Is your horse "good in traffic"?

What do you do with your dead dogs?

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bex1984

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Disclaimer: This is my first ever poll (look at me doing clever technical stuff) so hope it works...

Am interested to hear what people's horses are like in traffic?

Is a horse being good in traffic essential to you or is it a case of fit-for-purpose, i.e, you wouldn't expect a dressage horse to be good in traffic because it wasn't bought as a hack?

Those of you who've been riding for years, do you think horses these days are better or worse on the roads?

And how do you define good in traffic? Do you believe a horse can be bombproof?

Reallt interested to hear some opinions..
 
Yes to all of them - Silver never put a foot wrong going through an industial estate on a very busy Friday afternoon where the were lots of motobikes/huge lorries with flapping tarpaulins!

The only slight issue was that he kept wanting to go and have a look at the metal welding warehouses... seemed fascinated by both the sparks and the sqealing noise of the metal being cut up and wanted to go and investigate... The louder the noise and the more sparks that came off the better
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My horse will pass everything on there without batting an eyelid, I didnt buy him for roadwork just wanted a nice allrounder for rc and he is fab on the roads. Have come across loads on roads and hes unfazed scaffolding,flapping sheets you name it.
 
She will pass anything, she has lived on an RAF base and I would hack around the RAF base. She also lives on farm, and is so oblivious to tractors the farm owner laughs at her as she will not move when he is moving round in his tractor when she is tied up.

She has though become scared of dogs as recently they have been chasing her
 
All of my riding horses and almost all of my babies (yearlings) are absolutely perfect in traffic. All of the little ones, except Legacy, have been down to the road to meet the dump-truck, the school bus and all the trucks, trailers and tractors....and none of them batted an eyelid.

I can ride every single one of my horses past, or be passed by, everything you have mentioned in your poll. My lot do not balk at anything at all.
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Hattie is Yes and all of the above including tanks, planes (landing/taking off), all army vechiles etc. She came from an army base so is pretty bombproof.

Gypsy (who I answered for on the poll) is no. He will go pass cars, motorbikes and buses. But we are a bit hairy with anything else particuarly cyclists, walkers, trailers, big lorries etc. I don't no why he is fine with buses.
 
Oh and my horse loves the big diggers, And I mean the big diggers he then went obv when it was turned off, when I was leading him round went and started kissing the digger lmao. How freaky is my horse?
 
dont believe that any horse is totally bombproof!! i got to tick every box though!! bracken is brilliant on the roads nothin fazes her in slightest! thats the main reason i got her that and i'm a sucker for a sob story! as i hacked her back to my old yard we had a tractor go past then a caravan being towed she didnt bat any eyelid!! guess i'm lucky that she's not bothered by anything however would never take that for granted!!!!
 
Tia, do you do any particualr work with your youngsters to ensure they're good in traffic?

Should also answer my own post really - ponio is an angel in all traffic - we regularly pass buses, motorcyclists, HGVs and he lives on a busy farm. Today we went under a railway bridge just as a train came over (oops), I was holding my breath but he barely flinched. I bought him as a confidence giving fun horse/hack though, so being good in traffic was one of my main requirements - I don't think it's that essential for everyone?
 
Poppy is excellent in traffic,where we lived i would have to wait at traffic lights with buses behind me etc ,didnt bat an eye lid,bethan is very good in traffic but ride on country lanes,i do every now and again after cross a duel carriage way and if we dont do it in one go we are stuck in the middle with hgv comeing pass,so far,she has been fine but its nerve racking.
 
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All of those fine. Vampire horse-eating sheep are another thing altogether...

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we dont have vampire horse-eating sheep......................we have the more evil version of vampire horse-eating pigs!!!!
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Nugget is perfect in traffic - nothing phases him, which is good as he works in the city!
 
My chestnut mare is good in traffic but has sat on a car!!!OOOPs!!!!Not her fault! Since then she's been a bit worried but I think she is sensing my tension.

My oldest chap is fab in traffic. Nothing bothers him, fire engines, lorries, buses.... but crisp packets... well they are the scariest thing ever.. especially if they are in a ...PUDDLE!!!!!

My other old boy hates motorbikes and lorries and whilst he was always pretty good I could never rely on him not to be frightened. But motorbikes were the worst! He'd just take off! Quite strange really! He got better when I got a motorbike and rode it up and down the drive!LOL

My old 13.2 pony (PTS last summer) was not safe and was frightened by lorries and tractors- anything noisy. She jumped a 4ft hedge with me to escape on more then one occasion! She was worse when she was in season. She had experienced heavy traffic from a young age but could never cope with large noisy vehicles! So she was never sold!! (had her from 3 months to 25 yrs old!! Fab pony!!)

