Spookable things on hacks...

[HenryandPeta]

I took Henry out on Sunday for a long ride in the sunshine. He's feeling the spring grass at the moment and is bouncing a lot!

We came across a group of motocross bikes having trials in a field next to the track we were on - you could hear them for miles around. As we approached the gate into the field, about 20 of them zoomed out onto the track and headed towards us, braking hard at the last minute as they saw my beast and me in the way. I was ready for Henry to do his trademark polo pony turn on a sixpence (even though he's actually a 17hh HW!)...

However, Henry stood stock still and allowed them to pass him without a twitch, so I very proudly patted him

and we went on our way, only to come across a woman pushing a red buggy which sent Henry into paroxysms of panic! He shot through a gap in the hedge into a stubble field in his desire to get away from this horse eating monster!

Later in the ride he was convinced there was a terrible monster waiting for him just round the corner of a path... then just round the next corner, then the one after that... But when a mentally disabled women we know ran out to him screeching "HENRY" at the top of her voice and flung her arms about him, he accepted her cuddles without a flinch!

Why is that horses "fear" the little things? I don't actually think he was afraid, just looking for an excuse to be naughty, but even so - surely the bikes would have been the better opportunity for him!!

 

[SunSmile]

All horses are scared of only 2 things...
Things that move and things that don't!!

 

[JessPickle]

You sound like you described pickle then, he happily walked past a tractor with a massive roller on yesterday (which was so loud as it went over rocks) but a plastic bag on the floor was just terribly frightening

 

[Flibble]

Ha youve not seen anything until Gulliver has happily gone past a Milk Tanker and then spooks at Butterflies!

 

[Horseyscot]

We find daffodils very life threatening. Oh and those stones that lye waiting in the grass verge to pounce, you know the ones that were there yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that............. and OMG should we come across someone on a bike, well it really is time to bolt then. However those noisy motorbikes? No bother

 

[angiebaby]

Bustbin lorries, piece of cake; chinooks flying very very low, not a problem; Man digging his garden........yikes!! he eats horses for breakfast don't ya know

lol

 

[HenryandPeta]

Oh yes, we have those life threatening stones that lie in wait for you in verges... Terrible risk, walking past those things!

Anna - Gulliver showed me what he could do yesterday! Was taking his neck bit off his rug to cool him off and he moved his head, causing it to go over his eyes! Doh, off he went, blind, charging round snorting until I could catch him and remove it! And what did Henry do whilst this was happening? Ate *rolls eyes*

 

[silvershadow81]

[ QUOTE ]
We find daffodils very life threatening.

[/ QUOTE ]

We had the exact same problem last night... but only with the ones which have opened!

xx

 

[happyhack]

I totally sympathise.

Bondi will hack past a burst water main with water flooding the street and lots of men yelling and waving.

But that tree stump thats been staring at him for over a year is out to get him I swear it! It is nigh on impossible to get him to walk past it without having a complete spaz attack and throwing himself around like some kind of moron and churning up the golf course (always fun!!!!)

 

[HenryandPeta]

ROFL!! They are all the same then! I rode my last horse (crazy unpredictable bolter) in the indoor on Bonfire night with fireworks going off and he was fine. Next day, it was the crisp packet in the hedge that was the terrifying thing!

 

[minerva]

was thinking about this last night, my old boy was absolutly bombproof, but freaked at blue things (arnt they colourblind?)

he would panic at the blue writing on the roads, but happily walk through a crowd of all sorts at the local fete, with dogs and kids crawling all over him!! it was about the only time he got into any sort of outline, bless him, he was the best

 

[CrazyMare]

I love my pony. She doesn't 'do' spooking. She sometimes jumps at noises when in the school, but never sideways, just a few quick steps.

Out hacking she doesn't bat an eyelid, its fab. We meet artics, buses, builders, cows, pigs, sheep etc regularly.

 

[silvershadow81]

[ QUOTE ]
I love my pony. She doesn't 'do' spooking. She sometimes jumps at noises when in the school, but never sideways, just a few quick steps.

Out hacking she doesn't bat an eyelid, its fab. We meet artics, buses, builders, cows, pigs, sheep etc regularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

But this is how my girl is (she did quadrille and allowed me to dress her up, so is usually very bomb proof!)....

