what 10 things..........................

Oooh, my Billy would definitely sympathise with your boy.

He hates:

1. Dismounted cyclists - cyclists ought to be on board and pedalling furiously.
2. Parked vehicles - these are regarded with deep suspicion. Vehicles whizzing past without slowing down, so close I could stick my foot through the window are absolutely fine.
3. The memorial plaque for a local lady which was put up on the bridleway - This is also deeply suspicious.
4. Planks - poles? Fantastic! Planks? No thanks!
5. Disorganised wheelie bins - wheelie bins ought to remain in their assigned spots at all times.
6. Catching sight of his own reflection for the first time in my instructor's arena - the first time, every time.
I've run out of ridden ones, but...
7. The beeping noise made by my thermometer - whereas riding past the shoot in full force is no cause for concern.
8. Observing deer in the distance from the stable - riding past them or having them run through the field with him is nothing to worry about.
9. Having his ears touched - despite the fact that he deliberately ducks under his rope when tied up and pings it off his ears, over and over again.
10. My dad's mate Geoff - horses don't like Geoff.
 
All of mine have this great fear of one corner of my field when being ridden! (Think throwing head up and bombing sideways when you are at least 10m away from the dreaded corner!) Yet they will quite happily eat there!

Gray needs protected rom everything at the side of the road - crisp packets, bottles, leaves that move, yellow flowers, pink flowers, white flowers, one odd coloured flower in a bunch etc. Yet face him with a line of double decker buses and tractors and trailers going at full pelt and he won't bat an eyelid! Though you may end up under one if something at the side moves! He is fine with road works too bizarrely enough lol!

Parked cars! Why are parked cars always much scarier than moving ones!?!
 
my mare is scared of:
1. Big rocks
2.Piles of weeds (theyre fine if they are still in the ground)
3. Rugs!

my 2yr old filly:
NOTHING bothers this pony!

sec A:
1. busy roads
2. bath time (luckily hes black!)
3. women (if i moan/shout he rolls his eyes at me! then sods off)

anglo:
1-10 imaginary things that arnt really there!

old fella:
Nothing phases him either

sec B:
1. heavy traffic
2. high winds
3.not getting enough cuddles!
 
10 pegs on an empty washing-line.


She does not do spooking but on one memorable occasion stopped dead across the road, not letting her companion, who was totally unfazed, go past. Neither of the humans could see/hear/small anything untoward. She was persuaded to move on and some time later, I went back to see if I could work out what the problem was. I realised that one garden, which had a high hedge and was below the level of the road had a washing-line, where the pegs were left on it even when there was no washing, she must have been able to hear them rattling at about fetlock height.

Needless to say, we have a few pegs left on our washing whirly-gig in the yard now.
 
Drains
Trampolines behind hedges
Those big white sacks that people get gravel and fertiliser delivered in

Other than that he likes to mix it up a bit; keeps me on my toes :D
 
Due to not having suitable company for hacking I've only been on the road once but I'd say motorbikes are top of the list. Thankfully they switched off their engines so I could pass. After that;
2. Pheasants
3. Oil drums
4. The shadow cast by his head
5. Bins when they have been put out for the bin men
6. The guttering I use to mark out an arena in the field
7. Arena markers
8. Hunt jumps, even when they've been there for 2 weeks and we've ridden past them every day.
9. My niece's friend Holly.
10. Puddles
He's too lazy to move fast so falling off at a spook is quite unlikely but is very stubborn though so it can be a bit of a battle if he decides he can go past something
 
My 4 year old

1. Large leaves like dock leaves (kill you with a glance)
2. Stones or rocks on the road side (kill you with a glance)
3. Footpath styles (as above)
4. Horse poo on the road?
5. shiny puddles on the road
6. Puddles full stop
7. Newspaper in hedge (meltdown)
8. Sheep that move
9. Cows that move
10. Chickens that move

All this could be blamed on her age however she is perfectly happy with a mini version of the Tour de France, 6 huge tractors and slurry tankers flying past, 4 vintage tractors with trailer full of people cheering g and waving flags etc and has yet to stop at any fence I've asked her to jump including a ditch full of blue plastic!
 
