Irrationally Spooky Horse!

[Ellieflook301299]

Hi,

I have a Welsh D mare that I have owned for nearly 3 years. She is a spooky horse by nature. This is something I have continually worked on and I have adjusted every aspect of her life (routine, feed etc) in order to minimise stress. There has been a clear improvement, especially on the ground and in the school. However, I am still having ridiculously unenjoyable hacks. She is extremely spooky, jumping at the slightest sound, spooking to the point where she is nearly falling onto her knees. I am a very experienced rider and remain firm but reassuring. It isn’t to the point where it is uncontrollable and I feel scared, but I get no enjoyment out of hacking her, in company or alone. I have never allowed her to not go past something, but I am continually having the same issue with things that she has gone past or seen for 3 years. Some say it is evasion but she is a horse that relies on trust and becoming angry does not end well. Just to state she has recently scoped clear for ulcers and has had a full health check. I have ruled out hearing and eye issues. I am just wondering if anyone has any tips? And it may be worth mentioning that she is very resistant and difficult to ride when approaching something, but more often than not completely ignores said thing when she is close to it and I am attempting to encourage her to ‘touch’ it. Also; she is in full time work.

 

[Boulty]

Welsh Ds can be massive drama queens & this may just be who she is. You may be able to continue making small improvements but you're not going to change who she is.

My only thoughts would be to try hacking exclusively in company with a super confident horse for a few months if you're currently hacking alone (if she's no different in company feel free to discard this)

If you feel safe to do so then going back a few steps & doing some walking out inhand may help if she feels you're there on the ground for moral support.

If you don't think that would be safe then regular general spook busting in the arena (could be as simple as regularly leaving jump blocks & other items in random places to start with right up to playing with things like flags, umbrellas & tarpaulins both inhand & ridden). Won't solve the issue on its own but might help you shape how she responds to things that worry her.

If all else fails how do you think she'd like hunting? Mine was at his boldest when tagging along with the Bloodhounds but the effects never lasted beyond the meet ?. (maybe don't take this suggestion TOO seriously as obviously it blows some sensitive horses brains!)

All of the above helped my Welsh D alongside making as many others things to his liking as possible but he remained a spooky hack both alone & in company & still had many moments of drama. He was never a horse you could switch off on without him punishing you for it!

 

[Gloi]

Once the weather and other conditions allow up the mileage. If you have someone to go with that's good but if you haven't don't let it stop you. Go out every day and push on. At least a couple of hours a day on a regular basis and things will improve. At least it has always worked for me, a few training rides with the endurance group worked wonders too.

 

[chocolategirl]

Hi,

I have a Welsh D mare that I have owned for nearly 3 years. She is a spooky horse by nature. This is something I have continually worked on and I have adjusted every aspect of her life (routine, feed etc) in order to minimise stress. There has been a clear improvement, especially on the ground and in the school. However, I am still having ridiculously unenjoyable hacks. She is extremely spooky, jumping at the slightest sound, spooking to the point where she is nearly falling onto her knees. I am a very experienced rider and remain firm but reassuring. It isn’t to the point where it is uncontrollable and I feel scared, but I get no enjoyment out of hacking her, in company or alone. I have never allowed her to not go past something, but I am continually having the same issue with things that she has gone past or seen for 3 years. Some say it is evasion but she is a horse that relies on trust and becoming angry does not end well. Just to state she has recently scoped clear for ulcers and has had a full health check. I have ruled out hearing and eye issues. I am just wondering if anyone has any tips? And it may be worth mentioning that she is very resistant and difficult to ride when approaching something, but more often than not completely ignores said thing when she is close to it and I am attempting to encourage her to ‘touch’ it. Also; she is in full time work.

