Silly stuff your horse spooks at

A mare I used to have would spook at things that had gone, walk past rubbish in the hedge, something at the side of the road, but would spook when they had gone. I had to be very observant, and have a very good memory.
 
My mare spooks at a bit of white paint on a tree, and DUCKS!! The only 2 times I've ever came off her, was when there were ducks around! :o
 
My sec D x took a dislike to my instructors steaming coffee cup the other night. Clearly steam is very frightening . Funny that he will let the farrier hot shoe him without moving a muscle. :-D
 
My welsh d mare will let busses, tractors, wagons anything zoom past us out riding and not flinch but then when we get to the white lines at a junction she stops,snorts,spooks and then picks her feet up so high asif they are trying to eat her.... Grates have the same effects too. Silly, quirky old mare! Shes a good girl really :)
 
Walkers. People in gardens, rustling about behind hedges and slamming car doors are fine. Walkers, and especially runners, are deadly creatures to be feared, snorted at and passaged past. Walkers are aways silent though - if they talk, they're just people disguised as deadly walkers. They need a good snorting at though, for being so rude as to disguise themselves as walkers...

My horse is 16, you'd have thought he'd got over it by now! :p
 
Sometimes, nothing.
However, at various other times-
His shadow, me patting him, swapping whip over, a chair, a coat on said chair, when he over reaches and I've forgotten to pop his OR boots on, and ofcourse, nothing.
;-)
 
Puddles, piles of horse poo, joggers or walkers they are just not supposed to be in the woods according to my horse, shadows on the ground, if I try to catch him with new gloves on that is really scary.
 
Wheelie bins!! Even though they've been around for years now, guess it's the only appearing once a week he can't cope with :rolleyes:

Any changes in his own little environment.............last year YO put up rug racks outside each stable............he broke his headcollar trying to back out rapidly from the barn, snorted at them for several weeks after!

Last Christmas livery in stable next to his put some tinsel up wrapped round the bars............she had to take it all down so I could get him into his stable!
 
My 6 yr old gelding really can't stand the jumps that are stacked alongside the side of the school: known to fly buck, snort, piroette and put in a quick shallow loop going past them. As far as I know said jumps have never attacked him or jumped out of the hedge at him. They've also been there for the whole 18 months he's been on the yard! He's happy jumping over them though. Silly horse.
He doesn't mind fireworks or shooting in neighbouring fields and is reasonably rock solid on hacks - just those pesky jumps!
 
the big girl hates llamas/alapacas and sheep:rolleyes: which is rather unfortunate as there is a little herd who live in the field next to the bridletrack:rolleyes: we got from 17hh plod to 19hh coiled spring in 0.00005 of a second and then snort and boing our way past :o We also have a small issue with purple flowers which must be avoided at all costs:rolleyes:
 
Oh yes I'd forgotten the 'not there' things! We have machinery parked at the end of the school, big new tractor was ignored for the month it was there, when it got moved PANIC, the not tractor was really bad!!
 
As ive not ridden her yet since owning her, so can only comment on turning out spooks.... there is a large pile of haylage bales that we have to go past to get to her field and when its windy she tends to have a little look and snort.. then this morning she thought the rubber tyre she's been past countless times was a bit scary so snorted and eyes were on stalks but nothing silly.
 
A mare at my riding school hates velco. And if someone coughs or sneezes she goes loopy:D. In the most recent monthy competition we were doing team races and everyone on the mare's team were coughing on purpose to make her go faster - it worked!:D

Jock has never spooked with me (yet;)), but he's that bombproof, safe, steady and hairy riding school pony type:D.
 
My stoooopid horse walks past our postbox on our lane gate, stands in the layby next to a main A road and watches lorries, buses and caravans go by at 60mph, but when we turn around to come back up the lane she thinks the postbox has come alive and is going to eat her. We make some interesting shapes trying to get back through the gateway without getting close to the killer postbox!

This happens EVERY time we go through the gate, and have been doing so for the last 3 months. She is such an idiot.
 
Currently and very annoyingly it's the nice bright Hi viz coat I bought for my dog to make her really visible when we hack out. Normally mine will get over himself with scary things but after 25 mins of being a total plonker about it he finally managed to ditch me.

What really annoyed me was HE was wearing a hi viz rainsheet and I was wearing a hi viz jacket!
 
My cob mare, Blaze, is absolutely 1 million percent bombproof...............except for DONKEYS :D She is terrified of them and quakes all over if we have to pass a field with a tiny fluffy donk in it. I know this sounds far fetched but I swear she knows the word because if I say it, she starts looking for invisible donkeys behind every tree or parked car and does these HUGE cracking snorts :D
God help us if one ever brays as we go by!
TB thinks horse eating monsters live in storm drains. PBA did a 180 degree spin and took off when she spotted an ivy-covered post the other week. I think she thought it was a person having a bad hair day, lol!!
Cracks me up when they spook :D Fortunately mine are all ultra sensible when in traffic, even TB, who is a card- carrying dipstick most of the time :D
 
Generally only spooks at sensible stuff (arctic lorries, car carriers and oil tankers).

Old people on their scooters are petrifying, as are children in groups of more than 3 (less than 3 and he's fine). He also wasn't sure what to make of the child who kept appearing and disappearing bouncing on a trampoline behind a fence :p

Worst thing was probably a green bottle in the grass :rolleyes:
 
My lovely mare is terrified of Shetland ponies even out hunting when they are at their most forward she will deviate from her path to avoid. She is also adamant that wheelie bins are the work of the devil and refuses to tolerate them despite weekly exposure on a Friday when we have to go sideways up the entire village while she spooks at every single one.
 
My fella is fine with lorries, vans, motorbikes etc. But green plastic bales of haylege in a field and he panics and becomes dangerous - just bolts and nothing can stop him. As i found out one day a few weeks back.

Also, he spooks at logs, leaves, flowers, push bikes, prams, small noisy children and pony-eating footballs - our hacks in the woods are 'interesting' and keeps me from getting bored
 
My old boy used to be an absolute diamond with everything, apart from sheep. He would hack down main roads no trouble, past barking hounds, a working farm, tractors, what ever, nothing phased him. But try and walk him past a field of sheep and all hell broke loose!
 
Turned my car headlights on Alfie tonight so I could straighten his rug while he ate. Got back in the car, he swung his bum around and in the process caught sight of his shadow - absolutely bricked himself and ended up half way across the paddock tail up snorting like his own shadow had tried to butcher him.

He is also petrified of wheelbarrows - no idea why. As a direct result he is also scared of the vicar because he brings his garden clippings over the field in a wheelbarrow to put on the muck heap. If the vicar puts his head over the gate to say hi Alfie does the "tiger in the trees, everyone stay back" thing.
 
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