Hail storm and spooky horse

Gusbear

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17 February 2012
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Was Richmond, Surrey now a mountain forest in Oz.
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I planned on schooling my neddy yesterday as we had the first sign of sun all week but got to the area to find it full to the brim with pony clubbers. The sky was clear and apart from a slight breeze the weather perfect. I decided on an impromptu hack at a walk along the bridle path alongside our yard with OH joining me on foot. Normally docile neddy had gone no more than 200 yards when I felt him tense and start pulling like a steam train. I could feel he was getting ready to explode and had OH not been there to grab the reins I'm sure he would have bolted off full gallop.
I managed to get him back to yard and outside the arena with him dancing about and full of adrenalin.
I quickly popped him into the smaller arena and he immediately settled and put in a good 15 mins of very relaxed schooling. The other liveries commented on how quickly he quietend down. We were just getting warmed up when out of nowhere we were hit by a torrential hailstorm of biblical proportions. We scrambled back to his stable in record time and it took him a while to settle due to the thunder and lightening.
I am wondering if he sensed the impending storm as he has always been dead quiet and hacks out on a buckle. Yesterday was the first time I truly felt unsafe.
I've ridden in nasty weather plenty of times before on my late horses and never had any issues so yesterday took me by surprise. He is only a youngster so I figure he was simply scared?
It has made me think though that perhaps I need to upgrade from my Myler comfort snaffle for hacking in case he tanks off as I feel if he did decide to bolt then I've no brakes to speak of.
Any suggestions please?
 
There is an air pressure change before any storm, so your boy may have sensed this and panicked. Remember the reports of animals fleeing into the mountains before the Boxing Day tsunami?

He may have felt safer back at the yard near other horses.
 
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