Had an accident - what to do next

[muffinino]

Am quite upset and cross with myself (and T for being so stubborn!) so want some thoughts as to how to deal with this.
Had a bit of a nasty accident this evening. After a lovely hack around the fields, where my normally spooky horse was calm yet responsive, we got back to the hunting gate to get back in the yard. T decided he didn't like the white sign on the big gate next to the hunting gate and would not step close enough to the hunting gate for me to open it properly (we went though the gate to get in to the fields and he's been through it both ways before). He can be very stubborn when he doesn't want to do something so I didn't want to let him misbehave when he's done this a few times before and is normally excellent with gates. After 5 mins of arguing, he was not listening to my leg at all and for the first time in ages I didn't have a whip to back my leg up. He swung sideways and went backwards in to an electric fence. Obviously he tried to run off, I managed to hang on for a bit but he threw me forwards, I hit my face on his neck (now sporting a lovely fat lip), lost him and came off.
Caught him, led him through the gate a few times. I must admit did shout at him because he ran through it at first and almost knocked me over. I'm not proud of this and I know it was wrong but I was shaking from the adrenaline at this point so am quite upset about that. He did get better going through it so I got back on and went in the school. Had a walk trot and canter, he seemed fine. Opened and closed the school gate; he was very jumpy but did it.

Now, he's my hunter and was getting him fit for the new season, but he needs to be good with gates. My confidence was shaken badly a few years ago after a fall in which he bolted for reasons unknown. I had just managed to build my confidence back up and we were both happy hacking out. How would you approach getting his confidence with gates back up? Was going to leave it tomorrow, have a youngster to ride anyway, then hack out without gates on Saturday. Then Sunday maybe lead him through the scary gate and see how he is? It sounds really pathetic, and I'm probably projecting my feelings on to him, but I'm so upset that such a lovely hack ended so badly and I feel like he's not going to trust me at all now Cookies if you've managed to get this far

 

[Tobiano]

Hope you are both ok! Do you HAVE to do gates out hunting? Surely not everyone does. Could you not go out a few times and gradually build back up to the gates? You can simulate a gate at home with some jump wings and string to begin with. (Says someone who can barely open a gate on her own 2 feet never mind a horse!)

 

[neddy man]

forget it ever happened ,every time you ride out take him up to various gates, tap the top of them lean over as if opening them make a fuss of him and praise him so he does not fear them . On returning to the yard open a gate go through praise and titbit him , ditto to come back , his and your confidence will soon return.

 

[Mike007]

forget it ever happened ,every time you ride out take him up to various gates, tap the top of them lean over as if opening them make a fuss of him and praise him so he does not fear them . On returning to the yard open a gate go through praise and titbit him , ditto to come back , his and your confidence will soon return.

Yes ,forget it. he was being a complete tit and he knows it too. (probably as keen for the matter to be brushed under the carpet as you).You did what I would have done . Shouting at a horse does grab their attention and make them reassess their priorities sometimes . I would rather use my voice as a whip than a whip as a whip if you know what I mean .

 

[muffinino]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I think I'm still in shock about it and feeling a bit guilty tbh. He's fine, physically, he was very spooky when I turned him out but he is a bit of a t*t when something upsets him anyway. It was dark by then so that didn't help! My lip has a whopping blood blister on it and I have a bruise forming on my forehead, both look lovely lol!

I do have to do gates to go hacking, unless I just want to hack in the road, but hacking I could get off if I had to. Generally I tend to end up doing gates out hunting as he's such a good gate opener/closer. He'll probably be fine with other gates apart from the horse eating monster one! But I have to go through this one in order to get out to the fields to hack. If worse comes to worse I can get off and open the big gate until he's more confident with it.
You're right neddy man, I have to put it behind me. I'm just a bit shaken, it happened so quickly yet at the same time I knew exactly what was about to happen, if you know what I mean? I just needed a chat with someone about it as I tend to overthink these things!

 

[muffinino]

Ha yes, Mike007, he'll probably forget it a lot quicker than I will. I will try to just forget it happened but get some practice with gates to make sure he's still ok with them.
I know what you mean re shouting at him, he's a lot bigger and heavier than me and I had no choice but to get him back through the gate or we'd still be there! I didn't really want to get squished doing it, though

 

[Mike007]

Your horse is Irish isnt he!

