Horses wanted - must not be spooky!

[ImmyS]

I’ve seen quite a few horse wanted ads recently with the criteria ‘must not be spooky’ and it got me thinking how people actually define spooky and would said ‘spookiness’ put you off a horse?

I personally would say a spooky horse is one that is overactive to certain objects/situations to the point they are difficult to get passed something or react quite significantly to something.

My current horse is only rising 5 and Welsh so in typical Welsh fashion he can sometimes be a bit looky and jumpy or a take a mis step if something makes him jump, but I wouldn’t class him as spooky as he is very bold with actual scary things like large vehicles, leaf blowers, cranes, diggers, cement lorries etc.. and I have never had a problem getting him passed anything nor does he ever dramatically spook. But I know some people don’t like ‘looky’ horses.

My old horse I can’t really remember a time she ever flinched or jumped at anything, she was never really taken by surprise and quite a bolshy character but if she did take a dislike to something, she would be very dramatic and reactive, taking a long time to get her passed something whether that be dogs in a garden or a wheelie bin or just someone walking in the distance.

Despite being a bit looky and jumpy I much prefer my current boy and feel completely safe despite his suspicious ways. He is also not any different in high wind, in arenas or in new places which is a bonus.

So just a musing really of what people define as spooky and is ‘spookiness’ something that puts you off a horse?

 

[Pinkvboots]

 

[Surbie]

I guess it depends on the ability/experience of the person buying. I'm a novice with delicate confidence. My horse is often very reactive. Whereas before he was blissfully calm 99% of the time, he is both a bit jumpy and quite spooky on this new yard. His spooks range from a slight sideways jump with all 4 feet to dramatically big teleporting jumps usually incorporating a spin. He will tank off. I love him dearly and am looking for help in how to deal with him, including considering moving yards if it comes to it, but would I get another spooky horse? No.

 

[oldie48]

For me genuine "spookiness" correlates with a lack of confidence, whereas evasive "spookiness" is different and perhaps more to do with temperament. Both are a training issue really but as I only buy established horses for myself, I would avoid buying anything that was "spooky" when I tried it in familiar surroundings. I don't mind if a horse spooks at something that startles it, that's natural and normal, but if it's constantly on edge and excessively looky, that would really put me off. I've had a couple of horses that when working would pick a place in the arena and spook but that was clearly an evasion and they were trying it on and just needed to be told to get on with it, which they did.

 

[ester]

He's normal for a welsh . It was interesting F going back to mum's as she really doesn't get on with riding him as he is very quick to spook and to her 'gives no warning' after 14 years I was more tuned in, it can be quite physically jarring too though. Her mare in comparison is terrible in big traffic, but gives you lots and lots of warning that there is an issue. (though she did once spook and drop a fellow HHOer :eek3:

I also think the term is used a bit different for those who mostly want to jump/must not be looky. I will be aiming for a non looky one in that respect for sure! I also don't mind a jump not keen on a spin round

 

[SpringArising]

I define spooky horses, and 'spooks' as those who do sudden jumps.

 

[JFTDWS]

My first horse wasn't spooky. I remember him once spooking at a standing stone, and being utterly bemused because he almost never spooked at things, and he saw an awful lot worse in his life!

One of my highlands has always been a melodramatic, spinny idiot. The other is more zen about life, but when he takes a dislike to things, he just plants and takes a while to work past. Both have got dramatically better with age.

My QH is young and spooks* as an evasion sometimes (coming from a no-contact background, she's not always overwhelmed by the idea of converting to dressage!), and occasionally starts if another horse jumps. But all you get is a jump and a bit of an "ears forward, head up" look as she goes past. I think I once got a flying change when a pheasant flew up in her face mid canter...

*I mean she stares at something and tries to counter bend / does a giraffe for a few moments - not a jump or a spin in that context. The only spins she does are haunch turns, on demand

 

[Mule]

I'm not so keen on the teleporting and spinning types. I'm the human equivalent of a spooky horse so a calm temperament is a better match for me

I don't mind spooking when I'm schooling but I can't have a relaxing hack with the jumpy ones. The current one is basically bombproof. The odd time he spooks I get such a surprise that I laugh.

 

[JFTDWS]

For me genuine "spookiness" correlates with a lack of confidence, whereas evasive "spookiness" is different and perhaps more to do with temperament.

