de-spooking youngsters...

[amandaco2]

Hi
My youngster is quite spooky out hacking and sometimes in the school.
she is only 5 and only backed in december(and only ridden really in last 5months or so)
shes doing really well-shes been out done a walk-trot and got 79% and behaved impecably at the show,although she was a ittle spooky as i expected.
she is either out 24/7 or just in at night-fed hay,restricted grass and hi fibre cubes with hifi and top spec comprehensive.
shes worked 4-7 times a week-mixture of one lunge session a week,rest either hacking(mixture of bridle paths and roads alone or with another horse) or 30-40mins school work.
she isnt worried by traffic more the other little things-like bags and people appearing suddenly
my other horses have all been pretty bold-even my 4 yo just backed mare was(now 18yo) never spooky.
ive brought some hazards into the school and worked her round them in hand and ridden and shes been fine
however ive fallen off twice (blushes)once on a lesson when she spooked really suddenly(dead stop from nice trot and ran backwards and sideways sort of at the same time) and again when a cat ran out of the hedge (again in the school with the same disappearing act)
normally im quite stickable,my older mare used to do some serious broncing and rearin,although i suppose i am 'out of practice' as shes alot calmer these days.
i know the more i hack out, the better she will get but i am just worried about the way shes spooking could cause a nsty accident on the roads.
last time i came off i was badly winded and bruised.
am just wondering if there are any specific things i can do to help her stop rather than leap backwards when shes sees things!!!
she is not a nasty horse by any stretch of the imagination-in fact shes super genuine!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Are you a "book" person amandaco2? If so, there's a fabulous book out called Bombproofing Your Horse (can find ISBN etc if you're interested) which is all about de-spooking any horse of any age. Natch, there is no such thing as a bombproof horse but this book shows you the way the police etc de-sensitise their horses. It's all do-able for an average owner and the case studies they use are nice ordinary neds. You're on the right track with bringing hazards into the school but you need to branch out a bit or else you will only teach your girl to be spook-free IN the school lol! Don't forget, she is her own personality and different from your other young ned so she may always be a little more of a scaredy-cat. Good luck x

 

[Theresa_F]

I would love to read that book - I have spent ages de-spooking Chancer from 16 months and would be very interested to see how the police do it and improve even more.

Mine is normally very good, that said, yesterday he was a prat at a barking dog, parked piece of farm machinery and two people sitting quietly with their dogs - but he was showing off as he was out with the girls. Third time I had enough and he got a big tap from Mr Sticky and then was very well behaved.

He always has to do one spook in the school - with any rider - he is not scared, he is having a joke. I just ignore him.

That said, his spooks are nothing that bad - small leap sidewarys or through the air or turn. Best thing I have found with spooky horses is to keep on taking them out and also work on the ground building up a relationship so they know if you say it is ok, it is.

Would having her on something like Steady Up just to help calm her a little help - it worked very well on my out of work for years ex broodmare TB until we built up a relationship and she got used to being out and about seeing everything.

Finally, I find sitting as quietly as possible and not gathering up the reins tightly and doing my best to ignore the bouncing idiot helps - I also have my legs firmly on to keep me in the saddle and asking for forward - won't work on all horses but does for a lot of them.

Hope you get sorted - the evil little pony on our yard occasionally puts in an evil spin for no apparent reason, and she is now 23. At least on the one time she did get me it was not far to drop.

 

[Damnation]

My friend has carriage horses and one of the spooked at a traffic cone. My friend brought the traffic cone home and the horse had to live with it for a week

I don't know if that sort of approach would work for your mare. Maybe try a calmer like NAF Magic, just to take the edge off her spooking until you feel that she has settled down, and then take her back off the calmer. Also never hack on your own, maybe a get a friend to walk with you, sometimes reassurance of someone on foot calmes youngsters down. Never hack her on your own or with another spooky horse until you know she is safe. Maybe hack with 2 other horses so that they can "box you in" if you think your mare is going to do something silly.
She will eventually calm down once she has seen the world alot more but until then all you can do is help her as much as you can.
Hope this helps and makes sense

!
Izzi xx

 

[amandaco2]

yes ive been taking her out with my older mare but ive not always got someone to hack with sadly
she is better with another horse but still can spook out.
she is quite good with leg yields and shoulder in in the school and road but i still cant get her to move off my leg when shes spooking.
she doesnt really bounce about about she just spins suddenly.i let her stop and look at things and only take her out when the traffic is quiet and on the quietest lanes.
shes very laid back generally but i could try a calmer to see if it helps.

like yesterday i took her out and she was scared of a skip so we stood back from it until she was bored almost then i got her to go right up to it and put her head on it etc until she was bored again!then she was fine with skips, so she learns quickly.im just not sure shes learned to trust me as much as my other horse did(but ive only had her for about 5months!)

thanks for all your suggestions

 

[Kenzo]

I do all sorts of things when working with a younsters, from pastic bags, popping baloons, walking them over silage wrapping, tucking dustbin bags into their headcollers (all in safe areas of course and without frightening them into doing anything, walking them out alot in hand in good, concentrating on letting them sniff, inspect things without force but lots of encouragement, I find if you dont expect an issue and are confident around them, they usually act in the same mannor, also when walking out, I always swish my schooling whip into the bushes (like the sound of birds flying out of bushes) and also pop bubble gum (sounds daft) but it really gets them used to a variety of noices.