Spooky, overeactive drama queen of a horse

tobiano1984

tobiano1984

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My 5 year old cob cross (not sure what with, possibly arab or TB) has always been very dramatic but it's started to cause a real problem now, as he fell on top of me at the weekend due to his spooking. I was warming up in the jumping field for a lesson, it was quite windy which always makes him worse, and when we cantered round a corner he spooked (at nothing in particular), slipped, spooked again and then fell splat on his side on top of me. No lasting damage and we carried on with our lesson after being dusted off - I'm pretty sore though and would rather it didn't happen again! I've fallen off him twice before due to an issue with the extremely offensive letter B in the school. It looked at him funny..!

Has anyone had similar experiences, and found a way to cure it? He's not a nervous or unsettled horse generally - e.g. in his stable and in the field he's very peaceful and calm and doesn't do anything like pace/weave etc. He's very cuddly and quiet most of the time, and we've hunted, shown and done dressage. I've also done lots of groundwork with him, he's had tarpaulins over him, he's worn a christmas hat and all sorts of things so it's not like he spooks at everything. Out hacking if he's behind another horse he goes into total plod mode, if he's in front he's OK but will spook at some things, if he's on his own we go along on our toes and jumping at absolutely everything. At shows he's fine, until you take him into a dressage ring on his own and then he goes into high-alert mode as you've obviously singled him out for some horrendous punishment.

It all seems pretty unreasonable because he'll walk past massive lorries and tractors on the roads, but if a leaf has changed colour without permission or someone's moved a bucket across the yard he won't have any of it! It's not just ridden, when leading he's well behaved but again will look at everything that isn't exactly as it was the day before and snort at it. It's highlighted by the fact that I have 2 other youngsters who were completely wild in March and now have to lead Rupert (who I've had for 2 years) past things out hacking.

Any thoughts/advice? I don't think supplements will help much - I've tried him on brewers yeast and it made him even more dozy to ride and in the stable, but he still spooked as normal with the usual things! some people have suggested homeopathy, magnesium...so any experiences with them I'd like to know about.

Thanks!
 
I found that feeding salt alongside the brewers yeast helps my spooky pony

What does your horse eat?

Also is he getting worse or is it just annoying you more now, you havent made that 100% clear - would he have spooked like that a month ago for example?
 
Ouch, glad you're okay! I had a very similar experience a few weeks ago on the main road, haven't ridden since, still trying to find my brave pants!

My 4 year old is much the same, glad I'm not alone! He snorts at the barn and some leaves EVERY morning, yet really isn't bothered about anything scary! I have him on brewers and topspec calmer. The topspec helps him to be able to cope with what I'm asking when he gets anxious.

Will watch this thread :)
 
He's on Simple System and has been for several years - alfalfa chop, lucie nuts, sometimes unmolassed beet if he needs it. He has a salt lick if that makes any difference!

It's not getting any worse, it's just that I'm doing more with him so it's becoming more of an issue and he's been ridden for 2 years now so doesn't have the excuse of being new to it. He's always been highly strung, but when I was breaking him in I thought it was just him being a baby.
 
my biy was like this, he grew up a bit at 6 and is mch better, i found that magnedium.made a massive difference as did getting a really good instructor who made me ride through everything rather than me tensing up and waiting dor him.to be an idiot!!
 
Could it be the alfalfa? his feed is pretty much pure alfalfa

If he has been like it for several years and on the feed for several years it could be worth experimenting and seeing if that helps
 
I don't think it's his feed - last summer he was just on grass and was still the same. And he's perfectly happy and calm most of the time and then just suddenly spooks with no warning, which makes me think it isn't his feed.
 
Mine was very much like that - spooking at things he generally should have been okay with, and running on adrenaline. He was magnesium deficient and his been a totally different horse since he has been supplement with MagOx. It took about 2 weeks to make a difference, so worth a try - it isn't expensive. I did know my land is short of Mg, but a lot of the land in this country is.
Once the adrenaline levels had dropped (Mg blocks the action of adrenaline) he could learn, and I could be less in his face all the time.
 
To me it sounds like he might just possibly need more confidence and experience working away from other horses, especially from what you say about hacking. I would expect a reasonable amount of spooking from a 5 year old, but I can understand your annoyance if you consider his reactions completely OTT. Do you stay relaxed and ride him through his spooks or do you tend to tense up? The latter may be exacerbating the drama of the spooks.
 
He does quite a bit on his own and is fine - schooling, bit of hacking, goes round an XC course happily by himself, and then will spook at a bucket and nearly have me off -having just flown over obstacles! I'm used to youngsters and am not bothered by reasonable spooks - I don't tense up or panic and just ride them through it. The problem is mainly that they aren't just little spooks but real un-seaters - e.g. we were cantering down a path through a cornfield the other day with a horse behind us - and there was an offensive plant growing in the middle of the path, so rather than swerving it or jumping it he managed to turn abruptly left and I've no idea how I stayed on.
Also most youngsters I've ridden are understandably wary of vehicles, barking dogs etc and this just improves with experience and correct riding, but Rupert is fine with genuinely scary things and stupid with the most mundane stuff. It makes it harder for me to know when he's going to do something.
 
You could be talking about my horse, also massively spooky. If he's eating his tea and you come round the corner, he jumps 3 foot in the air; like yours, he's fine with lorries, tractors - but the other week we couldn't pass a car with a roof-box as it was obviously a monster in disguise :rolleyes3:

He is just on HappyHoof, Magnitude, Cortaflex and Alltech Lifeforce. The latter has made a HUGE difference to the level of his spooks - he's still terrified of everything but he has a "normal" reaction now rather than an extreme reaction. I know you don't want to try supplements, but it's definitely made a difference to my boy.
 
Yes, my 6 year old is like this. Pretty much a dope on a rope to do anything with. To school he is having to be constantly reminded to be in front of the leg. He is just so laid back. But god can he throw in some awful awful spooks, normally leave me hanging on round the side with my leg hooked over the back of the saddle to hold on, he just spins and goes, and you never know at what and sometimes you just never find out. Gives you no warning either.

I am starting to piece together what brings him on to do this. Mainly a form of napping. We hack on our own and all is fine until he decides he has had enough and wants to go home, cue a spook and run for home. (don't worry he never gets to actually go home at that point!) He is fine hacking in company.

In the school it is normally when I start asking him to work a little harder or we are learning something new he finds difficult. Cue a spook to unseat me and get himself out of it. Also if we are doing something such as jumping, which he enjoys and he gets a bit more energy for it. We are fine until all of a sudden he will have a bubble over of energy and cue a spook. He just gets the energy but hasn't learnt how to control it as yet, its baby behaviour.

We do need to work on him hacking and working in the school by himself more as this is when it is at the worst. So still an element of being by himself. But then he stands in the field quite happily by himself!

Just youngster behaviour I think.
 
I don't think it is just youngster behaviour Neptune - my boy is 10 years old, and you could have been describing him there - except his spooking isn't just an evasion, he is genuinely terrified of pretty much everything. In company he's no problem whatsoever, but if something scary comes up, he has to tuck in behind the other horse. I used to hack out on my own, but had a nasty accident on him a year ago, he wasn't getting any better despite me hacking him alone for months. Have hacked him out alone once since my accident - cue huge spook and me ending up on the floor again :rolleyes3:
 
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