Dramatic ride lol

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kimky

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I am schooling am friends horse for her and today i took her out on the road for her first time on her own. Major drama. Every thing was so scary. Not been big headed but i am quite a confident and firm rider, so its not like she was picking up on my nerves. She just bolted, reared, and Sh*t her pants at everything. A car went past and i went in a field. Any advice? She can hack out in company but we really need to teach her to become dependant on herself and not other horses :S
 
I am sure some much more experienced riders / owners will be able to add more, but I have been through something pretty similar with our 6 year old NF Gelding, who has done very little work up until now, so is pretty green.

I have spent time walking him out in hand, both with and without tack. Taking him to very familiar places not too far from his field, but certainly far enough (a mile or so) and around the village we have to ride through to get to the woods.

Lots of praise for being so brave and a bit of nosh when we get back as a reward. I have then progressed this to riding the same routes and adding a new turn or a bit more distance every time he has settled right down into a route. I carry a lead rope when riding, so if he gets a fit of the frights and starts napping, I can hop off a lead him for a while if necessary.

We have had to deal with barking dogs, both seen and unseen, a very scary 'big' lady in a white coat and even scarier double glazing van...with a MAN IN IT!!!
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As well as cats, leaves, plastic bags, pigeons, sea gulls, magpies and all the other 'monsters', and he is coming on a treat. It will not be long now before we will be able to make it into the woods.

Take you time, be patient and try to make the route circular, so that there is no turning back (although sometimes this is not possible).

Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but this has worked for me.
 
Yes, I had the same thing, because H had become very attached to our NF mare. I think it is the first time he has had a proper friend.

I talk to him a lot when I am leading / riding him, and I know some people sing. I'm afraid if I wandered about the village singing to a horse it would not be too long before they locked me in a nice padded bedroom
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I have allowed him to feed off my confidence and then reinforced his progress by telling him how good he is and giving him quite a bit of physical contact with me, even if that is just my hand on his head collar.

He is now getting quite bold, but still has his limits and will nap like a good'un sometimes when I try to push him out of his comfort zone. It is then just a matter of getting those few yards further than he went last time, with a little coaxing and some patient determination on my part.
 
I help to hack out my friend's 4 year old show cob and she does the same thing- bucks, rears, spins, scoots foward at anything "scary" (well, especially the bin lorry with it's flashing lights and the bin men slamming down the bins!) so I feel your pain!

I find that she seems to get better if I ride with long stirrups so that I can keep a long frm (VERY firm) leg on her to keep her going forward and sit straight and hold her so she knows that I'm her "security blanket" (not pulling her in the mouth but keeping a firm contact with her mouth). I also talk to her in a low voice too. It's mostly the permanent firm long leg contact to make her stay forward and to put her mind off the scary things that seems to work for her though.
 
He sounds really similar to sixpence (the mare) before my friend bought her she lived in a field on her own for the most of her life an then came to my yard where, we have the horse is a herd. She become very attached to my mare.
 
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