Spooky irrational horses, is there hope??

Be carefully of doing too much work as all you'll do is fitten them up, then they will take even more to tire, keep them ticking over, regular work rather than lots of hard work, and think if they are spookey after a day off, then lunge or long rein that day rather than riding them and giving them an opportunity to make you tense.

I agree with the comments about taking them to shows. I take mine to other yards to just to ride/ hire schools just so they get used to going different places. I joined the local riding club and go to the lessons just to get mine out.
 
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My horse is the same as yours. exactly the same. so disheartening when i know he can do so much better.
I take him out as much as i can, use equine america calmer, ignore ignore ignore the spookiness and dont give up.
 
Louby said:
I was just going to reply with 'he only gets Hifi and hi fibre nuts' so was suprised to see your horse reacted to hifi and pony nuts!!
He is a fatty so not sure if barley is the way to go but I will def go and have a look now.
Thanks for that.
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Hi-fi contains alfalfa and many horses find that difficult to digest. It can make them very silly, especially when under pressure.
 
Have you tried a calmer? I have mine on Magnesium Oxide, been on it for about 4 months, and it's made a massive difference. He can be quite a sharp, spooky horse but the biggest problem is that when he does get wound up, he has a melt down and can't see beyond this. On the MgO he is still spooky, still reasonably sharp but he doesn't over react like he was doing and is able to concentrate much more.

ATM I am taking mine out and about to lots of very low key stuff. He doesn't cope particularly well with the atmosphere of a big show but is getting better. I have no problem going to do DR with him but jumping is a different matter. I've got a very full diary of hiring various arenas locally just to get him used to working away from home and him not exploding at every opportunity. Until I got him, all he'd really done was hunt so he expected to see hounds everywhere he went! He was also not used to going out alone so it's a case of treating him like a baby for the time being, getting him out to loads of different places. I've joined a RC too, again so that I can get him out to loads of places but without the pressure of a competition (because that winds me up!). I've found that he works best indoors so ATM hiring indoor arenas and am going to start competing at places with an indoor to begin with... small steps! Because he can easily have a total nervous breakdown (in which case he then can't do anything at all, just plants to the spot and freaks out), I'm just taking him to do things that are out of his comfort zone but not frightening, and am building up slowly. We are going to brave a 60cm CR class this week hopefully! If we go to places he's been before then I can ask more of him, eg jumping a bigger class than the last time etc.

So to summarise my waffle, I'd say hire lots of arenas, box up and hack out in new places so he gets used to doing things on his own but without the pressure of competition (you are probably nervous at competition too?), join a RC and do some clinics, some of their comps etc... Most of all, don't get wound up when he has a breakdown. It sounds so obvious but since I've stopped being nervous and stressy when out and about, my horse is a lot better too :)
 
yes my mares extremly spooky and i haven't shown her this year she finds it boring. i have started doing spooky dressage, sj which she loves and pleasure rides to learn her to stay calm and not stress. im taking her to a small show later in year to see if its working, as she found the whole atmosphere too much. to the point shes lashing rings round her when trying to do anything with her.
 
Ani said:
Mine is a fatty too, a really good doer, irish horse and though he used to be really spooky was lazy too and behind the leg, sounds wierd but true. The Allen and page range is Barley and mollasses free so has non of either in it.

i started mine on fast fibre at first but after two weeks he was really lazy so now have him on a mix of fast fibre and ride and relax and it really has worked wonders.
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my mare is very spooky too and can be incredibly behind the leg - I see it as she is just too bloomin scared to go forwards, it makes riding very hard work as I end up knackered, I'm doing loads of field work and hoping to take her hunting this winter to make her brave! it was my new year's resolution this year and will probably have to be again next year!
 
My horse is the spookiest horse i have ever known and it really does try your patience. he's a show jumper and when he first goes in the ring you would think he'd never seen a jump in his life but once he's started his round the spookiness stops (usually). I've had him 5 years in feb and i've never found a cure for his spookiness and he's 15 now.

Have to say about the hard work thing that i've never been able to work my horse so hard he stopped spooking i don't think that's a very good option at all. He was with me at a pro sj yard for quite a while and so he did work very hard but it never stopped him spooking.

If he's clever give him lots to think about in his work which it sounds like you are so maybe try taking him to comp centres and do thinking work in a different arena. I think the best thing if you can do it without going mad is trial and error, i've tried so many calmers etc for my horse but now he works maybe 3 times a week, is out in the field alot and that seems to keep him on a bearable level
 
Was about to recommend Nupafeed as it did seem to work on my horse but see it didn't work for you. It might have been the placebo effect on me! Did you try the syringes or just the supplement?

My boy wasn't spooky though, just very nappy at competitions. Never at home, I can hack him out alone take him from the field or leave him in the field by himself but at competitions he wouldn't leave is friends or even the horse at the trailer next door! Try a few different brands as they're all slightly different.

Strangely though, he had a year off as he was lame and since then has only hacked so I stopped the nupafeed. Then I ended up having to take him to a dressage as my friend's horse whom I compete had a bad back. I had already entered so rather than throw away the entry fee I changed the entry to him and took him along without any preparation. He stayed really calm and did his two best tests ever. I think I was less tense as I didn't expect anything so he behaved much better. Or maybe he was expecting it to hurt before, as his problem had probably been there under the surface for a while before showing itself.
 
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