Spooking

[showjump]

Hi,

A novice lady moved onto my yard just over a month ago now, she had just bought a 15 year old gelding. In this short space of time she has fell off a number of times due to him spooking. She is quickly loosing confidence, as he spooks most of the time at thin air! I have been trying to help her and work on her balance ect so he doesnt unseat her, however we are finding this has as he seems so unpredicable.
I have ridden him and he is fine he has spooked but to me its nothing and im used to it with my sharp horse. She is already thinking shes made a mistake buying him, i feel if we dont help her balance/ lessen his spooks then she may give up hope, this would be a shame as shes so keen to enjoy riding and adores the horse when shes not on him!

Any ideas guys??

 

[vivhewe]

Could she ride out with a calmer horse to see if it rubs off on her gelding?

I'd say an older horse but if he's 15 then a calmer horse seems to be the better option lol!

 

[showjump]

I hacked with her and he wasnt spooky on the roads, we have also tried to two horses being ridden in the menage at the same time and it made no difference.

 

[tashyisaudrey]

Does she have lessons on the horse? sometimes this can be helpful at building up confidence. Also if she has just bought him - he might still be wary and settling in to his new home and might calm down in time. Another good thing for balance improvement is having lessons on the lunge - someone lese in charge of the horse whilst she can concentrate on her balance. What part of her balance unseats her? does she lean forward with lower leg coming back? you can get straps (not sure what they are called) which attach to saddle to help keep legs in the right place. Also there are good stirrups out there to keep weight through the heel. If she is loosing confidence and doesn't want to give up on him, it might be a good idea to have a ride on another calm horse (in lessons or on hacks) so she can concentrate on getting her position right on a horse that doesn't unseat her. Then when she is better, she could have another go - hope this helps

 

[Lucy_Ally]

Has she had his eyes tested?

 

[Peanot]

Hi, what about feeding the horse a calming supplement. These are supposed to aid with spooking. When I fed the Equivite Calm to my mare, because she was fizzy, it stopped the spooking. It`s worth looking into.

 

[flyingfeet]

Australian stock saddle - it doesn't have to be an expensive model.

These are virtually impossible to fall out of (bar rearing). I use them on youngsters and to keep ageing parents in place. Fantastic for building confidence, especially in the older rider.

 

[PeterNatt]

I would say that the horse is the problem.

My advice to her would be to buy a horse that does not spook at anything, is 100% bombproof and safe in the heaviest of traffic, will go first or last and is 100% controllabe in all situations.

Then all she has to do is to enjoy riding out.

 

[Dovorian]

I think she has the wrong horse! I had a lovely gelding who spooked for fun, nothing nasty but he remained that way throughout the 8 years I owned him. Luckily I think I only came off a couple of time as a direct result but firmly believe that some horses so have this 'in them'. As PN advised another horse is probebly the best course of action.

 

[Mellymoo1]

Sounds just like my situation!! I've only had my boy since May after having a 15 year break from riding, and he is also pretty spooky. It was knocking my confidence a bit, but I've started having lessons to improve my position and balance and its helping no end! I've only had two lessons so far but even my horse can notice the improvement in my riding, and is trusting me more.

Also as someone else mentioned, might be worth getting his eyes checked. My boy hasn't got perfect vision but he likes to look at unfamiliar objects carefully!

 

[showjump]

Thanks for all the help, i also feel she may have got the wrong horse. She has had one lesson and has another this afternoon she is going to get the instructor to ride him as her back is to painful from her last fall. He is fine if hes going forward and is interested in his work (when me or someone more experienced on him)but the lady is to scared and says there is more chance of her falling at faster places. I see her point but when he plods he spooks more maybe because of bordem? She also asked what she should do when he spooks/ after? I have suggested a neck strap so she can grab it to steady herself.
I put her on the lunge and she was standing in her stirrups and walking and trotting without them, balance was inproving. She got her stirrups back and within 2 mins of doing this he spooked and she ended up on the deck.

 

[the watcher]

I have always found spooky ones to improve if you ride them confidently, up the pace a little, and give them something to think about other than looking around for scary stuff to spook at. it sounds, though, as if her confidence is already damaged, and she will have to be very committed to this horse to improve enough to get past it.
What is the rider like on other horses? If she is that unsteady and nervous there is the chance that she could bounce off the quietest of rides

 

[flyingfeet]

Out of interest how old is she? (roughly!)

 

[eohippus]

does sound like the rider is contributing to it through her lack of confidence, whe may be bracing herself and very tense, therefore this will affect the horse. See if you can help her by setting up some simple spook training sessions in the school, it is a valuable exercise for the horse but also for the rider because it helps her to work on her confidence and ability to cope with spookiness.
Hope this helps
Dawn

 

[showjump]

I havent seen her on any other horses to be honest, l would let her ride one of mine but one is sharp and spooky so would be no good and i dont know if she would get on the other as he's 17hh and think she might be worried about falling! The others at the yard are show ponies so again no good for her.
It would be unfair to say shes very unsteady but she is quite tall and he's only 15.2hh so she kind of looks not with him is that makes sense( still and unright and against the movement)

The lady is in her late roughly 36ish, so not old but has had a break in horses for a fair while. It ws the ladies sister who put her intouch with this horse so maybe shes rushed.