I have a horse and he is whip shy

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Bubblegum

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I have had this horse for 12 years. He is 16.
He is much loved, and has enjoyed life with me, I believe. He has a very nice life at our home, he lives in our 'back garden' - paddocks & stables, to the rear of our house...
He has a constant herd he lives with. He is only ridden by me and my daughter, and we both have / have had(me) regular lessons, and are of reasonable standard.
But he is still terrified of the whip...only used as a schooling aid by us... I hasten to add. Both ridden and when lunged. So it's not rocket science, this fear runs deep. :(
I am just interested if anyone has similar experiences? As I said, this is a much loved horse, and here with us for life, who has done more for me and my daughter than I could ever have dreamed of when I bought him.

My Q is ... do some horses always fear the whip? or is this a distant memory of his, that he will never lose, despite our carefulness with him.
O, and he is chestnut !!!

Thanks :)
 
my horse is very whip shy (the grey in my Signature), I manage to carry a short whip when jumping but for flatwork he implodes. (and I mean properly sets off in fear and will not stop)

I just use spurs instead!
 
I've had two that were whip shy - one that would turn inside out if a whip was used on another horse even (yet didn't mind a lunge whip, oddly, I presume she saw it differently?). Tbh I just don't really carry a whip, as it's the easiest solution. I don't bother carrying one for jumping on Dan, as if I can get away with it - a short jumping bat - then I still can't use it, it's not productive at all. I can school with a dressage whip now... if I want him to squiggle along and occasionally wave his legs sideways. He doesn't buck, just tries to get his body as far away from the whip as poss, or kicks out at it, touching or not. I can sort of use one for inhand work now, as long as I keep the pressure very light or off completely (just sort of have it ... there? blocking more than using). So yeah, in short, I don't bother riding with one now, but I guess that doesn't help if you want to carry one. With the ones that have had an issue where it's been beneficial to have the whip, I've either carried one out hacking where it's generally ignored - lots more interesting things to stare at! to start with, and a short one for schooling, or used a dressage whip held halfway up, which means I can 'lengthen' it if I want/need to. That, or spurs are rather handy, if it's just to sharpen/clarify an aid? (my main alternative for Dan now)
 
One of mine was quite whip shy when I got him, in a scared sort of way. Didn't take too long to desensitise him though, approx 6 months.

Current horse I ride doesn't 'do' whips and I have been warned off carrying one let alone daring to touch her with one!
 
I have had a few whip shy horses over the years. I desensitize them. I carry one all the time and touch them with it until they stop overreacting. I start from the floor I'm not safe in the saddle with one. If I had one that you couldn't get near with a whip I'd fill his stable and manger with them so they were everywhere he went and he couldn't eat without seeing them. In short, I simply would not accept that a horse can tell me when I can and cannot carry a whip.

As far as I can see that is the only safe course of action. Unless you have your own private stabling and never go anywhere, you never know when someone is going to wave a whip around.
 
I'm riding one at the moment, he's fine with one any where on the ground but couldnt cope with one ridden. I can now carry a standard jumping whip and move it round no problem, he has a good look when I change it but only since we moved to the bigger one he had got used to the small one before we changed. He is still rather reactive if you touch him with it and I can only lightly touch his shoulder at present but he is improving all the time.

I wouldn't say he is a true phobic though, he has just had a beating for making a very baby mistake in the past.
 
I have a horse who has been severely abused in the past. It took me a year, but I can now hold a whip when lunging or riding. If someone on the ground holds a whip, or uses one on another horse he is terrified, but is slowly getting better. It removes a very useful tool from my training options, 'tho. Shame on anyone who makes a horse whip-shy.
 
Bubblegum, my horse is like yours. I have him 10 years and I am the main rider. Anyone else I have let ride him I do not allow them to carry a whip. Having said that, I carry one for hunter trials because he will run out a very odd time, but I never use it, carrying it is enough. I dont carry one any other time, he does not need a whip as an aid, spurs work great for flat work. I can not lunge with a whip in my hand, even holding the handle with the whip behind my back. He panics and runs. I have never ever hit him with one and rarely even flicked it his general direction. He lunges fine with voice aids.

I have not taken the time to desensitise him because I dont need a whip as an aid, he responds well to leg (with spurs for flat work), seat and voice.

Oddly enough, if I'm riding and sharing the arena with someone using a lunging whip it doesn't bother him in the least. He knows it's not directed at him and he's not bothered, even if it's flicked near him.
 
I have one, and I don't carry a whip. Don't need on lunging, so don't bother to take one.

She doesn't like the sound of them being used on others, or people clicking at their horses.

Shes been the same for the last 14 years.
 
Mine's fine with a short whip for jumping, I have the shortest rules allow, but a schooling whip is a no-go! Even if a piece of leather makes a sound or my stirrup hits my girth buckle he tries to run away from it. I have had him 6months and he is 7 so can only think that this is deep-rooted from when he was young.
 
Yup, I have one now and my pony when I was a child couldn't cope either. I've tried desensitising him but it makes him really upset and dangerous and takes him hours to settle down even after the ride- it's not worth it.
 
I have a homebred who hates you carrying a whip. I have never managed it, no idea why, she certainly has never been hit with one!

I did try when she was younger but if you so much as touched her with it, she would take off. So I never bothered. Stupidly though, she doesnt care about someone else touching her with theirs, and this has been useful on occasion that they can com alongside and give her a tap, if she was being silly.
 
My old horse was terribly whip shy - we just rode her without one for years. Lunge whips were the worse - so we longreined her instead.

It was actually our young horse, who was aged 2 at the time, who de-sensitised her eventually.
The then 2 yo found whips to be a great plaything and would grab them in her mouth and wave them around. She wanted her best buddy, the old mare, to join in the fun. After a while we found the old mare would tolerate you carrying a whip - though it cost a small fortune to keep replacing the whips the little vandal destroyed. I guess a whip looked less scary when it was another horse brandishing it.
 
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