Interesting suggestion - though with my mare, I think she's evasive-spooky on occasion because she's not confident in the question, and it's safer to get told off being a muppet than get told off for getting it wrong (not that I would do that - but she definitely has been!). She's the type you just ignore and carry on, and eventually she gets the idea. Fergus was similar in that he would only be spooky to school when he felt under too much pressure. I've known others whose evasive spookiness was a learned trick to facilitate laziness and that definitely is a question of temperament!

 

[Auslander]

Alf is VERY spooky. He is also not scared at all of anything. I firmly believe, despite knowing full well that horses aren't wired like that, that he is doing it for entertainment. He's always remarkably pleased with himself after a particularly dramatic one. I can tell if he's going to be spooky the moment I get on him, but not WHEN he is going to spook.

 

[Mule]

I have one a bit like Auslander's but his thing is jumping. He adores jumping but given half a chance he loves to run out. It's definitely for entertainment value. I can feel the glee emanate from him!

 

[JFTDWS]

I completely agree, Aus - some horses do have a sense of humour. I'm absolutely sure of it!

 

[DabDab]

I think all horses have the potential to be spooky - it's just what they do with that emotion that makes the difference. I find it a bit worrying when someone says that they want a non spooky horse, because the likelihood of finding a horse that genuinely almost never is worried by something or other is pretty low.

I don't like owning horses that seem constantly on edge and over reactive, but that's because I don't like owning unhappy horses - imo if a horse is like this then there is usually something more wrong with it than temperament (pain, lack of company, feed, unsettling living environment etc).

So by non spooky I generally assume that people mean a horse that doesn't do something specific when it is a bit worried. Me personally, I don't mind scoot up the bum, stop and process, teleport or jump, whereas I find the keep moving but with tension thing annoying, and I really don't like the spin round and bog off in the other direction. Most people prefer the keep moving but with some tension thing.

My horses are of course all paragons of virtue who never spook though

 

[ester]

Alf is VERY spooky. He is also not scared at all of anything. I firmly believe, despite knowing full well that horses aren't wired like that, that he is doing it for entertainment. He's always remarkably pleased with himself after a particularly dramatic one. I can tell if he's going to be spooky the moment I get on him, but not WHEN he is going to spook.

The proportion of spooks we would get on the A38, with pubs, banners and a hand car wash (with neighing staff!) compared to what we get on a quiet country lane means I know it is a making your own entertainment thing

 

[DabDab]

Alf is VERY spooky. He is also not scared at all of anything. I firmly believe, despite knowing full well that horses aren't wired like that, that he is doing it for entertainment. He's always remarkably pleased with himself after a particularly dramatic one. I can tell if he's going to be spooky the moment I get on him, but not WHEN he is going to spook.

Yes my big horse is exactly the same , though rarely when out hacking - mainly in hand and in the field, and a little when schooling. He has an excellent sense of dramatic timing and flipping loves it when he can set off all of the others in the field with him

 

[Meredith]

I am convinced horses have a sense of humour. Sometimes on a ride I think they plot together to see how much fun they can have.
My horse was unaccustomed to the countryside. She is always looking at sheep especially lambs and also cows. This is getting better but I know if she will ‘spook’ when I get on her. Some days she is alert and nothing happens, on another day she will be calm but I feel the ‘vibes’. We will be part way through a ride and suddenly for no reason I can see or hear she will jolt and jerk to a stop and move sideways no more than a foot. I call it the Mini Bambi. Afterwards all is well and I say “ Do you feel better having done that?” She has her own special sense of humour I think.
If she does a proper spook there is always a reason. The last one was on a windy day when a cyclist came hurtling round the corner having been hidden by the trees. Ones like those are understandable.

 

[Mule]

I think all horses have the potential to be spooky - it's just what they do with that emotion that makes the difference. I find it a bit worrying when someone says that they want a non spooky horse, because the likelihood of finding a horse that genuinely almost never is worried by something or other is pretty low.

I don't like owning horses that seem constantly on edge and over reactive, but that's because I don't like owning unhappy horses - imo if a horse is like this then there is usually something more wrong with it than temperament (pain, lack of company, feed, unsettling living environment etc).

