Can you ever TRULY cure a 'spooky' horse?

[MizElz]

I am of the opinion that a horse who is downright spooky will ALWAYS be that way, in the same way that a strong horse will never suddenly become light of mouth, and so on.

I seem to remember a thread where this was brought up a few weeks ago, and someone (cant remember who, so dont worry!

) said that spookiness was something that a horse can be coaxed out of (i think s/he used the example of a riding school horse - something along the lines of 'do you think all riding school horses were not spooky youngsters once?') i do actually agree with this: i dont think I have ever met a young horse who is not spooky to some degree; everything is new to them, they're entitled to a bit of uncertainty!

but my argument revolves around those older horses who have somehow not grown out of it. whilst the riding school horse argument carries some weight, surely one of the reasons that many horses DO NOT end up in riding schools is because they are simply not suitable!?! i agree; some horses can be conditioned to certain things, but others are not so malleable. try telling my horse, at nearly 13 years old, that a tractor/forager is not a horse killing machine, and that a crop sprayer doesnt contain some deadly poison aiming just for her! try telling her that just because the grass on the verge - or the leaves on the hedges - is being blown in a certain way, it doesnt mean there is some nasty monster lurking within! And dont get me started on road markings........SLOW signs on road bends really DO mean what they say.....I've tried many methods to persuade her that not everything is out to get her (and i think its worth mentioning here that i have learnt to tell the difference between when she is truly scared - eg. heart beating 19 to the dozen, trembling legs, snorting - and when she is taking the proverbial P (feet planted, threatening half rear, etc). We've tried gentle persuasion, Polos, pats, having a 'granny' horse give us a lead, even getting off to lead in the early days. I've also tried carrying a whip, but if anything, this makes her worse! She remains gloriously the same - as spooky as a 2 year old!

if anybody knows of a way to cure a horse of spookiness, please, spill the beans! (on second thoughts, dont worry - if she was a push-button ride i wouldnt have half as much fun!

)

 

[DiablosGold]

I read an artice about how the police 'bombproof' their horses, and related this to how we can train - desensitise - normal horses to various things.

However I don't think if a horse is very very nervous in its nature, it will ever be truly, completely chilled out.

I know a 32 year old horse who still spooks and spins around on hacks sometimes.

 

[MizElz]

I agree

i had actually forgotten the police situation - i had an argument once with a person who brought this up, and thought i was stupid for saying that not all horses could be 'bombproofed'. but what about all the horses that the police/forces are forced to discharge as unsuitable? they obviously cannot be desensitised, which is the reason they are passed on!

 

[alicedove]

I can sympathise, our mare is just the same, (coloured one) she's 10 we've had her for 4 months and one month of that has been off work. On a hack she sometimes seems terrified, on her toes, heart beating, but oddly bombproof with vehicles.

She is quite calm in an arena, was a showjumper, but is spooky on hacks. I think, therfore that that is what she is not used to. Probably if she had been hacking a lot more, she would be more quiet on a hack.

Having said that, she will always be the spooky sort.

Police choose their horses very carefully before they go down the route of desensitising them and putting loads of work into them, they often sell on those who may not be of the right temperament - there's your key "temperament" that is the reason why one will be spookier than another.

 

[Sneedy]

My horse will be 10 next year and I don't think he will ever grow out of his spookiness

!! My old trainer also had a really spooky horse and she reckons they get worse with age....aaaargh

!!!
He is absolutely sound as a pound on the road but if a dock leaf blows the wrong way, or there's a piece of tree on the track then its def a horse eating 'thing'

!! He'll also spooky at things in the school, when he's seen them hundreds of times, and the most infuriating spook is at XC fences that we aren't jumping at an event, but we have to gallop passed them to get to our fences...waste of time IMO

!!!!
Anyway, I don't think you can cure an established 'spooker' and as you said, it adds to the enjoyment of riding...and keeps you on your toes

!!

 

[alicedove]

So long as you can sit to them, and you get "used to" the spooks I suppose! A bit disconcerting as you say, when you are in canter/gallop on a cross country course or a hack alone. Does your horse spook less vigorously at a higher speed?

My horse spooked at a gate post into the side of a passing rattly trailer the other week, nearly knee capped herself, but of course, the gate post was far more dangerous surely I should have realised that (dur!)

 

[MizElz]

Phew! im so glad im not the only one!

the convo i had a few weeks ago left me in no uncertain terms that it was my failure as a rider that caused her to be continually spooky....

i guess the people that pass such judgements have perhaps never had to sit a violent shy to the left during a nice gallop!!!!!! (ellie is worse at higher speeds...

