My Lesson & some advice for seriously spooky horses! + Photos

i take what you are saying PS...but i've found that if i do smack him that he just loses the plot completely and the spooking gets worse and includes some rearing and spinning as well... wheras if i ignore him/work him through it by kicking him forwards... he stops spooking... same with when we are jumping or hacking or whatever... telling him just doesn't work...you have to negotiate with him and then he'll do pretty much anything for me.... had a horse that i used to have to smack a lot and i had a crap relationship with him and have a great one with current horse.... i think it depends on the horse...
 
my 7 year old has been the same since coming back into work after the big freeze.
stupidly spooky. as in she will pass things 20 x then suddenly fling herself sideways snorting her head off at a patch of sand on the bank. or more impressively, a hoof print that shes made herself and then continue to spook at it for 5 more passes even when stopped and walked around it!
i held off working her through it until id got her teeth, back and saddle checked.
all fine so now i plan to ignore it, ride on and get her attention and not let her mess about. she lives in the field right next to the arena!
also plan to do some serious 'de=spooking' work as shes a wimp compared to the other 2.
eg i take a bag with some chaff in for their tea- 21 year old waits patiently for it to be dispensed into manger
4 year old sticks her head in the bag once its on the floor
7 year old stands snorting wild eyed in the corner refusing to come near, then jumpily accepts some from the hand before hastily retreating into the corner again.
so some general de spooking will be good me thinks!
 
I haven't read all the replies but I had a lesson with a professional eventer yesterday on a horse that can be nappy (rather than spooky) about particular areas of the arena. He got a 'thing' about the bottom corner and as I came round a canter circle into that corner he'd fall out violently sideways in the opposite direction then produce a selection of mini-rears. The eventer said to avoid the confrontation - so every time I got near the napping place I made a canter/walk transition, walked him round the 'bad' part of the circle, flexed his neck in and out, leg yielded him out, patted him then made a walk/canter transition and continued. After a few of these he'd quite happily canter the whole circle.

The trainer insisted that there was no fuss made, no getting into arguements and no turning anything into an 'issue'. Just give the horse something to do, avoid the confrontation and continue. Hopefully they learn from that that there is nothing to make a fuss about. The timing is very important though and you need to be thinking 6 or 7 strides ahead with these horses which is where professionals tend to be a bit cleverer than the amateurs!
 
TarrSteps said:
I don't think it's entirely true "pro's horses don't spook", at least in the technical sense. Sure, having a horse "through" - calm, forward, straight - makes it much easier to ride and less inclined to waiver in its attention. And yes, they will make SURE a horse is accepting the aids at home, even if that takes some "discussion" before putting it into situations where it might be inclined NOT to pay attention. (Which goes back to the "competition" thread - you're not going to see pros' horses unless they're pretty sure they are going to behave!)

BUT there are some seriously spooky horses doing high class jobs. What professionals often are is much better at MANAGING the situation. They notice and correct inattention earlier, they manage the horse in its daily life and work to keep it its most ridable, they plan their ride in order not to get into situations they can't solve quickly and easily.

I've seen plenty of riders leg yield away from something a horse is starting to fixate on, then leg yield back, gradually working through it but so calmly and carefully you wouldn't spot it if you weren't looking.

They keep their "eye on the prize" and get the horse doing its job without getting into fights about less important issues.
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We're thinking along the same lines!
 
Gamebird said:
I haven't read all the replies but I had a lesson with a professional eventer yesterday on a horse that can be nappy (rather than spooky) about particular areas of the arena. He got a 'thing' about the bottom corner and as I came round a canter circle into that corner he'd fall out violently sideways in the opposite direction then produce a selection of mini-rears. The eventer said to avoid the confrontation - so every time I got near the napping place I made a canter/walk transition, walked him round the 'bad' part of the circle, flexed his neck in and out, leg yielded him out, patted him then made a walk/canter transition and continued. After a few of these he'd quite happily canter the whole circle.

The trainer insisted that there was no fuss made, no getting into arguements and no turning anything into an 'issue'. Just give the horse something to do, avoid the confrontation and continue. Hopefully they learn from that that there is nothing to make a fuss about. The timing is very important though and you need to be thinking 6 or 7 strides ahead with these horses which is where professionals tend to be a bit cleverer than the amateurs!
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that is exactly what I have to do with Millie and it is working far better than trying to dominate her and show her I am boss- since Colina told me to stop reacting to the spook, halt her, soften her and start work again the spooking has improved 10 fold.

Its not being scared of a confrontation, its being a bit cleverer than that and getting their brain on something else instead of spooking.

Another point, a dressage trainer once told me that a horse can't spook if it is truly in front of the leg- and it is true!
Whenever Millie has a spook or wobble, she sucks behind the leg for a stride first and it is there that I need to react, its too late once she has spooked.
 