So by non spooky I generally assume that people mean a horse that doesn't do something specific when it is a bit worried. Me personally, I don't mind scoot up the bum, stop and process, teleport or jump, whereas I find the keep moving but with tension thing annoying, and I really don't like the spin round and bog off in the other direction. Most people prefer the keep moving but with some tension thing.

My horses are of course all paragons of virtue who never spook though

You're right there. Many of the stop, plant and nap variety are sensitive but show it in their own way. They go into themselves and don't move, rather than express it outwardly. I sometimes forget that about my own.

 

[HorseyTee]

I have quite a ruined confidence so would certainly want a horse that wasn't spooky...to me that would be a horse that doesn't react and be jumpy to everyday things.

My Welsh boy isn't particularly spooky, you can take him past tractors, sheep, dogs, bags...he's not bothered.
But a log that he hasn't seen there before...well of course may be dangerous so he must stand and stare and snort a bit, and I've learnt to let him do that before we can proceed, trying to push him forward just makes him worse.
Also if he ever does have a spook, it is really tiny and just a little jump without moving.

 

[catembi]

I have just sold my mare because she was spooky and have specifically bought one that isn’t. She wasn’t actually afraid of anything, yet liked a hugely dramatic sideways jump/spin at nothing much, after which she would then have wound herself up and do another half dozen. I was hating hacking because often literally as I was thinking, ahhh, she’s being good, maybe we’re through this phase, she would throw an almighty one out of nowhere and I’d nearly end up on my a**e. So I couldn’t ever relax! New chap had a stern test yesterday hacking an unfamiliar route to a lesson in a galeforce wind. Absolutely everything was flapping or banging and he didn’t react. I noticed when I was horse hunting that most wanted ads seem to specify non spooky. I wonder if people are starting to value that over/as much as performance? I found that I never made use of my mare’s awesome scope as I was too scared to take her anywhere...

 

[ImmyS]

I have just sold my mare because she was spooky and have specifically bought one that isn’t. She wasn’t actually afraid of anything, yet liked a hugely dramatic sideways jump/spin at nothing much, after which she would then have wound herself up and do another half dozen. I was hating hacking because often literally as I was thinking, ahhh, she’s being good, maybe we’re through this phase, she would throw an almighty one out of nowhere and I’d nearly end up on my a**e. So I couldn’t ever relax! New chap had a stern test yesterday hacking an unfamiliar route to a lesson in a galeforce wind. Absolutely everything was flapping or banging and he didn’t react. I noticed when I was horse hunting that most wanted ads seem to specify non spooky. I wonder if people are starting to value that over/as much as performance? I found that I never made use of my mare’s awesome scope as I was too scared to take her anywhere...

It really is invaluable isn’t it? My old horse was exactly the same as yours, incredibly dramatic and scared me, both ridden and in hand as it was unpredictable and she had no self preservation. Completely knocked my confidence. Arlo I can just laugh at on the rare occasion he takes a look at something silly such as a big leaf! But can walk passed flapping tarpaulin and banging scaffolding in gale force wind, or a crane hooking up to pallets in a building site a few feet away and he doesn’t bat an eye. As you say, it gives you the confidence to go out and do things 😀

 

[albeg]

Alf is VERY spooky. He is also not scared at all of anything. I firmly believe, despite knowing full well that horses aren't wired like that, that he is doing it for entertainment. He's always remarkably pleased with himself after a particularly dramatic one. I can tell if he's going to be spooky the moment I get on him, but not WHEN he is going to spook.

Bob is like this. Some days we have a snorting dragon, who is probably going to have a massive dramatic spook at some point. Usually if we start mellow, we're golden, but the odd time on the calm days something will spook him and he'll spin/teleport. He rarely spins on the snorting dragon days, so it's like it's done to keep me on my toes when I chill too much . On the other hand, he's fantastic on the road and rarely spooks/overreacts (unless we're on a TREC POR and there's a ticket), he'll look at/high step rumble strips/school children crossing markings, but that's generally about it.

I think all horses have the potential to be spooky - it's just what they do with that emotion that makes the difference.

Definitely agree with this.

 

[scats]

I had a pony who was about as bombproof as you could find from a spooking point of view. In 9 years together, she spooked once at a mole hill/tuft of grass and that was when she was getting on a bit so perhaps her eye sight wasn’t what it had been!
She’d seen a lot young though and was a successful jumping pony so her mind was always on the job. If she had been spooky she’d have been a nightmare as she was a raving lunatic to hack but fortunately I never had to worry about her spooking when we were cantering sideways down bridlepaths or rearing at junctions!