I’ve owned my mare for 13 years, she’s also always been a bit of a spooky baggage, but this last 18 months at least, it’s absolutely unbearable, and I just don’t enjoy riding her anymore. I could have written your post virtually word for word, but unfortunately, I don’t have any answers. Mine has vet checks every 3 months for ongoing arthritic issues and I have come to the conclusion it has to be pain related, but we’re struggling to find out the source of it so far ?

 

[Pinkvboots]

What do you feed her and how much turnout does she get?

Also how often is she ridden and what are you doing?

 

[Flamenco]

Have you tried feeding magnesium? Lack of it can cause anxiety and spookiness. Gotcha Equine has some good info.

If you think its worth trying, I'd order a kilo of magnesium oxide from Intralabs on ebay as its £6.50 as opposed to c£25 for a branded calmer in a tack shop. You'll notice a difference within a week if this is the issue. Brewers Yeast can also help plus salt, reducing sugar, soaking hay etc

Obviously this only works if your horse is deficient. May be worth trying as you've ruled out most other things

 

[LegOn]

Sometimes they need a bit of hardship to get over the irrationness of the fear! Look up some Warwick Schillers videos on despooking - he does it the reverse way to most and it does work! I did the standard why which was if you are going to spook- I'm going to make your life hard!! My lad is a spooky twat aswell, start in the arena with something you know they will spook at, when they spook give him 10 million more times the work they were just doing, leg yield them, flex and bend them, work them in 10 million different directions and ways around the thing they were spooking at until their brain is SO distracted, they dont know what you are going to ask for next and then once they are 100% distracted from the spooky thing, give them a long rein and walk away. When you go to pass it again, work them normal but again if they go to spook - they go back to getting the hardship! So they learn its not worth spooking because you are just going to get hardship.

Out hacking, you can back them up, trot up and past it - leg yield and flex them in all directions until they are just so over the spooking. I really found this worked with my lad - you can acutally feel him thinking about if its worth the spook or not now!!! He knows how to keep his life easy and enjoyable - do what you are asking and that is it!

Out hacking I also found lots of shouting and big hard pats all over their body really distracted them for bothering to spook aswell - he was wondering how to get the mad women to stop shouting and patting him like a loon so the slowly just learned his life was quieter and more pleasant to just get on with the job!

 

[Ellieflook301299]

Hi, thank you for your reply. She is on thunderbrooks Chaff, ulsakind, spearmint, Gastro care and pink powder. She is out through the day (6 hours) and in at night during the winter. She is in during the day and out at night during summer when it is hot, otherwise she is out. She is worked 5/6 days a week. I aim to hack 3 days a week and then vary it between jumping, pole work and schooling for the remaining days ?

 

[Ellieflook301299]

Sometimes they need a bit of hardship to get over the irrationness of the fear! Look up some Warwick Schillers videos on despooking - he does it the reverse way to most and it does work! I did the standard why which was if you are going to spook- I'm going to make your life hard!! My lad is a spooky twat aswell, start in the arena with something you know they will spook at, when they spook give him 10 million more times the work they were just doing, leg yield them, flex and bend them, work them in 10 million different directions and ways around the thing they were spooking at until their brain is SO distracted, they dont know what you are going to ask for next and then once they are 100% distracted from the spooky thing, give them a long rein and walk away. When you go to pass it again, work them normal but again if they go to spook - they go back to getting the hardship! So they learn its not worth spooking because you are just going to get hardship.

Out hacking, you can back them up, trot up and past it - leg yield and flex them in all directions until they are just so over the spooking. I really found this worked with my lad - you can acutally feel him thinking about if its worth the spook or not now!!! He knows how to keep his life easy and enjoyable - do what you are asking and that is it!

Out hacking I also found lots of shouting and big hard pats all over their body really distracted them for bothering to spook aswell - he was wondering how to get the mad women to stop shouting and patting him like a loon so the slowly just learned his life was quieter and more pleasant to just get on with the job!

awesome advice. Thank you.

 

[HeyMich]

Ear bonnet maybe?

Magnesium supplement - already mentioned above I think.

