Help for spooky horse?

How old is your horse? what is he/she fed?

I took my spooky horse off all ceral feeds and now feed just chaff, speedibeet and blue chip, and lots of hay, he gets as much time in the field as possible (even in bad weather & mud!) and he is 100% better.

In the early days with him I put him on anxicalm calmer which really did work but he doesn't need it now.
 
She will be 15 in July, she is out every single day in all weather and because she is such a good doer ie breaths and gains weight! She is only fed a small scoop of chaff and a small scoop of nuts. She is calm to handle and isn't hot headed or too forward going it is just spookyness & she has been going out hacks all the time for 4 years with me now & she is still just a big wimp!
 
I can suggest a calming product by Equine Answers I used to use on the grey in my sig (now sold as of last week). It really works and is cheaper than many other calming supps, ring the Equine Answer hotline...Really helpful. Just look up Equine Answers on google, they have a very informative website.
 
Thanks Vixxy I will give Equine Answers a google :)
In the school just now we are concentrating on trying to get her to wok from behind and soften her mouth, she is quite stiff so it is all gentle short schooling exercises. When hacking because I have only recently moved yards I make sure she is with another horse to help her insecurity. I hacked her out once herself and she was so tence I had to keep pushing her on, she came back covered in sweat - realy didn't enjoy herself. I'm not nervous on her, I think happy thoughts and talk to her, push her on, play with my hands to try and get her to concentrate etc.
Ive had her on something before but now can't remember what it was! It helped though.
 
Doing nothing on my mare has helped out hacking, i.e long rein (does sound dangerous I know) relaxed me, chatting away and not paying any attention to what she is doing. I often chat to my friend or something, all the while my mare is looking at everything eyes on stalks, even when she dashes off, I stop her and instantly give back the rein. So I am not making a deal of anything - it's all about being relaxed and not making a deal about things with my mare.

Everything has to be ignored, anything she looks at I don't and she is getting better.

Especially going around the school, the moment I look at something and tense, that's it major spook and then everytime after - I have found whilst warming up if she is allowed to be relaxed and moving forwards on a relaxed long rein she will pick up and not spook when she is properly working. Because she was so spooky and sharp I used to try and work her in an outline straight away, so she couldn't look around and spook and it just never worked out at all. She just fought me to look and then spook and I was tense ans as I said, it just never worked out, so now no matter how she feels, even when completely on edge I keep a long rein and she always settles - you just have to hang on for those initial spooks and keep relaxed... lol Anyway, just a thought to how I work around it.xxx
 
I have a purebred arab mare who is very spooky and I find that given her lots of rein helps her. The more you gather up the reins and restrict her the worse she becomes. If I'm nice and relaxed on a hack then so is she. If she gets a bit spooky I speak to her calmly and keep the leg on and she is fine. When I first got her I only done school work with her and she was very very spooky which made me not want to take her out for hacks cause our yard is on a main road and I didn't want her bolting into traffic etc but actually when out hacking she is more relaxed.
 
Have the same trouble with my arab mare, I had to change how I rode bit of a struggle at my age I might add. I keep my legs on her reassures her, fairly good contact and keep on the bit and going forward if she has to turn for a car she naps but is getting better at this. The first time I took her on the Downs she totally freaked out in one of the large spaces have to say my nerve has wobbled a bit since but she is a very sweet mare, I give her Wendel Herbs Special Calmer, which seems to take the edge of the silliness.
 
My mare was that bad I actually thought she had back problems at first but the back man came out and all was well. He said to me that horses like that shouldn't be on feed that is over 10% in protein as can make them even more hyper. Luckily my horse is only on a general low energy feed anyway which is only 8% protein. Alot of treats can also have the same effect.

She seems to think that every little thing is going to jump up and eat her!! She is quite funny at times with it but other times she can be just dangerous but the best thing to do is remain calm. The owner before me had her all bitted up and were quite harsh with her thinking she was taking the mick out of them but that isn't the case with her....she is now only on a loose ring snaffle.

I recently found out as well that she has been to about 5 different homes in the last 2 years and was extremely underweight at one home so she's not had the best upbringing and has very bad trust issues. Luckily she has a home for life with me now.
 
Know exactly what you mean Proctorclaire. Had mare for a year (last mare pts) she has been in four homes before me. She was from a racing yard then went showing quite successfully I'm told but ended up witha young girl who didn't understand arabs. She can be a bit nappy but firmness usually works she frightens herself you cannot relax at all but I sing to her chat to her and she is better with other horses. Her bit is simple and I do think the Calmer helps she is good in every other way and will stay with me for life. Hopefully we will tackle the downs again with a little less hysteria on both our parts.:rolleyes:
 
I have a PBA that can be spooky....over the years he has improved though...

my 'regime':)

NO cereals...spillers slow release cubes and Molli veteran chaff with a scoop of Magnitude calmer....ad-lid hay and plenty of turn-out really help.

Keep a bit of leg on the help him feel secure ( he's a wuss) and I ride lightly but firmly and quietly IYKWIM....I talk to him and tell him to go on and I swear he listens:D

I have just moved from livery to my own yard....and I am hacking out in loads of different places.....in the past few weeks we have encountered balloon-bird scarers, trains, pushchairs, a bloke jet-washing his car...small child on tricycle......he was brill with all of that then spooked at a log he has seen literally hundreds of time before:rolleyes:

I find if I am not tense....then neither is he...I have had to re-programme myself lol.

Also....just a thought- when my horse was at his worst I had his saddle fit checked- it was too tight accross his withers and apparantly this can be a common cause of tension and spooking ( don't know if its true or not, but it made sense in our case)
 
I find singing really silly songs helps......people in my local area will frequently hear me singing Ten green bottles or "there was 10 in the bed and the little one said" thats a particular favorite!!...........
.......although it doesnt work when trying to go past sheep! i havent found the answer to trying to get him calmly past little lambs yet!
 
Wish I knew the answer to spooky horse having just got 53% in a Novice at Hickstead as he wouldn't go near the judges boxes. He is 15 and been there many times - he is a right pansy out hacking as well at the weekend it was a small piece of plastic bag and a plastic box that sent him spinning around. He is only on hay and happy hoof and I've just taken him off a calmer he was on over the winter as he is also now quite sluggish but TBH no calmer has ever really stopped the spooking. He is his least spookiest when he is in front of the leg and concentrating on me which rarely happens lol. I can get him to walk over a tarpaulin, stand on a box etc. but makes not difference when I am riding. Still looking for solutions :)
 
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