Scared of other horses?!

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ChloeC418

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Hi :) As some may already know, I do dressage on my horse Dela. She's a bit sensative to her surroundings, to say the least :P

It was the regionals last Sunday at Somerford, and as Sol (and maybe Booboos) saw, she was an idiot :( Any time another horse even came anywhere near her, she'd start spinning and doing silly little rears (well sat me thinks :p) She was worse with the big hairy coloureds there, but she's never seen anything like them before (coloureds yes, but hairys no) and she'd be eyes-on-stalks anytime they were close.

Needless to say, our test didn't go too well, especially when a dandelion head (the ones that fly around) landed on her nose before the medium trot. She had a little panic attack :p :rolleyes:

She's been fine for a while (used to do it a year or 2 ago), but obviously something was up at Somerford. I just hope we don't have a repeat performance at Hargate on Wednesday and Swallowfield on Sunday. So far, our plan is to take her to some new places (Swallowfield next sunday) in the hope that it will de-sensatise her to new places.

So, is it possible to cure her 'horse phobia?' Anyone else had a horse that's a fruitloop in warm-ups, and most importantly, could you cure it?

Thanks in advance :D
 
Were the other horses too close for comfort? My horse has a wide personal space & doesn't like anything coming into 'his space'. Often that includes horses coming towards / or behind him powering along. He's always ok when he gets into the arena but he dislikes crowded / busy working in areas as he feels threatened by the others.
 
Hi,

I don't kow if this is possible for you but it would definately cure her phobia!

I used to train polo ponies and the way we would get them used to being in close contact with other horses was to excersise them together.

Does your horse have a stable companion? If you can, find a quiet sensible horse that you know won't kick etc, introduce the horses gradually in a menage to they have space around them but are enclosed. When they are familiar with each other ride them side by side (with a gap of a few meters) until they are comfortable having the other there, then gradually close the gap until you are almost knee to knee, but slowly so they don't get upset.

You can then ride in opporsite directions in the school, passing each other and getting closer as you do so. If it is particular aspects of the other horse yours doesn't like, try and replicate this at home. Use a stable sheet on the other horse (get an old white fly sheet and put bright colours on it for example - be inventive!), but always introduce new things gradually. Once your horse is OK with this try the same excersie with horses she doesn't know.

Going back to training polo ponies, when we have a youngster we will ride an older horse in the school and lead the youngster from it so the two horses are side by side and get used to making contact.

I hope this helps....

PV. x
 
Thanks for that :) At home she's not too bad, she rides with my sisters 13.2hh pony most days. I think its unfamiliar horses she's scared of. If I get a chance, I will try what you suggested. Thank you :D
 
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