Bl**dy horse!

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skydancer

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Rode her this morning and she must have spooked about 50 x is she the only one or is there a reason shes being a numpty at the mo!
Also, how many of you smack your horse for spooking????
 
Yes i smack the one at work! He spokes at nothing and is just being a d*ck!!! Im sure your not supposed to but it does seem to work
 
My horse is horrendously spooky if i dont ride him everyday! Well he can have one day off a week otherwise grass is scary, he rears, bucks, spins round etc but he'll jump anything you point him at! x He's a clever horse but needs lots and lots of work! x

If he has two days off its like he need re-backing! He's nuts and spooks at everything.....he'll stare at 'nothing' like its terrifying, flare his nostrils and huff and puff! x
 
And yes he gets smacked!! Try to give him a tap just before he's about to spook - he tends to shift his weight across his shoulders before so he gets a little 'reminder' and he tends to be ok. I think he tries to test me a bit.....damn horse!! x
 
My cob the same at the moment he seems like he got spring fever and hes nearly bombproof he dosent get much work as hes really retired but faniced riding him took him for a walk and spooked at a leaf. nearly come off wasnt expecting it and just before him. rode my very sharp tb with no bother just goes to show cant trust these bloody horses.
 
A horse behaviourist I spoke to maintained that horses spook for the same reason a cat pounces on leaves etc. The cat is practising it's hunting skills, the horse is practising in case there really is something in the bush that MIGHT one day, jump out and kill them. if they keep practising, come the day the lion is really there - they will be able to avoid it. Because of this belief, she felt it was wrong to punish them for spooking. She felt you should just completely ignore it.

She felt that if you horse had confidence in your ability to protect it, it would not spook.
 
If a horse spooks, you could smack it but thats like someone smacking you for sneezing.

You could just go back and see what it was and build up confidence that shadows are ok, bushes are ok, the bicycle is ok. A horses brain takes that bit longer to rationalise what is dangerous and what is not. You smacking it for doing what it needs to do, is frankly very unintelligent.

Spook first = live to tell tale. Look first = lions dinner.

And anyway, it is autumn. Therefore leaves move, shadows are longer. The air is filled with new smells (mainly of rotting leaves and bonfires) and so it pays to be wary. If I were a horse and my rider smacked me constantly for spooking, I'd be a nervous wreck!!!
 
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My boy spooks all the time but I never smack him, let him stop and look if he needs to as it is genuine fear - he hadn't been hacked out much before I had him. I find a lot of positive reinforcement works for him.
 
Nooo I don't smack for spooking, obviously depends on the horse, by ours will spook even more, hes stubborn like that! the best way to deal with a spooky horse is ride them on, a horse who is being ridden on the buckle nosing around is looking for trouble, a horse who you have totally focused on you, is less likely to spook. So when hacking out I have the horse completely up together and power walking. If we still get the occasional spook that is particularily bad then we do tight circles and try again. If I have a stand off I always win ( but I am careful to not get into a standoff, because they are time consuming) I wouldn't get too disheartened by spooking massively like this, they sometimes have offweeks don't they? My boy was terrible for no apparent reason on a particular ride, I had 2 days of stand offs. then thought OMG whats happening, hes gone berserk.... went on a different ride for a week or so and went back and he wasn't spooky anymore, so sometimes its best not to make too much of an issue

XX
 
MiCsarah said:
Yes i smack the one at work! He spokes at nothing and is just being a d*ck!!! Im sure your not supposed to but it does seem to work
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I'm with you, you know yourself if the horse has genuinely got a fright or just being an idiot.
At the same time though I do know someone who whenever her horse spooked it was disciplined (harshly in my opinion) and what the horse learned from this was to spook and bolt as whenever it spooked it was hit and learned to take off, so I think you have to be careful when disciplining the horse that you don't make the problem worse.
My horse gets the first spook free, spook next time she goes past it she gets a dig in the ribs and a very strong leg on the 3rd time as I see it as I should be anticipating the spook and be doing something about it by that point.
 