 

[muffinino]

Haha I don't know exactly. He came from a sale in the north of
England, given to me by someone who swopped a pair of ponies for him, but he grew too big for what they wanted. I was told that he was bred by gypsies (is that the term we can use here?) and that his father was part Welsh cob, his dam a gypsy cob trotting type. Whether that's true or not I'm not sure but he has the Welsh cob silliness, that's for sure!

 

[Mike007]

A welsh cob might be silly but only an Irish Daft can be daft.They also get hysterical about the stupidest of things yet brave as a lion when they should be running for the hills!

 

[muffinino]

That perfectly describes him, down to a T, as it were. He's a piebald cob, made to look posh with hogging. I would post a pic but don't know how to do it off my phone

 

[gunnergundog]

You did nothing wrong - carry a hunting whip when you need to do gates as often makes it easier. It was just the existence of the electric fence that meant things went a bit pear shaped. If you can, practice going not through a gate, but opening it, holding it open with your whip, asking him to take a couple of steps forwards and then just stand there for a few seconds. Praise him verbally and then finish going through the gate. Perfect your rein backs, turns on the forehand in the school such that they become second nature.

 

[muffinino]

Thank you for the reply You are right about the fence; if it wasn't electric then we'd have had a bit of a tiff but been ok
He is very good at turn on the forehand and rein back, will neck rein sideways on big gates, just being ignorant because he decided he didn't want to do it. In fact, I reined him back a couple of times when he wouldn't go forwards, just so he was going somewhere. But good call with the hunting whip - I've been looking for an excuse to buy one for a while but couldn't really justify the cost

 

[MS123]

Don't feel guilty. As others have said, you did nothing wrong at all and I think actually that you did very well given the circumstances. I can think of a few people (fellow liveries over the years) who wouldn't have been so sympathetic in that situation. I think best to brush it under the carpet and move forwards as normal

 

[Fransurrey]

Like others said, forget it and move on. My gelding did this once and also backed into a mains fence, after we went through the gate. The fence lined the bridleway on both sides to the end, about 500m. He did a 0-60 in a millisecond and galloped the whole length. There have been a couple of other gates next to electric that he's been averse to, so I would maybe put your incident down to the proximity of the electric.

 

[Annagain]

The first thing I'd do is have a nice G&T (medicinal purposes) through a straw if necessary to chill out.
Then (or perhaps the following the day!) I think I'd make him go through that gate about 100 times - led at first and then with you on board. Maybe 100 is a bit of an exaggeration, but do it until he's so bored of it that he's desperate to get through it and go somewhere else!

And I've shouted at mine plenty, especially A. Hasn't affected him in the slightest, he's still a t*t.

 

[Annagain]

A welsh cob might be silly but only an Irish Daft can be daft.They also get hysterical about the stupidest of things yet brave as a lion when they should be running for the hills!

This describes A, my Irish boy perfectly. Once had a JCB, lorry (complete with air brakes), double decker bus and an ambulance with sirens blaring go steaming past us on the main road - not a flicker.....Then went round the corner into a quiet lane and he span and dumped me because some evil tyrant had had the audacity to dump a killer beer bottle in the middle of the road.

When a paraglider nearly landed on our heads, his first reaction was to mug him for treats. Went round the corner and a sheep bleated or took a step towards him or looked at him a bit funnily or something equally ridiculous and we were off! I wouldn't have minded so much if he didn't share his field with 50 of the blighters.

 

[muffinino]

Haha anna that sounds about right! Thanks all, I was quite upset last night but you've all made me feel better. He was suitably dratoc going past the gate when coming in this morning *eye roll* I will probably have a ride on him in the school this evening to see how he feels and check he's ok, then do the de-sensitisation you've all suggested. Thank you all for hand holding

On the plus side, my youngster I posted about a while back has settled down a lot and is working well now. Took him to a little show in hand in the weekend and he was very good, hoping to take him to another tomorrow. Feel like I'm lurching from one drama to the next at the moment!

 

[Doormouse]

A welsh cob might be silly but only an Irish Daft can be daft.They also get hysterical about the stupidest of things yet brave as a lion when they should be running for the hills!

