How to bombproof your horse

[Supertrooper]

Went to a civil war battle reenactment today, about thirty horses there none of whom were worried at all by muskets and canons going off in front of them, behind them or loads of men shouting and milling around them with pikes etc

 

[Lintel]

That's one way to do it! - or head out on fireworks night round here ?

 

[Keith_Beef]

I used to do civil war reenactments... A column of dragoons galloping past no further away than the end of your nose and the end of your toes is something you'll never forget.

 

[JBM]

My dog does daily zoomie checks of the horses
Judy is used to it - zero reaction
Barry still freaks out or tries to play with him haven’t figured out which

 

[ponynutz]

Being owned by a 12 year old usually does the trick. Especially if kept at a livery yard where there is a bunch of 12 year olds.

 

[Snow Falcon]

Being owned by a 12 year old usually does the trick. Especially if kept at a livery yard where there is a bunch of 12 year olds.

Or have your small children hurtling about on their toy tractors, run about playing with sticks and kicking a football at them. Soon learn not to fuss at anything.?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Racehorses are generally bombproof to any nonsense going on around them but a flower changes colour from one day to the next? Nope!

I have a video I took for someone buying a horse of said horse walking into the school and have a peacock dash past him. 20 seconds later in trot the peacock flew up under his nose to the top of the wall above his head and he never flinched or broke stride. So we are peacock proof ??

 

[Bob notacob]

Fleagle and Starlight were bomb proof . If I went out to scare pigeons off the corn ,(with a 12 bore) I would immediately have two daft thoroughbreds looking over my shoulder ,passing comments as I fired ,"He pulls to the left when he fires" ,He jerks the trigger finger instead of squeezing".Wasteof powder ! etc. Two girls used to ride them and I had said that they were not only bomb proof but I would one day prove it. Came the day ,we met out on the farm , while we were talking ,I casually lit a bird scarer . Girls were oblivious to this,but Starlight just walked away 10 yards despite his riders protestations .Fleagle just bounced on the spot and I guess in horse language was going !FIREWORK, Big Bang Whopee!!!!Needless to say , after said bang they just stood there .Bob is also bomb proof ,but says if in doubt ,always cut the green wire.

 

[Supertrooper]

I used to do civil war reenactments... A column of dragoons galloping past no further away than the end of your nose and the end of your toes is something you'll never forget.

Cool!!!!

I spoke to some of the people involved yesterday and they said they do take the horses out if they start to get worried at all but none of the ones yesterday seemed at all bothered

 

[sunnyone]

At Castillon la Bataille they do 'The Hundred Years war in 2 hours." three times a week over the summer period. Everything is done at dusk, some of it with artificial lighting but the English lose every time!
There is a cast of 400 and involves 40+ horses being driven, ridden bareback and under saddle, and also free galloping. They are an integral part of the show, which is a village fund raiser, so everybody is a local volunteer. Riders' ages are between 8 and 65.
The horses have to ignore shots, canon fire, "burning" buildings, and fireworks plus all the smoke and noise they produce.
When we went this year 1 horse had a "moment" and got left behind for a few seconds, I'm in awe of them.
How to bombproof the horses? I guess a little at a time in rehearsals but I've noticed that horses learn from each other. One of mine was born near an army base so she grew up accepting tanks rolling past the field, firing, low flying planes and helicopters and positively watches fireworks. When I first got the other two they wanted to be startled by bangs and low flying but then they saw that the older one didn't react, so they don't..

 

[SEL]

And there's 3 of mine having an almighty wobble at breakfast because OH has put a sheet of ply against the spare stable.....

 

[Peglo]

Racehorses are generally bombproof to any nonsense going on around them but a flower changes colour from one day to the next? Nope!

I have a video I took for someone buying a horse of said horse walking into the school and have a peacock dash past him. 20 seconds later in trot the peacock flew up under his nose to the top of the wall above his head and he never flinched or broke stride. So we are peacock proof ??

my exracer wasn’t actually bothered by much but loved to make a fuss just for a hoolie. A drone was fun for a while but a neighbours kids tiny toy windmill gave her the most entertainment.

