Strange situation

Britestar

Britestar

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 March 2008
Messages
5,918
Location
upside down
Visit site
Looking for ideas, which may be a little bit random.

Cob mare, 12 yrs old. Works well in school and progressing nicely. Good to hack alone and in company.
Have finally found a bit/ bridle set up she's happy with.

However, when we go out hacking, there's one bit of road where she headshakes madly. If you don't go that way, she doesn't do it.
Its a limited stretch, about half a mile at most. She can literally shake so hard you thinks she's going to fall.

This piece of road has electricity lines on the left , phone line on the right. Gorse and broom which are currently in flower.

She does not do it anywhere else where these plants are. We rarely go clockwise around this hack, but recollection says she doesn't do on the way home. Electric would be right, phone left this way round.

As soon as we're past this bit, she's absolutely fine. None of the other horses are bothered. Nor do any of the neighbours horses do it.
No better in any of the other bit/ bridle set ups we've tried. Always the same.

Thinking outside the box - Ley lines? Feng Shui? Auras?

Any ideas?
 
That is a random one. The location does seem to suggest their is some external factor that isn't obvious.
Vibrations/buzzing from the powerlines? Some sort of interaction between phone & powerlines?

Have you ever walked that section in foot, and not in rubber shoes, to see if you can feel something odd?

Whats she like if you get off and lead her along that section?

It could be a noise thing we can't hear. My horse is stabled on a yard near an RAF base and 99% of the planes & helicopters they don't care about, even when flying very low as they are taking off/landing. But there is one type of plane that upsets them all as it takes off and lands. It doesn't sound noticably different or loud to us but there must be something about the noise/vibrations that is just wrong to the horses.
 
Alternatively:
- Try leaving cheese and strong spirits out to appease the Wee Free Men incase your passing through their territory (though I think they prefer chalk downs)

- Carry a solid iron (not any alloy, proper iron) horse shoe/fire poker/frying pan to fen off the Elves

- a garlic necklace (for both of you) incase of lurking vampires

- consult a local druid/witch on which god to make an offering to and which crystals may best offer protection
 
Britestar said:
Looking for ideas, which may be a little bit random.

Cob mare, 12 yrs old. Works well in school and progressing nicely. Good to hack alone and in company.
Have finally found a bit/ bridle set up she's happy with.

However, when we go out hacking, there's one bit of road where she headshakes madly. If you don't go that way, she doesn't do it.
Its a limited stretch, about half a mile at most. She can literally shake so hard you thinks she's going to fall.

This piece of road has electricity lines on the left , phone line on the right. Gorse and broom which are currently in flower.

She does not do it anywhere else where these plants are. We rarely go clockwise around this hack, but recollection says she doesn't do on the way home. Electric would be right, phone left this way round.

As soon as we're past this bit, she's absolutely fine. None of the other horses are bothered. Nor do any of the neighbours horses do it.
No better in any of the other bit/ bridle set ups we've tried. Always the same.

Thinking outside the box - Ley lines? Feng Shui? Auras?

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
My vote would be a high pitched noise.
You can get an app that records, then shows as visible waves. Can't remember the name but will look it up, hang on..
 
Some sort of localised hatch of tiny insects, biting her? On a specific plant on the lefthand side as you go out?
 
Not quite the same but we have one section of the road where some horses take offense and some don't and we are convinced that there is an electrical cable underground causing some sort of sensation to them
 
Last edited:
earplugs? We had pylons in a field at a farm we had horses at. some horses didn't care and others got very unhappy in those fields. The pylons would buzz in the rain so assume they made a noise when it wasn't wet too, but we just couldn't hear it.
 
I suspect there is something from the electricity lines upsetting her. We used to have to ride under power lines on one stretch of road and you would feel buzzing on your hat. As long as it is only here I wouldn't worry about it, may be lead her past if you are worried she might fall over. I had one that used to act like this but in her case pretty sure it was rape, either the pollen or the beetles as it was only near rape fields.
 
dorsetladette said:
earplugs? We had pylons in a field at a farm we had horses at. some horses didn't care and others got very unhappy in those fields. The pylons would buzz in the rain so assume they made a noise when it wasn't wet too, but we just couldn't hear it.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was going to say try a really thick pair of acoustic ears and see if it helps even a little bit. If it does, that suggests a really unpleasant noise. If not....probably something else.

ETA - is she shod? The other thing I might try is putting a big pair of Cavallo boots over her shoes and leading her down that stretch to see whether she's getting a current passing through her feet. Insulate her feet with some plastic / rubber boots and that should stop it, I think (if it is that)
 
Could be the electromagnetic field of the power line. Phone lines don’t have much current compared to power lines. Maybe the horse is more sensitive to electromagnetic fields. My OH can hear really high frequencies used to deter mice and rats, whereas I can’t hear a thing. It’s really painful for him, so maybe your horse has a more sensitive inner ear too?

Ear plugs would be worth a try. They will cut out ultra-high frequencies.

There was a study done in a book I read years ago about power lines above plants and how it affects their growth. They noted less vigorous growth in the plants near to power lines and summised the electromagnetic field emitted from the power lines interferred with the bio-electrical system of the plants. Whenever I’ve looked for land for sale, I’ve notices land with power lines over it to be cheaper to buy per acre, but also avoided it as an option due to that study and EMF research that’s been conducted in more recent years.

If plants growth can respond to EMF fields, then it is likely that more complex life forms can be sensitive to them too, and some ultra-sensitive, perhaps, like your horse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top