Really traffic shy horses...can they be improved?

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TheHairyOne

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Hiya all, as above really?

Does anyone have any stories (successful or otherwise) of horses who were very difficult in traffic where you tried to work with them to improve it?

If you were successful how long did it take, and how did you go about doing it...in fact even if it didn't work your experiences would be invaluable! If it did work was the horse fine with traffic, or just conditioned enough that they behaved in it if you know what I mean?

I am thinking about looking at a young horse who apparently can 'cope with cars', but anything bigger and 'it can be dangerous' (unclarified - obviously will be!)

Many thanks and as seems to be traditional I have some rolo's on offer...but I am having the last one! :)
 
When I was younger......... I rode a horse that had been hit by a bus, after several hacks on non bus roads I took it out, and sat tight while we went up an down, the road had big verges and the buses were few and fairly slow, but we did it!
 
While grazing near traffic may help it is not going to "cure" it totally, while in a field the horse will feel safe as it is able to stay at a safe distance and is not trapped in the same way it will be when ridden.

I would think very carefully about taking on a horse as bad as this one sounds, unless hacking is low on your priorities and the horse is cheap and ticks every other box.
While they can and do improve it can be a long process and often more about learning how to deal with situations or avoiding them than ever totally getting over the issue.
I have known several, the most recent a horse that was hit by a car after getting out of his field, he got better but still worried if a car had its lights on, the accident happened at night, or went just that bit too fast for his comfort. The ones with lorry/ large vehicle problems did improve with regular work, the main problem being that you may go out one day and see nothing the next day meet several scary tractors, it makes desensitising more difficult if you do not meet enough for them to get used to things.

Not sure how much help this is but I would put traffic confidence at the top of my list when purchasing I dont do that much hacking now but want to be able to enjoy it when I do go out, everything else I will happily deal with but roads are just so busy nowdays.
 
This works for us
Put horse in trailer - not box , and take for very long journey on A1 or similar. Horse will soon realise traffic comes close and is noisey, but nothing to be afraid of. However, downside of this might be a wrecked trailer !
 
Little learning
This is a method I use when working with traffic shy horses.
The main part of the system is to set very small achievable targets and reward there successes.
For instance, a horse I worked on last week would not pass cars, so I started by making my first target a walk straight passed the front of the car, not along the side, I use back-up as a form of gaining dual respect if the horses chooses to take another option.
It is more about our patience rather than the horses impatience.
Have a look at the right hand side of the home page below, hope it helps
 
It usually can be done if you put in the time & effort. The few I've known that weren't ever curable had been in serious accidents, but not every horse in an rta is incurable. Only other one had a screw loose in all situations.
 
I had a horse years ago that was nervous in all traffic. I enlisted the help of 3 friends to ride out with, 1 in front, 1 behind & 1 on out side. In other words we boxed her in. Eventually we gave her more space then
 
Oops pressed wrong button on mobile. Eventually removed outside horse. It took a while but after about 3 months she was confident enough to hack out in Company in front, behind r in middle.
 
Yep!
There were 3 horses who came to the yard and they had been rounded up with a quad bike in the previous home, so they thought quad/motorbike = run...fast!
They will still look and maybe spook a bit if one sneaks up, but in total, they're pretty good!

We simply rode them out in groups, with a confident horse on the outside 'protecting' them.
 
I had a horse once that was getting very jumpy in traffic including hitting a gritting lorry on a quiet county lane that I perserved with thinking in time he would get over with. The last time I rode him on the road when I was almost home and beginning to relax he ran straight out across the road with no warning and was hit full on by a police dog handler van !
He never went on the road again, I tried leading him towards it and that was enough to tell me that it was simply not worth the risk. Luckily he was a good show jumper and I sold him to a man who only wanted to compete and not hack out. In my opinion don't buy the horse, they are too unpredictable once they get nervous of traffic and just not worth the risk.
 
Thank you all for your replies and so sorry to hear of all the horses involved in RTA's. :(

I am actually very lucky, we have hours of compelte off road riding around the estate, so don't actually have to 'do' traffic at all, but for our longer rides we have a busyish road to negotiate. So thankfully the 'no hacking at all if the horse isn't safe in traffic' doesn't apply atm (not that I am planning on leaving the yard, but things can change!).

However, having a horse that panics at shows because something's driven up to it next to the box, or can't ride down the centre line in a dressage test as there's a car at the end of it would be a difficult thing to live with.

I can do the turn out next to traffic, and we can also drive along the side of our school, so that should help. I saw him tonight, and he's green in every way, so have agreed a LWVTB, with no real time scale - he's very sweet to handle though and a handsome chap and the owner is very realistic about his value. Will keep you updated! :D
 
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