Help horse nightmare to lead in wind

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Maz55

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Can anyone give me some advice please. My horse is terrible to bring in from the field on windy days. She canters around me, spins and rears. It takes ages to get her in. As soon as i get to the yard shes ok. I have to rely on others to bring her in in winter and its a real problem. The rest of the time shes fine (unless left til last!). Any advice please? I use a chifney and lunge line but it doesnt do much! Thank you
 
Mine was awful in the wind yesterday, wind does make them very silly for some reason.

Have you tried using a chain on her headcollar instead of the chifney. Different type of action and may just make her listen a bit more and not actually charge all over you.
 
Is there anyway she can follow someone else in? One of mine is a tit but will follow the others with much less drama. Failing that we do sadly have one chap at the livery yard who just won't go out in bad wind. He's a liability to himself in the field and then nearly kills whoever draws the short straw to try and bring him in. He's on full livery though so his owner has just left an instruction for him to stay in on the really bad days :-(
 
When you say you have to rely on other people, do you mean becuase she won't lead for you, or do you mean becuase you can't get there so it's causing problems for them?
If she's just like that for you, could it be she's sensing your nerves? Either way, lots of groundwork and lots of practicing with leading should help, making her stop when you stop, walk when you walk etc.

Maybe she's reacting to the chifney so I'd try with just her normal bridle. My boy can be a pain to load when he decides he's not playing and a chifney makes him 10 times worse as he has more to fight against but I need more than a headcollar to keep hold of him, so use his normal bridle and he's fine in that.
 
I did used to help a woman with an 18hh Irish Draft that was just as you describe. Rearing, spinning, striking out. Firstly, I ALWAYS wore my hat. Secondly, after too many close calls, I started taking the lunge roller and side reins to the field with me. I'd basically get him in his lunge gear and put the side reins on the side rings of the cavesson as if I was lunging. I'll be perfectly honest here. I'd have the side reins pretty short, basically that his head was only just above the vertical but it was the ONLY way that I could stop him rearing. He still cantered sideways by me and pranced around, but he stopped rearing and that was the dangerous part. I was not prepared to fight with him, he was just wound up because of the wind. I just found it to be the best way. It instantly calmed him down and for the sake of a two minute walk was well worth it.

Fly on the other hand will just canter sideways next to me on a loose lead rope bless her, I swear she'll canter backwards one day, she just wants her bum to the wind no matter what :)
 
Thanks everyone for answers. She does it with everyone including very experienced horsepeople so it isn't just me. We tend to bring her in first on days when it's windy cos she can get silly if she thinks she's being left til last/left behind and we don't want to give her any excuse to set her off!!! I have to rely on others cos I can't get there before dark and she can't be left out on her own. She's a right princess lol!

She does it with normal headcollar and chifney. I might try a bridle thanks. It's not so much the rearing that's the problem as the charging around and effectively lungeing herself every couple of steps!

She's an absolute angel every other time and with everything else, including loading so it's weird. she just seems to go into total meltdown and a bit hysterical if there's a bit of wind! It's only bringing in though, going out she's fine!

annagain said:
When you say you have to rely on other people, do you mean becuase she won't lead for you, or do you mean becuase you can't get there so it's causing problems for them?
If she's just like that for you, could it be she's sensing your nerves? Either way, lots of groundwork and lots of practicing with leading should help, making her stop when you stop, walk when you walk etc.

Maybe she's reacting to the chifney so I'd try with just her normal bridle. My boy can be a pain to load when he decides he's not playing and a chifney makes him 10 times worse as he has more to fight against but I need more than a headcollar to keep hold of him, so use his normal bridle and he's fine in that.
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I sang very loudly as I brought mine in yesterday and they were so surprised that they all behaved beautifully. It's ME that hates the wind, I wouldn't have gone out in it if I hadn't got to see to them.

It certainly helped the youngster, a gust of wind slammed the field gate on her last year and gave her a terrible fright. She was rock steady yesterday.
 
Maz55 said:
this might sound like a stupid question but where would the chain go?
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You can either buy a chain on its own or a lead rope with a chain at the end. Whichever one, you feed the clip end through the side ring of the headcollar from the side you lead and under the chin and clip the end onto the far side ring of the headcollar so that if she pulls the chain pulls under her chin, bit like a curb chain but slightly higher. They can be severe if over used but usually one pull on the chain and they realise that you have control and they behave so the chain is not pressuring them all the time.

