Eak!

[LuanneCat]

So now I know my mare has a fear of cats, or at least freaky little fluffy white ones (she's fine with YO cats). Went on a hack and came across said fluffy white moggie. Mighty nearly killed me

. She's so calm and sensible that her turning herself inside out was a bit of a shock, also in all my years have never heard a horse snort quite like that.

Anyway this sparked off the usual debate with hacking buddies. When you come across something that obviously scares your Horse out hacking do you let it stand and look (quite often this works with Mighty as she figures out it's not so scary and calms right down). Instructor said you should always push them on, they should be accepting you as boss and be taking your lead, trust you and respond accordingly. I can see the points in both ideas.

So push or look?, any opinions? imo guess depends on the Horse.

 

[hellsdarkrose]

I agree with you it depends on the horse. I would rather stand and look and let the horse calm down than pushing a scared horse on because you never know what might happen. But others may feel differently in the same situation.

 

[Donkeymad]

Usually I prefer to let them look, but would perhaps depend on the horse AND the situation.

 

[katie_southwest]

Definately depends on the situation..I made the mistake of pushing my mare on when she was looking at something which made her worse and she span and ran instead!!

 

[Shilasdair]

Depends on the horse and their preferred reaction - in my experience horses tend to react to fear in one of three ways - running away (forward), stopping and backing up (including rearing) or spinning/bucking (rare).
If your horse's natural tendency is quite forward thinking, then riding it strongly forward may be the right idea. If it backs up...with a possibility of rearing, I find it better to sit, point the horse the way you want to go, and wait til it goes. Spinning and bucking are not pleasant - if you've got the guts you have to sort them out....
S

 

[Luce1504]

I think it definitely depends on the horse, my cob will tense up and explode if you try to push her on, I think she doesn't like to feel pressurised, but if you let her have a look give her a stroke and a few encouraging words she will "usually" walk past no probs. Sometimes i only need to pause for a matter of seconds.

Whereas my TBx if i stop to let her look, she will then use it as an excuse and refuse point blank to go forward at all so in her case its much better to push on and not let her stop as that is when battle ensues!

 

[AmyMay]

I do a bit of both. Let them look and take in what it is - then off they go.