How do you ride through spooks?

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sallydog

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When my mare spooks she runs forward and I am so frightened she is going to bolt down the main road that the sensible reaction in my opinioin is to try and pull her up and ask her to walk sensibly. However I've been told to kick her on past the scary event (whatever it might be) but isn't that like saying 'yes, this is scary, I agree, let's get out of here'. So what's your advise?
 
Unless she is bolting, I'd go with the kick on method on a main road. It's too dangerous to start circling and messing around. Keep a strong contact and send her deep so she's paying attention to you and not whats around her, I make my horse work on a hack to keep her more focused and she is less prone to spooking like this but let them stretch off every now and again. If you kick her on its more like saying 'Get on with what your doing' not run away. If she is going to bolt then pull her back as soon as she starts speeding up. If its just jogging, bucking, napping etc I'd go with the kick on. Your just telling them to get over themselves basically.
 
ellie11987 said:
Unless she is bolting, I'd go with the kick on method on a main road. It's too dangerous to start circling and messing around. Keep a strong contact and send her deep so she's paying attention to you and not whats around her, I make my horse work on a hack to keep her more focused and she is less prone to spooking like this but let them stretch off every now and again. If you kick her on its more like saying 'Get on with what your doing' not run away. If she is going to bolt then pull her back as soon as she starts speeding up. If its just jogging, bucking, napping etc I'd go with the kick on. Your just telling them to get over themselves basically.
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Hi, I agree with the above , keep the horse working on a hack and ride her through the spook
 
I agree with pushing forward past the scary object in a contact when spooking. My horse is quite spooky, but since I learnt that pushing her forward past things, I also find it gives her more confidence, almost as though she knows I am saying it is ok and she can trust that what ever it is is fine to go past and get on with it!
I think a lot of it is us as the riders natural reaction to hold on when they shoot forward, so you just have to tell yourself to push the horse through
 
I was by someone told to smack a horse with the whip if it spooks :confused: I always thought this was counter productive because surely this would reinforce its fear?
 
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Festive Feathers said:
I was by someone told to smack a horse with the whip if it spooks :confused: I always thought this was counter productive because surely this would reinforce its fear?
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Spooking, no. Trying it on, yes. But not battering them to the point of fear! Just a tap, or at the most a sharp smack, not repeatedly whipping them, it makes me cringe and wince when I see people do this.
 
Depends what they are doing... If they are backing up then let the reins loose and legs on if they are shooting forward then asking them to work on the bit forward past it... Most things can be solved by asking them to work correctly so they are thinking of something else to think about
 
A timely thread following my episode this morning.

After a good hour my route went through a few hundred yards of a more built up area where the local church is. With the service about to start there were plenty of cars and activity. Three wheelchairs were being pushed along the pavement, two of which were being pushed by one person, who somehow, let go of one. The chair and it's elderly occupant left the pavement and went into the road, I was on the opposite side of the road and level as it happened. Of course the occupant let out a scream as did the pusher and several witnesses !

My rather green and newly purchased 6 year old, who is very sensible given the level of her education, totally lost the plot, sparkes flying, her ears stuck up my nose, tailed clamped we flew past the church, dodging cars and kids.

I came home and had a lie down with a large glass of wine ! My answer to how do you ride through today's spook is - hold it's mane tightly and hope to heaven it didn't slip up or mow the vicar down !!!
 
I get a good contact, horse up and together and then work them past the scary thing. Flexions / shoulder fore usually. Or kick on and hold tight.
 
I try my level best to completely ignore his behaviour and do the minimal amount possible to carry on with whatever we were doing before the spook. My (happy to be corrected) logic is that any reaction (other than to ask them to carry on what they were doing before) suggests to the horse that there was something to worry about the bus/walker/crisp packet/ leaf out of place!!!
It seems to work with mine.
 