 

[Keith_Beef]

At Castillon la Bataille they do 'The Hundred Years war in 2 hours." three times a week over the summer period. Everything is done at dusk, some of it with artificial lighting but the English lose every time!

My cousin and her husband have a house nearby and they tell me that one year (don't know which) the English won.

I guess a little at a time in rehearsals but I've noticed that horses learn from each other. One of mine was born near an army base so she grew up accepting tanks rolling past the field, firing, low flying planes and helicopters and positively watches fireworks. When I first got the other two they wanted to be startled by bangs and low flying but then they saw that the older one didn't react, so they don't..

At Équirando there is a drone that flies over the big parade (ridden and driven horses) to film the event. This year about 300 of us riders were gathered in a field near the start of the parade and the drone flew over. My horse was calm enough until people started yelling at the operator the get his drone away, a good number of horses (twenty or so, at a guess) seemed to be made nervous by all the shouting and that set off some of the others (mine was a bit perturbed, but not excessively so and definitely not enough to make me feel at all unsafe).

The film and photos from this year are not yet up on the Équirando 2022 site, but they should arrive soon.

 

[Barton Bounty]

My tb is defo not bombproof, hes not bothered with a ploughing tractor i the next field , but a ball?? How scary ?

 

[humblepie]

I always wonder how much is nature or nurture rather like if you drive past cows or sheep by a fence some just look at you, some carry on eating and others walk or run off. Imagine having twin foals keeping them exactly the same and seeing what characteris tics they grew up with.

 

[Ratface]

My cousin and her husband have a house nearby and they tell me that one year (don't know which) the English won.



At Équirando there is a drone that flies over the big parade (ridden and driven horses) to film the event. This year about 300 of us riders were gathered in a field near the start of the parade and the drone flew over. My horse was calm enough until people started yelling at the operator the get his drone away, a good number of horses (twenty or so, at a guess) seemed to be made nervous by all the shouting and that set off some of the others (mine was a bit perturbed, but not excessively so and definitely not enough to make me feel at all unsafe).

The film and photos from this year are not yet up on the Équirando 2022 site, but they should arrive soon.

Thanks for posting. I've just looked at the link and pictures. Lovely!
I'm quietly impressed by my capacity to read French, as well. It's 60+ years since I learnt it

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

A racehorse who hadn't been ridden in 11 days since his last race. Dragged in from the field, tacked up and out through his paces, including some jumping. He was sold the minute the prospective new owners saw the videos. We don't normally do them but we were particularly keen for this horse to go to that home. He was also 150% on traffic. As a 3yo a tractor with a big trailer load of straw drove past - he tried to eat the straw ?

 

[Barton Bounty]

A racehorse who hadn't been ridden in 11 days since his last race. Dragged in from the field, tacked up and out through his paces, including some jumping. He was sold the minute the prospective new owners saw the videos. We don't normally do them but we were particularly keen for this horse to go to that home. He was also 150% on traffic. As a 3yo a tractor with a big trailer load of straw drove past - he tried to eat the straw ?

He is MY TYPE!!! Hes lovely ?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

He is MY TYPE!!! Hes lovely ?

He is a total and utter dude! He has gone to a hunting home tobe a Whips horse for a few years before becoming a Masters horse. Side on he looks and moves like a Show Hunter. Watch him from behind and he plaits so badly he could knit you a wooly jumper in 100 yards ?? I would have taken him home but he would never have been a show horse and he wouldn't fit in my trailer ? but he has the perfect home for him.

 

[Barton Bounty]

He is a total and utter dude! He has gone to a hunting home tobe a Whips horse for a few years before becoming a Masters horse. Side on he looks and moves like a Show Hunter. Watch him from behind and he plaits so badly he could knit you a wooly jumper in 100 yards ?? I would have taken him home but he would never have been a show horse and he wouldn't fit in my trailer ? but he has the perfect home for him.