1) Anything hiding in a hedge
2) Sparrows who make eye-contact

We've had carrier bags blowing down the road towards us, fireworks, a tractor pass us so close it clipped his ear (he turned his head to gawp at it), rabbits skittering across the path ahead and on one occasion, a pheasant with a death-wish who ran between his legs. Nothing moves him.

A sweetie wrapper in a hedge?

Game over.

And don't get me started on the Sparrow Mafia.
 
1) Puddles - it is a scientifically proven fact that TB feet dissolve in water.
2) If the road surface changes colour
3) Pampas grass
4) Rubbish fly tipped on bridlepath
5) Clear space where the rubbish was yesterday and has now gone
6) People walking across a footpath in the distance in HIS fields when we are schooling. Imagine head swivelling so he can monitor them no matter what direction his body is travelling in.
7) 3 travellers with ponies and traps racing up the hill are fine but the towel that fell out and was sitting on the road some way down is not.
8) A huge lorry with things hanging off the side and flapping we had to squeeze past with my toe nearly touching the side is acceptable but the driver standing there holding ... OMG is that a CLIPBOARD!
9) The yellow For Sale sign, the pink one is OK
10) and my favourite - his own poo that he did on the way out
 
Some things in common with others, but I'll list the most recent "causes for concern"...
hay bale (he doesn't understand which direction the food chain goes!)
pigeon(s)
wooden bench
footpath sign
puddle
wheelie bin
parked car
battery for the electric fence
a yellow flower
a white sack

but didn't turn a hair when a large grass snake slithered away from almost under his feet.
He's become more Welsh since our move...lol
 
HGA-12 said:
does your horse hate and spooks at, out hacking or while your schooling


My boy hates:

1. back packers
2. strange plant vehicles
3. motor bikes
4. those sit down three wheel bikes [http://www.amazon.com/Mobo-Triton-U...or-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1436821640&sr=1-21]
5. lazer light
6. bogy man in the corner of the school
7 cables strewn across
8. pigs
9. sheep
10.cows
Click to expand...

Yup, my boy was afraid of your numbers: 1, 4 and 10.
8 was on the list too, but he got used to them, apart from when they all huddled together and moved in one white mass, then they were still worth snorting at, with a slight quickening of step.

Also:

1. The village telephone box, but only after 18 months of going right past it twice a day, then it looked at him funny.
2. Holes in the road that had been freshly filled with tarmac of a darker shade than the original road (CAREFUL: must inspect it very closely and snort into it to see if there's an echo from the 'black hole', if not, it's safe to proceed.
3. Umbrellas, ellas, ellas, ellas...
4. 'Stroller' - a local man with learning difficulties (heck, you try explaining politically correct behaviour to a horse!)
5. The van belonging to the farmer friend of the man I bought my horse from - totally uncharacteristic behaviour each time he heard it coming, much to the bloke's amusement!
6. Parked cars, which when you look in the window have a massive great heavy horse stuffed in the driver's seat. Doppelgangers are real, they're out there and they live in parked cars.
7. The scanner thing the vet had to check for previous microchip.
8. The rustling, but invisible snake that chased him 400m to the paddock one morning. He remembered it well because it was the exact same morning that he wore his smart, new, CRISP FABRIC, turnout rug. That was a lovely fun run through the village - how we cut a dash.
9. Human bare feet - snorty, bewildering, ugly things.
10. Santa - yes he is real, because he came each year on a tractor pretending to be a sledge, collecting money for charity and he had elves with him and he was just a very, very scary man with loud music and flashing lights.
 
Ooh let me think back to the last hack...

1. SLOW markings on the road. We do a lovely elevated trot and snort over those.
2. Different coloured tarmac also brings on the above behaviour. He's predictable though, bless him.
3. Drain covers. These get the Swerve of Doom.
4. A man on a motorised scooter. He wasn't moving or anything, but he was clearly terrifying to horses.
5. Man with a very noisy hedge strimmer (can't blame him on that one - it was v. noisy! But as soon as the man turned round it was all fine again.)


