Pony spooked out hacking! Is there something I should be doing?

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popsicle

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I am a happy hacker, not really into schooling, just good brisk hacks with plenty of trotting, cantering, galloping and jumping. My two girls are fine cantering through woodland tracks etc and if they ever find anything to bother them, their spook is little more than a tense side step, which is pretty easy to sit to. I have been riding a friends 14.2h 11 yr old Irish Cob recently and he is in most cases pretty bomb proof. He will hack out in the front willingly, but will occasionally without warning (usually when cantering in front) put in a very sharp spook. He did today and i thought I was going to stay on, but whilst I was unseated he just bolted from under me, leaving me falling backwards and sidewards onto the floor. (I wasn't hurt) But I was wondering if there is anything I should be doing to prevent him from doing this, or is it just one of those things and better to just keep him behind? (I obviously already sit up, keep my head up, heels down etc) I don't do anything to prevent my two girls spooking....They just don't. Any tips anyone?
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Has anyone tried that new contraption The Arrestor?
 
I'd take a good look around each time he spooks to see if there is anything obvious, he's obviously getting a fright from something. I know when I've had this problem before, I found repetativness worked, I stuck to the same routes so that everything was familiar and I got a more relaxed ride with it. Anything new I introduced bit by bit and slowly, ie new routes whilst out hacking.

It can be scary though, one of my ponies spooked in woods and I got chucked off and I broke my leg in 9 places, and he wasn't a spooker so it can happen to the best of them. Hasn't stopped me riding again though !
 
No tips I'm afraid other than keep his mind busy with lots of little changes in paces, i.e. walk trot walk canter trot (sitting then rising then sitting) walk, leg yield, lengthen, shorten pace etc so he's listening to you a bit more. It might work!

What is the Arrestor? I am intrigued.
 
I would just try to be vigilant. How do you ride out hacking, on the buckle end, or with a contact?

The new horse you're riding might need to be ridden into a contact constantly to keep him focused plus you are then more able to react if he does something quickly - apologies if you already ride onto a contact.
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Also, what saddle is he ridden in, are you more secure in your own saddles? Would they fit him if they help you sit more securely?
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His senses are sharper than yours, so there could have been something that he could see/hear/smell that you couldn't.

No harm in using a neck strap for a bit of extra security
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Do you think you might end up accidentally hauling on the reins at the same time though? I think I might with one of those, that would be my worry.
 
Hi I bought the RS-~Tor recently and have used it with fantastic results. Its unobtrusive and really comes into its own if the horse spooks or you are unseated, to say nothing of the confidence it can give you. I think if you are riding a spooky horse then it would be money well spent. Hope this helps
 
Sorry, I don't think that'll do as much good as a neck strap or the other handle type things you can get. Just seems far , far too long to offer much security
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I was thinking that too. Also you can use an old stirrup leather as a neck strap, appealing to my stingy instincts
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I would just try to be vigilant. How do you ride out hacking, on the buckle end, or with a contact?

The new horse you're riding might need to be ridden into a contact constantly to keep him focused plus you are then more able to react if he does something quickly - apologies if you already ride onto a contact.
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Also, what saddle is he ridden in, are you more secure in your own saddles? Would they fit him if they help you sit more securely?
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Thanks. I always keep a contact on him. I am half expecting him to spook as he has done it a few times. (Always at a different spot though). I have had one of my horses old saddles fitted to him, so am secure in that. It really is just that he can be very sharp at times. Guess thats what you get with a small, short coupled, short legged horse. I guess I am just EXTREMELY lucky with my other two and he is probably more the norm
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It can be tricky when you don't have much horse underneath you, the last fall I had was off a little one, I just suddenly ran out of horse!
 
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It can be tricky when you don't have much horse underneath you, the last fall I had was off a little one, I just suddenly ran out of horse!

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"Ran out of horse"
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Don't want to get shouted at here, but have you thought about hacking in any additional 'gadgets'.