)

 

[crabbymare]

Don't forget that the police will be buying horses with calm laid back temperaments who would be less likely to shy even before they start training them than a more highly strung horse would.

 

[alicedove]

Gosh, worse at high speed is a bit unsettling! I was cantering up the side of a crop field once on this horse, and she spooked into it, we ended up bouncing like a dog in long grass!

That was funny (I'd only had her a coulpe of days) until I realised that was how she was all the flaming time!

Sometimes she'll stop and turn in walk, sometimes just do everything on the spot, but always ends up going where I want her to go. Usually we both come back from a hack sweating, me from exertion, her from fear!

 

[Sneedy]

He's not as sharp at high speed, just veers away from the threatening object

!! I think if you know your horse well and understand his little quirks and its not dangerous then you can put up with a lot more and even contain it eg on a xc course

.
I don't think I'm a failure for having a spooky horse, he was like it when I bought him so knew what I was taking on, it all depends on their temperament at the end of the day so people shouldn't judge other peoples horses as they are all individual!!

I love my boy to bits, and although he frustrates me sometimes I wouldn't change him as he'd be a very boring ginger beast and prob wouldn't have the 'edge' that is needed to be a successful competition horse!!!

 

[MizElz]

oh dear, sounds SO familiar!!!!

 

[MizElz]

Sneedy - i couldnt agree more! their quirks are what make them so special to us!!!!

 

[Madam_max]

Agree, I can't trust my mare at speed along the set asides, she spooks at the gaps in the hedges. One day I headed across a field at speed as someone with a flourescent jacket came down the track, luckily it had been ploughed so it stopped her

 

[mattilda]

Whisk will spook at something one day and ignore it completely the next! He can whip round at high speed, something to behold in a big horse like him. He spooks in the school and out hacking and, on a bad day, in the arena whilst competing. He has certainly developed my seat and I like him to be a bit silly. He is not a boring ride and he will knuckle down and work after a few minutes. My old horse is 29 and he is exactly the same now as he was when I got as a 3 year old. It makes them special to have imo. Neither horse is trying to get me off just enjoying life.

 

[amandathepanda]

I think some horses temperament makes them more pre-disposed to certain behaviours than other horses. Both of my dressage horses are by the same sire out of closely related mares and are hopeless with big lorries and tractors - despite being kept on a dairy farm for the past 8 years with tractors and milk tankers going past their stables/'field on a daily basis. My anglo-arab is 21 now, he has never been spooky but has always been a very lively, fizzy ride. Even though he is getting on in years now his temperament means he will never be quiet ride.
I have also had a few youngsters that are so chilled out they seem permanently stoned - as if they have just smoked a big spliff! A bomb could go off by these (even when they are only 2 or 3) and they wouldn't do anything more than batt an unconcerned eye at it! One youngster I broke was so unconcerned first time I took him on the road that he saw a woman walking down the footpath with a carrier bag - and carted me over so he could stick his head in the bag in case their might be food! Very embarrasing!!
Generally I think the quirkier horses tend to be the ones who are a bit more dynamic and therefore more likely to end up as a competition machine than the very chilled out horses - however the very chilled out ones are angels on legs and should never be disregarded because they prefer to take life more slowly!

 

[muddy_grey]

I don't think you can ever stop spooking. My TB rarely spooked, but when he did he was really scared and wouldn't pass the offending object without a lot of coaxing or passing it backwards. I never worried though as he wasn't being a stupid. I had a friend who always hacked his horse out on the bit, I asked why and he laughed and let go of the reins. Next thing I knew she was jumping all over the road spooking at everything! I couldn't beleive it - I thought she was so chilled out. Asking her to work gave her something else to think about.

 

[claireross]

My horse is totally different depending on the time of year, in the summer he is steady eddy, but come winter when he's in at night he turns into a complete idiot. He doesn't spook at thing worth spooking at, its usually completly random and usually there's nothing there.

 

[Sal_E]

To answer your question, I believe you can definitely improve the 'spookiness' of all horses with time & work - however some will respond better than others however good a job you do.

 

[Nepenthe]

Although I agree that a horse's natural temperament is not changeable, I do think that better riders can school their horses out of the habit to some extent.

