My horse is terrified of Poles and nothing is working!

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LunaS0009

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Hi everyone, I am in dire need of advice regarding my 9 yo gelding.

I bought him when he was 4 and initially he would refuse to go over a pole - he would rear, bolt, buck etc and put up a hell of a challenge. I have worked with him for five years and there has been some slight improvement but considering the time span not really. When he walks over a pole he will tense and either stop and jump it, or dart over it. On a bad day he will refuse and be a challenge. In Trot he does the same however in canter he is very explosive and will leap over it from a mile. Cavalettis are a no go. I decided to take him back to basics, like in hand work over poles, walking through parallel poles and many pole exercises - you name it and I have probably done it. I made myself follow a consistent for two months with no improvement. I decided to try this riding but he still has a very worried eye and is very uncomfortable.

Ironically he is super at cross country, to include ditches, hurdle fences, water jump, and many scary fences. To add he is an excellent hacker and brilliant on the flat. He has had his back, teeth, eyes, feet checked and I am regular with appointments. This means that he is healthy and happy to do anything else but poles. I was able to take him over sj fences when I had a lead from his best horse buddy, but unfortunately he passed away and leads from other horses don’t work. He has not managed to jump and sj fence without a rodeo show since then..

He has undoubtedly had a bad experience. I have managed to desensitise him to many things such as cars, motor bikes, tinsel (lol), and anything he seems scared of and it has worked - just not with poles.

Feel free to ask me any questions. Advice is very much appreciated! Thank you.
 
He sounds identical to my old horse that I lost last year. Though in the case of Dabs I don't believe he ever had a bad experience as I had him from an unbacked 3yo, he just never liked poles on the floor (he was also an excellent xc horse).

I did get him showjumping before he would readily go over a pole on the ground because he was much more comfortable once they were made into a recognisable jump. Unfortunately muscle issues always made him inconsistent to compete so we just jumped at home. And after methodically working through the technique below with him I could also do pole work with him without his brain falling out.

The best technique I found to help him was not to immediately ask him to go over the pole but just walk up to the point that he would start to get sticky and then stop. Allow him to stand there for a 30 seconds or so, and as long as he was looking at the pole, engaging with the question, then pat him and turn away from the pole. Then represent and do the same thing, and again and again getting slight closer each time, then stepping over. All this was done in hand in just a headcollar and leadrope, with the focus on just keeping everything calm and non dramatic.

After a few days of doing that with a single pole I then built it up to two poles spaced far apart and so on just gradually over time increasing the question at literally a snails pace. Then I repeated the whole process while riding him.

To the end of his days he would still be a bit funny about poles on the ground unless you presented him to them properly, but we could at least do pole work clinics etc in a civilised manner.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Stick a load of poles in the field. Make them a boring common place thing to step over.
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This is a good suggestion. Also, is it just coloured poles, or rustic aswell?

That said, does he need to do polework? If he enjoys cross country and hacking, does he really need to enjoy showjumping?
Perhaps in my old age I’m becoming more relaxed about what horses should or shouldn’t be doing.
 
A friend has an old boy in his 20’s now that is still extremely suspicious of poles. Every lesson was pretty much a reintroduction of the poles on the ground that were in the same place week after week. I think some just never get over it. Perhaps they are thinking snakes! Like huge big snakes! Sorry to not be more encouraging.
Xx
 
Tbh it’s probably too late as poles are now a major drama. I have had massive success with the Warwick Schiller method. It’s the story about the water jump on his FB. It’s about calming down the adrenaline and making them less anxious. It probably took me about a month of doing it nearly every day with a horse who was very anxious about my brush fence.

I have also found liberty work brilliant for building confidence if your horse is one who loves a treat.

I have kind of got more open with the way I think about stuff and find it often works really well on a horse who is anxious.
 
