My horse will never cease to amaze me...

[MizElz]

Does anyone else have a horse who will spook at the silliest, most insignificant of things, but who will then go on to do something which you would imagine requires far more bravery than walking past a plastic bag?

On our lovely hack today, Ellie did her 'normal' and spooked at any stray plastic bag/bottle/drain/branch on the side of the road. I'm used to that, and I pretty much ignore the silliness now; the only smack on the bum she got was when she refused to go near a broken bumper on a sharp bend. Apart from that, our ride was very peaceful, but when we go to the top of the hangings (on a route I've never been on before) I saw that the path back down the hill was overgrown to say the least, with a thick array of branches, brambles and fallen dead trees. I panicked a little at the thought of having to turn back and go down the steep road we had come up, but Ellie took matters into her own hooves and very deftly picked her way down through the trees! I had to lie on her neck to avoid being taken out by stray branches, so I had to trust her completely, but she didnt fail me! It baffles me; I would have thought having to duck and dodge and go down a very narrow, very dark, shady and steep path would be FAR more scary than a piece of plastic lying harmlessly on the side of the road!

She was the same a couple of weeks ago when we went up a very rocky and ridgy bridlepath; I just sat tight and she got us to the top!

 

[RachelB]

Berlin is a bit odd with the things he spooks at. If a leaf blows the "wrong" way he'll leap in the air and have a hissy fit, yet he's fine walking past a huge tractor or a builder's bag at the side of the road or the rubbish put out. This has lead me to the conclusion that it's all just a front and he's not scared really!

 

[BenjaminBunny]

I think it's hilarious sometimes...

My horse can be the bravest thing on 4 legs...

he's been past HGV's as they apply their air brakes and I jumped a mile - he did not flinch....

he's gone past houses when builders are at work chucking bricks about... not at all bothered....

he's had dogs come bounding up to say hi (nothing vicious) and not been bothered

BUT.... if a COW so much as looks his direction - my god it's the scariest thing alive - bearing in mind during the summer he's in a field next door to cows and doesn't give them a second glance - but god forbid they look at him on a ride out - well that's it!!

Having said that his reaction isn't extreme - it's just he tenses up and stares them out....

 

[vodkas_mum]

that is what she evolved to do! dont think plastic bags and car bumpers came into it hehe

 

[jesterfaerie]

Ed isn't very spooky and is perfect with all traffic, but one day went past a gateway which had a huge pile of rubble.....yep he was scared of a pile of stones, weirdo.

 

[cellie]

Went out with a friend on my daughters horse last week.Her horse walked straight past a lorry dumping shingle making a terrible racket and spooked at a piece of grass that someone had returfed a small square 12 by 12 inch and jumped a white line on the road.

 

[NeilM]

The NF gelding I ride is the same. Put him in front on a new route and his head comes up, his ears prick up and he says " leave it to me mate! We'll have no trouble here, you just sit there and I'll take charge of this " yet he will leap at a blown leaf or a pigeon.

It is very much ego and instinct I think. Given the the chance to be boss and lead the herd, he's up for it. Something moves suddenly and the flight response kicks in.

He has a bit of a thing about gaps in hedges though. He's always convinced that a tiger will come bounding through. This can lead to the occasional abrupt 90 degree turn, most interesting at a canter

 

[pnap]

Yeah Jack got soaked by some t1t that drove through a puddle the other day - not a flinch. Finding a fallen log on the ground in the woods - different story.

 

[Nudibranch]

Horses! My daft ex racer was brilliant in traffic, even to the point where a car full of chav scum lobbing a full can of beer and narrowly missing her head didn't phase her. Then a cut-down tree trunk would send her into a panic...

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

My arab has been known to have a nervous breakdown if he hears a sparrow fart two counties away. And yet...a few years ago as part of a charity ride, I rode him the entire length of Salisbury Plain on a day that the army were doing live firing exercises. At one point it was all going off about a quarter of a mile away, very loudly, and all he did was mildly swivel an ear in the direction of the noise. He was even fine after two tanks rumbled past us, I will NEVER understand what goes on that horse's head.

 

[FigJam]

My girl is the same. All the things you clock on a hack and mentally prepare for silliness over (flapping plastic/paper, bright coloured things out of place etc), she doesn't bat an eyelid at. Yet come across certain logs or boulders (much more natural than a crisp packet surely?!) and she spooks sideways giving it big "dragon" snorts!!

I love it though when they pull out all the stops to do something for us and place their trust in us or take it upon themselves to "look after" us. Makes up for the silliness!

 

[Booboos]

Mine went loopy over a butterfly which, unfortunately, decided to fly a bit too close...

 

[Mavis]

My last horse, an ex racer, would pass 99% of things without even swivelling an ear, yet when confronted with an abandoned fridge and a 6 inch blue arrow sprayed on the road, he trundled past the fridge hanging out of the hedge and collapsed in a quaking, heart hammering heap over the blue arrow. My new(ish) baby(ish) horse will pass anything in company quite sensibly but alone he spooks at the most random things and will happily pass dustbins, building sites etc. He almost had me off the other day; we were trotting up the hill on the way home and some small purple flowers started hurling abuse at him and looking menacing so he elected to save the day by taking an enormous and quite frankly un-necessarily fast leap to the side and cantering off. Probably would have been easier to sit had I not been trying to gawp into someone's upstairs window

 

[louisewatcham]

My mare used to take the SLOW signs painted on the road rather too literally ..

 

[dawnpetenathshir]

My bloke wouldn't cross the road and go onto a path as there where double yellow lines running across the road parallel to the pavement. After much persuasion he took a massive jump and leapt over them from a standstill. PMSL