Spooking whilst hacking as an evasion

[WBMare]

Hi, I've got a 6 yr old WB mare who has a spectacular habit of spooking when trotting on a hack. I wouldn't mind if it was just a shy and moving sideways to avoid the object but she is able to stop on a sixpence, no matter the speed (which is why she can't be jumped either but is luckily a very good dressage mare). This is very unsettling as I've never sat on anything that is able to slam on the brakes quite so effectively.

Once she has slammed on, there may or may not be anything there, sometimes she will then walk or trot on without issue. She can be spooky in walk but I have managed to keep this to a minimum by keeping her occupied and making it more work for her to spook than to just walk on. In trot I've tried keeping her connected, leg-yielding and shoulder-in but nothing I do seems to be able to prevent it.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated, especially as I need to get her fit for a summer of TREC!

 

[Morgan123]

Ugh I feel your pain, my horse does this - just disappears from under you. He is a bit different because he IS spooking at things (mainly imagined things) but he is genuinely quite scared - then he gets even more scared if the spin makes me lose my balance slightly and P***es off at a gallop. I also don't jump him now, it's just no fun for either of us when we aren't sure which direction we'll be going in, and at what speed! I am not sure which of us finds it more stressful.

It sounds like she does this a lot. Are you quite sure it is just an evasion? Is she generally spooky? It sounds like it does stem from anxiety about stuff, in which case you have room to work on it if you can find times when she is actually comfortable.

I am not sure this is helpful as my horse is definitely anxious/spooky, but seeing as you've said you're doing trec - I found that endurance (in company to begin with) really helped; something about the motion of trotting trotting trotting (especially with another horse to keep things easy) was really calming for him, and it sort of opened his eyes to how fun the world is. When he is practising, I can hack him out alone now either at a comp or at a ride - it's not what you'd call safe but it's sort of functional! I never would have been able to otherwise. Could you do the orienteering bit with someone else and just see how you go?

If I'm on my own and want to trot but feel that spinning may be imminent, I just trot for two strides at a time, then three strides, etc - millions of transitions - which helps keep his attention and makes me feel safer! Same with cantering.

Possibly this is no help at all, but at least you know you're not alone.

 

[NZJenny]

I have one that can teleport as well - sometimes I can see it, and sometimes I can't . It's just her, also an endurance horse!

 

[WBMare]

Thanks for your reply - transitions may be something better to try as I think she is clever enough to do fancier movements like shoulder-in and spaz out! I believe that it does stem from anxiety but my frustration comes from the fact that she has become fine in walk, unless there is something genuinely scary such as a wall covered in tarpaulin, until I ask her to trot. It is almost as though she does it to avoid having to pick up the pace.

She loves fun rides and always acts like an angel, happy to canter away from others or let others canter past her - such a nice change from my OTTB! Unfortunately this hasn't changed things at home as I have no choice but to hack on our own. Maybe when I try more TREC this year, as I haven't tried the orienteering phase, it will help her confidence.