Spooking - what would you do?

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I wish I had your restraint! I have been known to use language that would make a sailor blush!

Me too! Many years ago Buzz spooked at a man trimming a hedge abd i bellowed 'dont be such a nonce, walk the f*** on' 😳😳 no idea why the N phrase came oyr and i had to explain to the poor gsrdening man that i wasnt accusing him of anything. 🙈🙈

 

[Fluffypiglet]

I swore at mine once as he decided that a small parked red car needed extreme evasive action. Four cars stopped on the other side of the road all looking terrified and avoiding eye contact. As I swore at him I realised the car I was next to had open windows and a small (6ish?) child in the back. I can’t remember my exact words but I’m not sure the man didn’t think I was talking to him and it certainly wasn’t appropriate words for a small child to hear! Very embarrassed at myself!

 

[criso]

At the weekend when my tb was taking too much interest in some innocent bystander putting out his bins, I said "don't you know it's rude to stare". Poor man apologised and I had to explain I was talking to my horse not him.

Going back to the original questions, does horse type play a part? The warmblood I had on loan was no less spooky but it seemed to take longer for the reaction to travel from brain to legs giving me more time to avert. My tbs react so fast that it can be over before I realiise it's happened. In the situation mentioned I would probably do nothing as it's exactly the sort of thing he would ignore. If I saw a combination of things, suspicious item in the verge plus car coming towards me fast I would either flex or slow so I don't meet both at the same time.

 

[Bartleby.]

no less spooky but it seemed to take longer for the reaction to travel from brain to legs giving me more time to avert.

This describes mine perfectly, reactive but lots of inertia, and usually accompanied by a grunt if it's mental resistance!

 

[Caol Ila]

Mine is usually pretty sensible slopping on a long rein, but if she does start looking at something, I take a contact and put her on the bit. That works with most things. If she's still trying to eyeball the scary thing, I ask for lateral flexion of her neck an leg yield/shoulder-in. This gets us through 95% of situations. The other 5%, well, that's when she becomes a fire breathing dragon and starts leaping about, and no shoulder-in will save you. However, one of her default behaviours when having a meltdown is passage. If I try to force her into a walk, she starts popping little levades and cantering in place, and given too much of her head, she tries to canter off. However, I have found that I can hold her in passage between the hand and the leg and keep her going in the direction I want her to go, so when she has one of these moments, I make her passage for a lot longer than she ultimately wants to passage (it's tiring and hard -- there's a reason it doesn't show up until the Grand Prix), and she goes back to walk on her own accord. My friend, who was with me one of the last times she did this, told me it it was a nice passage -- giving Valegro a run for his money -- and apologised for not taking a video due to her own horse freaking out.

And no, I haven't figured out how to get the passage when there aren't cows or strange horses running at a fenceline.

 

[HEM]

Alf is the same. He responds very well to me bellowing "Don't be such a knob"

Haha! He is not opposed to what words I use, just the tone!
"Ambs..please don't be a tit" In a very calm tone was my choice at the weekend when he started seeing ghosts across the fields!

eta: It worked though! We had ears, nostrils and head all in the air!

 

[Annagain]

As neither an eventer nor a dressage rider but a riding club allrounder / happy hacker I would do nothing and neither would my horses. I wouldn't be hacking them out if they couldn't deal with a tractor.

 

[Antw23uk]

It depends on my mood and the horse I'm riding. Usually its not the perceived scary stuff that gets my gelding its the random leaf, painted line etc. in which case i just do a bit of a flap, sit deep and push on with a mutter! If its my mare we like to have a good look and stare at scary stuff and more often than not she decides its better to get closer to scare herself properly so she can put more effort into the drop and spin to 'save us'! He is a long and lanky leg yield type and she is a tense little ball of 16.1 cob thats so sharp off the leg it's easier for me to just let her gawp and give her confidence and time to take it in. Either way, it really just depends but someone said to me once if you keep staring at the scary object it becomes scarier so now i just look at it, go 'oh yeah thats not that scary' and then i look forward to where im going. The idea behind it is if you keep looking they keep looking!

I have been watching a lot of Barry Hook driving videos on youtube lately and he loves to go looking for the scary stuff, the louder and scarier the better so this year i think i will take more of a leaf out of his book!

 

[Auslander]

At the weekend when my tb was taking too much interest in some innocent bystander putting out his bins, I said "don't you know it's rude to stare". Poor man apologised and I had to explain I was talking to my horse not him.

