Running Backwards on hacks

[Fizzythoroughbred]

Wait…

So he ONLY does this with vehicles? Not at any other time? Traffic shy rather than showing concerning behaviour at all times?

Did he react with fear towards ‘big’ traffic always, as in from the time you got him, even if he wasn’t running backwards and rearing at that point? Or was there an incident that scared him?

If he is just traffic shy (I say ‘just’ but it’s a big thing) then you’re looking at something completely different from random escalating spookiness.

I do feel Ambers Echos comment has hit the nail on the head. It was a response when he saw/heard the rattly trailers as he was spooked but it has now turned into a response towards other “scary things”. He will do it in or out of company, even when he was with a horse that doesn’t react and was in front of him.

He’s always had a spooky side to him, if I can remember that far back correctly but once he started running backwards that came to be his “go to move” rather than just dragon snorting and show pony trotting as I call it (which is manageable).

For an example, earlier this week, I was walking him across the yard and we were walking past a metal gate (typical field gate) and it wasn’t closed properly so it obviously rattled and shut in the wind and he had the same running back response with a rear… a few minutes after the scare he acts like nothing has happened… anything metal or rattly seems to be the trigger.

 

[Fizzythoroughbred]

Horses might back a step or two when unsure, but running backwards for distance isn’t a natural ‘flight’ response. In the wild or the field they would never do this.

Under saddle, backing often shows up when the horse feels forward is blocked or too difficult, or when forward is being asked for while the horse wants to stop and assess. If backing leads to a reduction in pressure (even briefly), it can quickly become a learned evasion through pressure-release.

The fact it started in traffic (high arousal) but is now happening in groundwork suggests it likely began as a fear response and has generalised into a default coping strategy, especially since he’s managed to get away a few times which is hugely reinforcing.

Confidence-building exposure only works if you stay in the sweet spot: some anxiety that the horse is able to habituate to while staying in the situation - which is what widens the tolerane window - but not overwhelmed. If the horse repeatedly goes over threshold, this just increases fear rather than building confidence, and you also train the escape response.

Given the escalation and the safety risk, I’d echo the advice to pause any situations where he can break loose and get a good professional in to rebuild from the ground up. This is skilled, moment-by-moment work and it’s absolutely worth getting the right eyes on it.

I feel you’ve hit the nail on the head! I feel I have made it worse by releasing pressure and “backing off” from the situation more out of “what just happened” but I do feel it’s now become a learned behaviour….

I’ve been trying to research some professionals to help with this but I’m having a job finding behaviourists in my area. (Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire).

 

[SEL]

My Appy did this as a baby - no sense of self preservation. We used a super experienced polo pony and led me & her off it. Every single time she went to go backwards she was led forwards (firmly)

Took a week and it stopped.

She did turn out to have PSSM but she was given to me with behavioural issues and had one of the worst running backwards naps I've ever met. She also has CSNB so I was never sure if her eyesight was that great. All of that could have contributed but once we'd insisted on forwards it did seem to stop it (& we ended up backwards on a van bonnet, drainage ditch, fence etc etc)

 

[spotty_pony2]

Not read all of the replies but have you tried riding him on the inside of a more experienced and sensible horse?

Is it the noise of the trailers or is it the sight of it when it’s next to him? If nothing is physically wrong I’d be tempted to try acoustic ears on if the sight - blinkers. You can get special blinkers just for riding in and they do help some horses to focus.

 

[irishdraft]

My mare is very noise reactive, a rattley trailer especially being towed by a Land Rover, her hated vehicle, would send her spinning & trying to take off. I find actual ear plugs, not acoustic ears make a massive difference not only with the noise but also seem to calm her for stationery things she will be silly about without the plugs. It sounds like you need to break the cycle of the reaction if nothing appears physically wrong.