Getting a horse past something scary.

I prefer to stay on and wait it out but am another of the 'depends on the situation' gang. My pony can be very very spooky, but trusts me completely, so if he's being really difficult I know it's easier (for both of us) for me to dismount, lead past, and remount. Sometimes he is just stubborn though, so in those situations (normally to do with cows - he was Forest-run for nearly 5 years so has absolutely no excuse) I stay on and just get more and more growly until he gives in!
He also has a tendency to do little stroppy bucks if he's really pushed against his will (I mean little, his hind legs probably come no more than 5 inches off the ground) - which is more annoying than anything else!

I'd rather feel that I was safe and my pony was happy than just boot him past something he's worried about.
 
Depends on pony and circumstance. If there isn't a lot of traffic then I try to ask mine to halt and look at whatever is scaring them. Doesn't matter if I'm are riding or leading. Young cob is very nosey and will often then go towards it with a tiny bit of encouragement. I try to get him to stop, look, move towards the scary thing, stop, look, move forward. Sometimes he gets brave and then goes in with his teeth or feet. He pushed over a (empty) wheelie bin the other day! We have recently been trying to deal with cyclists and motorbikes overtaking. Normally he is fine but if he looks scared then I get him to 'chase them off' down the road.
Old cob was terribly suspicious but with him it was often more a case of telling him to stop being a twit and asking him to walk past calmly. He was genuinely scared of pigs and one of the bravest things he ever did was to walk past a field of them. Cattle and sheep were there to be told off - he once bit one of our neighbours cows because her head was poking over the fence!
 
My horse is quite spooky over stupid stuff like noises or funny looking tufts of grass but generally very good with proper scary stuff but in most cases if i put my leg on I expect him to go. I can boot him past most things but there have been maybe 3 or 4 times I have got off to get passed something in 6 years. Mainly involves poultry lol!! Chickens/turkeys haven't been kind over the years and if it's on a road with cars etc it's just not worth the fight. The downside is once he has gone past the point of no return he is a nightmare the rest of the way! It is rare tho but I do always try get him past most stuff!
 
milliepops said:
Yep, I agree! Right pain in the bum when you are constantly the one who has to get off for things like that.

HOW ON EARTH did you fix the saddle with them sat in it??! :eek3:
Click to expand...

I popped my left arm through CM's reins so she didn't bog off and so I had both hands free. Then I just had to loosen the girth a tad and with one hand on the cantle and the other on the pommel, use brute force to pull it towards me. Despite the horse being a very rotund Welsh D with hardly any withers it wasn't easy. Then I did the girth up again and made a mental note to never ride with them again (it was the same person who dropped the phone too). Their horse was a star though and didn't shift a step while I was sorting the saddle.
 
Faracat said:
It would be worth your while training your horse so that you can get back on again.

As I can remount without issue, I have got a bit fed up in the past when people that I ride with can't possibly do any of the numerous gates. Or they drop their phone, so I have to get off to pick it up, or their brushing boots slip and the real crazy one, when their saddle slipped and I had to sort it out with them still in the saddle as they 'couldn't possibly get back on'. Grrrrr!

I like to use a mounting block of some kind and generally I find something (log, verge, gate etc...) close by that gives me a bit of a boost and makes remounting much more easy.
Click to expand...

Whilst I do agree wth this, my beast is 17.2hh (im sure he's bigger, everybody says so but I've not actually measured recently) and although a saint to mount there is no logs/fencing/benches where we hack and the one and only time I tried to mount him from the floor didn't end well, I just can't get the momentum to get all the way up from that distance without feeling like I'm pulling him over. But like I say to mount he's a saint. But he's a Goliath.
 
Mine stops, looks does a quick impersonation of a giraffe and when all that is done usually will walk on stopping occasionally asking if I am sure. If I hesitate, he does so I have to 'man up' If I genuinely thought he was too scared, I would rather get off than risk an accident. Always better safe than sorry. Haven't had to yet though!
 
milliepops said:
lol, or as a quicker fix ;), how about one of these in your pocket for emergencies?
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/...2xNfU0VTNqPwkJo0ZHqkjs-PHHJbXLi3ggaAlzj8P8HAQ
Click to expand...

