Help! Spooked horse

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Bluemaroo

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My partner and me have been taking Blue for walks, getting him used to being on a lead rope with the aim to eventually breaking him with the help of a friend who has experience breaking horses in. However yesterday we took him out and he spooked at some dog's barking, reared (to the point the lead rope was snatched from my hands) , and ran away, back to the livery yard. He has been around dog's in the past two weeks and has never had a problem with them. Any ideas why these dogs scared him so much?
Also does he sense that I am a bit afraid? I recently got bitten by a horse and then on my other riding experience was reared off one (after not having that happen for 12 years of riding it has jolted me but Blue is bringing back my confidence in horses, and I don't want him to get anxious over my doings because he is a complete darling)
 
Its just one of those things. My last mare was fine with dogs, infact she dragged me to see them if they were on the yard, until out hacking a dog barked at her and she cantered off.
And you have to remember your horse is going for walks, he is still probibily a bit on his toes and out of his comfort zone slightly still.
Has he only every experienced dogs on the yard? Because if thats the case, meeting dogs when he is going walkies is a completely different situation to him :)
 
Bluemaroo said:
reared (to the point the lead rope was snatched from my hands) ,
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When leading any young horses I always use a good 5m rope. If they spook you can let them rear if they have to and then not become part of the problem by getting pulled in under them or unbalancing them. Once their feet are back on the ground you can reasure them and build trust and confidence to go past anything. One step back to take two forward sort of thing.
 
As you've only had this horse for two weeks (according to your other post). Would it not be sensible to let him settle, get to know him, build up some trust and do some ground work before taking him out in hand anywhere??
 
We had to move pink the other day which meant i had to lead her about 3 minutes down the road. its a quiet road down a hill to her new feild but she had never been on the road. I had OH in front to slow any cars an we walked behind and to be honest i really was crapping myself. Shes never been on the road let alone seen cows (which we had to pass) And she definitely picked up my nerves because i hadnt even got her out of the track before she threw a strop and gave a little half rear.

Once she had spooked at the cows though, and i did my utmost to calm her with oh asking why shes scared of cows-they are just like horses :o- my nerves kind of went and i stopped worrying about wether a car would pass and just lead her on, she followed very nicely and calmly and we had to go through alot of gates and then a quiet shady track and she coped really really well.
 
amymay, when I spoke to the vet about it he said leave Blue for 48 hours to get accustomed to the new yard, new horses and faces etc, over this 48 hours my partner and I spent alot of time with him to the point now when we go to catch him from the field he will run over to us (no treats needed). So we thought with this improvement he would be ready to start seeing more of the new location :S
 
Bluemaroo said:
So we thought with this improvement he would be ready to start seeing more of the new location :S
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It would appear not.

But if you still want to walk him out, do make sure it's with a bridle. And by someone who is confident and experienced with nervous youngsters.
 
Agree with a lots of what has been said.

Definitely go with a bridle (if he will accept one now) and a longer lead rope/lunge line. Also, if you wear gloves, and I know you will not be thrilled at the idea in this weather, then if he does start to pull the rope through your hands you can avoid rope burns and allow the rope out in a controlled manner as others have said.

Also second the comment that just because he's used to dogs in the yard doesn't mean he will be used to them everywhere. For example, one of mine is absolutely fine with lorries, tractors, combines etc out and about in fields and on the road but ask her to walk past one parked in our yard car park and it's a real issue.

Only other question is have you got someone with a quiet/experienced horse that would go with you to give him confidence and a good role model if something different did happen?
 
Spooking at dogs isn't the end of the world, it was probably a combination of strange dogs, loud noise, and possibly picking up some of your nerves. Sometimes it can be that they are "caught out" by the dogs as well - I used to have one who was fine if she could see the dog in the distance, or hear it barking from a distance. But some dogs do have a habit of rushing up and suddenly barking all at once, and it does take you and your horse by surprise!

The more you go out and about and experience strange sights and sounds, the more your horse will become desensitised. I would second using a bridle, but be careful not to end up hanging onto the mouth if a rear or bolt occurs. A Dually halter might be a good option instead although not everyone on here would agree :)

Mostly I would work on spook-busting at home. As Amymay says, lots of groundwork and also new sights like umbrellas, plastic bags - anything unusual.
 
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