Of the two I have now, Millie can be a bit of an idiot. She’s part bred welsh and is very ‘welsh brained’ and reactive. She’s definitely improving though, and I’ve not even had her a year yet so we are headed in the right direction. I don’t make a fuss when she spooks and the reactions are getting less extreme as a result. She will teleport on occasion, but these generally come out of the blue. When she’s on ‘high alert’, she mostly just jumps a bit.

Polly is much more sensible. She will have a genuine spook if something happens to scare her (pheasant!) but she’s not looking around every hedge with eyes on stalks.

 

[McFluff]

Interesting thoughts.
Personally I like the ‘spook for fun’ ones - I ride a couple like that and can trust them with anything genuinely scary, but sometimes things are just a bit too dull, so they take it on themselves to add a bit of spice to the ride. Always warn me though and never with an intent to dislodge. They always seem quite pleased after.
I’ve ridden a couple who have no self preservation and react violently before engaging brain. Very unseating and not for me - way too old for that malarkey now.
My own mare is a sweetheart and very keen to please. She internalises her fear. She plants and snorts but if I give her time and encouragement she’ll accept it. I learnt early doors that if I insisted she went passed scary thing without letting her process whatever it was that her reaction would get steadily worse.

 

[Leo Walker]

Interesting suggestion - though with my mare, I think she's evasive-spooky on occasion because she's not confident in the question, and it's safer to get told off being a muppet than get told off for getting it wrong (not that I would do that - but she definitely has been!). She's the type you just ignore and carry on, and eventually she gets the idea. Fergus was similar in that he would only be spooky to school when he felt under too much pressure. I've known others whose evasive spookiness was a learned trick to facilitate laziness and that definitely is a question of temperament!

She is so like mine! Mine worries about getting things wrong even though shes never been told off for it. Clicker training helped as it encourages them to offer new behaviours and nothing is ever wrong. She is still one of lifes people pleasers though.

 

[Mule]

I noticed when I was horse hunting that most wanted ads seem to specify non spooky. I wonder if people are starting to value that over/as much as performance? I found that I never made use of my mare’s awesome scope as I was too scared to take her anywhere...

I definitely value temperament more than athleticism. I'm not ever going to jump my horse half as high as he's capable of jumping.
If dressage is your thing then all types of horse can be trained to do it. They don't have to be highly strung competition bred types either. I think most leisure and low level competition owners don't really need very athletic types.

 

[JFTDWS]

She is so like mine! Mine worries about getting things wrong even though shes never been told off for it. Clicker training helped as it encourages them to offer new behaviours and nothing is ever wrong. She is still one of lifes people pleasers though.

Unfortunately clickers set my teeth on edge, so that's not going to happen here. But we're quite happy with good old fashioned bribery I really like a people pleasing mentality.


I think a lot of people forget that they "need" a sensible horse more than they can use a flashy one to be honest. And that's fine if they have the skillset to cope with a flashy (implied less sensible - though of course, some flashy ones are zen too!) one - but many folk don't, and it never ends well...

 

[Leo Walker]

I think a lot of people forget that they "need" a sensible horse more than they can use a flashy one to be honest. And that's fine if they have the skillset to cope with a flashy (implied less sensible - though of course, some flashy ones are zen too!) one - but many folk don't, and it never ends well...

This a million times over!

 

[Dave's Mam]

Dave is spooky. He's a former moor pony, self preservation is high on his list of priorities.
Thankfully, his normal spook is a drop & scurry type thing & I AM getting used to them!

 

[DirectorFury]

Mine doesn't really spook - she'll normally stop and stare at something for a second before resuming her route march but if she does spook it's one of those ones where they seem to drop about 2ft under you. I'm normally more spooky than she is!
Weirdly she's more likely to do that on the quiet bridlepaths in the woods/valley than on busy roads. I'm pretty sure I could ride her down the M4 at rush hour with no issues but our woods hack on a sunny day can make her really tense.

I wouldn't even consider buying a horse with a sudden spin and shoulder drop spook. I rather like actually staying on top of the horse .

 

[Dave's Mam]

I can deal with a "Drop & Stop" A spin & I am stuffed. DF, I am also very spooky myself!