You're going to laugh but a friend leant me hers as well as even lengthening the stirrups doesn't really help, and neither did this, to get it to the length where you can contort your leg to get it in the stirrup means when you go to 'stand up' you're left too low to swing your leg over the back of the saddle!
These aren't excuses I promise! YO built a mahusive mountain block that people normally only use from about the third step up. Me and Mr P get to use the very top! :P
 
I'd adapt my tactics to the horse I'm sat on if I'm honest. My previous horse I always felt safest onboard as, nice as he usually was, he'd lose all spacial awareness when spooking and he nearly ran me over a few times suddenly spooking when led (he also jumped into the sides of other horses a few times out riding when I was daft enough to think he'd engage common sense and so not on guard enough to block him). He was also quite brave and would go past things eventually and generally didn't do much other than plant for a few seconds and snort with maybe the odd attempt at spinning. I did however get off him once when the offending object was located at a bridleway entrance directly off a busy road and I just needed us past it asap before we peed off the traffic... he broke my chap spinning around being a numpty whilst I was getting back on (yeah that horse never did grasp "stand")

Current one is a different kettle of fish and when he goes into total meltdown about something it really is easier, quicker and safer to just get off, lead past and hop back on. He is not above, running backwards, spinning, rearing or trying to bash my leg into the nearest solid object when I'm onboard. (He's also had his back feet hanging on the lip of a steep ditch before now and had he followed through he'd probably have flipped himself over... I didn't fancy going with him!) When I'm on the floor I generally have a lot more control and he calms down more or less immediately . Given that the dangerous ridden behaviour is an absolute certainty when he gets wound up and getting off prevents that but carries a low risk of him managing to get away from me I pick the small risk over the big one. I haven't had to dismount due to spooking for a while now (due to my own bad sense of direction making us wind up somewhere I had to get off to move branches out of the way now that's a different story!) but I did a lot of hopping on and off when I started doing more hacking alone.
 
Last edited:
Bav said:
You're going to laugh but a friend leant me hers as well as even lengthening the stirrups doesn't really help, and neither did this, to get it to the length where you can contort your leg to get it in the stirrup means when you go to 'stand up' you're left too low to swing your leg over the back of the saddle!
These aren't excuses I promise! YO built a mahusive mountain block that people normally only use from about the third step up. Me and Mr P get to use the very top! :P
Click to expand...

Hahaha :lol: well in that case it's the camel training or else you have to ride out in platform boots ;)
 
for me personally it depends on the horse and the cause and my location. My old tb monster I would tend to stay on board and wait it out, simply because he was a nightmare in hand.....I just had more control on board and he was more likely to be taking the P**.

The youngster I have now any napping is usually more genuine although we seem to (touches large piece of wood) conquered this now....but I would be prepared to get off and walk a few steps and then get on board again, no speaking no fuss, and he now seems to be fine and no issues..so for me that worked but for a less genuine horse I can imagine they could start to use this as an evasion tool....

I don't get off "easily" indeed I have sat still for up to an hour before now battling of wits etc, but sometimes for safety (reversing into barb wire at speed or in the middle of the road perhaps) you have to make that decision.
 
I have a 5 yr old welsh D whome i backed myself. He is very green and quite spooky and sharp. Took him out a few times and just persevered when he tried to nap or seen something scary like a puddle etc, after a few mins he would shoot past it then i would circle him and make him do it again so its not so scary. However on our route there is a ford to cross with rushing water, its probably around 2" deep max and about 3 meters wide, first time he saw it i battled for about 25 mins he was having none of it, kept planting, then running backwards up the hill, running up the banks etc trying to avoid. So i got off and led him through and he followed cautiously behind. Next time we went that route i persevered and after 10 mins he went through it without problems. Now he goes through it all the time no prob.
Can i add that the road where the ford is is very very quiet and there where no cars about!
 
9tails said:
If we have a situation where my horse is unsure I ask her to stand, give her a scratch and work our way towards the object in increments until she's worked it out. I don't boot, shout or whip because I know her well enough that if she's unsure she isn't being a twit but genuinely needs my reassurance.
Click to expand...

