Are horses spookier these days?

In some ways I guess it is possible due more "casual" and less experienced horse people (and the rise of the bunny hugger letting horses get away with bad behaviour rather than true fear) but I would think it's very difficult to quantify.
 
I often think that.

When I was a kid (35 years ago) none of the horses/ponies I rode were spooky, and I rode every shape, size and breed in my time!

Even my own horses are spooky now and I'm very experienced / qualified / defo not a tree-hugger sort ??

And it's not feed either as I remember the farmer feeding my first pony scoop fulls of his home grown oats will no ill-effects at all. My horses now get vitually no hard feed at all ??

Like you Horsegirl I would love to know the real reason why - as you are quite corrct in your observations I'm sure.
 
I think the development and all the marketing of horse feed has a lot to do with it. Lots of people who don't know any better/believe the recommended amounts of the bag, are pumping their horses full of high energy feed, with the result of some very wired horses.

Oh, and the trend for importing warmbloods which many buy, but can't/don't actually then ride them enough :rolleyes: The same for some ex racers.
 
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I think it comes down to the amount of work they do now. When I was a kid we spent all day at the stables riding all morning back to yard for our packed lunch and then riding all afternoon. Nowadays most people, myself included, don't ride everyday and if you do sometimes just for half an hour in the school. I still try and go out for a two or three hours at the weekend but my mare could actually go all day. Plus we seem to have less grazing so they are out for shorter periods in smaller paddocks. Don't forget traffic has also increased and there are probably more spooky obstacles out there that we perhaps didn't encounter previoiusly. I also never remember my ponies going lame or there being the amount of lami that we have now, again I think because they were much fitter from all the work they did.
 
I agree that some of it is due to training or lack there of.
I also believe that a lot of it is down to the modern feeds, mixes and the high content of sugars.

I found that my horses were getting 'silly' on mixes, also that I was getting OCD with some of the youngsters. I have changed back to straights and have been feeding this way for some years now and have had little to no problems.
 
I think its alot to do with how we feed them and how we train them.

Also maybe partly due to the types ofhorses that are getting bred now, seems to be the hotter tempered the better for some or not bothering about the temperament of the stally/mare as long as they get the type/colour they want.

I dont mind a bit of hot blooded-ness in my horses but having seen some nutters I do wonder.......
 
IMHO i think its a bit of a vicious circle these day you expect the horse to be spooky therefore you tense up etc. and the horse is more likely to spook where as if the idea of spooking never crosses your mind then you ride more confidently if that makes any sense but its probably a combination of lots of things
 
I think irresponsible breeding has a part to play.. mostly those trying to breed for performance to the exclusion of temperament..

Re the oats these have a lower GI than many mixes that are loaded with all sorts of "stuff" horses don't need.. so I do think feeding has a part to play now mostly as a result of owners not being aware of the "old rules of feeding" stuff

I think there is generally a deficit in good training for the horse. Which I wouldn't label as bunnyhuggerism but more people becoming involved in horses (a good thing) and there not being enough good training around for both horse and owner (not just ridden but as above feeding and general managment, handling etc)
 
I think many people now don't have the 'don't take any cr*p' attitude that everyone used to have, perhaps due to people coming into horses later in life - this is not meant as a criticism, just that if you are on horses from being a kid I think you are just not as bothered by, and less likely to tolerate silly behaviour.

That, and less work for horses these days, 30mins trogging round a school isn't the same as having to hack all day along with more hot blooded horses being bought.
 
I think that there are a lot more spookier things these days. Tractors & implements are 3 times the size, supermarket carrier bags didn't blow down roads, ditto fertilzer bags, far less traffic. Not many bird scarers (particularly the ones that bang & a figure inflates suddenly), sprinklers over shooting the road, plastic bottles rolling about the place, the list is endless. Really I can't remember any of these things though I admit it was the 60s mostly. Also cars were noisier so you could hear them coming & get on the verge. Sorry to go on.
 
I agree with this!! Had horses all of my life and bought my previous horse in 1995.... she had been broken 1 month, hacked her home next week got 5th out of 30 at a hunter trail no probs.. and this was not an unusual story. Kept her until she passed away in 2009.Last year decided time to buy another and my god how things have changed!!
Lots of quirky horses, lots of spooking and seems to be a story echoed throughout friends!! Maybe its because we are all a bit older and more aware we break?!
My horse I eventaully bought and safe and sound, turned into a paniced jelly when we got home... she way better and will come right BUT took a while and massive brush up on skills and learning curve for me!
Felt like someone had changed the rules and did not tell me!!
 
