Terrible Experiance

domsmith

domsmith

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Hi,

I am new to the forum, new to horses, with a new horse in fact. But today i had a really silly incident.
Its our local riding of the marches this week and a neighbour, who is a keen rider, borrowed my horse as her horse has had an accident. she wanted just to plod around with her daughter, and shes a good friend and a life long rider.
Buddy my horse has only been here for 6 weeks, hes my first horse, i havent ridden for 10 years and i didnt do that much then. i just had this urge to ride again and found Buddy in an advert and just knew if i was going to own a horse it was going to be him.
When i first said she could use him, i knew i would not ride him out this year and i thought it would be good experience for him. he has been rock solid, hacked out nearly every day since i got him. i have gone from being scared to death to loving it in just these few weeks. as the first ride approached i have to say i have not been looking forward to letting him go, as our bond has just blossomed and i am totally smitten with this amazing horse i have ended up with.
but i said she could ride and she tested him and was nervous but happy. i had no fear, neither did friends or riding instructors that he would be solid. i think several people told me it was maybe a leap of faith to send a new horse with a new rider, but the first ride was a quiet walk around town.

Anyway i went to watch expecting to be the beaming "father" and se my boy in his finery. i couldnt believe my eyes as i saw him coming down the street side ways rearing. i dashed down and got hold of him. the rider was flustered, she had ridden 30 mins in with her daughter with no problems. but as soon as the horses massed and set off, lots of shouting etc he went very hot.
i said i would lead, he definately calmed down when i arrived, but he was still very up tight.
we walked on for another 15 mins and he started to get worse and i turned to the rider and said lets call it a day, get off and lets leave. we took another 6 steps and he lost it. reared up i lost my hold, he went side ways and slammed into a BMW, rider jumped clear. i got him back quickly but was left in the middle of a housing estate, surrounded by cars and people with a really distressed, rider, horse and car owner.

i left the rider to deal with the car owner and i got to a clear bit of road. i just didnt know what to do. people, cars, kids, roads. the danger of the situation hit me, if lost control of this horse he was in real danger.
some help arrived and i managed to get him out of town and on to roads he knew and away from it all. he immediatley calmed down and as we walked home, he became his normal self, slack reigns and docile eyes.
clearly he wont be riding the marches again, and i hope i have not ruined him. its been a real eye opener.
dont be too critical, i am just learning and this has really rocked me i just thought i would share it as an opening post.
dominic
 
You poor thing. Sometimes herds of horses blow their little brains, sounds like what happened here. He'll be fine and no harm done - bar a dented car I should think. Onwards and upwards.
 
Sounds like an awful experience.

I don't think you've ruined him - I suspect the mix of atmosphere and the nervous and unfamiliar rider was too much.

Personally, I wouldn't let anyone else ride him - just keep doing what you've been doing to let him settle get used to his new home/owner/environment and if you do want to do this sort of thing again build him up to it i.e. start hacking him out in larger groups.

Glad all involved got home safely though!
 
I realise how much this horse means to me, and the real danger we were in. it was very sobering. if he had broke lose and got onto the main trunk road i would never have forgiven myself.

d
 
He calmed down on the walk home so its unlikely you've ruined him. 'Ruined' in these circumstances would only mean 'needs reschooling/confidence building' anyway, you're not going to have to shoot him! Maybe large groups mean 'hunting' to him, or similar, so he was expecting to run. Or maybe the riders nerves wound him up. Try not to panic about it all or get nervous when you next ride.
 
How scary for you! good job you were there too. I agree with the others - a situation like that can be too much for the most sensible horse, and you don't know if the rider may have contributed to the situation (probably did, if she was nervous and also having to look after her daughter). I am sure he will be fine if you keep doing what you are doing with him and stay calm with him. When the time comes you can reintroduce him to going out in company with one horse to start with, then build up to a few more. Good luck.
 
Some horses are not capable of riding in big groups, 'fun' rides for me on my last horse were not much fun at all!!

I doubt he's ruined though, I'd keep him quiet for a few days, just hacks etc he knows. Hopefully the damage (if any?) to the car will come from the riders insurance?
 
I agree with what everyone above has said - you're unlikely to have done him any harm, and if you just go back to doing what you were doing at the pace that suits the both of you, you will be fine.

Sadly, this is an all too common problem at the Common Ridings. People under-estimate how worked up normally calm and placid horses / ponies become when in such a large, exciting group, and all to often, there are a lot of novice / unfit riders - many of whom ride little (if at all) from one year's Common Riding to the next. Add a bit of tradition of going to the pub before the ride - and chaos breaks out.

OP - hope you continue to enjoy building a bond with your new horse
 
BeauBear said:
Sounds like an awful experience.

I don't think you've ruined him - I suspect the mix of atmosphere and the nervous and unfamiliar rider was too much.

Personally, I wouldn't let anyone else ride him - just keep doing what you've been doing to let him settle get used to his new home/owner/environment and if you do want to do this sort of thing again build him up to it i.e. start hacking him out in larger groups.

Glad all involved got home safely though!
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I agree keep him to yourself and build the relationship.

I had a nightmare experience on my mare. Ex racer, i've only had her 2 months are coming on leaps and bounds.

Although a few weeks ago i was feeling good, she was walking out nicely so we decided (with a companion) to take a hack that meant going over a dual carriageway bridge. This bridge was extremely wide, safe and no danger of going over the edge, i've gone over it hundreds of time with my gelding.

