Exploding Chestnuts
Well-Known Member
Problem is that horse is fine under normal conditions, but freaks out when excited.You don't want to ride them to the point of exhaustion, as that is when injuries happen. They need to go out often enough that they are a bit tired and it is becoming work rather than mind-blowing excitement.
Apart from the hunter I knew personally, I have also heard of people who have cured strong runaways by simply giving lots of work. In one case a 35 mile ride - trailered back home and taken out again the next day, and the next until horse realised that it wasn't such a good idea to set off at full speed, and another personal story of a similar horse that was allowed to go as fast as it liked up a hill on Dartmoor, taken back down again and taken up again, and once more, and then taken out the next day until the horse realised that it was necessary to gallop everywhere.