Sounds like it might be a pain response too. Ulcers was my first thought. My mare behaved like this when her ulcers were at their worst, but you say she's been scoped clear. Hind gut ulcers maybe? What vet checks have been done? How about saddle fit and teeth?

 

[Ellieflook301299]

Ear bonnet maybe?

Magnesium supplement - already mentioned above I think.

Sounds like it might be a pain response too. Ulcers was my first thought. My mare behaved like this when her ulcers were at their worst, but you say she's been scoped clear. Hind gut ulcers maybe? What vet checks have been done? How about saddle fit and teeth?

Hi, thank you for your reply. she wears a Lemieux Acoustic ear bonnet. She has had grade 1 ulcers before my ownership. I have her on ulcer friendly feed and Gastro Care. I have had her scoped twice and both times she has been scoped clear despite me thinking otherwise. I always feed her a handful of thunderbrooks chaff before riding to buffer acid. She has had a new saddle fitted to her 2 months ago and her teeth are done 6 monthly. I have tried calmers that are magnesium based and not magnesium based. She had a five stage vetting although this was when I first bought her. Whilst at the vets 4 months ago to scope her I queried her behaviour and he examined her and said there are no obvious concerns. I have a chiro out every 3 months and he has never had any concerns either. It really is a minefield.

 

[LEC]

You have worked her whole life so she has minimal stress - its no wonder she is so reactive as doesnt actually process and deal with it.

Warwick Schillers stuff is great and so is Tristan Tuckers. All about the horse regulating themselves and problem solving.

 

[Tarragon]

If she were mine, I would try riding out for hours, on your own preferably, and covering new ground each time. I notice that as soon as you take your horse into new territory their reaction to things change, they seem to be more spooky on ground that they know, and if you are on your own they are more likely to start to depend upon you. Also, once they get tired, both mentally and physically, they start to relax more.

 

[[59668]]

I have to say that my first thought is pain. My mare got increasingly spooky and anxious on the roads, spooking to her knees on more than one occaision (you can look up my posts on here).

Vet out, and she is bilaterally lame in front, very, very mild, only shows up in trot on a hard surface, worse on the right, sound in the school. Xrays were normal and currently awaiting an MRI. She nerve blocked to caudal heel pain. I can only think that she was spooky on the roads and not in the school because it hurt on the hard surface!

 

[Callieann]

I would agree with legon. I have used Warwick Schiller methods with amazing success for both of my spooky sec ds.

 

[welshpony216]

my welshie is insanely spooky and stressy as well, she seems much, much better on a loose rein. If I try to take her out hacking on contact, she will totally bomb and freak out, but If I just give her a bit of rein, she will just go along not a care in the world. If you feel scared, then she may be reading your body language and thinking 'oh no! what in the world is mom nervous about!!! Is it a monster? (some kind of noise or whatever) aghhh!! there is a monster and its coming to get me!' ,

 

[Goldenstar]

Defiantly try magnesium.
Welsh D ‘s are often pita’s .
I would want to rule out pain .

 

[Shysmum]

Groundwork doing desensitisation....introduce small things at first, then as she accepts them, introduce the next thing. I went all the way up to putting an umbrella up in front of Shy. Also consider Join Up as it will build her trust and confidence in you. Finally, try out the calmers out there, as said before. Good luck !

 

[Littlebear]

In addition to the management advice already offered i would consider the fluffy blinkers and noise blocking ear covers, it maybe something you can use for her to get use to not reacting for a while till you reintroduce hacking without them. They have worked wonders for a lady i used to teach who was shot out the side door many times before they helped take the edge off then the behaviour did just go away thankfully. Worth a try x

 

[EllenJay]

Why is she on pink powder? I often find this makes them a bit loopy

 

[PurBee]

I’d cut the spearmint out personally...although she’s on a fair few supps so perhaps just go right back to basics, with hay, salt, water, balancer.
She how she does for 2 weeks..,.then add in anything else needed one week at a time....to test reaction.

my mare is welshDXarab and if she’s given just a handful of oats is loopy and mareish. High sugar ryegrass hay/lage makes her more nappy, impatient. She’s very sweet and calm if i stick to mixed very low sugar fibre foods. I needed magnesium more when she was on high sugar hays. now she just gets a spoon added to beetpulp every other day to make up for lack of it in the forage. Shes really a dream when calories are right. Considering her blood makeup shes remarkably calm!