Well, we got onto the bridge and my normally sane mare lost the plot. The cars below took her by surprise, she was rearing, spinning, getting on her hocks to run backwards...and all i could think was ****** she going to turn, bolt home, down a tarmac hill.

After quickly getting a grip (what felt like forever) and riding her forward (at that point i didn't care if it was trot or canter, i just wanted her going forward and not backwards) once she was over she was fine...like it had never happened. Problem was we would have to go back over that bridge to get home, there was no other way.

On the way back i was trying to be brave (and i know she was picking up on my nerves) so i just said quite openly, people thought i was mad talking to my horse, 'right madam, i know you can do this, if i keep talking i cant hold my breath, i promise i will keep my hands down, legs on and i will drive you forward'....she took a step onto the bridge, walked across and didn't batter an eyelid!


I will openly admit though, the incident did shake me up and i have refused to go over it again ever since :-(....i will but only when we have bonded a bit more

Spend lots of time with him, nice quiet one to one rides, he will learn to trust you, and you will learn to trust him (trusting him is so important) and it will be fine.
 
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Well I'm sure you've gained quite a lot of experience from this! It's not at all uncommon for normally placid horses to become a bit unhinged at things like this, and the only way to find out how they'll react is to go and do it, unfortunately. If you've only had him a few weeks then there is no way you could have known how he was going to be. You can either decide to work on it (he will get better with more exposure and sensible riding), or you can ditch the whole idea - I would be pursuing the former approach, but then I need my horses to be able to cope with everything. A good window into the power and unpredictability of horses, but don't let it overawe you into nervousness - just get some more experienced help.
 
What a shame. Not much to add but although horse don't forget they do forgive and he will remember you were there to help him.
I hope you continue to working away quietly with him and slowly bonding. Take him on a short picnic walk to start with with lots of chat and a sing so you both relax.
 
Horse think in the now not the past, he has moved on and so should you :) I wouldnt worry too much the mix of moving to a new home, new area, new rider, new sights etc etc. probably just overloaded his brain
 
My girl can not cope with groups of horses it blows her mind. This was a horrid thing to have happened to you both, but thankfully no real harm done. We all learn things from our mistakes and this is something that you will never forget, and you like all of us have realized just how much your lovely horse means to you, so now just stick to doing things with him yourself and take things slowly, and if you feel you need or might benefit from it get some lessons with an instructor to help you. Oh and welcome to the forum, look forward to hearing more from you.
 
cheeryplatypus said:
What a shame. Not much to add but although horse don't forget they do forgive and he will remember you were there to help him.
I hope you continue to working away quietly with him and slowly bonding. Take him on a short picnic walk to start with with lots of chat and a sing so you both relax.
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I am, not sure my singing would relax anyone!

But yes thanks to you all for being kind. i will continue to bond, this last few weeks have been a roller coaster. from not owning or riding to being obsessed by this incredible animal and riding every day.

d
 
Can I be nosy and ask if it was Sanquhar? I know their Common Riding is in August. I used to live near-ish there and my OH worked in the town.

I think a lot of otherwise calm and sensible horses would leave Planet Earth at a Common Riding. They look like carnage!
I doubt it will effect your lad or your relationship to him long term. Horses live in the now. If you want to ride him in one again, however, you should get him used to hacking in large groups with people going at different speeds so it becomes normal to him and not a big, exciting deal.
 
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tessybear said:
Horse think in the now not the past, he has moved on and so should you :) I wouldnt worry too much the mix of moving to a new home, new area, new rider, new sights etc etc. probably just overloaded his brain
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Well said Tessybear. Horses do live in the present but sometimes a memory of the past can be triggered, bet his horse has hunted and this is why he got over-excited. It also sounds as if his rider wasn't very confident and he would have picked up on and reacted to her nervousness.
 
Ride outs can send the calmest beastie crazy! My mare loved them so much that we were warned a few times that if she kept going the way she was, we would be asked to leave at the gallops on account of coming home ahead of the cornet and cornets lass at a few of the Scottish ones. At Berwick we started the gallop at the back of the ride... The DVD had a lovely shot of her blitzing past the leaders at the end... :)

However, keep plodding on at home and if you ever want to try ride outs again, try lots of hacking out in as big a group as you can get together (or some pleasure rides) before you go to desensitise him a bit.
 
Poor you. Horrid experience. I guess we've all been there (though perhaps NOT involving a BMW) once or twice in our lives.

You haven't done lasting damage. Many horses who are 'bombproof' go nuts out hunting or on pleasure rides or whatever. He's your horse. You make the decision as to what / how much company you want to ride in. And I'd keep him for your personal use and not loan him out, generous though that was. He's your boy!! Put it behind you, gradually build up his confidence around other ridden horses, and who knows, one day you'll be heading a Marches ride.....
 
my very sane very safe horse went absolutely loopy in groups of horses, to the extent if he saw a group of horses on the horizon he would utterly lose the plot. someone once tried to take him out to a sponsored ride and really thought he was going to kill them. I think it dated back to a previous life when he was kept in almost all week barely ever ridden then taken out hunting then kept in again etc and it just blew his brains. I just accepted he was perfect in every other respect and just prayed we didnt meet other groups out hacking. but i did develop an nice secure seat when we did ! in small groups of 2-3 he was fine. interstingly he was also fine at dressage warm ups but a nightmare in show jumping warm ups when people were tearing round and less disciplined.
 
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