My Sec B in avatar is totally ok with traffic. Hence I can drive her.

It is important to me. Having had good and bad in traffic I love the fact that my 16.2 is good in traffic. I like to give my horse variety and also need to hack out for my own sanity sometimes!!There is nothing worse than constantly worrying about what might come down the road.
 
Well to be honest, it really helps that we have a working farm, so they are all used to tractors, trailers, huge trucks, very loud machinery etc.

I thoroughly desensitise them before taking them off the farm though. I always take the little ones out down to the road after this, and not once has any of them bothered in the slightest about huge garbage trucks (or whatever) clattering along the road.

Even little Legacy is not in slightest bothered about the tractors or noisy equipment, and she's only 9 weeks old.

Oh and to answer the original posters other question - yes I do believe that horses can be bombproofed; I think that most people do not think this is possible, but I definitely do.
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T is fairly bombproof in traffic as long as what ever it is doesn't bother me he is prepared to trust my judgement. Sparrows and butterflies now that is another matter entriely.
 
Both mine are excellent - just as well as we have fairly busy roads to contend with to reach any off road tracks. Have even passed a combine harvester on a single track road with one of them.....!!!!
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Yep he is fab in traffic, he had never been on roads when I brought him but is fab and always has been! Only thing he can be slightly odd with is pedestrians, but nothiing silly, just snorts at them! But never had a prob even with big tractors
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I agree to an extent! I think if I had had a lorry and tractors at a young age my pony would have got used to the vehicles and would have learnt to cope but her reaction was definitely linked to her seasons. She didnt worry about the size of the vehicle, just the noise! So a quiet lorry could go past and she was fine, but a noisy one... over the hedge! We learnt to "manage" her but never cured her.

My horses saw double decker buses and lorries daily. Some coped, some didnt!
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But why did one of my boys take such a dislike to motorbikes?

My chestnut has never seen heavy traffic but is totally bombproof! Why?

For some reason some horses are totally happy without desensitising. Others need so much help.

Horses are such complicated people!!
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Having lived on a farm since he was 2 mine is completely unworried about any traffic. If the combine is in the next field he rushes over to the fence to look at it to work out what it is doing, and stands there as the dust comes out of the back.

The only thing he is slightly wary off is sheep - he just can't work out what they are.
 
my cob is 100% bombproof. i would quite happily walk down the road with my 2 year old on him and not be worried.

the TB however is a night mare to hack unless he's been ridden in the school for an hour and is too tired to spook.

he will spook at his own shadow ( not a joke!!)

i think horses these days arent as bomb proof when i was breaking in the cob it was the most important thing to me to make him perfect in traffic and spent months walking him out in hand.

all of the younger horses in my yard and not good hackers. i do think its important becuase i think horses having a wide varitey of acitives thrive in the things they are best at
 
I've ticked yes to all and long may it continue
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She will have a look at empty, rattly trailers but I don't have a problem with that what I do have a problem with is another lady at the yard
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Her horse is ever so good in all traffic but she insists on getting into driveways etc, I just know she'll end up making him as nervous as her, such a shame as he honestly is a good old boy.
ETS my old mare had a big thing about big lorries
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I had to plan our hacks to avoid busy periods etc
 
No Bert is hopeless. He came from an area where he did not do road work and at 13 he was quite set in his ways when I got him although we are making progress.

He will pass anything upto a large "white van" without a problem if moving and it is hit and miss with the rest. If parked he will pass all of the things listed....if idling the list is smaller.
 
My main horse is frightened about noise, if we could make a silent tractor, bus and motorcylce then I would be fine!!! I need someone to invent horse earphones that have horsey music on them for calming purposes!!!
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Yes and I ticked everything.
To be honest he will happily pass all of those, but it depends on his mood (usually good) and the manner in which the vehical is driven. Very fast cars from behind can sometimes slightly un-nerve him. Ratteling trailers or noisey exhausts etc will only affect him if he is in a fresh mood.

It is usually trees/bins/walls which scare him, he is a little weirdo especially considering he is 22
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I could canter round the M25 in rush hour on my steed, but put a frog on Marriots way on a quiet Summers afternoon and all hell breaks loose....I can't explain it.
 
My horse is a complete pratt at times but is fantastic in traffic which is lucky as I'm not! He will even do the bin lorry and road sweeper with just a bit of a snort although he did buck me off when the guy at the farm next door was welding!
Pigeons and newly dug soil are another story though!
 
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