Going back to the original questions, does horse type play a part? The warmblood I had on loan was no less spooky but it seemed to take longer for the reaction to travel from brain to legs giving me more time to avert. My tbs react so fast that it can be over before I realiise it's happened. In the situation mentioned I would probably do nothing as it's exactly the sort of thing he would ignore. If I saw a combination of things, suspicious item in the verge plus car coming towards me fast I would either flex or slow so I don't meet both at the same time.

I'm not sure it's horse type. Alf is pretty common (it's well hidden!) but he has a very quick brain, and can do a 180 before I've had a chance to register that a daffodil has given him a dirty look

 

[Tarragon]

I swore at mine once as he decided that a small parked red car needed extreme evasive action. Four cars stopped on the other side of the road all looking terrified and avoiding eye contact. As I swore at him I realised the car I was next to had open windows and a small (6ish?) child in the back. I can’t remember my exact words but I’m not sure the man didn’t think I was talking to him and it certainly wasn’t appropriate words for a small child to hear! Very embarrassed at myself!

I am picturing terrified cars now like in "Cars" the movie

 

[Surbie]

Going back to the original questions, does horse type play a part? The warmblood I had on loan was no less spooky but it seemed to take longer for the reaction to travel from brain to legs giving me more time to avert. My tbs react so fast that it can be over before I realiise it's happened. In the situation mentioned I would probably do nothing as it's exactly the sort of thing he would ignore. If I saw a combination of things, suspicious item in the verge plus car coming towards me fast I would either flex or slow so I don't meet both at the same time.

I don't think so. Mine is a mystery mix - Shire size head on a stubby cob body and he can spin & spook on a sixpence, often with zero warning that I can see. His usual kryptonite is flappy stuff and the tiny rain gutters you get on bridges. Having a calm buddy works wonders for him. If I see it coming I try singing so I breathe, and ignoring it. Telling him I wasn't having it & he was a total c*ckwombling t*tmunch was satisfying but didn't work more than a couple of times.

 

[Pc2003]

Why is it always people/the public 😂 my horse can deal with a lot, combines, grain bags etc... but a family on a bike ride or a Sunday afternoon family walk, or an innocent bystander minding their own business... total different ball game those!!!

 

[tallyho!]

I swore at mine once as he decided that a small parked red car needed extreme evasive action. Four cars stopped on the other side of the road all looking terrified and avoiding eye contact. As I swore at him I realised the car I was next to had open windows and a small (6ish?) child in the back. I can’t remember my exact words but I’m not sure the man didn’t think I was talking to him and it certainly wasn’t appropriate words for a small child to hear! Very embarrassed at myself!

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!! Funniest post award.

 

[DabDab]

Why is it always people/the public 😂 my horse can deal with a lot, combines, grain bags etc... but a family on a bike ride or a Sunday afternoon family walk, or an innocent bystander minding their own business... total different ball game those!!!

Yeah, the only thing little mare has shown a real aversion to is toddlers . I smile a lot and say hello enthusiastically to try to cover over the fact my horse is looking at their child like it's the spawn of satan, but some parents still look disgusted

 

[blitznbobs]

Spooking is a weird thing - My new horse can spook big but about 3 weeks ago I decided that the more he spooked the better cos I had to learn to deal with his spooks ... since that day he’s not spooked - not even once, not even a little one... I guess me not worrying about it any more has reassured him!

 

[tallyho!]

Spooky horses are awesome training for riding giant katydids. Or cats maybe.

You know, in case there were any one day. We are in the thick of the gene manipulation age. A giant grasshopper (or cat) could prove itself to be a rideable companion one day.... who knows.

(Honestly, I am not at all trying to describe what it might be like to ride my horse)

 

[DabDab]

😂the prospect of a giant cat to ride is terrifying #there'sareasonpeopledon'tridetigers

 

[tallyho!]

😂the prospect of a giant cat to ride is terrifying #there'sareasonpeopledon'tridetigers

He-man did.

Just saying

(Even though I know She-ra was way more sensible!)

 

[Pc2003]

Yeah, the only thing little mare has shown a real aversion to is toddlers . I smile a lot and say hello enthusiastically to try to cover over the fact my horse is looking at their child like it's the spawn of satan, but some parents still look disgusted

The embarrassment is large 😂

 

[tallyho!]

 

[tallyho!]

Literally the colour of a grasshopper AND a giant cat. Look at that. All rolled into one.

 

[DabDab]

Literally the colour of a grasshopper AND a giant cat. Look at that. All rolled into one.

😂😂 amazing. Bet it jumps well