Im so glad he has the perfect home, I will not hesitate to get another one like him when I can, right now I have my hands full breaking this sport horse lol, ?

 

[Winters100]

Or have your small children hurtling about on their toy tractors, run about playing with sticks and kicking a football at them. Soon learn not to fuss at anything.?

This can definitely help. I am always very happy when other people bring children to the yard, especially with what most would term as inappropriate toys to be around horses. It served me very well when someone crashed a drone into a tree at a competition within spitting distance of one of mine. Several other horses in the vicinity were off into the distance, mine made do with a small shy and a mildly curious look at what was going on. For me it is a case of asking the children to carry on if I see that a horse reacts to what they are doing (of course safely for the child), the more they see the better.

 

[Snow Falcon]

When my eldest was very small he ran into the stable in a crinkly all in one and kicked a ball straight at my youngster who's hoof I had in my hand poulticing it. He just looked at the child. My trouble now is that they aren't as small any more.

 

[Cherryblossom]

A combination of living beside a shooting range, on a road with a breakdown recovery company, having very happy whizzy dogs and rather spirited preschoolers seems to have given my youngster some excellent foundations! Rather like black beauty went to stay beside a railway line as a colt, I think I should offer specialist livery!

 

[J&S]

My NF pony was brought up on a small farm with a railway track running along one corner. The breeder used to put the youngsters in this paddock to get them used to the sudden sounds of trains from above. It certainly worked, we could ride over or under any bridge on the forest with out hesitation, train or no train. If we had to wait with a less solid pony mine would get quite impatient to get going! As in "what's the problem"!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

We can do a 40mins loop which includes the local quarry; the busiest time is (believe it or not) from 0600 - 0800hrs in the morning!! The quarry produces among other things Asphalt and also is a County Highways depot as well as having a weighbridge & builders merchants on-site, so you get a lot of lorries arriving to pick up their load and going through the weighbridge. Very busy!

5 yrs ago now when I brought my little pony-cob (profile pic) home, we went through the quarry at least once a week. Ideal for confidence building and I had the sure knowledge that if she could cope with that then she could cope with anything.

We also have a major "A" road near us and have to go over the roadbridges as well as there being a bridle path which runs right next to it. Ideal!

Ohh........ AND we are in the flight path of a regional airport! This last Bank Holiday weekend we should have had the Red Arrows flying in but sadly they cancelled due to "engineering" problems.

It all happens here!

 

[Birker2020]

I can remember jumping off my horse Bailey whilst someone held him to determine if my air jacket was working properly as I'd had it two years and hadn't had a fall - typical!!
So I jumped off heron the yard outside by putting my leg over the front of the saddle and dismounting and it went off with a right bang, the horses in the stables were doing their nut but my horse just stood routed to the spot, didn't give a stuff. I determined then she was bomb proof!

 

[dorsetladette]

Took our babies for a walk on friday. Both were perfectly behaved with double decker buses, a bin lorry, van with a rattly trailer and multiple cars and motorbikes (our country lane turned in the M5 for the 30 mins we were out) but a bolder in a gate way was had to be seriously investigated to ensure it wasn't going to eat them.

Our field is bordered by a country lane (but a bus route) and a main A road (thing trunk road in a county with no motorways. So they see every possible kind of traffic from the field. Honestly is the best place to traffic proof babies. Us handlers were both gobsmacked at how well little Reggie dealt with everything. Our hearts sank when we saw the bin lorry trundling towards us but they were both absolutely find.

 

[Peglo]

Love the casual peacock in that video ?

 

[Lacuna]

The MOD site I used to work at used to joke they had literally bombproof horses - the Range was just the other side of the fence from them.
Lots of bangs/bombs etc going off randomly any day of the week.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Love the casual peacock in that video ?

Yes to be fair the horses might well be peacock proof but the peacocks are also horse proof ??