Horse freaking out... any ideas on solution?

[all about Romeo]

Does anyone else`s horse freak out when they see other horses in the distance?

My ex racer completely freaks out if we come across other horses being ridden while we are out on a hack... he will spin round and "rock" or canter on the spot to try and get away and will not go anywhere near them! usually I have to get off and lead him until he settles and then get back on as he will not go in the direction of the strange horses unless he has a lead... makes no difference if he is alone or in company... though he is better behaved if he has a horse to lead him past but is still very upset by the strange horses. I have never come across this issue before and have no idea what is causing it or how to get him to relax and not worry about it, he is not being silly he is genuinely frightened so I am reluctant to take a whip with me as I think this would make things alot worse, keeping my leg on or nugging him does not seem to make any difference to him and he seems to scared to go forward...

We have only just come across this issue as I have never come across any other riders whilst out hacking on him before.

 

[Miss L Toe]

If he is already "up to his ears and eyes" in hyper - sensitivity, any movement in the distance can trigger this reaction [I was dragged backwards for quite a bit, me on ground, him walking back due to dog walkers] He has got over this, but still on full alert if there are chain saws around.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

BF does this - but the opposite - if we turn onto a track & she can see horses in front which are going away from us
She tenses up, will leap, spin, half rear & generally act like an eejit
I have to relax, sit lightly, and immediately provide another source of focus.
Usually this is to turn straight off track in another direction and to ask for some 'proper' work instead of relaxed hack-mode.
However, this usually only happens when on our own, unless we are going to a big party & then it does take a long tme to settle. A lot of leg yielding helps.
I can never, ever go on bully mode with her, it just makes everything worse. Relaxing & telling her how stupid she is is the trick for me & its all over in a minute.

I never used to carry a whip, but at present am carrying a hunting whip as we have a bit of a problem with 2 dog walkers who won't call their nuisance dogs.
1 pair of labs are already behaving

I hope you manage to solve this, havent had the problem of not wanting to go where the other horses are/or are going

 

[BigGinger]

i have an ex racer who is always on red alert if something comes towards us. A lady who has ex racers once said that its a natural thing as when they race they all go in the same direction. if something is approaching in front then technically there could be a predator or something scary behind so natural the horse wants to turn and go in the same direction than walk into danger.. it does make sense weather its right could be different

 

[all about Romeo]

If he is already "up to his ears and eyes" in hyper - sensitivity, any movement in the distance can trigger this reaction [I was dragged backwards for quite a bit, me on ground, him walking back due to dog walkers] He has got over this, but still on full alert if there are chain saws around.

He is usually quite relaxed but if we see another horse in the distance full panic attack! he is still controllable but just not in the direction I want him to go! lol

 

[pines of rome]

I can pass other horses fairly well as long as they are going in the opposite direction to me but horses coming up behind him or ones he can see in front turn him into a complete fruit loop! I don,t really know the answer perhaps its an ex racer thing as my last one was the same!

 

[all about Romeo]

i have an ex racer who is always on red alert if something comes towards us. A lady who has ex racers once said that its a natural thing as when they race they all go in the same direction. if something is approaching in front then technically there could be a predator or something scary behind so natural the horse wants to turn and go in the same direction than walk into danger.. it does make sense weather its right could be different

It doesn`t matter which direction the strange horses are going in or what pace they are doing... he just wants to get as far away from them as possible!

 

[all about Romeo]

I never used to carry a whip, but at present am carrying a hunting whip as we have a bit of a problem with 2 dog walkers who won't call their nuisance dogs.
1 pair of labs are already behaving

I hope you manage to solve this, havent had the problem of not wanting to go where the other horses are/or are going

I stand corrected! whips do have a use! to keep unruly dogs in check

Its a strange one... with horses being herd animals I would have thought he would want to go towards them?? lol

 

[Miss L Toe]

i have an ex racer who is always on red alert if something comes towards us. A lady who has ex racers once said that its a natural thing as when they race they all go in the same direction. if something is approaching in front then technically there could be a predator or something scary behind so natural the horse wants to turn and go in the same direction than walk into danger.. it does make sense weather its right could be different

When horse are in training they will meet horses coming in all directions. They only race for three minutes every month, but have fifty hours of training per month.

 

[AengusOg]

i have an ex racer who is always on red alert if something comes towards us. A lady who has ex racers once said that its a natural thing as when they race they all go in the same direction. if something is approaching in front then technically there could be a predator or something scary behind so natural the horse wants to turn and go in the same direction than walk into danger.. it does make sense weather its right could be different

This makes sense.

As an ex-racer, your horse will have been used to cantering and galloping with the 'herd', and will not have been restricted much by rein contact when doing so. His life is radically different now, but his instincts and memory remain.

 

[all about Romeo]

This makes sense.

As an ex-racer, your horse will have been used to cantering and galloping with the 'herd', and will not have been restricted much by rein contact when doing so. His life is radically different now, but his instincts and memory remain.

