French blinkers - are they BE legal and do they help focus?...

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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Jack is being and absolute t*t to hack out and under vet's orders he has to hack hack hack and hack to build up muscle and fitness, and we can't do anything else till this has been achieved so I am doggedly hacking him out on very varied routes alone and in company, but he is just an utter prat! :) He's 11 yet he spooks at everything! He's not the most supple horse anyway due to his past but when he goes ridgid and threatens to spook and spin round theres little to nothign you can do.

Hacked out yesterday for an hour and he attempted 6 big spooks at...

a blue pipe
a freshly dug bit of mud
a cow
not quite sure what I couldn't see anything
another cow, but this one was hiding in a shed
and a roller

I managed to stop him spinning and get him to walk stiffly forwards and past by keeping my hands wide and low clamping my legs on and growling at him 'on on on get on' then as soon as we were passed loose rein chirruping 'good boy' and scratched his neck, but seriously he's 11 not 4!!!

So french blinkers would these help to focus him? or freak him out further?...slightly concerned about his lack of focus and riding a horse like this XC is he suddenly sees a squirrel and decides to retreat!

Are they BE legal if they do work?...

and this isn't a new issue as his previous previous owner used to ride him out with a length of hose....and well.... you can put 2 and 2 together.....don't think that's going to work or the route I want to take with him.

french blinker feedback pls and a chocolate frijji for all of you who also own 'spooky-should-know-better-horses'

Thanks :)
 
French blinkers arent BE legal anymore :( Tbh although they may be helpful, they just mask the problem and can make them react more violently...I think it is about giving them as much exposure as possible to as many different things as possible :/ Thats the route I'm going down anyway! Or just doing the same route repeatly so they're bored by it ;)
 
awwww *sigh* that's not what I wanted to hear I wanted to hear...

'yes they are legal and are a miracle cure for gawpy horses' :)

Kat he's been there and seen that he's been exposed to everything racing and P2P and his eyes are fine, but he insists on swinging his head about to look at stuff as you hack out taking his shoulders with it. I guess if I just plug on and in another 2 weeks if he's no better I will just have to reason that he's a git to hack.

Wierd thing is we stood and had 2 small motorbikes and a guy with 2 huskies tied to a scooter go past us and he didn't bat an eye lid, but a cow! A COW!!!!! and I can ride and lead and he is an angel, maybe actually thinking about it it's just a lazy thing he doesn't like working hard so likes to be lead as he can shuffle along as he likes but when ridden he's made to work properly.....hhhhhmmmm.....
 
Haha! Yes I forget he's probably seen it all. I am sure he will be fine XC as he will work out it is fun and not be spooky... :) and cows are very scary!! We had a similar episode with a lamb yesterday, it waggeds its tail and jumped in the air and L thought the world had ended!! Strange creatures!!

And if it makes you feel any better, I hacked an advanced horse who was awesome XC out once and he had a complete freak at a cow, and refused to go any further without standing up and running backwards... so it isn't a measure of XC greatness ;)
 
TableDancer said:
Hack him in draw reins :) *runs for cover*
Click to expand...

hahaha that's exactly what i was going to say! ;) ;)

I am SO anti draw-reins it's not true, but this is one of the cases where i think they can be really useful, they help you channel the horse's body (and mind) somehow, you don't need them tight, or pulling the head down, but just an inch or two longer than your reins so that when he tries to chuck his head up and start a spin (well, all the ones i've sat on have done it like that, i'll wait to be shot down) he can't, so he'll stay straight and let you ride him forward. hopefully. usually.

i'll join TD behind that cover now...
 
I would hack in draw reins a couple of times. They can be great in a situation like that. Worked wonders on my horse who was going through a spooky stage hacking and not listening.
 
I used french blinkers on my spooky mare last season, and really helped. william f.pit uses them all the time on his young horses, even round badders.... I think B.E is stopping the use of them from june!!! I some times still use them out hacking and i find they do help my mare. Trail and error, you can only but try :)
 
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