What about more horses being broken in a super safe un spooky environment like all the arenas we now use. It is only after they have gone round the arena that they are then hacked and allowed to meet scarey things.
 
& 20 years ago it didn't hurt so much to fall off, I didn't ache so much after a long ride / lesson & didn't need a "power nap" before doing anything else :D
Possible as we get older we notice these things more? & then as someone else on here said we then don't ride quite as confidently.
Husbands horse was a bit spooky when he bought it - is now 100% with him, haven't seen him spook for months, but as soon as I get on him he remembers that the world is scary - I'm not consciously tensing up, but it must be to do with my energy.:mad:
 
I know farmers who have started liveries and say in a surprised way that everyone looks after their horses,but don't seem to ride them much and consider their horses to be in "light work" if they take them out for 30-60 minutes hack round the block 2 or 3 times a week. I regard that as nearly nothing!

I also agree with the breaking-in in an arena. Often you used to send your horse to the local nagsman, who had a yard of hunters and used to hack the young horse around the countryside, through water, etc. and not care too much about "schooling." If your horse is also your pet, you have a different attitude to a "professional" who gets a lot of horses through their hands and treats them all as horses and expects them to behave. I also suggest that these horses weren't given much in the way or hard feed either. Education for most young horses included going hunting ...................

One lady I know used to take her youngsters and school them on a flat area on the top of a hill with steep sides all round, and no fences - talk about scarey! She said, rightly, that if they always school in an enclosed area then taking them out in the open can completely go to their heads. It is a lesson well learned and since then I always make sure mine will behave in a large open field.

As for spooky, well there are lots of things to be spooky about, but I think that many horses don't get the chance to be given a good example from an older, well behaved horse and learn that things are not frigtening.
 
not read all my posts but my mare isn't that spooky-though she is more spooky say when she's ridden once a week compared to when she used to work 6 days a week.
i spose horses used to be ridden all day everywhere and anywhere and it was a case of get on with it horse. these days they're not ridden so much for so long i don't think.
 
I think there are more spooky horses around because when you try and buy what I consider to be a 'normal' horse without any issues you have to pay a premium. If you want to buy an ordinary horse, which won't be a worldbeater but has a good temperament and is good in traffic people seem to think you have to pay a fortune! I'm sure that 20 - 30 years ago this kind of horse was the norm, at least it was in my circles.

I also think feed, different horses breeds and inexperienced people have contributed, but I definitely think that horses are spookier than they were.
 
I think it is riders that have got spookier! They expect horses to be terrified of stuff and react accordingly resulting in a spooky horse. All this natural horsemanship stuff exacerbates this because it goes on about working to get a horse to walk over a tarp etc. When I was a kid we did that sort of thing in handy pony classes at shows, and most horses did it with out much hassle. Now the rider will be hyperventilating about the horse "rearing" or "bolting" who h means shying a bit and cantering a few unasked for strides.......
 
I think its a combination of stuff, imo most spooking happens out hacking, and roads nowadays are much busier with traffic than in the past, big wheelie bins at side of roads most days, poly bags flying around, but in the main health and safety stops riders ever really being able to learn on, and deal with quirky horses unless they end up with them by accident.
Individually these things would be dealt with and yer on yer way, but i think horses if theyre even a wee bit spooky sometimes dont get a chance to drop the adrenalin in their system after a spooky jump, before theyre encountering another thing, leading to a build up and possibly a blow out if theyre really nervous. Fear of Litigation if you cause an accident with a horse thats spooky makes riders even less likely to ride through the crap
 
No I don't think so. I do think there are more things that are spooky and more people have to ride on the roads and more yards in built up areas.

As a child I don't remember knowing anyone who kept their horse on livery. We all kept ponies at home in very rural areas. When I rode out I hardly ever saw a car and if I did they went slowly past I was hacking out on my own age 8. Houses very more offset from the roads and it was quieter.

Now I am on livery and I don't think I have ever ridden out without seeing a car, many drivers are not considerate of horses and drive very fast. There are more HGV's on the roads, lots of building works and roads works and noise. Also we have loads of cyclists on road races. There are no verges and there is not enough space for everyone.
 
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