 

[smerls]

[ QUOTE ]
Although I agree that a horse's natural temperament is not changeable, I do think that better riders can school their horses out of the habit to some extent.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idea! I have a mare that I now only hunt- she is semi retired. I have had her since she was 3. She is 22 this time round. In her hey day she competed at Advanced level eventing.
To this day I cannot get her to step over any kind of road markings ( double yellows/ SLOW etc). Never has, never will. When they painted a new speed limit section in the village nearby we had to lose an area of hacking.
However she is a beautifully schooled ride who has given me years of pleasure and competition. She is just damm spooky!

 

[Nats_uk]

I too have a spooky horse and I don't think I will ever 'cure' him - he just has a nervous nature. He has improved greatly but he will still find that wild animal hiding in the hedge! It took me a good year to get him to consistently go over SJ fillers - my current favourite is that he will jump a round of jumps (with fillers) then shy at a filler (that he has already jumped) as we leave the arena! And don't even get me started on shadows!lol!

I think if you are patient and put in time and effort then the spooky horse learns to put trust in the rider and becomes less spooky but if they have that kind of attitude to life then they use will always be avoiding the horse-eating leaf blowing down the road!

 

[jumpthemoon]

I've got a spooky horse too!!! I don't think you can 'cure' them...not when it's ingrained in their personalities. I do think, though, that it is possible to learn to ride them to the extent where you can contain a spook or quickly recover from one! It's just a pain when they take you by surpise lol!

I was riding in the school the other night in failing light, when a massive cement bag blew out across the field next to the school - poor horse almost had heart attack! Spooked at flat out sideways gallop across the school! Didn't recover after that one, we had to call it a day

 

[Louby]

Ive always had forward going horses and never really had a problem with spookiness but when my mare was PTS decided to buy a quiet laid back type. More fool me, he is that laid back, he jumps out of his skin at stupid things. Im convinced he almost dozes off when we hack and then suddenly spots something and overreacts. Then he continues as if nothings happened. In the school he is great but then suddenly spooks at nothing in the hedge and then is convinced everytime we pass that area that something is going to get him. I avoid the roads as I feel his spookiness is dangerous, luckily we have great bridleways on the doorstep. Its not ideal I know, he is well schooled but Im not convinced I could stop him flying into the road if something or nothing as more is the case scared him.
My friend reckons the laid back, not quite off the leg types are by far the worse.

 

[BeckyD]

That sounds like Ronnie - I can warm him up around jumps (or try to) with much snorting and avoiding all obstacles and sticking to the bits of school that don't have jumps, but as soon as I point him towards one he pops it without blinking (generally). I find it very odd.

Leave a jumping block lying on the floor and we've had it, that's half the school written off. But he'll happily jump it??

 

[MizElz]

OMG that sounds just like Elz!!! in all the time i jumped her, she NEVER stopped in a dirty way, only ever if i put her wrong (with the exception of the one time i took her XC - then everything was scary!) but try and school her AMONG fences.....its a different story!!!

 

[Grumpy Herbert]

This all sounds very familiar! My lad spooks at one side of the school for no apparent reason. He also once spooked when a shaft of sunlight came through into the barn! Pheasants are the spawn of satan, as are pigeons in hedges, hares and small birdies who come into the school for a peck about. I find that the more he is ridden, the less spooky he gets. When we hacked out pretty much every day last summer a pheasant actually shot straight upwards right in front of us and he didn't flinch. But he is brilliant if the other horses are mucking about, either in the field while we're riding, or if we hack out with them - he doesn't tend to get het up himself. I bought him as a relaxing hack, which he hasn't quite turned out to be!!

 

[Nepenthe]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Although I agree that a horse's natural temperament is not changeable, I do think that better riders can school their horses out of the habit to some extent.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice idea! I have a mare that I now only hunt- she is semi retired. I have had her since she was 3. She is 22 this time round. In her hey day she competed at Advanced level eventing.
To this day I cannot get her to step over any kind of road markings ( double yellows/ SLOW etc). Never has, never will. When they painted a new speed limit section in the village nearby we had to lose an area of hacking.


[/ QUOTE ]
Perhaps you have never allowed her to read the full Highway code, and this is why she takes STOP and SLOW signs too seriously? Or try painting one that says 'WALK ON'

 

[TGM]

I knew you'd be back

.

 

[SpruceRI]

My mare is worse at speed so if I see something 'frightening' coming up I always walk as at least then I have a chance of staying on!

She will also spook at gaps in hedges and gateways, even if we're just walking on the road.

She has only got slightly better over the years, in that I can feel something coming on and can hang onto her mouth - that makes the spook less violent.

She's pretty much OK in hot calm weather, but wet and cold, no, and when its' windy - foget it!