Advice please.....

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acorn2008

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hi, this is my first post and I am hoping someone may be able to give me some advice on how to deal with my pony..
I have owned him for just over 2 years and he was very green when he arrived, he had never had shoes or a rug on. Over time he has improved considerably and is now ok with farrier and rugs. He can be a bit nervy and I am a bit of a worrier, so I do think that maybe we are not a good combination!
I have been hacking out quite happily on him for quite a while now with my daughter on her pony but every now and then he will spot something in the distance and just freak out about it, yesterday he saw 2 other riders way off in the distance and just lost the plot, I ended up getting off and was not able to keep hold of him and he took himself off at a flat out gallop back to the yard, luckily we were only 5 mins away from yard, not 5 miles. The time before when he did it he spotted a group of walkers in the distance, I stayed on him on this occaision but it was a good 1/2 hour before he calmed down and didn't feel like he was going to explode. I now feel like I dare not take him too far from the yard in case he does it again. I ride out with dually halter under his bridle, but even with this I could not keep hold of him.
If anybody has any ideas why he suddenly reacts like this to things he has seen before and not bothered about please let me know, thanks
 
It could be for alsorts of reasons probably the main one being that he senses your nerves too. I would get an instructor to help you asap or some professional schooling. I wouldn't risk any more difficult situations with him until you have received some expert advice.
 
cant say why he is doing it but have you tried circling him till he calms down and trying him again not best on road obviously but it may stop him tanking home, Also what bit are you riding him in do you have a martingale?

do you have a school where you can help him in? get people to help by doing what he classes as scare on other side and make him walk up to them
 
A horse I knew all of a sudden started doing this out hacking - no behavioural issues, wasn't in pain etc, and the vet found him to have a cataract which caused him to see things differently and react differently - however with groundowkr he overcame his fears! However I can probably imagine it's not that and I would firstly go on the issue that it maybe behavioural and go back to basics with him - groundwork is essential in the horse learning trust and respect and also confidence in the rider as well as the rider growing in confidence with the horse.

As he grows in confidence with you, get him used to different and "scary" objects in the school - get him listening to you and not focusing on the scary object - it takes time, but it does work and eventually he will learn to trust you and listen when something "out of the normal" happens with him.
 
i've had horses do this, one thing that works is to do constant small circles so that they have to concentrate totally on you, and don't have time to fixate on anything in the distance. you might have to be quite determined, talk to him, whatever it takes to get his attention back on you.
don't take it personally, it is no reflection on you as a rider, it might well be genuine fear. (my big lad did this for the first time ever with me yesterday, i've had him 9 years! he saw farm equipment in the distance, working in a usually-empty field, and was really upset by it all.)
if you have another horse with you, ask them to stand between your horse and whatever he's fixating on, this really helps. if the other horse isn't upset, his herd instinct should take over and relax your lad.
(btw, my mare who had a cataract never did this, so i don't think it's an indicator.)
 
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