Horse freaks out at lorries/buses/caravans?

[NatalieS]

Does anyone think you can cure/train a horse that freaks out on the road when a lorry/bus/caravan comes towards them?

My little lady isn't bothered by cars or motorbikes, just anything bigger than this she freaks out turns around in the road and faces away from it - she doesn't bolt of but if there is a car behind me it's slightly dangerous!! Im sure something bad must of happended to her in the past because she is so good with everything else.

Is it possible to overcome this problem? I have to ride out onto a busy 'A' road to get to quiet country lanes but at the moment I have to plan my riding time around the road, which is slightly annoying!

The other silly thing is that when they come from behind she is ok, its just when the come at her!!

Any advice appreciated

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

There's another post on "horse won't hack alone" on this forum, with similar issues; and the way I see it is that I wouldn't necessarily see the traffic problem as the main issue, I would suggest the "issue" is a confidence one here.

Many horses, like mine, are claustrophobic and when they see something hurtling towards them in a narrow space, don't think there's gonna be enough room for both them and it to pass safely.

Personally I would go back to groundwork; letting the horse gain confidence with you on the ground, leading/following you over tarpaulins, through cones, spooks etc just to gain confidence that you are the herd leader and that what you say is safe, is safe. Then follow through with ridden work in a safe area; and if you've got anyone with say a van, quad bike or whatever, to gradually introduce these things in an area where the horse feels safe and secure with you as leader, and then perhaps progress to leading-out on the road. It will take some time but there isn't gonna be any quick fix to this; and even if you send the horse away for remedial schooling, its YOU they have to have the confidence in, not someone else, and building a relationship takes time.

My boy was terrified of being out on his own and meeting things when I had him; but now we're meeting all sorts of stuff/hacking out beside a dual carriageway - but the issue wasn't the traffic, it was confidence, which we had to work on.

 

[Kallibear]

it can be over come with practise.

My young, not-yet-broken cob let took a major dislike to double buses and and large lorries. He'd never had a fright, he just decided they were scary. He's not claustraphobic in the slightest (kind of pony who will deliberatly squeeze themselves in the small tight spaces and get stuck ) and he is otherwise totally bombproof. He just doesn't like the size and noise of them.

So he spent lots of lots of time going on short walks out in heavy traffic with a comfident older horse. He also went off to live in a field right beside a very busy main rode, which made a big difference. He's not still a little worried sometimes (not been out much over the winter) but he's not frientened anymore and will get better with practise.

I also had a standardbred years ago who was hit by a bus and obviously and justifiable was frightened of them. It took a good few years but daily practise first in comapny and then alone resulted in a horse would batted an eye at nothing. For him trust in his rider was paramount - the better his respect and trust for me (he was a right bishy sod if you let him away with it) the happier he was with heavy traffic.