Ride as normal, but run one hand up the withers (don't throw away the rein though). I have found this works to settle a spooky horse
 
AdorableAlice said:
A timely thread following my episode this morning.

After a good hour my route went through a few hundred yards of a more built up area where the local church is. With the service about to start there were plenty of cars and activity. Three wheelchairs were being pushed along the pavement, two of which were being pushed by one person, who somehow, let go of one. The chair and it's elderly occupant left the pavement and went into the road, I was on the opposite side of the road and level as it happened. Of course the occupant let out a scream as did the pusher and several witnesses !

My rather green and newly purchased 6 year old, who is very sensible given the level of her education, totally lost the plot, sparkes flying, her ears stuck up my nose, tailed clamped we flew past the church, dodging cars and kids.

I came home and had a lie down with a large glass of wine ! My answer to how do you ride through today's spook is - hold it's mane tightly and hope to heaven it didn't slip up or mow the vicar down !!!
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Hahaha sorry to laugh at your expense but I just love the image you've painted!
 
AdorableAlice said:
A timely thread following my episode this morning.

After a good hour my route went through a few hundred yards of a more built up area where the local church is. With the service about to start there were plenty of cars and activity. Three wheelchairs were being pushed along the pavement, two of which were being pushed by one person, who somehow, let go of one. The chair and it's elderly occupant left the pavement and went into the road, I was on the opposite side of the road and level as it happened. Of course the occupant let out a scream as did the pusher and several witnesses !

My rather green and newly purchased 6 year old, who is very sensible given the level of her education, totally lost the plot, sparkes flying, her ears stuck up my nose, tailed clamped we flew past the church, dodging cars and kids.

I came home and had a lie down with a large glass of wine ! My answer to how do you ride through today's spook is - hold it's mane tightly and hope to heaven it didn't slip up or mow the vicar down !!!
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lol sorry AA but that made me giggle:D
Big girl is a reverser, i've found the quickest way to get her to stop is to ask her to back up more lol,and then we ask for a spanking trot past whatever it was that caused the spook.
ginger boy is sideways jumper, it can be pretty quick and unexpected , if you've not been left hanging in mid air it's usually a case of a quick 'there there never mind' pat on the neck and off we go. if you;ve hit the floor you have to spend 5 mins reassuring him that the world has not ended before you can get back on, he's an 'interesting' chap:rolleyes:
 
Keep moving forward, however, if its quiet where Im riding I go back and forth past the scary thing a few times till she stops snorting :D
 
sallydog said:
When my mare spooks she runs forward and I am so frightened she is going to bolt down the main road that the sensible reaction in my opinioin is to try and pull her up and ask her to walk sensibly. However I've been told to kick her on past the scary event (whatever it might be) but isn't that like saying 'yes, this is scary, I agree, let's get out of here'. So what's your advise?
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my first mare spooks so much i said I DONT GO HACKING WE GO SPOOKING spook to the left spook to the right spook to the left and so on.. My boy spooks so much he looks for things, even tonight he spooked so quickly i wasnt ready and there was nothing there drives me potty
 
I just carry on as if nothing has happened, I find if I react to the situation e.g trying to work out what it is she spooked at (normally a human walking..how scary lol!) then that gives her reason to think 'oh so there must be something scary' so I just ride on confidently as if she never spooked, and that seems to work. However, if she is in one of her nappy moods (not happened for a good month! *touches wood*) then a lot of leg is needed, and a few taps if she ignores my leg after asking 3 times. There have been occasions where we've been on the side of a lane and she plants her feet in the ground, but luckily we seem to have overcome that now...thank goodness!
 