.....Yet those daffodils........

scary horse eating flowers!!!

xx its JUST them!!

 

[basil99]

A local farmer had left one of his gates open that deserved a good spook. Would love a bomb proof horse mine is always listening and watching for something and so am I. Unfortunately the things I think she will spook at are ok and its the bird flying out the hedge or the bit of gorse on the path that gets us!

 

[thorwaldharry]

well ive just come back form my first hack in a year, others hack him out but i think its like watching a suspence film! all calm then spooks at anything that rustles, twigs, although we had to walk past a field full of turkeys and he was fine then ran away once past them!

 

[bex1984]

Apparently the occasional man hole cover is trying to eat my pony, and he must walk past glaring down at it accusingly. This is not all man hole covers, just the odd one that he doesn't like the look of, or (more likely) the ones that crop up when he's bored and feels like having some fun!!

Rather embarrasing recently when an elderly lady's dog started leaping and barking at him frantically - and Murphy did his little dance round a man hole cover, and I had to explain to the very apologetic lady that the dog wasn't the problem!!

 

[loopyloop]

My wonderful idiotic mare will happily do milk tankers, harrier jets, chinooks, lorries, tractors, bin bags, dustbin carts, three fire engines, all manner of huge scary things!

She sees a squirrel, daffodil, butterfly, lamb............well they're all ganging up and plotting to kill her!!!!

The best one was when we went throught the village, past a man drilling a hole, lots of flappy plastic, a crane, shed loads of road works (including a huge gap with a metal plate over it to cross!) and three industrial sized cement mixers, all in the same area working on building a house, didnt bat an eyelid, spotted a squirrel on the fence whipped round and legged it back to the workmen for safety....................

 

[chantypanty]

I can completely relate. My horse is a little star when it comes to tractors, speeding cars, motor bikes, big lorrys..
but if he see's his own shadow he's off in the other direction!!

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

My two are both great with tractors, lorries, level crossings, trains, the shoot etc etc but for my mare bloody horse eating pheasants are lethal and require spooking and snorting at (except when eating out of her feed bowl in the field - then we are best freinds!

) as a minimum. My boy is petrified of the red runner bean flowers on the allotments in the summer (definatley been known to bite neds as a minimum) and the wishing well in a front garden in the village - and there is a manhole cover (only one) that needs to be watched all the time in case it bites his bum on the way past!!

 

[hairycob]

Sheep are fine normally, but some when some had climbed in the hay ring Pickle hated it.

 

[HenryandPeta]

Some good stories!!

There's a funny video on youtube somewhere showing a judge frantically trying to give a rider a rosette, and the horse backing away from this evil object of terror...

 

[Walrus]

Yep, can totally agree with many of these posts. Out hacking yesterday, ponio will happily walk past roadworks, past a skip with only a little encouragement, over a motorway bridge quite happily. Yet all the wheelie bins - which are always in the same place, are terrifying, each and every one (and we're talking about 20 of the flipping things). And riding through the woods I spotten a large piece of plastic wrapper stuff on the floor so braced for sideways and bucking and he walked past fine, about 10 minutes previously a gap in the hedge next to the path was terrifying and a bunny (admittedly one that hopped) warrented us leaping in the air and into a field of plough!

 

[Cobbysmum]

Horse eating squirrels, especially those armed with shotguns watching from the trees in the wood! Loved the paddle in the stream but watch out for the bottomless puddle!

 

[Araminta]

Today we met a matress!!!!!!!

It was a nice matress, probably king size, cream and laying on the verge with a bit overhanging onto the road on the opposite side from us.

My boy is spooky at the best of times and spotted said matress at 500 yards. We then had the splutter, splutter, stall type antics as we got nearer. We came to a complete halt about 100yards away and as he is well known to suddenly spin I was trying to wait for the M25 type traffic to go past so i didn't end up on a bonnet!

Then a lovely little old lady in a Corsa came the other way, realised I was having problems, and pulled her car in beside the killer matress to hide it from view. Yeah" managed to tiptoe up to the car and say many thanks to nice old lady who smiled and said "thats fine my dear I could see you were having problems and hes only a baby"

THEN SHE DROVE OFF AND THE KILLER MATRESS WAS RIGHT NEXT TO US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg PANIC We nearly ended up in the nearest tree.

Tell me again why we do this?

Going matress hunting again tomorrow