You say you were unseated, and then he bolted which made you fall off. Do you think draw reins or similar might help to control him? Maybe just for the next few times you ride him, to give you more confidence and to let him know that you won't take any sh*t
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It can be tricky when you don't have much horse underneath you, the last fall I had was off a little one, I just suddenly ran out of horse!

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"Ran out of horse"
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Well I did! One minute we were having a lovely canter along a field margin, the next minute he'd done a lightening turn worthy of a polo pony into the hedge (typical native type, thinking with his stomach) and I just kept going all by myself
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Don't want to get shouted at here, but have you thought about hacking in any additional 'gadgets'.

You say you were unseated, and then he bolted which made you fall off. Do you think draw reins or similar might help to control him? Maybe just for the next few times you ride him, to give you more confidence and to let him know that you won't take any sh*t
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He has a running martingale and a straight mouth vulcanised pelham with roundings and curb chain. Nice and kind, unless I use it LOL. I know what you mean, but I think he just bolted because I was unseated, so couldn't use contraptions anyway as I was hanging out the side door
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lol
 
Tried taking your stirrups down a hole so you sit a bit deeper? That's how I stayed on the Pony of Doom when he tried it on the second time
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Tried taking your stirrups down a hole so you sit a bit deeper? That's how I stayed on the Pony of Doom when he tried it on the second time
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Yes I ride very long on him. One thing I did notice though, it didn't take long to hit the deck, I was there before I knew it.
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Bit different to my big 17h girl. When i fell off her it took an age to hit the floor, I planned my dinner menu on the way down
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Oooh, I know, buy some sticky bum jodphurs
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Or, have a practise on a motorised rodeo bull?!

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LOL!

Velcro, that's what we need here - lots and lots of velcro
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I diagnose a case of 'big horse to little so-and-so culture shock'.... the answer is to shorten the legs of your other horses so you get used to riding tiddlers again. Nurse - the screens!
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On the upside, at least it isn't such a long way up to get back on!

Joking aside, if you've not been riding him all that long it does take a while to get your hand in when you're used to one or two horses then you get on something completely different. As you get to know each other better he'll probably spook less anyway and you'll be able to read him better. Until then - maybe a balance strap on the saddle as he already has a running martingale? And lay in extra supplies of Deep Heat and Radox
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Sounds horrible but really it sounds as though you could learn to sit through this if all he does is sudden sideways/fwds movements.

The worst (touching every bit of wood I can find!) accident I've had was coming off a bored little pony in a school when it galloped into someone else's lesson to avoid another boring circle in trot and turned sharply before the fence. I broke a tooth but no other non-soft things :-) Thought about it the other day when Unsuitable Chestnut Arab decided that a canter transition *on a breezy day* was a good excuse to head off to open fields. Really it was no different. I'd just learnt to keep calm and hold tight. Could you do a lot more transitions and faster hacks on your 'safe' rides to help you get used to the sensation of sudden fwds movement? Then all you have to do is adapt to unplanned from planned...

If you feel more secure it should give him more confidence too. :-)

Also he will almost certainly be spooking at *something* however silly. If you can find what the trigger is a few half halts with the rein on that side should let him know that you've seen the 'danger' but sitting deep should let him know that you aren't scared.
 
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Sorry, I don't think that'll do as much good as a neck strap or the other handle type things you can get. Just seems far , far too long to offer much security
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I like the look of it and the fact that you can ride holding it without it being obtrusive until you need it. I daresay you can shorten it too.
Last time I came off, due to a spin on a road, I had a high viz neckstrap I could have grabbed, but didn't have the time to think to grab it, nor the inclination to do anything differently with my hands since they were the only thing that was likely to stop the situation going any worse (didn't work!)

If I'd have had one of these, I might have stood a chance.
 
I am a happy hacker

Yes - a HH and as such you really do not need serious gadgets of any shape or form. Just remember that NO horse is 100% bombproof and are not cardboard cut-outs. Horses DO spook - a fact of life.
 
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