Most ridiculous/amusing thing your horse has spooked at?

[DabDab]

It's not really random because she's very consistent with it, but one of mine is really not keen on running water that she can't see. She's got a lot better in that she doesn't scoot along like a cat on hot bricks anymore, but I can still tell where every drain or water pipe runs under a road I'm riding on.

Big horse doesn't really spook under saddle these days, but on the ground there is an endless list of ridiculous things to spook at - his own fart, the other side of his rug when I throw it over him, hay bales, one if the other horses throwing their feed bucket, one of the other horses peeing next door, me....

 

[fabbydo]

A wallaby. He was forgiven as it surprised me too. We've never seen one since!

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Mine is fantastic with everything, such a big brave boy unless we encounter:
A pram - yeah, I can forgive this one, it might be what's inside that he's scared of.

A parked up tractor - after being passed by 3 tractors, one dragging some sort of crop sprayer, one with an empty trailer bouncing around, the only one he spooks at is the one in 'stealth mode' parked up, in a field, well off the road, engine switched off.

Pale pink flowers - I could forgive daffodils because I know the yellow is particularly shocking to their perception of the world, but pale pink clematis?

And if course, the velcro on my gloves.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Many years ago, sister and I had a Appaloosa mare and a bay roan mare who we called 'the Pink Pair'. One frosty but sunny autumn morning we were hacking, at a decent trot, uphill on the road. Rear horse blew down her nose, lead horse jumped (theatrically), rear horse followed suit. Riders were laughing so much that it's a wonder neither of us fell off.

 

[miss_c]

My first mare hacked over the M4 bridge for the first time absolutely perfectly... then spooked big time on the other side.

The cause?

I patted her

 

[pansymouse]

Mine is part Welsh so nothing is off the spook agenda. Her best to date is a tuft of grass that was a slightly different shade of green to the surrounding grass.

 

[Archangel]

I was leading two in and grabbed the kettle on the way past the tack room. Put it in the hand leading the most shatterproof horse in the world. He touched it, spooked, slipped and fell over.

 

[Gift Horse]

My horse is not bothered by much, on the odd occasion something does upset him he reacts in dramatic fashion. Last time was a couple of years ago someone had chucked a Starbucks type coffee cup out of a car window neither me or the horse noticed it until he stepped on it and the contents splashed his leg. He spooked sideways so quick I was left holding the handful of mane I had grabbed.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

There were four of us out on a hack one day, me up front happily mooching along a bridleway which ran along side a field when all of a sudden a beast appeared, it's nostrils flared and it's whole body, rippling with muscle was heading towards us at a charge (read: THE tiniest mini shetland I have ever seen, came trotting towards us up the fence line) and 19hh Jacob, if he would wear pants, would have shat them. He span and went to canter off, so scared that he ploughed straight through the poor horse & rider behind us, at which point all four of them decided 'nope, sod this, danger!!' and they all promptly span and went to take off.

Once all riders had regained their composure, stopped laughing and were facing the right way, we still could not get anywhere near this innocuous beast. So one of the ladies had to hop off and lead her horse past, and they all followed, practically climbing over the wall to the left to leave this Shetland as much space as possible. Ridiculous!!

 

[peanut]

Me farting It was only a little one

 

[Tirna]

My previously very non-spooky horse nearly decked me when we came across.... a Jaffa Cake packet. Perhaps he was concerned about his refined sugar intake

 

[Bernster]

A wallaby. He was forgiven as it surprised me too. We've never seen one since!

Ooh yes major spooks at boomerang from most horses, inc my usually very chilled boy, at the wallabies.

New yard, first time in the school - spooked at his own shadow but entirely understandable as he was on high alert.

 

[Dyllymoo]

These are brilliant.

I recently had steam from his own poo (it was so cold) and the exhaust fumes from a van on the same hack. he is normally 100% with traffic but the cold made it look like a dragon I think!

He did stop and eyeball a Labrador with a hi vis coat on, he couldn't work it out until he walked past us and then he looked as if to say "Ohhhhhhhh its a dog in a coat! Got it!"

 

[StowfordPress]

My new lad is Very suspicious of trotting poles. Nothing too dramatic, just bloody difficult to get him over them and his he goes sideways with his eyes on stalks the first few times he encounters them every ride. But he’s one hell of a brave show jumper?

Horse before him was 17.3 and only ever scared of Shetlands.

Then the ginge is suspicious of just about everything but anything white takes the biscuit, including certain horses.

