Restoring horses confidence on roads? Help

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welshied

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I hacked my horse out last year with another one which was a bit nervous and nappy to try and help her get it some confidence, they then moved yards and then i started hacking mine back out on his own and low and behold he has lost all confidence.
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He is 10 so i thought he would be fine i suppose i should have known he could have still be young enough to pick up the other horses fear.
Any way he is fine hacking out hes not nappy or anything but he just spooks at anything which usually wouldn't have been a problem to him. When hes out in traffic with cars coming on both directions on him he just goes loopy and just rushes like mad along with me stood up in stirrups trying to keep hold of him, he also head shakes aswell which is making me think his headshaking could just be from anxiety, but then he settles down again until he sees a car again and so on. he has always worried about things but he use to be really quiet to hack. But when he gets nervous so do i as have lost confidence on him a bit so i'm really not helping him.
Anyone have any tips of how to build his confidence back up?
 
Poor you! It must be quite dispiriting to have him change this way!

Small steps? Introduce him to one car at a time in a controlled area and reward him for being good? Try to avoid the really busy roads if possible so that he is not overwhelemed with too many cars at the same time? Go out with another really steady horse for a while? Get someone more confident to ride him out and see what happens, it might be that you are both tensing each other up?

Hope you get it sorted!
 
I second getting someone else to ride him for a bit. You are probably now expecting this to happen and its become self fulfilling. I'm doing this with my boy atm because I'm expecting him to react badly in traffic whereas others aren't and as such his confidence is now starting to improve
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You wouldn't believe how gutted i am about it tbh just gets me down whenever i see how scared he is because he was never that horse
think i may have to send him off to see if someone can school him on out of it as theres noone down my yard that could ride him
 
I totally get it
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My boy was getting nervous on the roads due to being 4 and having to learn to do everything by himself. Things were getting worse and worse (both losing confidence in each other) until it came to a head and i was thrown on the road. Have now moved him to a much bigger yard and am just taking my time regaining my confidence - i'm trying to ride out horses that wont react to traffic to help me get past my fear and others are riding him- sounds a bit odd but it is really working. (((hugs))) Hope you can sort something out.
Oh also - can you long line him? I don't panic as much when I'm not on so maybe that would be a first step?
 
cant help but interested at your comments regarding the headshaking - I'm having similar issues with mine - the more stressful it gets, the more she headshakes. Hmm will keep an eye on this post to see what solutions people come up with but glad I am not alone.
 
I wonder if the headshaking could be caused by you holding the reins short/tight because you are expecting trouble when a car approaches.
My mare was spooky in traffic and at other noises and getting worse until the dentist and saddler came within a couple of weeks of each other. I was absolutely amazed at the difference when her teeth had been rasped and the saddle re-flocked, which might have no bearing whatsoever on your problem.......
 
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