Traffic Proofing Needed for 14:2 cob

jael

jael

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Does anyone know if there is a service offered where you can get your horse gradually and safely exposed to heavy traffic? In 22 years of riding I have never known a gypsy cob be worried in traffic before but she has not had the exposure my other horses have as I am in the North Cambs/South Lincs area where traffic is sporadic and people don't ride out daily. Despite this I have managed to get my 8 year old mare safe with cars, transits, trailers, small vans, cyclists, joggers, high winds and hedge monsters. She is well schooled, not generally spooky but lacks confidence and so seeks it from her rider. Once she is sure she marches along like a trojan and will happily lead the ride. However, even in the company of a steady horse, she is still nervous with JCBs, tractors and big lorries due to an incident when she was first ridden away where a lorry and a tractor raced past her. She is not a drama queen and never loses her head, spins or runs. She just trots, sidesteps, swings her quarters or tries to get onto the verge away from the vehicle. Other than this I cannot fault her in any way but for everyone's sake I would like to 'bomb proof' her as far as is possible so we can enjoy our hacking more without me having to forward plan each escape driveway. Sorry for writing a book - any advice would be gratefully received!
 
This may not be an option,but thought I would mention.Is there any way you could move her somewhere for a few weeks to any grazing that is near a busy road??

My lad spent first 3.5 years of his life on a very quiet farm,and would even run off if saw a bicycle,let alone anything motorised!!

Since I bought him and moved him to my grazing which is right beside a by-pass and very near a train line,he has improved with traffic hugely.He is still a generally spooky horse (just his nature),but traffic is the one thing that really doesn't bother him,even double decker buses,noisy motorbikes etc,I believe this is soley due to being exposed to it 24/7.Still spooks silly things like wheelie bins lol,but traffic barely registers with him when we're out and about,as he's just so used to it.

I appreciate it might not be an option,but I think this is so much more beneficial and easier than trying to actually find busy roads to take them out on periodically.Cheaper than sending them away for training in it as well maybe??
 
My pony used to be like this, terrified of lorries tractors etc i had to keep the vehicle behind me whilst i trotted to the nearest gateway or the likes to let vehicle past or if it was in front had to revert back up the road i had come, was a real nuissance...

she was kept most of the time in a field next to a road where these vehicles drove past but didn't seem to worry her in the field just when ridden.... she is now retired anyhow but im interested in the replies for this one!
 
Thanks. I had thought of the busy field thing, but to be honest at least 5 days times a day for the last 19 months a JCB goes past her stable and she still reacts (unless busy in a feed!) I also notice that if she is lunging for grass on the verge, traffic is suddenly not quite as scary! I wish she had been broken to drive as this seems to cure the traffic thing. Seems I have my work cut out...
 
how funny, my traditonal can be nervy with big things!

ive done a fair bit of work making sure any thing big slows right down to come past .. i DONT turn to face things, imo the more they can see the more they start to react, if something is rattling then i talk loudley but soothing and give him a neck rub.

ive also had the village bus feeding a carrot out the window, and when safe and ive got space ive told him to just come on by, cobby one has to deal with it, in the short time ive had him he is a million times better, we had a spin and gett me out of here the other day when a large truck with a crane and car on the back flew round the corner.. but i will give him that one lol!

and when 2 low flying jets zoomed over he couldnt care less.. damn pony!
 
laurenn1010 said:
My pony used to be like this, terrified of lorries tractors etc i had to keep the vehicle behind me whilst i trotted to the nearest gateway or the likes to let vehicle past or if it was in front had to revert back up the road i had come, was a real nuissance...

she was kept most of the time in a field next to a road where these vehicles drove past but didn't seem to worry her in the field just when ridden.... she is now retired anyhow but im interested in the replies for this one!
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i'am interested too in the replies on this one.
my boy is kept next to a road where he can see all the lorries,
but when we ride down the road he is terrified of big lorries, is ok with vans
i do the same as laurenn1010.
this is all down to a horse lorry speeding past me and not slowing down like i had asked... hummmm
we ended up down the ditch..:(
 
For the first six months I had my boy, he was in a field next to a very busy road (lorries all the time :( ), and the yard was actually a working farm yard, so he got to used to stuff pretty quickly.

We've moved now, but when we "have" to go on a busy road, Shy sometimes does a little shoot forward if a trailer or big lorry goes past - nothing worrying at all, cos that's all he does.

So we are on this road now quite a lot (lit up like a Christmas Tree), and are working thru it - he's doing really well. Patience and repetition seems to be the key :)

sm x
 
I bought a very troubled pony 13 years ago aged 4 years old, he hated any thing, but we worked through it, any thing big tractors/lorries he would run for it, what i did was get him in a lay by/ verge/drive and when big vehicel passed us he got a treat {only if he was good} it took him a few months to realise big vehicels meant treats, i also told him what a good boy he was and he got a treat, now when we see some thing big even on a tiny country road he stops dead while the vehicel comes past and turns his head for a treat, the funny thing is a friend of mine rides him on a sunday and he really trys it on with her, even if a cycleist come past him he will stop dead and DEMAND a treat :) i know it can be a pain rooting in your pockets for a treat but its a small price to pay to be safe.
 
