Horse freaked out by other horses

[RealDeal]

Hello I'm wondering if anyone has any help or advice. My horse really finds it hard to cope when he sees other horses when he is out of the yard. Today I was leading him out to the field and to get there we have to walk on a quiet lane. We don't usual see any other horses but today a group of horses where out on a hack and even just hearing them he freaked out. When he does this is very hard to gain any control as he almost doesn't see me. He has good manners on the ground normally and we have done some groundwork together. However I can't even really get him to listen to me at all in this situation so its very difficult to put any of that in place . It's not really as if he is trying a nap to them its almost the opposite. That he doesn't want to be near them or for them to approach him . I have to lead two of them (luckily the other one is very sensible) so it's not like he's having to walk towards or away from them on his own. Luckily we haven't met anyone hacking yet and I sort of forgot he did this until today as we don't normally see other horses out. But he has done this twice now and it pretty scary to be honest and I worry that when we are out hacking eventually we will see other horses. He also hates it when any other horses trot past his stable. He is absolutely fine when they are walking past but when they trot past again he freaks out and threatens to jump the door. We're on a livery yard so I cant control what happens outside his stable 24/7. I just really want to get through this with him and give him the confidence in himself to get over this. Many thanks in advance for any help anyone has to offer

 

[ycbm]

What breed is he? How old? How long have you had him?
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[RealDeal]

He is a 8 yr old warmblood gelding. I have had him about 2 years now

 

[ycbm]

It's certainly a strange habit if you are leading him in company. I wondered if he was TB and having a PTSD like episode about racing. Given his age and background I'm at a bit of a loss to advise you (except to advise you never to hack out of he's as dangerous as he sounds!) . I've never heard of this before.

Is he turned out in company? If not, I think I might try group turnout, cautiously.
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[RealDeal]

It's certainly a strange habit if you are leading him in company. I wondered if he was TB and having a PTSD like episode about racing. Given his age and background I'm at a bit of a loss to advise you (except to advise you never to hack out of he's as dangerous as he sounds!) . I've never heard of this before.

Is he turned out in company? If not, I think I might try group turnout, cautiously.
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It certainly is strange. He gets turned out with one other and he has others in the field next door to him. Which he is absolutely fine with and very friendly and social . Even if they go in or out and walk past his field he doesn't take any notice.

 

[Barton Bounty]

All i can say to you is… I have a tb who used to do this, even worse when I was on board and passed another horse at say the beach or on a hacking lane! It was an absolute nightmare. I often ended up in the middle of the road bronking and rearing and spinning.. even if my boy was in company of his own… all I can say is keep doing it, as regular as you can to get him used to it, he will get bored creating eventually (i hope)

 

[ponynutz]

What was he like when you first got him and he first met the horses he's turned out with?
Wondering if he's had a bad experience either with another horse in general so it now takes him a while to get used to them? Alternatively perhaps he had a bad experience specifically out hacking which has led him to be cautious.

What do you know about his background? Can you get in contact with the previous owners and ask how they managed the situation and whether they know what caused it?

 

[Melody Grey]

Was he gelded late by any chance? Sounds a bit ‘upfront’ about other horses? What’s he like with turnout?

Sounds like he’s generally unsettled?

 

[Caol Ila]

My old mare used to lose her sh1t when she saw random horses in the distance while out hacking. Eventually, she just got better as she got older.

To be more proactive, can you engineer a situation where a friend takes a horse up the lane while you have yours? Figure out the distance at which your horse notices the other horse, but hasn't yet blown up. Stop there. As soon as your horse gives you any calming signals, lead him away from that horse until he is fairly settled and focused on you. Then go back towards other horse, once again stopping when he first tenses up at it but is still keeping it together. Rinse and repeat above steps.

Basically, this:

But you are moving the horse, rather than a flag. Principles are the same.

 

[exracehorse]

My mare under saddle is totally obsessed with another mare called Dusty. If we meet on a hack. Turns into a stallion.

 

[exracehorse]

All i can say to you is… I have a tb who used to do this, even worse when I was on board and passed another horse at say the beach or on a hacking lane! It was an absolute nightmare. I often ended up in the middle of the road bronking and rearing and spinning.. even if my boy was in company of his own… all I can say is keep doing it, as regular as you can to get him used to it, he will get bored creating eventually (i hope)

Yep have that with Woody. It’s ok to pass strange horse. But they were definitely not allowed to overtake. I had to turn around and take different route.

 

[RealDeal]

Thanks everyone for the advice so far Definitely some ideas and information to take into consideration going forward with him. In answer to some questions about him.... He is friendly and social with horses generally and going into the field the first time with others he was very good. I don't think he was cut late. He was at a dressage competition yard before I had him. I know he hacked out there with others and was and is ridden in the school with multiple other horses with no problems. I would say he is a slightly more unsettled character (he doesn't feel like he is quite is own man yet). So maybe some self confidence is needed.I think we will do some practising with other horses and hopefully this situation will improve bless him. Wouldn't life with horses be so much easier if they could talk!

 

[Barton Bounty]

Yep have that with Woody. It’s ok to pass strange horse. But they were definitely not allowed to overtake. I had to turn around and take different route.

I just hack alone where I know there are no horses, drama averted lol

 

[Melody Grey]

I wonder if he’s been a bit solitary in younger years and hasn’t quite got the hang of socialising fully?

 

[Morgan123]

Not sure if it's the same but we have a bit of a similar problem with ours, he just kind of loses the plot when he sees other horses out hacking (not every time). He is a very exuberant, playful sort of horse anyway and I think it's cos we are containing the natural reaction he'd have if he was meeting another horse while loose - there'd be prancing and squealing and whatever - so he's getting that same emotional reaction, but we are containing it by wanting him to walk, so he doens't know what to do with himself. Ends up with a lot of prancing, kicking out, sideways etc. Haven't really figured out what to do about it TBH other than keep going and keep things as calm as possible! we regularly hack out with others and he lives with others too, so it's not that he's deprived of company, he's actually really well socialised! He is getting better with time but it can be a bit random....