Having said that I don't think it would probably stop the lunging round you thing, we had one at the yard who would do that alot and we never worked out how to stop her.
 
My mare hates the wind too, she won't settle in the field and charges the tapes. Bringing her in is a nightmare, she's trying to fight the wind it would seem! So, on days like yesterday, she stays on the yard, she's fine tied up outside her stable and she's more than happy to have a 'duvet day' with a big haynet. She went out like a lamb this morning, have ridden and she was well behaved so a day in hasn't done her any harm. I do think if they hate the wind that much, then leave them where they feel safe and it's safer for everyone then.
 
I think the answer lies in ground work. If you have an out door arena take her in there with something like a dually head collar or pressure halter. She must learn to stand still
Try watching one of monty Roberts demos how he deals with horses that don't stand still. Even the ones that won't stand for mounting. As its the same exercises

Make sure you wear PP's stuff tho
 
At the risk of being shot down in flames I'd get a rope halter, a long rope and teach some ground manners Parelli style- ie at a distance. Teach her to back up from shaking the rope and to move laterally etc. It doesn't need to be perfect but she needs to respect your space and learn that she doesn't run past you no matter what it scaring her!
 
saddlesore said:
At the risk of being shot down in flames I'd get a rope halter, a long rope and teach some ground manners Parelli style- ie at a distance. Teach her to back up from shaking the rope and to move laterally etc. It doesn't need to be perfect but she needs to respect your space and learn that she doesn't run past you no matter what it scaring her!
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Basically what I said too. Just different methods :)
 
Mine's similar but he doesn't need the wind as an excuse. I use a rope head collar and he's far more respectful of that than a leather head collar, I do also tell him off and he does listen, but he's generally put out first and bought in first, plus I have found that giving him a very large carrot to chomp on while I am leading him helps as it gives him something else to think about - obviously he rubbish at multi tasking!!
 
agree with the ground work suggestions


BUT..........my mare can be dangerous in the wind, prancing, head shaking leading to head butting the person leading her in which is A) Dangerous and B) hurts like hell when she makes contact so I put her lead rope through her mouth.....Loop it up over the noseband of the head collar and through her mouth like a bit.

The first time I did this she did her normal headbutt thingy so I gave a one good yank on the rope and she stopped.....now if its windy the lead rope just goes in her mouth but she will walk in on a loose rein as she knows it will hurt if she tries to headbutt me.

Will prob get told off for that but I refuse to put myself and others in danger.
 
Mine was like that in the wind, just scared. If it helps at all he has gotten a lot better with age so in part it just takes time for them to get used to it. The other thing I found with this horse in particular was that trying to restrict him just made things worse. Instead of stronger headcollars I used a normal one with a loose leadrope and let him expend his energy turning round me. So a few steps forward and then allow him to circle you, then a few steps forward and allow him to circle you. This technique worked with everything with this horse, i.e. instead of trying to restrict him, let him expend the energy. For example he was difficult to get on but as soon as he realised he could trot when my bum hit the saddle rather than be expected to stand he calmed down, he used to piaffe on hacks but relaxed a lot more when I put my leg on and asked for more than when I used my hand to ask for less.
 
I had a mare who sounds like a carbon copy of yours, OP. I used a slip head with a bit, and a lunge line to handle her in the wind, although she was still a twit on occasion.
Two things with her:
She was much better being led with another horse, it gave her some security it seems;
She eventually calmed down for me because she was used to me. She was still a nightmare for others though.

Both of those observations suggested to me that her behaviour stemmed from insecurity, and the added stress of new sounds and smells being whipped up by the wind was just too much for her little potato sized brain to cope with.

Don't know if that's any help for you, but it think you can take comfort from knowing that your challenge is not unique...

My yard doesn't turn out at all if the wind is strong. Too dangerous for the staff and more often than not the horses just hooly around and hurt themselves. Rain or snow, out they go. Wind = duvet days.
 
Well, that's just bad manners really then, isn't it? Don't LET the horse mess about; put a chain over the nose and USE it to teach the horse some respect. Or put a bridle on and run a lunge line through the near bit ring, over the poll and clip to the offside bit ring, and again: USE it. Beats me why people allow their horses to (literally) run rings around them - it's not only rude it's DANGEROUS for handler and horse.
 
Thinking outside the box here most horses dislike wind because of the noise? Is it possible to cover her ears somehow - maybe turn out in a tie on ear bonnet or a fly mask with ears and see if that helps at all?
 
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