He is not going towards the herd though! he is running away from them... It is the strange horses that he is scared off...

 

[mole]

can you not ride out with a friend and get them to walk at different distances from you and turn to join up with you then ride behind for a bit etc so for ever changing their distance and direction of travel from your horse so that it becomes more normal and an everyday occurance. this can be done with other friends so its always different horses too once he gets a bit more comfortable with just the one horse.

 

[all about Romeo]

can you not ride out with a friend and get them to walk at different distances from you and turn to join up with you then ride behind for a bit etc so for ever changing their distance and direction of travel from your horse so that it becomes more normal and an everyday occurance. this can be done with other friends so its always different horses too once he gets a bit more comfortable with just the one horse.

If I leave the yard with another horse/s he is not bothered by that horse/s no matter what they do... its only when he suddenly sees a horse/s he doesn`t know that he freaks out and it doesn`t matter whether he has other horses with him or not!

 

[mole]

can you go on a loop ride and 'accidently' meet up with a friend on the loop and then either ride with them or say hi have a quick chat then ride off again and do this a few times (maybe when you stop to chat get ur friend to give your horse a polo) on one loop then try it another day on another loop so that when you see a horse in the distance your horse will start thinking its a good thing cos he can stop working for a while and they will give him a polo!

 

[all about Romeo]

can you go on a loop ride and 'accidently' meet up with a friend on the loop and then either ride with them or say hi have a quick chat then ride off again and do this a few times (maybe when you stop to chat get ur friend to give your horse a polo) on one loop then try it another day on another loop so that when you see a horse in the distance your horse will start thinking its a good thing cos he can stop working for a while and they will give him a polo!

Yeah good idea... I will give that a go... if he is panicking about coming across strange horses on a hack how on earth will he cope at a show?? lol

 

[moorman]

We are what we eat.
I would not mind betting that diet is playing a big part in this, and the first thing I would look at is Magnesium.
It may still be a question of training, but you can only teach something to a horse that is going to be receptive, and most of the time that is going to be down to diet.

 

[Grumpy Herbert]

My little mare used to do this. On the first occasion we were hacking out with all her mates from the yard when she spotted two horses on the track up ahead. She set off at a nice, steady trot but wouldn't stop til she reached them! (she was newly broken at the time, so brakes needed fine tuning).

On another occasion, two horses shot across the road from one bridleway to another about 300yds in front of us - we were on our own this time, and the two horses looked fairly out of control. This time my mare just bounced up and down on the spot - she wouldn't go forward, back, sideways, anything. I couldn't even turn her for home! It was most disconcerting, especially as I was 5 months pregnant at the time.

I can't give you any solutions, but my mare simply seemed to grow out of it - don't know how old your chap is, but maybe he'll be the same?

 

[all about Romeo]

We are what we eat.
I would not mind betting that diet is playing a big part in this, and the first thing I would look at is Magnesium.
It may still be a question of training, but you can only teach something to a horse that is going to be receptive, and most of the time that is going to be down to diet.

It doesn`t have anything to do with his diet, he is consistently well behaved at all other times. He is just frightened of horses he doesn't know when he is out of the safety of the yard... But I have no idea why and until I understand why I won`t know how to fix it...

 

[all about Romeo]

My little mare used to do this. On the first occasion we were hacking out with all her mates from the yard when she spotted two horses on the track up ahead. She set off at a nice, steady trot but wouldn't stop til she reached them! (she was newly broken at the time, so brakes needed fine tuning).

On another occasion, two horses shot across the road from one bridleway to another about 300yds in front of us - we were on our own this time, and the two horses looked fairly out of control. This time my mare just bounced up and down on the spot - she wouldn't go forward, back, sideways, anything. I couldn't even turn her for home! It was most disconcerting, especially as I was 5 months pregnant at the time.

I can't give you any solutions, but my mare simply seemed to grow out of it - don't know how old your chap is, but maybe he'll be the same?

He is 9 but has the mental age of a 4 year old so he could well grow out of it fingers crossed...

when your mare went trotting up to the other horses is the complete opposite to what mine does... but he doesn`t bolt away (thank god!) he just spins round and "rocks" to try and get away, if I try to turn him back round he just spins again and flatly refuses to go in the direction the horse eating horse/s were spotted! I usually just give him his head to try and get him to calm down and sit to his rocking which he will continue to do until either he gets a lead from the horse we are hacking with or I get off and lead him past the scary place were the horse eating horse/s were last seen!

 

[Littlelegs]

To try & think of a reason why is it possible he wants to keep his place at the front of the race, i.e. he thinks if they are coming towards him he needs to remain in front?

 

[all about Romeo]

To try & think of a reason why is it possible he wants to keep his place at the front of the race, i.e. he thinks if they are coming towards him he needs to remain in front?

It doesn`t matter which direction they are going in he still freaks out... its not like he wants to race them, its more like he sees them as monsters and he must get away from them quick! lol