Gateway/ Electric Phobia Help?

[Orca]

The first time I turned my newbie out, she walked straight back in through the electric fence at the gateway - we soon found out that the electricity had been off.

The next time she was out, she obviously tried the gateway again and got a nasty shock, because when I brought her in, she tried to bolt when she was halfway through the gateway. I held on just about but she pranced and quivered back down between the paddocks home, obviously fearful of another shock.

Today, the electricity was intentionally off while I turned out, to ensure she couldn't be zapped as I walked her between the paddocks to hers and through her gateway. She did really well and was reasonably relaxed until we were halfway through her gateway. This time she succeeded in bolting and had me over. Fortunately her hooves passed a couple of inches from my head and didn't make contact! She wasn't trying to get away from me, just the gateway. She let me catch her immediately to remove her lead rope.

My (absolutely lovely YO) was nearby, so we decided to use treat based encouragement to work her back through the gateway steadily (two steps, stand, treat and repeat). She did it but was a hairs breadth away from fleeing again throughout, quivering, wide eyed and shaking.

I've decided not to take her back to the paddock again just yet. Part of the problem is that the ground is so wet that I had absolutely no purchase when she pulled away today. She's a heavyweight and although during both bolts she has taken care to avoid me, I can't risk losing my footing and getting under her hooves. Admittedly, today shook me up so I need to address my own worry. I also don't want to risk this becoming habitual or for her to mistakenly learn and believe that it is bolting through the gateway which prevents her from being shocked.

We can't use any other paddock unfortunately (unfortunate because her fear is specific to this precise gateway - although is already transferring to white ropes. She shied away from her white haynet string after I brought her in!), I do need to find a way to work through this. What can I do to help her? We are working on her groundwork currently but at no other time has she bolted or threatened to bolt. She's generally pretty unflappable.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I'm sorry that this has happened. IMHO, electric gates are the work of the devil, I'm not surprised that she's anxious about them.

The new foster filly arrived with a reputation of being worried about gateways. Too true! Mine are traditional metal gates and post and rail fencing. I was able to open all the gates and allow free access to three different paddocks - she taught herself that it was safe to go through them, at her own pace.

Can you do something similar?

 

[Orca]

Thank you, it really is a shame. I do think given time to explore, she probably could overcome her fear. It would be difficult given the layout of the paddocks but because they are within a field, there might be a way of trying it. She is effectively under quarantine at the moment too but it really would be ideal otherwise!

 

[Orca]

...I wonder if asking for a lead from another horse might help? To be fair to her, each time she's stopped running as soon as she realised I wasn't, so she might be open to some positive herd influence?

 

[Tiddlypom]

A lead through the gateway following a steady horse sounds like a great idea.

 

[Equi]

I used to turn out and bring in my old bosses horse. He was the same and would leap the gate way, me attached. It was awful. I felt so sorry for the poor mite. (on another note, i also had the displeasure of walking a st bernard into one, and it turned on me thinking i hurt it)

I can't offer any advise, but just wanted to say i hate electric fences lol

 

[Orca]

A lead through the gateway following a steady horse sounds like a great idea.

It was your reference to natural behaviour which inspired it ��.

I used to turn out and bring in my old bosses horse. He was the same and would leap the gate way, me attached. It was awful. I felt so sorry for the poor mite. (on another note, i also had the displeasure of walking a st bernard into one, and it turned on me thinking i hurt it)

I can't offer any advise, but just wanted to say i hate electric fences lol

Me too. I've been lucky not to have had problems so far but I'm appreciating the downsides now and to be honest, as worried as I was today, I think I'd rather deal with that than a St Bernard!

 

[Leo Walker]

Mine went through a very naughty phase and was running through the fencing, as there was a fault and it was tripping so not on. It then got turned on and he got a hell of a whack. He was behaving in a similar fashion to yours and hes another HW who is phenomenally strong. We have a system. I catch him and let him stand behind me, get the gate and throw it out of the way to the side and then he walks through and I turn him round, he stands behind me and I fasten it back up. If I dont he panics and trys to run through.

