Spooky Horse

[Red_Diesel]

My Horse has a fairly spooky personality, and finds a lot of things scary, we spend a lot of time suddenly stopping, spinning and runinng away aswell as jumping sideways or combinations of these. Generally I have tried to get him used to things, but even a jump he has jumped without a problem for several weeks, it suddenly becomes scary enough to not jump and back away from. Or going to another yard for a competition becomes an ordeal rather than enjoyment.

I have heard people talk about using desensetising to scary objects, but when a horse accepts the object in question, then a few days/weeks later decides it is scary again, this doesnt seem like the best way to move forward.

Does anyone know any other methods of dealing with a spooky horse, to keep them calm and listening to the rider even when a situation may be scary of them?

 

[swampdonkey]

I think the idea behind desensitizing them is to teach them to trust your judgement and not react so strongly, more to listen to you, more than to let them get used to eveyrthing that can spook them.
It would be impossible to despook them to everything,, but more than possible to get them to trust you and listen to you.
Good luck, I had a really spooky mare and ended up on the floor on more than 1 occasion, for her though it was an avoidance tactic more than genuine fear.