Scariest most ridiculous thing your horse spooked at?

The 2D cowboy challenge cow. Regular black and white cows are just about acceptable, single colour cows a bit suspicious. Next doors miniature highland cow is a bit scary (was terrifying when it turned up!). But the cow cut out had to be put away last time he was at pony club as he literally wouldn’t turn his back to it and was disrupting everyone with his snorting and prancing.

The same pony is unbothered by bouncy castles being put up in the field next to where he’s being ridden, tractors, helicopters etc!
 
Just remembered somewhere I used to work had a pony that was terrified of paragliders. And another horse had an existential crisis when we came across a field with those water zorb balls in a giant inflatable pool, spinning round and lots of children screaming at a party 🤦🏻‍♀️
 
Floofball said:
This was a memorable occasion to say the least, floating just above the grass on the horizon and slowly making its way unpredictably towards us!
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To be fair that is terrifying. Imagine thinking you were being slowly pursued by a levitating Teletubby with unblinking eyes. Stuff of nightmares
 
Ridiculous things: every time one of mine sneezes/sorts while I'm schooling him, he then spooks dramatically at it like "WHO WAS THAT?!" 🤦‍♀️ I can only assume he is so 'in the zone' and startled by his own bodily functions 😂

Genuine things: We once had a sparrow hawk decide to swoop for a rabbit as we were passing and legitimately landed on my horses head! Not sure who was more surprised at that one, me or the horse!
 
Maddie Moo said:
Just remembered somewhere I used to work had a pony that was terrified of paragliders. And another horse had an existential crisis when we came across a field with those water zorb balls in a giant inflatable pool, spinning round and lots of children screaming at a party 🤦🏻‍♀️
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My friends and I went to the Gower for a riding weekend once. There were 5 of us riding up a very steep slope when we became aware of a paraglider above us aiming to land at the top of the slope. He was moving at roughly the same speed as us in the same direction so couldn't see us directly below him. One of the horses had a major issue with kites so his rider jumped off, her friend jumped off his fieldmate as if his friend ran, he'd follow. The other horse was quite new to its rider so we didn't know how it would react and my friend and I knew Monty would do whatever Archie did so it was up to me to take the lead. There was no in-between with Arch, he'd either be perfect or he'd spin and leg it down the very steep hill.

He felt surprisingly calm so I just quietly asked him to stand to get a bit of distance between us and the paraglider then asked him to walk on as soon as we could see him. Arch seemed fascinated but not worried. By the time we reached the top of the slope, the paraglider had just landed and was gathering in his parachute (or whatever it's called). This was make or break and I was preparing myself for the spin but Arch just wanted to go and see if the paraglider had any treats. I think he thought he was the Milk Tray man with a personal delivery 😆 . For all his silly spookiness he was a superstar that day. If he'd freaked, I think we'd have had 5 bolting horses but his calmness kept the others calm.

The paraglider was very apologetic, he genuinely couldn't see us.
 
Caol Ila said:
Hermosa is very suspicious of drains that have been cleaned or repaired. There's one she always takes a wide track around, ever since the council did some work on it. It happens to be on the road, so I have to make sure no cars are passing when we go by the "Cybermen drain."

My old horse, Gypsum, had a proper meltdown at a pile of snow once.

Fin has a meltdown when people hang coats on the outdoor arena fence. I have to yell at other riders to move their coat, if they've slung it there. He's also terrified of umbrellas, paddleboards, and seeing horses getting vomited out of those weird metal boxes.
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I'd have to deliberately leave wear a coat up to the arena, take it off and put it on the fence whilst holding him so he can see it and then get on, to get him used to them , because id never in thirty thousand years be brave enough to yell at some one 😂🥲
 
Tarragon said:
My current pony will spook at a lot of things, but I have found that all three of mine, including the most bombproof one, found the groups of DofE young people with rucksacks on their backs very scary, especially when they use those bright waterproof covers.
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And if they are younger girls they surge towards you saying "can I stroke your horse/what's his name?"
 
Shetlands, his own fart, a flower that’s appeared that wasn’t there the day before. A small black rubber mat at the front of his stable.
TB but bombproof on the road and once led the other horses on a hack past a dustbin lorry that was emptying kerbside glass bottles, which made a terrible racket.
 
Racehorse then event horse then County Showhorse not phased by the heaviest of traffic but another one who didn’t like painted bits on the road or puddles. On a very early hack with my current ex racehorse met a group of DofE people with rucksacks with waterproof coverings and they were singing. He was rather perplexed, but they kindly stopped and we had a chat
 
I had a good one this morning, I'm walking the horse down the drive after work, we go past a field with horses in it, one of the turned out horses swished its tail at a fly, the one I was riding spooked so hard he almost went on his knees... This is the same horse thats scared of butterflies, but even so, his friend in a field about ten feet away swishing its tail really shouldnt represent a life threatening event!
 