 

[Merrymoles]

My old horse: Took off with me up a bridleway once when he had stopped for a pee and the wind blew it on to his legs. He also frightened himself stupid by blowing it a drain which then made that noise like blowing in a bottle back at him.

My new horse: In common with my old horse, is terrified of anyone carrying a child on their shoulders. I think both of them decided it was someone with two heads.

Funniest one this weekend was horse's fieldmate, who does a good line in spooks to be fair. He spooked at a bus that came round the corner when we were nearly back at the yard. He usually sees about three buses per hack but they hadn't been running for a few weeks because of the flooding and he threw a major shape in shock! Neither his owner nor I (who was leading mine who is still off games) could stop laughing.

 

[Darbs]

My gloves, despite wearing the same pair since November, he decided he would be terrified of them last week!

I had to take them off and hide them before he would let me anywhere near him!!

 

[hopscotch bandit]

A filler that was hanging on the menage fencing. It was a jump for joy type of filler, different pattern on each side. Took me a couple of weeks that she would walk, trot and canter past the design without constantly spooking at it and could eventually walk past it on a long rein whilst warming up. THen one day I went into the school and walked past the filler hanging on the fence on a long rein and she put the most enormous spook in and turned completely 180 degrees so i was facing the way we had just walked and I nearly came very close to falling off. I hadn't a clue why.

Reason?? Because someone had used the filler and hung it back up with the other sides design facing outwards and she hadn't seen it before!!

Another time she strode over a very narrow wooden planked bridge on a fun ride that no other horse would dare even step onto until she got to the big dandelion leaf the other side and did another 180 on me and shot back over the bridge!

 

[turkana]

I used to have an very spooky TB, who spooked at everything - hedges, gaps in hedges, grass, leaves (especially those dangerous ones that are a slight different colour to the rest of the leaves) puddles etc etc etc

The only time I fell off her I was relaxing (big mistake) when she spotted a thistle, it was because of her that I bought an RS-tor which kept me in the saddle several times, whenever we cantered I would grab a handful of mane in one hand & have a firm grip of the RS-tor in the other, cantering her was a fast zig zag!

 

[huskydamage]

Eating her shortfeed, suddenly spooked across the yard, knocking her feed everwhere and stood there snorting because she had noticed.... The new wheelbarrow. ? Couldn't eat her food after that, too scary.

 

[Annagain]

I went for a hack on my boy about 6 years ago - he'd have been about 18 at the time so old enough to know better. We were hacking along the main road (wide road with big grass verges so although busy, quite a good road for hacking) and encountered all sorts - a double decker bus, a JCB, several lorries and an ambulance and fire engine both with sirens and blue lights. He didn't bat an eyelid. We then turned for home onto a much quieter lane and I turned around to talk to to my friend who was behind me. The next thing I know, I was in a hedge and he was staring at me as if to say "what are you doing there?" ....He had spooked at a beer bottle in the middle of the lane.

 

[dorsetladette]

Me farting It was only a little one

My old stallion completely lost his mind when I accidentally broke wind in the saddle.

 

[Gloi]

A patch of sunshine. Then again it's so long since he has seen one.

 

[J&S]

My companion pony is incredibly spooky, out riding she will turn 180 degrees at the drop of a hat........ stone, bit of grass verge, mud, puddle anything. However she doesn't care about the hugest tractors, lorries etc. At home, if I put piles of hay in the field she waits for the other pony to go there first then she creeps up to them!!

 

[[59668]]

It's not really random because she's very consistent with it, but one of mine is really not keen on running water that she can't see. She's got a lot better in that she doesn't scoot along like a cat on hot bricks anymore, but I can still tell where every drain or water pipe runs under a road I'm riding on.

Mine is the same with the running water thing!

 

[Expo]

A fish!! We were hacking past a small fishing lake when a very large fish (no idea what kind ...!) suddenly jumped for a fly. The sight of the thing emerging from the water and then splashing back sent him on his way very speedily indeed .... crazy old nag that he is.

 

[rara007]

Poo mixed with arena surface...

 

[Andrew657]

Daffodil in a vase on a windowsill of house we were hacking past !

 

[suebou]

17year old dwb mare with vivid imagination excelled herself yesterday with snorting at the mounting block with two cups on, which had literally just come out of her stable.....

 

[Blazingsaddles]

A daffodil. An empty Walkers salt & vinegar crisp packet (yes, I remember, because I dismounted prematurely), her own shadow.

 

[ihatework]

Funniest was when my young horse had a front foot abscess, he ran backwards around the barn on 3 legs spooking at his poulticed foot