrated you may become about it never Become angry with her, just try to be calm (hard I know) and praise her when she does well. Otherwise will only add to her anxiety about traffic. Good luck with this issue.
 
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Thanks it's interesting to make her trott after the car I'll definitely try this I don't get angry with her it tends to make me nourvas because she's frightened and definitely not being naughty I take a pocket of carrots with me they really carm her thanks so much for everyone's advice lots to try and think about
 
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