McGrools said:
A friend has an old boy in his 20’s now that is still extremely suspicious of poles. Every lesson was pretty much a reintroduction of the poles on the ground that were in the same place week after week. I think some just never get over it. Perhaps they are thinking snakes! Like huge big snakes! Sorry to not be more encouraging.
Xx
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My previous horse won BE and had a super jump. He was terrified of poles on the ground though and never got over that. We just didn’t do them. Good luck. Think lots of random poles a good idea.
 
Poles scattered about the field and feeding next to poles made zero difference to my horse with a pole on floor issue. It was being asked to step over them that he had brain melt about, not the presence of poles themselves.

Even when turned out in a relatively small area like the arena, with poles scattered everywhere and other horses that were casually walking over the poles without a second thought, he would still choose to go around them.
 
I once had a horse who was happy jumping show jumps and xc fences but really did not like poles on the ground. My instructor who was a BHSI said that some horses just don't seem to like / understand poles so as he didn't need to do pole work we didn't force the issue as they just made him very tense and anxious.
 
What's he like stepping over other things? A water tray, peice of carpet etc?
If he is comfortable walking past poles ypu could try walking him between two parallel poles and gradually bring them together, making the gap smaller and smaller.
 
Clicker training. Done properly, it can change the association from 'bad' to 'good'. Done properly, it does NOT lead to them mugging for treats (I've found the opposite, as no 'click', no expectation of a treat). I learned off some YouTube videos and a bit of reading. It's been the only way in with the really traumatised feral ponies.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Stick a load of poles in the field. Make them a boring common place thing to step over.
Click to expand...
This, Id fence off a paddock for him (perhaps even a track round the edge of his field with poles all round it crossing his path so he HAS to step over the many times a day. Id think he'd get so bored of it, thatd fix him! To be fair though, if he really doesnt like them do you really need to do them? Some horses have certain jobs they enjoy and some dont. I had a horse once who simply didnt enjoy competing showjumping, in the end I sold him to a hacking home. If its really important to you to have a showjumper then maybe hes not the right horse. Sounds like a great XC horse though! Is he the same with brown poles? Would he do a WH course for example which is brown poles and natural XC jumps?
 
Flowerofthefen said:
Does he really need to do poles?
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Well like mentioned, he loves cross country and in order for me to prepare his fitness I would need to do pole work and therefore showjumping at home before sailing him over XC jumps. The closest, good XC is about 45 mins away from me therefore I am only able to visit around 1 a month.
 
Jellymoon said:
I think he’s trying to tell you something and if you’ve had him 5 yrs, tried everything, and he still doesn’t like them, then give the poor guy a break and don’t do poles !!
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It’s a weird situation as he has been okay doing poles and jumping over fences in the summer when he is calmer and when he has good company - he had a best friend that he loved to jump with but he passed away. He also jumps showjumps when he is out cross country, but I would attribute this to him being tired. I have noticed that he is more willing to attempt poles and show jumps in a big space, with horses he likes, when it is light and when the poles are rustic, and this is just not feasible.

As an alternative to poles I have taught him many, many tricks that he loves to perform, and have been doing this since I have gotten him.
I have tried dressage but he also thinks the white boards are poles and his shoulders fall into the centre 🤦‍♀️

I am at my wits end, as I initially bought him with the intentions to compete. I thought his spookiness with poles was something that could be taught out of him, like other things, but clearly not.

I am not able to compete, and hopefully as an equestrian to another you can understand this. I don’t know what to do as I cannot sell him, he is too specific and nobody would want a horse that doesn’t enjoy showjumping and doesn’t like dressage (boards). If he is only hacking he gets fresh, and those looking for a happy hacker are generally older or novice level, so not suitable. That leaves me with regular schooling which he is doing well, but unable to progress because of his unwillingness to do Pole work.
It breaks my heart as I know he oozes so much potential but I don’t know what to do or how to direct it. I have sought over ten instructors over the past five years and no advice they have given me has worked.

I just need advice on what is the best thing to do. My plan is to turn him away for a bit and possibly attempt it again, but I don’t know if it is worth it.