No I wouldn't smack a horse for spooking, generally the only thing I would smack out hacking are car rooftops!I don't get cross, annoying as it is when you know they've gone past the same thing a million times, I think you need more of an assertive thing of 'ok I know there's something there you are not sure about but I am here, I'm telling you there is absolutely nothing to worry about and there is no other option but to go forwards'. As some others have said, when riding a spooky horse, keep them going forwards in a relaxed but focussed manner, if I'm expecting something ahead to cause a spook I would bend their body in towards the spooky thing (leg opposite to spooky thing on girth, other leg slightly back to keep their bum straight) and turn the head slightly away, and keep your legs wrapped round. That's how I got taught to ride it anyway!

I know some people who will pat their horses "good boy" after a spook I know it is to reassure them but I see it as rewarding the spook. Yes if I know there is something he is thinking about spooking about but he listens to me then he gets told he's a good boy but if he spooks he is more likely to be told "don't be so bloomin' ridiculous!", I like to shame him for behaving so stupidly :)
 
The thing is, my horse is brave will walk past anything on her own or in company if we walk past something i think she will spook at i keep my leg on and her moving forward. Just today she was alot more spookier than normal so was just wandering if theres anything in the air ???;)
 
skydancer said:
The thing is, my horse is brave will walk past anything on her own or in company if we walk past something i think she will spook at i keep my leg on and her moving forward. Just today she was alot more spookier than normal so was just wandering if theres anything in the air ???;)
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HAHA so you didn't want a lecture on how to deal with a spooky horse!!!! Sowwy lol XX
 
We have more grass than at any time this year, my 4 are all idiots. I've often thought they can sometimes get an adrenaline rush out of spooking, the same feeling we get on funfare rides!
 
tallyho! said:
If a horse spooks, you could smack it but thats like someone smacking you for sneezing.

You could just go back and see what it was and build up confidence that shadows are ok, bushes are ok, the bicycle is ok. A horses brain takes that bit longer to rationalise what is dangerous and what is not. You smacking it for doing what it needs to do, is frankly very unintelligent.

Spook first = live to tell tale. Look first = lions dinner.

And anyway, it is autumn. Therefore leaves move, shadows are longer. The air is filled with new smells (mainly of rotting leaves and bonfires) and so it pays to be wary. If I were a horse and my rider smacked me constantly for spooking, I'd be a nervous wreck!!!
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This, plus you are re-enforcing the idea that something is scary if you smack.
FDC
 
when mine spooks, spins and bolts she does get a bloody smack on the arse!

if she does mini spooks i just push her on and ignore it.

i do tell her off verbally if shes just trying it on...i have learnt the diff by now with her :D
 
If you can take them back to have a look, talk to them nicely or talk to yourself if you are nervy about going to have a look. Its trying to get that happy medium isnt it.

If I knew he was taking the P ie fun and games yes a slap. But most of time if he spooked it was genuine ie lots of pheasants around at the moment.

Try not to get into a battle as in the end they will win.
 
I ride the biggest idiot going - although I do love him dearly. Massive vehicles can pass us, no problem, which is a good thing. But weeds in the hedgerow (which he'd happily eat in other circumstances) are the devil. Smacking doesn't help, other than relieving rider frustration. Only thing I find is to be strict, put him into an outline and kick on. We're both soon too exhausted to be bothered with messing about.
 
I don't smack for spooking, to me that is reinforcing to the horse that there really is something to be scared of if I start acting out of character too.
 
I can't even carry a whip on mine! He's an exracer and literally falls to pieces if he hears something being smacked!!

Luckily he is an angel to ride so I don't need one anyway, he's not sharp or ultra forward, just doesn't like whips!! He does have spooky days, most of the time I ignore spooks, I think if I got stressy he would too. So I just ride him calmly, but stay confident and calm. Seems to do the job!

Having said that I have been known to utter the odd growl when he has the odd ridiculous day :) I suppose we both have our good and bad days! I wonder if they grumble about us when we annoy them?? lol
 
lcharles said:
My horse is horrendously spooky if i dont ride him everyday! Well he can have one day off a week otherwise grass is scary, he rears, bucks, spins round etc but he'll jump anything you point him at! x He's a clever horse but needs lots and lots of work! x

If he has two days off its like he need re-backing! He's nuts and spooks at everything.....he'll stare at 'nothing' like its terrifying, flare his nostrils and huff and puff! x
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Have you pinched my horse!!?? Hahaha sounds exactly like mine. Idiot at times -.- but don't we just love them for it! :rolleyes:
 
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