He has a Dually that I use for stuff like this. He doesnt have it on very often any more, but it was invaluable for loading and leading stuff. I get a Dually, do some ground work then when your ready take her to the field and go in and out of the gate a hundred times if needs be. And repeat over the the next few days until shes ok with it

EDITED TO SAY initially he was given room and allowed to rush through, I just made sure I was stood out of the way, but he wasnt allowed to go any further than the end of the lead rope and he then had to turn and face me and stand calmly

 

[Orca]

Thanks Frankie, it sounds like a Dually might be worth a try! It really is imperative to me (and to her recovery I think), that she doesn't get away from me again. I had thought about using her Scrawbrig bridle. What's the principle behind the Dually? Does it build on ye olde lead rope over the nose concept?

 

[gnubee]

Dually is very much lead rope over nose concept. I'm not sure I would use in your scenario though (generally i am a huge fan) because she is going to leap through for a bit, and the dually will jab her nose hard in that situation which will reinforce her pain expectation. You need to replace the bad memory with ok ones by repeatedly getting through the gate without trauma. If she is on her own I would use a field safe head collar with the rope looped through rather than clipped on so she can zoom through at her own pace and you can let the rope slip through so she doesn't pull you over. Stand well to the side of her so you aren't knocked over. If you can, I would take her feed up with you and feed immediately as you are through the gateway- both mine will happily walk through with nose in a bucket which can reduce the instinct to disapppear into the distance once they are through the gate and off the rope. Ideally in your situation I would be working to get to a place where the horse will march purposefully through behind you rather than keep stopping and treating etc. Great if you can get there at some point perhaps, but I do like mine to view the electric gates as a place where they can come through at my request rather than as a place to dither about as the lack of respect for the gateway that stopping and treating causes in my experience is the same lack of respect that gets them zapped again.
One of mine will only come through the gate if I go through with her, even if her companion has already seen me open the gate and walk out. I would much prefer that level of respect for gates than a horse that tries their luck (as her companion is sometimes inclined to do).

If getting away was a regular issue my suggested response would be different, but at the moment it seems you have an isolated issue around a terrifying gateway so my first response would be to find ways for you to both successfully navigate the gateway for a week or so and let her panic subside before you try to put a training fix on a fear issue and potentially exacerbate the problem.

 

[Orca]

Thank you, I see both your and Frankie's points about just keeping myself safe and letting her rush through initially but aside from being concerned that she might come to believe that bolting means it won't hurt, it also allows her to get into a state which is dangerous to lead her back to the yard in.

Her current fear level really is on the very edge of losing the plot completely and remains up there even after bolting either into or out of her field and continues at least until her gateway is out of sight. The path through her gateway, then through the paddocks has electric fencing each side, is very sodden and slippery and on a downward slope - really the last environment I want to lead a panicking cob through! This is where I can see the Dually concept being most useful. For safety's sake it really is imperative that I have an element of control.

With all other gateways and doors, she is an absolute star and very mannerly. Waits politely while I undo latches, backs up to give room for the gate or door to be opened, passes through with me calmly when asked, turns to do it back up. Ideally, this is the point I want to return to with her paddock gate. I agree that a healthy respect is beneficial. I might try your food trick, that is something my YO suggested too and she most definitely is a foodie ��

 

[Leo Walker]

Dually is very much lead rope over nose concept. I'm not sure I would use in your scenario though (generally i am a huge fan) because she is going to leap through for a bit, and the dually will jab her nose hard in that situation which will reinforce her pain expectation. .

It really, really doesnt! It only comes into effect when you put it into effect As I said, I let mine run through the gateway initially and the Dually only came into effect when he reached the end of the leadrope, and hence was through the gateway and thinking about bogging off, after the issue was no longer an issue! I went out of my way to make it a good experience, and the fact the Dually only kicked in after the thing that frightened him wasnt a real issue

 

[Leo Walker]

Thank you, I see both your and Frankie's points about just keeping myself safe and letting her rush through initially but aside from being concerned that she might come to believe that bolting means it won't hurt, it also allows her to get into a state which is dangerous to lead her back to the yard in.