Thank you
 
eggs said:
I once had a horse who was happy jumping show jumps and xc fences but really did not like poles on the ground. My instructor who was a BHSI said that some horses just don't seem to like / understand poles so as he didn't need to do pole work we didn't force the issue as they just made him very tense and anxious.
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I think you’re totally right, I have decided to quit them altogether. I don’t think it’s right. It’s just a hard situation as I know he is capable, as he has done it before, but varies depending on a lot of factors. I mentioned in another reply that he had a best friend that he loved to do showjumps with, but his buddy passed away and he hasn’t jumped the same. I am able to add showjumps when I’m out XC but I would say this is because he is tired and there is a bigger open space.
 
Jellymoon said:
I’m not keen on birds, so if someone put loads of them in my house, doorways, by my dinner, I think I’d be constantly freaked out…
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Don’t worry I haven’t gone that far lol. I do polework in hand with positive reinforcement, then I do it on his back. The issues arise if he taps a pole, if there is a shadow, or sometimes no obvious reason. If I trot or canter over them he gets faster, stronger and sometimes dangerous. Then the rest of the ride I have to take him back to square one, walk over them, etc etc.

My plan was to master poles in walk, trot, canter and then raise them into raised poles, do the same and then progress into jumping over them.
 
dougpeg said:
What's he like stepping over other things? A water tray, peice of carpet etc?
If he is comfortable walking past poles ypu could try walking him between two parallel poles and gradually bring them together, making the gap smaller and smaller.
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Hey, he is okay stepping over carpet and towels - I have desensitised him with that. I also tried walking between two parallel poles and he is fine with that, he just doesn’t like going over them. I have decided to quit poles and possibly turn him away out to the field for a break.
 
LunaS0009 said:
Well like mentioned, he loves cross country and in order for me to prepare his fitness I would need to do pole work and therefore showjumping at home before sailing him over XC jumps. The closest, good XC is about 45 mins away from me therefore I am only able to visit around 1 a month.
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I have sj, xc, team chased , drag hunted without the horse seeing a single pole on the floor!
 
This reminded me of a pole clinic I went to. It was the second outing on my then new horse. There were 4 of us in the group. One lady announced her horse was petrified of poles so she had come with her partner on his horse to give her horse confidence. I must admit, until then, I hadn't ever heard of a horse that was scared of poles. Anyway, I was at one end of the school , doing my own thing. I heard a tap of a pole, then a load of noise. Her horse had tapped the end of a pole as it passed, took off at speed, shooting her out the back door with one stirrup coming off. Horse then proceeded to do a panicked gallop round the indoor school with one stirrup flapping. It came from behind me at gallop straight past my poor horse. It was very scary and very dangerous.
 
Dressage? Hunting? I think if you have desensitised to death and no improvement, perhaps just seek a career he can do well in and then, if necessary, sell to a home that only wants to do that. There’s no harm in getting a horse going nicely then finding a home where they can excel at what they want to do.
 
OP have you seen the TRT method? We've been doing it with our horse who has pole issues (among others) and he recently stepped over a pole in hand - slowly, calmly and voluntarily. It's not a quick fix and only time will tell if we'll ever progress beyond that but he doesn't tremble when he sees a pole any more and is much less reactive to the world in general. He has videos on YouTube if you wanted a look at what he does.
 
maya2008 said:
Dressage? Hunting? I think if you have desensitised to death and no improvement, perhaps just seek a career he can do well in and then, if necessary, sell to a home that only wants to do that. There’s no harm in getting a horse going nicely then finding a home where they can excel at what they want to do.
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Exactly this.

5 years is more than long enough to decide to bin pole work and focus on the many things that the horse enjoys.

Birker2020 said:
Or put his feed bucket inside a square of poles. He will soon step over them. Then increase the number of poles.
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I would not be helped overcoming my fear of eg tarantulas by being expected to eat my meals amongst them.
 
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