ameeyal said:
I bought a very troubled pony 13 years ago aged 4 years old, he hated any thing, but we worked through it, any thing big tractors/lorries he would run for it, what i did was get him in a lay by/ verge/drive and when big vehicel passed us he got a treat {only if he was good} it took him a few months to realise big vehicels meant treats, i also told him what a good boy he was and he got a treat, now when we see some thing big even on a tiny country road he stops dead while the vehicel comes past and turns his head for a treat, the funny thing is a friend of mine rides him on a sunday and he really trys it on with her, even if a cycleist come past him he will stop dead and DEMAND a treat :) i know it can be a pain rooting in your pockets for a treat but its a small price to pay to be safe.
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Now that may be well worth a try as we did the whole treat thing when she was first mounted as a youngster so she is quite familiar with it. I have also started her on Global Herbs Stroppy Mare Plus and Supercalm. In 2 weeks she is a different pony. Much less nervous tension and hormones flying about (we have resident stallions so one can't blame the girl too much!) That has given me a more level platform to work from and she was not too bad last weekend even when a big horsebox came down the narrow lane. Will persevere. I so very nearly sold this mare as I began to doubt my own ability just because of this, which seems is a fairly common problem but if we can work through this I won't be parting with her in a hurry - if ever. x
 
You know I said Shy was doing really well ............ well we had a MAJOR blip yesterday on this main road. He spooked at something in the hedge to his left, and flew straight across the road to the other side, while a lorry was coming towards us. Thank GOD nothing was coming alond on the left, or I wouldn't be typing this now.

The lorry driver saw me because of my hi- vis. I know because he told me so when he stopped, and asked if I was ok (shocked but ok). I will never ride on a road again without it, although I wear it all the time anyway.

As for the boy, I have to remember his young age, and keep going forward - went along the same road tonight with a friend and he was fab as ever. But it can happen any time to any horse.
 
I a small schooling area for breaking in my youngsters, and it right next to a dual carridgeway. I find that they associate being ridden, with cars going by, even though there is a hedge there, it seems to desenitize them to it.
Rather than being in a feild, where they are not doing any work.

I also find that in hand work is good, as you are there on the ground for moral support.
I always lead my youngsters out in traffic fairly early on, so it becomes part of their routine. I've just taken on a 12.3 pony, who is unsure of traffic, but the more work I do with her, the better she is.
I don't make a big deal out of traffic either, if there is a lorry or whatever, I just carry on as if it wasn't there, find this works better than cooing all the way past it, this just affirms that there is reason to be scared. I praise them when they have gone past :)

I have to cross the dual track for longer hacks, so all my horses need to be safe in heavy traffic! All are brilliant in it too.

Another thing, the POLITE hi-viz make people slow, as do the caution young horse (usually)!

(There is a traffic-proofing service out there, I do breaking and schooling freelance, and this is one of the services I offer! Just so you know that there are people out there who do it, just need to find someone in you area)
NOT ADVERTISING, just saying so that OP knows that there are people out there!
 
Thanks. Think I need to move to the West Midlands as everything seems to be there or in the South - very little in Lincs. I have considered sending her away - hell, I've considered me coming too!

Yes to Hi Viz - mine says 'Please pass wide and slow' and they do tend to once they are close enough to read it. I ride with 'soft eyes' (nicked from Sally Swift's Centred Riding book) and do not look at the vehicle but focus ahead where I want us to go.

Am now feeding my mare off a parked up JCB with its prongs up - every little helps. Next I will try this whilst the engine is idling.

All this talk has made me think. The other week there was a loud explosion with a blue flash about a mile from the yard. We all jumped out of our skin - yet we expect our horses to be bombproof! Even police horses with all their advanced training still have their moments. However, one day I would like to post that she walked past a JCB without flinching - we all have our dreams!
 
I have just been helping my friend with her horse this morning, he also spins violently at large vehicles coming towards him, and she has come off several times because of it. We have devised a system whereby she rides in the lead along the road. When the bus/lorry/tractor approaches she goes up onto the path or verge if available, I overtake her on the inside on my traffic-proof horse at a trot so that we sort of 'shield' her horse from the vehicle so he can't focus on it. This is working well now, so maybe worth a try if you can find a hacking buddy who has a bombproof horse. We are of course Hi-vizzed up to the eyeballs when we do this.
We are finding her horse is tensing up a lot less when lorries approach since we devised this system, so we are hoping he will start to see them as less of a big deal and we won;t need me to overtake. It will take us a few more months I think but it is going well.
 
noblesteed said:
I have just been helping my friend with her horse this morning, he also spins violently at large vehicles coming towards him, and she has come off several times because of it. We have devised a system whereby she rides in the lead along the road. When the bus/lorry/tractor approaches she goes up onto the path or verge if available, I overtake her on the inside on my traffic-proof horse at a trot so that we sort of 'shield' her horse from the vehicle so he can't focus on it. This is working well now, so maybe worth a try if you can find a hacking buddy who has a bombproof horse. We are of course Hi-vizzed up to the eyeballs when we do this.
We are finding her horse is tensing up a lot less when lorries approach since we devised this system, so we are hoping he will start to see them as less of a big deal and we won;t need me to overtake. It will take us a few more months I think but it is going well.
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There's a lot of us out here that wish we had friends like you who will help us bombproof our horses but unfortunately you are few and far between.
 
I plucked up the courage to do a "business as usual" hack alone, along said road, and he was a little saint. He did have a bit of a turn at a chicken on a side lane :eek: but with all the lorries and buses he was as good as gold.

I guess I am just much more alert now, I ride on the actual road instead of the verge (or the cars don't slow down at all), and my reins are short, ready to turn his head whichever way it needs to be.

I hope everyone on this thread is having some success :)
 
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