Her current fear level really is on the very edge of losing the plot completely and remains up there even after bolting either into or out of her field and continues at least until her gateway is out of sight. The path through her gateway, then through the paddocks has electric fencing each side, is very sodden and slippery and on a downward slope - really the last environment I want to lead a panicking cob through! This is where I can see the Dually concept being most useful. For safety's sake it really is imperative that I have an element of control.

With all other gateways and doors, she is an absolute star and very mannerly. Waits politely while I undo latches, backs up to give room for the gate or door to be opened, passes through with me calmly when asked, turns to do it back up. Ideally, this is the point I want to return to with her paddock gate. I agree that a healthy respect is beneficial. I might try your food trick, that is something my YO suggested too and she most definitely is a foodie ��

When Frankie gets his knickers in a twist he is dangerous. He is only 14.2hh ish but he is a tank of a horse! He is also very prone to having complete meltdowns. If I stop him in his tracks he calms down and becomes reasonable, but if I allow it or pander to it he just keeps escalating it and becomes totally hysterical and unmanageable!

Frankie is super smart and assesses people and situations very, VERY quickly and then uses any weakness to his advantage. Dont get me wrong, hes a lovely person but he pushes the boundaries all the time and any sniff of weakness and he becomes a monster!

If he had been allowed to charge through the gateway without a check, then he would have rapidly escalated that to charging all the way to his stable, plowing people down on his wa. Yes he was frightened, and I understand that and have worked round it, but that wouldnt have stopped him taking that intial fear and turning it into being a knob head!

Honestly, and I hate to say this, but cobs are so different from every "normal" rational horse I have ever dealt with its untrue!

 

[Orca]

When Frankie gets his knickers in a twist he is dangerous. He is only 14.2hh ish but he is a tank of a horse! He is also very prone to having complete meltdowns. If I stop him in his tracks he calms down and becomes reasonable, but if I allow it or pander to it he just keeps escalating it and becomes totally hysterical and unmanageable!

Frankie is super smart and assesses people and situations very, VERY quickly and then uses any weakness to his advantage. Dont get me wrong, hes a lovely person but he pushes the boundaries all the time and any sniff of weakness and he becomes a monster!

If he had been allowed to charge through the gateway without a check, then he would have rapidly escalated that to charging all the way to his stable, plowing people down on his wa. Yes he was frightened, and I understand that and have worked round it, but that wouldnt have stopped him taking that intial fear and turning it into being a knob head!

Honestly, and I hate to say this, but cobs are so different from every "normal" rational horse I have ever dealt with its untrue!

�� Orca is only 14hh but equally as wide (hence her name). She has 12" of solid bone! In all my years of horses, I've never had one succeed in getting away from me like she did today. I have to agree that dealing with a panicky HW is nothing like panicking on a normal scale. Most normal-horse antics aren't accompanied by an earthquake, for one thing!

 

[Leo Walker]

Frankie is a huge horse on short legs :lol:

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

She will panic, if you let her, imo (and I have a Draft horse and a HW cob). I know that it is more risky than normal in a wet, muddy gateway but you have to give your mare confidence.

Make sure that you can keep hold of her. I use a simple rope halter of the kind that you can buy from a farm stores for less than £5 but otherwise a bridle would do. I woud have a helper to actually open and fasten the gate.

Walk purposefully to the closed gateway, stop and give her a treat out of some kind of noisy, rattly bag that doesn't take too long to get into, while helper opens the gate and moves alongside the fence out of the way with no trailing fence.

Walk through the gateway keeping the mare's attention on the rattly bag, stop when she is through, treat, turn her as if you were fastening the gate, wait for friend to close gateway, treat and let the mare go. Repeat as many times as you need to and then start removing steps one at a time.

When you feel that the mare is ready for you to close the gate, I would still have the helper available, as a lot of this is about your confidence levels in your ability to keep you both safe.