Today I had an interesting one on my very brave,will go passed anything, Connie.
We went for a ride around Beacon Hill in Charnwood Leicestershire. It's a lovely ride, all totally off road. We got to a sign that said 'Sculpture trail' ahead with an arrow pointing left to an alternative route for horses if required. Well having already queued at the ice cream van sitting on our boys and knowing them well, we thought the trail would be interesting. Lots of fab sculptures mainly made from willow. No problem at at - until we got to the one apparently called 'don't look up -or something similar!' My friend told me that, as I didn't get the chance to read the title, I was going passed rather quickly and sideways.

Don't look up! Turned out to be a willow sculpture of three life size, very realistic ostriches with their heads in the sand. Bless him my boy led the way as usual but faster was definitely the order of the day.
 
Mine continue to be mortifying and not PC.

Yesterday, approaching an older gent who was very, very large, shuffling along with a cane, and holding a very old dog limping along on a lead. He edged to the side of the trail to let us pass, but he wasn't mobile or steady enough to go further. Hermosa was hesitating and looking at him askance, and I'm gritting my teeth and putting leg on, grumbling, "Hermosa, just f&&9cking go." The chap was very pleasant, but I was trying really hard to stop her from spooking at him, so probably had one of those bullsh1ting grins affixed to my face. All good. It's all good. My horse doesn't think you look weird at all......

Fin once spun in a sharp 180 at a woman in a burka.

He also had a meltdown after meeting a chap (and his carer) on a walk in the park, because the chap had some kind of learning disability and was making quite loud and unusual noises. The chap was excited by the horse, so he got more vocal, and Fin was trying very, very hard to leg it the other way. The carer was like, "Can he pet the horse? He loves horses," while I was being tanked off with, and OH (on foot) was looking like he wished a black hole would open beneath us and muttering, "Er....he's a wee bit skittish."

#worst RDA pony ever
 
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Caol Ila said:
Fin once spun in a sharp 180 at a woman in a burka.
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My previous one Frankie did the same. She appeared over the hill silhouetted against the sky and it fluttered in the breeze. The child with her started crying, she screamed and I had to yell at everyone to shut up and stand still so I could regain control.

At another yard the Hare Krishnas caused problems for people.
 
I had a horse years ago who was spooky in that slight catch his breath kind of way all the time. Not dramatic, no one else except the rider would even know he had spooked. Except at one thing, which he would spin, back up, try absolutely anything to get out of passing a little tiny old lady. It happened every time and was really embarrassing. It got to the point that she would see us coming and try to hide behind a hedge or something which of course made it even worse 🤦‍♀️
So so weird
 
This morning our newest youngster (big 4yo exracehorse) and I were on the way home after a lovely hack with a friend when he spotted a horse eating Rumba Lawnmower merrily trundling around a front lawn about 10 metres away minding its own business. We shot forward at warp speed up the backside of the other horse and carried on up the road. I had of course dropped my reins and taken my feet out of the stirrups to chill.... won't make that mistake again!💨💨💨
 
I have just remembered another horse I had. Huge great lump of Suffolk Punch X, politely leading a ride along a bridleway in Norfolk. Suddenly around the corner came the tiniest little Shetland mini with an equally tiny tot on it's back. Mum and Dad were leading, one either side.

My courageous great war horse just froze totally rooted to the spot, every fight or flight muscle visibly shaking with terror. My riding companions casually stepped past me and the little family, still he stood snorting and quivering. The pony and family carefully squashed against the hedge to get by, which I thought very brave of the little pony and the family.

I was mortified as I apologized profusely for causing the inconvenience to them. They thought it was hilarious! 😂
 
Mrs. Jingle said:
I have just remembered another horse I had. Huge great lump of Suffolk Punch X, politely leading a ride along a bridleway in Norfolk. Suddenly around the corner came the tiniest little Shetland mini with an equally tiny tot on it's back. Mum and Dad were leading, one either side.

My courageous great war horse just froze totally rooted to the spot, every fight or flight muscle visibly shaking with terror. My riding companions casually stepped past me and the little family, still he stood snorting and quivering. The pony and family carefully squashed against the hedge to get by, which I thought very brave of the little pony and the family.

I was mortified as I apologized profusely for causing the inconvenience to them. They thought it was hilarious! 😂
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Ah yes, my gelding is also very worried by anything Shetland sized or smaller. I think he’s worried that aliens might abduct him and shrink him in the night 🙃
 
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