Vodkagirly said:
Hope I used quotes better this time! Without sounding thick, how do you drive him forward? Mine isn't particually forward at the best of times, and goes dead to leg when he is spooking. Using a crop just antagonises him.
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Well I am not the world's greatest rider, so perhaps someone else can help out here, but this is what I have been advised to do. First you put the leg on with the lightest aid possible as you would want it to be ideally, if the horse ignores you you immediately put the leg on more forcefully, if he ignores pony club kick. When you do this you must make sure the leg relaxed fully in between doing all this so that you are not gripping at all (if necessary just to get the hang of it, let the leg swing out a tiny tiny bit to make sure you are not tensing through your body and just gripping on with the leg). Also make absolutely sure the contact is relaxed and the horse can go forwards, if he shoots forwards let him. With R I push my hands a bit forward, ignore his head/neck, ignore the spooking and just insist that he moves forward no matter what. If necessary (R whips around sometimes when spooked) use a neck strap and hook a couple of fingers round it, it will make your rein contact softer and give you something to hang onto if needed.

If your horse is unhappy with a whip, have you tried spurs?

I think the trick is in timing. The very first time he ignores the leg, you must react to it, absolutely no compromises!

There are some brilliant schooling tips on this in Carl Hester's demos on H&C TV. He shows exactly how a horse that is lazy should be made sharp to the leg and go with almost no leg at all, while a horse that is fizzy and too sensitive should accept the leg on.
 
Gamebird said:
The trainer insisted that there was no fuss made, no getting into arguements and no turning anything into an 'issue'. Just give the horse something to do, avoid the confrontation and continue. Hopefully they learn from that that there is nothing to make a fuss about. The timing is very important though and you need to be thinking 6 or 7 strides ahead with these horses which is where professionals tend to be a bit cleverer than the amateurs!
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This is 'exactly' what my trainer said. She said to praise him and don't turn it into an issue. Praise him all the time through the scary part.

She said 20/25 minutes of a good quiet schooling session was better than a battle for an hour. So that's what we did yesterday, 25 minutes of pleasant hard work with no issues :)
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
probably! i can smell them!

but dont let him(or you) use it as an excuse, ok it might be unusual but dont ride round waiting for it to happen.business as usual!
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Originally Posted by Prince33Sp4rkle
if its looking and wont go forward, flex to inside and SEND it forward, there must be respect for the leg at all times.come round again in shoulder in and SEND it forward past whatever its spooking at-getting it on a contact and in shoulder in BEFORE it has a chance to even peep at the object.


Oh maybe he can smell them then, I have no sense of smell!! Definitely won't let 'us' use this as an excuse though.
The shoulder in and sending him forward definitely worked too.
Someone mentioned about letting their horse stop to look at what was spooky. I can't let him do this as he would use this time to spin away and spook even faster.
The more he is listening to me the less he will spook
 
Can I be sickenly smug here (feel free to poke my eyes out) but I was so chuffed with my new 5yo last night.
Schooled under floodlights, while adjacent to the arean was a huge tractor, with it's full beams on and massive claw, unloading a full trailer load of hay - no more than 10 yards away. Even when tractor dropped a load of hay on the floor just as I was passing, the 5yo didn't flinch!!!

However I do sympathise, one of my previous horses was quite a spooky monkey, I swear he did it for his own entertainment. I remember once he learnt a new spook technique and had me off twice in on week with it. The second time I let him know exactly what I thought of his sense of humour and he didn't try that one again!
 
Just had a read through of all the replies and found iyt really interesting. what is he like with white boards? cos Dancer is a right pain, but I think she is honestly afraid as we only got her as a 12 year old and she had been badly treated before we got her and is completely terrified of sjs and i think she thinks i want her to jump these white boards so as we approach a corner she is like "oh no does she want me to jump this??? i really dont want to jump this!!! ahh im confused ahhhh" and then does a massive spook away from the corner.
But because she is honestly afraid, i cant just say "get on with it u fool" *whack* because then she has a proper break down/ fit and starts shaking and whizzing round in circles with her eyes popping out her head and wont settle and relax for ages after. - not that i tried this recently but one instructer about 4 years ago said to try whacking her into the jump and ended up going backwards at 30mph.

With her I found that she improves if i just work in circles around them and get her stretching down and relaxing. reward and talking to her really helps as well. still a pain but slowly slowly getting better. Hopefully this year we will come a bit higher than last or second last in dressage!
 
rowy said:
Just had a read through of all the replies and found iyt really interesting. what is he like with white boards?
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You know, the beast is fine with white boards! He's fine with anything you would think he is spooky at! After today (will report later) I have come to the conclusion the spooking is his way of napping and saying no, or trying to say no! :D
 
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