Im horrible, feel awful now

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Louby

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Ive posted before about my irrationally spooky horse who spooks at normal things like people but fine with flapping bags etc.
Today I asked my friend to have a go in the school and spooky boy did his usual spin when he seen a person .... me, was freaked out and was blowing. Friend was shocked at his reaction but calmly continued whilst he continued to be a div. Her verdict is hes scared, she is a very good rider and a no nonsense sort of person and if she thought he was taking the mickey would have said so. I feel terrible, because he is just so irrational Ive thought hes taking the mickey and have told him off and been probably too firm with him, not beating him of course but backing up my leg with my whip. She pointed out that he doesnt really go forward off the whip but jumps as if terrified. We have decided we really need to try to build his confidence up and getting mad with him wont help. I feel so bad, my poor boy. He is due his teeth doing so I am having his eyes tested just to make sure. Sorry for the pointless post but Im sat here feeling sorry for him and mad that Ive probably made things worse by dealing with the issue in the wrong way.
 
Alot of people mistakenly do that thinking the horse is playing up when actually it is scared and being firm with them makes them worse and things will just go bad to worse with them. My horse is in a terrible state at the moment due to previous owners smacking her and yanking on reins etc thinking she was playing up and hard to control but actually she is terrified of everything, especially of being ridden. She spins round and trys bolting plus spooks 10 feet in air at everything but you just have to treat them as youngsters. Start from the ground up, get the trust there and then take it further.
 
What's he like with people when being worked from the ground? such as on the lunge?

I would say work with him on the ground and get him used to as many people as possible, maybe also without you being next to him (he could get confidence from you if he trusts you). Does he only spook when someone moves, or if they stand still and he is walking past? Does it matter if they make eye contact? It could be something to do with body language.

Getting his eyes checked does sound like a good idea. What else does he spook at?

Don't beat youself up about it, you don't sound like you have been too harsh on him. You can't just let him spook away because he is scared, that would be a dangerous thing to allow to continue. But it sounds like you are going to do the right thing in making sure it is not a physical problem first. Then as i say, i would suggest lots of in hand work, until he is thoroughly bored of people. I would then say if he spooks at them when you are on him and they are stood still, and he has no physical issues, then he needs you to be firm and to make him carry on. Maybe start off with a person stood in sight but a few metres away, and then gradually bring them closer once he is used to them being where they are each time (over a course of days or weeks, not one session).

Shoulder in or lateral work may help to take his mind off it and divert his attention the other way, along with loads of transitions to keep his brain thinking. He might be too busy to notice a human.
 
Thanks for your replies, Im starting to feel a bit better now :)
Hes fine being lunged. He isnt scared of me on the ground or when I ride him, its just daft things in general.. He doesnt mind push bikes coming from behind but nearly always spooks when they come from ahead. He has no self preservation and it worries me he will hurt himself or someone else as if hes scared it doesnt matter whats in the way!. A friend bent down to pick some keys up the other day whilst walking past the menage as we were riding towards her and he put in a really bad spin, I wasnt expecting it and nearly fell off. He was the same at dressage last year, spots someone stood watching and we just made it past them in some sort of fashion. I got so fed up with the way he was I havent competed since. Its not everyone, sometimes he doesnt bother at all, thats why I thought he was taking the mickey.
This has definately pushed me to make an appointment with the vet as I just keep putting it off.
 
What breed is he, how old is he and what is he being fed? He may just be feeling fresh. Many horses seem to develop a stronger sense of spook when they are feeling especially excitable ;)

I would try to encourage people to stand around (although not right next to) the arena to get him used to it.

I do not want to put you off getting him checked over, that is important, but to me it sounds like the common combination of a sharp horse and a need for them to get used to a certain problem.

The arab i ride will be going beautifuly, until a twig moves or someone walks past the arena on the 'spooky' side, and then he will have a massive spook. The more he goes in there and the more work we do down that side (shoulder-in is my best friend) the better he gets. He has seen dozens of people walk down that side, and dozens of cars driving slowly past. He still spooks at them when he has a certain mood on him ;)

He will also commonly spook at people moving unexpectedly, people picking things up near the arena, or a random blade of grass. It's just the way he is. Sticky bum jods and good ballance. Plus a strong inside leg and a good feel for when he tenses just that moment before he teleports us both to the other end of the arena... all essential lol
 
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First, well done for understanding your horse.

My old boiy went on loan came back a nut case, I had a behavorist come to see him, nothing worked, until my boy KNEW that what I aaid goes, and everything will be fine.

As others have said, I think you need to go back ot ground work, boring I Know, but reading your post, it will probably be the best thing for your horse, you can address the things he is scared of and show him that, they are silly things, me boy hated me ( yes hated), but now I have taken advice and worked with him he looks to me when ever he finds things scarey.

Good luck x
 
Thanks again.
I also dont feel my boy likes me and my friend mentioned needing to build a bond. Daft as Ive had him 8 yrs and its always been an uphill battle or should I say challenge as hopefully there will be no more battles :D
He is TB x Shire x ID and is fed HiFi and Hi Fibre cubes, he is a good doer and gets a small feed as all the others on the yard do. He has a small net of Haylage, not dynamite stuff! and thats about it really. He is lazy but when something upsets him, it takes him ages to come back down. Oh he is 12 this year.
His main problem I think is his tongue habit, he constantly draws it back, always has done and we see it as a passifier as hes almost switched off when he does it which is all the time. Weve thought in the past that he is that mesmarised that things then suddenly make him jump???
 
Don't feel horrible, you've identified the nature of the problem now and are beginning to do something about it. I'm sure it is a good idea to get him checked out physically but if nothing can be found it, I would investigate allergies, if I were you. We had had our TBxWelshD 8 yrs before we worked out why her behaviour was so 'off the wall' and deteriorating. That turned out to be caused by food allergies. I believe that Hi-Fi has some alfalfa in it. It might be worth taking this out of his diet, as some horses cannot tolerate it. Hi-fi also contains some molasses, my horse could not tolerate even a tiny amount. It could also be that he reacts to the haylage, again many horses find that difficult to digest and it affects their behaviour. I wonder if the tongue habit is because his tongue is sore. I have allergies/sensitivities to a range of things and one of my symptoms is a sore tongue. There is often nothing to see, but I can certainly feel it! Good luck, I hope you get to the bottom of this soon.
 
Thanks for that.
He was allergy tested the other year as he was so itchy, mainly to rule out sweet itch and it did show up borderline alfalfa and wheat alongside some wierd things like red ant and clover of all things. Clover is impossible to take out of his diet, funny thing is, he never eats it, his field has patches of it and he eats the grass arround it but leaves the clover. I did cut out the alfalfa and tried my hardest with wheat as almost everyfeed has it in but it made no difference to his itching. This eventually stopped even when he was back on the things he was borderline allergic too.
Id love to get to the bottom of this, I love him to bits but his behavour has diven me mad :)
 
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