Perfect description of them! I have one who will jump anything you point him at, literally but god forbid a pigeon might rustle the leaves of a tree in the school (we generally manage to calm down 3 circuits later)!

 

[Meredith]

OP, was the electric fence close to the gate? Perhaps your horse heard it ticking, my horses know whether a fence has power or not, and that made the gate situation worse. If so can you get the fence turned off while you practise there?

 

[muffinino]

OP, was the electric fence close to the gate? Perhaps your horse heard it ticking, my horses know whether a fence has power or not, and that made the gate situation worse. If so can you get the fence turned off while you practise there?

I'm not sure tbh., I can't hear the clicking and it's a metal wire fence, rather than the white tape ones, so I'm not sure they click as loudly? But he may well have been able to hear something I couldn't.
I think that when I shut the hunting gate it made the white sign on the big fence rattle slightly and he remembered it, so decided it was scary. Too clever for his own good, that one!

 

[Rhandir]

You might like to see if there is a western instructor anywhere near you who could teach you how to negotiate a trail gate safely. You'll find a list of western instructors on www.wes-uk.com

 

[muffinino]

Hi Rhandir, what do you mean by trail gate? Good idea to get a bit of help, though, I will try myself and look in to it further if I have problems. As it happens I've been looking for an instructor lately as my previous one is unable to come to the yard I've moved to

T is very good with gates in general, in fact we often end up being gate openers/closers out hunting as he normally goes back, forwards, side to side and roundabout very well. But thinking back I'm fairly sure it was this sign rattling that put him off. Like others here have said about their horses, he tends to decide that it's little things that will eat him rather than the obvious!

 

[Meredith]

I'm not sure tbh., I can't hear the clicking and it's a metal wire fence, rather than the white tape ones, so I'm not sure they click as loudly? But he may well have been able to hear something I couldn't.
I think that when I shut the hunting gate it made the white sign on the big fence rattle slightly and he remembered it, so decided it was scary. Too clever for his own good, that one!

Hope you can find a way to re-educate him soon. Best of luck.

 

[muffinino]

Hope you can find a way to re-educate him soon. Best of luck.

Thank you

 

[Gloi]

I had an accident where my horse put his nose on a mains electric fence as I was opening a metal gate and we both got a nasty belt and I ended up on the floor as the shock made my hand grip the gate and I was pulled off as he shot back. Ow. He'd always been perfect with gates but it took his a few months to get back to how he was. We have to do several gates most times we ride out.

 

[muffinino]

Ouch Gloi, that sounds nasty! One saving grace is that I didn't get a shock, although am a bit sore today so feel a bit like I have. It's good to hear that yours did get over the shock, even if it took some time

 

[Rhandir]

We have a showing class called trail .. sort of similar to a handy horse/pony class .. In so far as the horse and rider have to negotiate a series of obstacles which might be encountered on an average hack ... which also includes a free standing gate about four foot six inches wide.
Negotiating the gate is nowhere as simple as it might appear to the observer and requires some training of both horse and rider in being at the right place and pointing in the right direction all at the same time.... and most importantly, remaining cool calm and collected throughout the entire process.
None of this happens by magic, it has to be worked on with an instructor who knows what they are doing.
The gate itself can be very dangerous if tackled in the wrong way .. add a reactive horse into the mix and you are well on your way to an extremely bad accident.

 

[muffinino]

Ah I think I know what you mean, I've seen videos from the rider POV online. There was one on here a couple of years back from a championship in the States, I think, horse had ear covers on if I remember correctly. The course looked like a sort of 4x4 assault course, it was pretty cool.

That's what was so frustrating about yesterday, he does gates brilliantly but just got in his head that he couldn't possibly go near the white sign as obviously it was going to eat him! If he was a person you'd call him melodramatic....

 

[Rhandir]

This is ranch horse trail https://youtu.be/5sn1yTxjh6s

 

[muffinino]

That's pretty cool. He'd probably be pretty good at that (apart from the log pulling, not sure what he'd make of that!). That horse in the video was really good. The one I saw was at a pretty fast pace and was more 'hilly', like a more extreme version of that