 

[Orca]

Thanks Pearl, my confidence level definitely needs to be back where it was. As a confidence building exercise for us both, I walked her out in hand today intentionally when the yard was busy.

There were a multitude of dog people doing agility, dogs and people everywhere, car doors and boots opening and slamming and a tractor in the next field passing noisily, plus some simple gateways (proper gates), all with a gale blowing through the trees. She was a bit hot and bothered but didn't put a foot wrong and it has helped my confidence to be reminded of how trusting she is of me in most circumstances. I do have an unused rope halter, so I'll start working with her in that asap.

 

[Tiddlypom]

^^More good advice from PS. I second having a helper, who can deal with the gate, so you can concentrate on the horse. I enlisted non horsey OH to do this for me. After a few days of this, and getting my foster filly's confidence up, we gradually reduced the amount of assistance I was getting and now I can bring her in and out on my own. She also used to strike out a foreleg whilst waiting for me to take her headcollar off, this was out of anxiety not naughtiness. I stood out of the way of her front end and as soon as she stopped messing, I'd slip the headcollar off. She's soon cottoned on that if she stands quietly, she's released sooner. She hasn't struck out for a few days, now.

Good luck, it's often tricky settling in a newbie, but her temperament sounds great so you will get there . Please wear a hat and gloves, though.

 

[Orca]

^^More good advice from PS. I second having a helper, who can deal with the gate, so you can concentrate on the horse. I enlisted non horsey OH to do this for me. After a few days of this, and getting my foster filly's confidence up, we gradually reduced the amount of assistance I was getting and now I can bring her in and out on my own. She also used to strike out a foreleg whilst waiting for me to take her headcollar off, this was out of anxiety not naughtiness. I stood out of the way of her front end and as soon as she stopped messing, I'd slip the headcollar off. She's soon cottoned on that if she stands quietly, she's released sooner. She hasn't struck out for a few days, now.

Good luck, it's often tricky settling in a newbie, but her temperament sounds great so you will get there . Please wear a hat and gloves, though.

Thanks for your encouragement TP. All in all it's been a potentially difficult first week for her in her new home. She was traveled to me during a gale (big frown!). The wind settled for one day only but every other day has been accompanied by a cacophony of new, strange sights and sounds which she's taken in her stride. I'm now feeling that as unfortunate as the fence incident was, we're fortunate to have only developed this one issue considering the environment! Hat, gloves and helper at the ready - I'm now feeling determined to put this right for her ��

 

[Orca]

Just a quick update. Orca has had turnout restricted by the vet (strict diet!), so we haven't negotiated the gateway yet but we have been working on leading elsewhere.

Today she shied for the first time since the gateway incident. Something let out a good "BANG" from behind us as I brought her in from her sand school turnout. She went to bolt - I stopped her without much pressure and as she started to spin, snapped the lead rope while growling 'grrRGIVEOVER!!'. Completely forgetting that it was my young, new, green mare and automatically treating her as I would any other horse who had the sillies. Funnily enough, she immediately stopped her silliness and walked in nicely on a loose lead.

I know it doesn't sound like much but it was nice for me to feel capable again and nice too to see how she responded. I now want more shies in a safe space! All good practice ��

 

[Tiddlypom]

Today she shied for the first time since the gateway incident. Something let out a good "BANG" from behind us as I brought her in from her sand school turnout. She went to bolt - I stopped her without much pressure and as she started to spin, snapped the lead rope while growling 'grrRGIVEOVER!!'. Completely forgetting that it was my young, new, green mare and automatically treating her as I would any other horse who had the sillies. Funnily enough, she immediately stopped her silliness and walked in nicely on a loose lead.

Good for you! You'll remember that next time she has a bit of a moment, and so will she .

 

[Orca]

Good for you! You'll remember that next time she has a bit of a moment, and so will she .

Thank you, TP. I felt a bit daft writing it down. Such a small, non-incident in the general scheme of horsey life but a big step for us in the here and now!