This exactly. I am pretty confident that my boy trusts my judgment in regards to scary things.

As far as I'm concerned, if he either goes forwards or stands still, that's fine but backwards is a no-no!

I now have a lovely mannered brave boy and I'd like to keep it that way! I wouldn't even entertain the idea of getting off!
 
i think horses have more confidence when you are on the ground in some circumstances, the leader trainer is on the ground when breaking and I think it can offer more security to a horse.

the main thing is not to make a fuss yourself and generate calm vibes, take loads of time and give all the patience necessary.
 
I just power through. I think they're more likely to take the p*ss if you're getting off all the time. It's rewarding them for balky behaviour. They need to take their confidence from us! I agree if it's a risk to you (like he's trying to run into traffic) you should probably get off, but those occasions are so rare.
 
Depends entirely on the horse and as an early poster said, never and always are two words than don't belong in the horse world.
I have one who would take a lend if you got off and probably try it on more, so I don't. My big lad is totally genuine and if I had to dismount he wouldn't see it as winning. But he's 17.2 so as yet I have avoided it...just a pita getting back on. Control wise I wouldn't have an issue, mine are always very responsive on the ground so I wouldn't feel at a disadvantage.
 
I've only got off my mare once when I first got her and discovered quite how terrified of shotgun fire she is. I only did it because she was new and I wasn't sure how much more wound up she would get (lots as it transpires) - I ended up walking a mile with her until she was safe enough to remount.

Now 6 years on I will stay on and just put my leg on and talk to her quietly; we have developed a huge trust bond and 90% of the time she will take my word for it. For the other 10% of the time my friend and her fearless cob take the lead.
 
I'm quite happy to sit it out as long as it takes. I had 8 months of a water related issue where I did have to turn round each time, because he was putting his dodgy hindlegs at risk of injury by rearing bolt upright and running backwards at high speed, but we went back every couple of days, and stood closer each time until he finally decided it was ok to go through the river. Now he speeds up when he knows we're going there- loves splashing around in there.
I made sure he had stopped messing around, and stood quietly and relaxed before I turned him away each time-he was genuinely worried, so I didn't look on turning round as a failure - just a stage in the process of getting him cool with getting his feet wet.
If he slams the anchors on out hacking, I give him a bit of time to process whatever it is, then push on past it. He always goes - just sometimes a bit faster and higher than I'd like!
 
There has only ever been one time that I e gotten off and that was because we had traffic stopped both behind and in front of me, so I got off as held the horse on the verge and then led him past the scary fly tip.


But as a rule I would never get off a horse to go past something scary, but equally I've never gotten stuck for such a long period of time... But no as a rule there is no way I would get off!
 
Molasses said:
Also stubborn and tend towards riding it out.
But it depends on the situation. For example something like a sofa dumped on a quiet bridleway i'll be stubborn. But the same sofa on the side of the road with cars not giving me room (or willing to wait patiently) i will hope off and lead if I know the horse is just being a **** and not genuinely terrified to the point of being dangerous. So I guess it would depend on the horse and on the circumstances. I would never say never to riding past, or leading past. I would just go with my gut.

two words do not belong on horseback - Never & Always
you've got to work with what you have.
Click to expand...

Haven't read all the replies but I'm also stubborn and have only ever got off my boy once and that was when he got himself worked up on the way back from a local show and decided he absolutely must catch up with a horse that he'd seen up ahead. Unfortunately at this very moment 4 cyclists appeared so I pulled him over so they could pass and he got more and more het up, until he spun round and reared up at the last cyclist. I tried to push him forward afterwards but could feel the tension bubbling up and knew he was about to explode when he started going sideways and then broncking. It was a beautiful sunny day on a route popular with walkers, often with small children and push chairs and a very fast main road at the end of the track and I reasoned that it was safer to hop off than risk being thrown and him bolting off in search of his newfound friend, possibly running through people in the process.

If he was napping at an object he's passed many times before I would just sit it out and kick on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top