Spooky Leader

[Redmedic]

Hi All!
Was hoping to pick brains for advice.
I have a mare who is - relatively - new to me, had her less than a year. She’s come from a home where she has been for about five years and did everything with her previous owner - hack, event, side-saddle etc. She’s 12 and in good health.

Have really been enjoying getting to know her and learning a lot. She’s great in the school, if sometimes a little distracted if she can see her field mates. She hacks perfectly on the road, in front or behind, whatever the traffic, but off road (the majority of our hacking) she is incredibly spooky if she is leading - and to an extent on her own. She looks at everything - logs, leaves, birds etc, and will often spook and occasionally spin. I am getting better at managing this in walk, but in trot and canter it’s a problem - today she had me in on the floor after spooking on a track she knows very well. If she is not leading she is happy as you like, any pace, almost never spooks. I never take her alone/lead routes that she hasn’t done many times before and knows well.

She’s an ID mare, teeth, back, vet, physio etc all up to date and no issues. She moves beautifully and I don’t think pain is an issue here, am fairly sure it’s a confidence thing. I am wondering how to improve this issue, preferably without my having to go to hospital!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

haha that is my ID mare to a TEE, a real donut, I call her, I use a quiet ride ear bonnet and equifeast calmer, which is calcium based as the others like magic either did not work or made her worst.

 

[Redmedic]

thanks for replying! It seems to be visual rather than noise-related spooks, thankfully, as we pass lots of dogs, peacocks, donkeys etc all of which she is unphased by. Have tried calming cookies which don’t seem to have made the blindest bit of difference - will have to try a calcium based one. Maddening as she is so fab in pretty much every other respect.

 

[scats]

Welcome to my world! My welsh part bred is ridiculously spooky, but has improved somewhat over the last couple of years.
Slot her in behind something sensible and she reverts to chilled out mode. We don’t spin and run as much now, and although we still teleport on occasion, she’s a lot better and is more likely to do a drop spook instead.
I’ve just accepted that’s the way she is wired and have just carried on. She goes out hacking alone and I have taken her to farm rides alone too. I do have to be careful in trot and canter out hacking, she’ll disappear from underneath me if there’s a different colour patch of grass or a gap in the hedge. I do think to some extent, you have to just keep going and ride them through it, be aware of what’s going on around you, but without giving off any hint of tension (not easy, I know!)

 

[HashRouge]

I'm not sure there is a quick fix for horses like this. They generally improve slowly with regular hacking and a confident rider, but this will take time and patience and she may well never be completely sensible! My share horse (Arab) is a spooky little so and so and I've resigned myself to the fact that you can't ever relax completely. When trotting and cantering you have to be completely ready for him to slam the breaks on and screech to a halt. He's had me off once but I've got better at recognising the early warning signs and now I almost always go with him. My best advice would be to look out for the subtle signs that a spook is coming - unless a bird flies up suddenly there is usually some sort of warning!

 

[Redmedic]

Welcome to my world! My welsh part bred is ridiculously spooky, but has improved somewhat over the last couple of years.
Slot her in behind something sensible and she reverts to chilled out mode. We don’t spin and run as much now, and although we still teleport on occasion, she’s a lot better and is more likely to do a drop spook instead.
I’ve just accepted that’s the way she is wired and have just carried on. She goes out hacking alone and I have taken her to farm rides alone too. I do have to be careful in trot and canter out hacking, she’ll disappear from underneath me if there’s a different colour patch of grass or a gap in the hedge. I do think to some extent, you have to just keep going and ride them through it, be aware of what’s going on around you, but without giving off any hint of tension (not easy, I know!)

Excellent advice, thank you x

 

[Redmedic]

I'm not sure there is a quick fix for horses like this. They generally improve slowly with regular hacking and a confident rider, but this will take time and patience and she may well never be completely sensible! My share horse (Arab) is a spooky little so and so and I've resigned myself to the fact that you can't ever relax completely. When trotting and cantering you have to be completely ready for him to slam the breaks on and screech to a halt. He's had me off once but I've got better at recognising the early warning signs and now I almost always go with him. My best advice would be to look out for the subtle signs that a spook is coming - unless a bird flies up suddenly there is usually some sort of warning!

Again, Sterling advice. When I get a warning it’s fine, I can put my leg on or shoulder fore, it’s just the sudden stops at speed that I get no warning about - but it will be on a background of generally being a bit worried and a rider who doesn’t have a fantastic seat!

 

[Caol Ila]

My first horse was fantastic on trails when following others, but was both spooky and balky in the front, and trail riding alone was not a viable option when I first bought her. You didn't know if she would do a transporter beam spook and run, or just plant her feet and not move for love nor money. Neither is ideal.

There were no quick fixes, as Hashrouge has said. But I did fix it using a variety of methods.

(1) Doing very short hacks, alone, after a schooling session. The horse would be more relaxed and listening after some dressage, and then we would ride out as far as she would go without drama. That's the key. Once there's drama, then you're in a position where you have to "win" in some fashion, or you end up reinforcing the behaviour you don't want. You're stressed, horse is stressed, and you might be a bit screwed because if a 1000lbs horse decides it's really not going, then there's not a lot you can do. It's much better to read the horse and turn for home before they decide they want to. Gradually, the distance you can go increases, along with their confidence.

(2) When out in a group, doing short sections of leading. Following the same principle as above. Keep her in front of the group when she is going well, but anticipating her anxiety levels and swapping places with something else before spooking and balking can occur.

(3) Now the weird stuff. I did a lot of TTEAM with that horse. Google it, which will probably yield better answers than me trying to explain it. The horse worried about lots of things, and the bodywork aspect helped her trust humans and improved her prioperception. You also do a lot of exercises teaching the horse to trust and follow you from the ground. When you do the groundwork, you carry a long dressage whip which you use as an extension of your arm and to help you give clear cues (you don't whack the horse with it). One exercise we did involved myself and my TTEAM trainer leading the horse up the trail with two leads attached. We both had a dressage whip, but we pointed the whips forward, in the direction we were going. My trainer said that the whips formed kind of a gate for the horse to focus on, and the humans on either side should help her feel safer (at this point, we'd lots of groundwork in the school). I remember the horse balking occasionally, but the trainer was the most patient woman in the world. She wouldn't get after her, but would wait it out, and then we would walk forward again. She was a great horsewoman and never took us to the point where the horse would get so upset that we were forced to turn around. Anyway, all that translated to more confidence under saddle.

It took about two years, but then that horse became a great little trail horse, either on her own or in company.

The other thing I would add is that it's definitely worth working on the distraction issue. If the horse isn't mentally "with" you in the arena, she certainly won't be out on the trail. I'm personally never that keen to hack out on a horse who's all over the place in the school, staring wildly at every passing horse and not being very attentive to me. Your horse is probably fine on trails when she's following other horses, because she's switched onto them, but spooky and worried out front or alone, because she's not that switched on to you yet.

 

[Leandy]

Have you eliminated an eye sight issue? I'd imagine it is easier to be more confident where you are going if you have a sight problem and are following others or a clear level path/road. If that is all fine then I'd accept that she is just not one of life's leaders and would manage what I do with her accordingly. If she has not in the past done much hacking and, in a previous competition home, she may not have done, then she should get better with time. If however she is actually well used to hacking, at 12 I'd day it is just how she is, spooky.

 

[Caol Ila]

Horses can change their behaviour in response to training, trainer, environment, etc. etc. Even at 12. The one I described above was 10 when I bought her, and seemed pretty established in her behaviour. And the OP hasn't had the horse that long. The mare might still be getting used to the dynamic with a new owner.