I generally ignore it, or if it's very scary I will say "What a braaaaaaaave pony going past that scaaaaaaary leaf. Good booooy/giiiiiirl"
 
first its deciding what sort of spook it was.....proper 'this is very scary but now ive seen it i can cope' spook......silly 'i no its there but lets spook again' spook ......or..........a 'just for the hell of it lets have a spook to spice up and throw about our rider' spook (these normally involve the worst behavour, cos shes thought about it!)

i use the: throw away the rein, kick once, use voice, praise method ...... and if its the last spook sometime a single smack by the lower leg to re-inforce the message.

so far...its working! when im quick enough to react! :) ..... we are slowly de-sensitising and working out we get no reaction for a spook!
 
It depends, generally when my mare spooks suddenly it's a case of pull up, sit deep and hang on as she goes sideways/backwards for 3/4 huge strides then stands and snorts at it. She drops her back and sticks her head up so you don't come off but she moves sideways very quickly :rolleyes:
If there's something ahead that she's boggling at then I will push her past sympathetically as once she's level and past she's fine but she tends to plant herself.

If we're not on the road then I try to let her have a good look at it and see that it's safe before we go past but on the roads it's best to go past calmly - I would never ask her to trot on past something, it's usually a case of pushing her to walk past it or else preventing her from bolting past it (her two reactions)
 
My mare naps at scary things and tries to refuse to go past them. When I feel her back come up (or notice when she starts looking st scary object) I get a good contact and put my leg on firmly, if this doesn't work she gets a sharp smack with the stick, if this doesn't work then out comes SCARY VOICE! I turn in to a MONSTER and literally roar at her in my deepest man voice "Get UUUUUPPPP" and she finds that scarier than the original scary object, so she quickly scuttles on to get away from me haha

I make sure to only use 'monster voice' in times of desperation, ie spooking in the middle of the road or near pedestrians, don't want her becoming wise to it!

I've had plenty of weird looks :D
 
If I'm on a horse I know I try to pre-empt spooks; so, with my two I know exactly what the triggers are so I try to look ahead and anticipate and if I see something, I will put them into a rounder deeper contact, I may do a shoulder in towards the suspect object, I will use my voice in low, calming tones (sooo ist brav.....my german background!), keep leg on and look up and ahead.

Yes, sometimes they will catch you out, but 99% of the time I can anticipate what may provoke a reaction. Also, need to keep breathing and not tense up!

On a strange horse I tend to err on the side of caution and keep them working on a deep contact and flexing them, giving them little exercises to keep mind occupied....leg yield, stop, rein back etc etc.
 
Agreed Leviathan , we go spooking not hacking too! I just sit tight, turn his head away from the monster (what you can't see, can't scare you) leg on, a growl of 'idiot' (or worse!) and a tap on the bum if required. He can do it at a canter or even a gallop too, leaping this way and that at imaginary anything. You get used to it!
 
I just want to reassure you that things will get better! 8 months ago she spooked at every leaf, by following the sort of advice folks have given in this thread and just being consistent we have got to the point where she hardly spooks at anything. Today one of those silent Bradley Wiggins types snuck up on us on his mountain bike at speed. Just when he got right behind me he offered a helpful "good morning" at top voice, honestly I nearly jumped out of my skin!. She jumped a couple of strides, but was much less surprised than me. I really had to laugh, the tables are turned - now I am the spooky one :D
 
Zack is a massive spooker but he's getting over it :) If it's something especially scary he'll swing around and take off. He used to do this at least two times per ride, but touch wood he hasn't spooked at anything for the last four rides so we're getting there. When he does do off with me I pull his head in to one side until he slows so something controlled or manageable and then we do circles until he's normal. I'm really happy that lately his spooks are turning into the all four feet splayed dead stops instead of swing-and-bolt spooks. He stops like bambi on ice and then STAAAAARES at nothing and lets off huge snorts. I just sit and wait it out. If I don't allow him to sidle off or try to turn back for home eventually he'll make up his own mind to go past whatever it is: abandoned washing machine, moose, postal van, whatever. When he has decided it's time to go he walks up to it then does a silly scuttle past, but we're going in the right direction. Probably not great horsemanship there, but it's what works for us :D
 
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