 

[Henry02]

What exactly has the vet checked for apart from ulcers?

I’d certainly carry out suggestions above, magnesium and watch some Warwick Schiller videos. Both low cost and easy to do.

depending on what the vet has looked at, it may be worth getting back/teeth/saddle checked by different professionals. If she’s only ever had chiro visits before I’d be looking towards a physio/sports massage. Good equine dental vet will sedate and have a really good look inside the mouth, may just be something lurking in there you don’t know about. Saddlers... well one I thought was good turned out not to be so good!

 

[Ellieflook301299]

Why is she on pink powder? I often find this makes them a bit loopy

Thanks for your reply. She is on pink powder as she is on a very basic feed that does not have the vitamins and minerals she needs. she is not on a balancer so this is replacing the need for it. I have taken her off this as I was told it could be contributing but I have noticed no difference so have brought it back into her diet.

 

[Spottyappy]

I would also try a magnesium calmer, this has worked well with my old welsh mare, and my current part bred one. the part bred is a lot more spooky, even so, than my old pure bred was.
aso, have you had her eyes checked out?

 

[Dontforgetaboutme]

Is she on always on high alert or just reactive to things she doesn’t like, be it a pheasant, a bin bag or a new Boulder on the track. If i feel my D tense at something, I have worked on head lowering on the ground so I loosen rein a bit asking her to relax her frame whilst giving her neck a good scratch to release endorphins. I don’t otherwise make much of her as a behaviourist said it reinforces there was something to be scared of. She is the type to react but if given a moment to think about it she will choose to go past. I think of it as she’s risk assessing. She does sometimes spook out the blue but fortunately doesn’t escalate her behaviour and she’s superb with traffic. I have to watch my anxiety levels as it makes her tense, I risk assess too! I also supplement with magox and salt and don’t over feed.

 

[Ellieflook301299]

Is she on always on high alert or just reactive to things she doesn’t like, be it a pheasant, a bin bag or a new Boulder on the track. If i feel my D tense at something, I have worked on head lowering on the ground so I loosen rein a bit asking her to relax her frame whilst giving her neck a good scratch to release endorphins. I don’t otherwise make much of her as a behaviourist said it reinforces there was something to be scared of. She is the type to react but if given a moment to think about it she will choose to go past. I think of it as she’s risk assessing. She does sometimes spook out the blue but fortunately doesn’t escalate her behaviour and she’s superb with traffic. I have to watch my anxiety levels as it makes her tense, I risk assess too! I also supplement with magox and salt and don’t over feed.

This is interesting and has given me something to think about regarding the ‘spook assessing’. thank you for your reply. Definitely got some tips from this.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I used to have a Welsh D xTB mare who got more and more spooky. Eventually I found out that she was reacting to the feed we were giving her.
This may or may not be applicable to your horse but, in any case, I would ditch the Pink Powder, as I have known it make 2 of the most sensible horses in the world spooky.

 

[Dontforgetaboutme]

This is interesting and has given me something to think about regarding the ‘spook assessing’. thank you for your reply. Definitely got some tips from this.

Case in point tonight she was spooky going up one side of the school, I thought it was her shadow but half way through session I realise was new stakes propping up fence post. I let her have a look & then she was fine. Nearly had me when she ducked away from mirror that had iced over ?. My other D did warp across school when surprised by white cat jumping on ménage fence. Good job we have brakes and a sense of humour