Silly sod. The lorries thundering at 60mph down the A road right past him aren't a problem but the flytipped fence panel was terrifying for months. His stablemate Rocky is scared of rocks though so I think he wins :D
 
The Diva List:
1. Pukeko's practicing vertical take-off out of the ditch.
2. Pukeko's foraging under the bridge.
3. Pukeko's trying to land in trees.
4. Pukeko's roosting in trees.
5. Sled dogs towing wheeled sleds (not a lot of snow around here).
6. Sled dogs traveling at speed.
7. Sled dogs towing a quad bike.
8. Man running with sled dogs.
9. Pukeko's running from sled dogs.
10. Sled dogs running from pukeko's.

The Ardashir List:
1. Road markings.
2. Drain covers.
3. Tyre marks in the sand.
4. The float.
5. The indoor arena.
6. Did I mention road markings?
7. Umbrellas.
8. More road markings.
9. Puddles.
10. Funny coloured patches of grass.


The Zara List:
1. Seals.
2. Letter boxes.
3. Seals.
4. Horses with carts.
5. Seals.
6. Naked men.
7. Seals
8. Seals
9. Other sorts of seals.
10. Any other random seals.

The Maggie List:
1. Ummmm ... not spooky, but still a baby and likes to LOOOOOOK!!
 
not 10 things but i find it really funny that my horse can walk past a field full of sheep, about 100 of them,then freak out because he has seen sheep number 101!
 
If I could predict what the bg idiot would spook at, I'd have far less hysteria to deal with out hacking. The only thing he spoooks at consistently is Berkshire Hedge Dragons - and I can't see or hear them.
 
anything that makes the ground change colour;
a dip in the earth so a shadow is thrown
large leaves such as docks
a patch of grass that does not match the rest
a wet bit of ground surrounded by dry ground
the road surface changing
 
6. Naked men.

NZJenny - your hacking is clearly infinitely more interesting than mine!!!

So far, my boys are pretty bombproof, but Barny spooks at chickens (my shire used to hate chickens too) and Munchie hates the local primary school. Can't blame him - it seems like they are doing PE every time we go past and they always seem to start lobbing footballs just as we come level with the gap in the hedge!
 
1. Definitely sheep. We went on a fun ride and there were sheep, he was not impressed!

2. There is a weir (think that's the name. Looks like a little waterfall. Makes a lot of noise with the amount of water going over) with a bridge over the top, he doesn't like this

3. Going down the main road and we came across flowers for someone who'd been killed in a road accident, we stopped every vehicle on the road with his antics

Other then that he is pretty bombproof but here are his things that he picks and chooses when they might be scary

4. The field of cows. He lives next to some cows and will walk through them happily, however the cows further away from home are very scary :-P

5. Rocks, if they are in a different place to normal. Especially if we are cantering along, we suddenly shoot sideways

6. He'll occasionally decide that the dog/cyclist/runner/child is scary even though we meet several every ride, obviously some of them are horse eating

7. The car wash is only scary if I don't want to turn left. If I decide to ride forward then the car wash is the perfect excuse to nap

8. Anything in peoples gardens. The rare occasion I take him on the roads, he stares into every driveway/garden to make sure there is nothing to spook at

Think that's everything (and most of the above are totally mood related, if he feels like being spooky, all of the above are an issue, if not then none of the above are)
 
Old cob was good to hack and so not much bothered him, although the following were deeply suspicious:
1. Large logs that could be crocodiles in disguise
2. Pheasants
3. Back packers - humans should not be this shape
4. New road surfaces or markings - you have to jump the join between the old and new
5. Water troughs hiding in hedges - they could also be hiding crocodiles
6. Low trailers behind cars. These are obviously designed to leap out and eat ponies
7. Combine harvesters. I can fully understand this one
8. Footballs - he used to live next to playing fields and was spooked by unexpected flying objects just once too often
9. Pigs - this was a deep seated and real fear. However any other livestock - cows, sheep, goats were firmly put in their place as necessary.
10. Any horse drawn vehicle.
 
Twiggy2 have you got a twin to mine?

Different patches of green in the grass.
Wet (not dry) logs.
Blackbirds - any other small bird is fine.
Pigeons in the hedges, ok if in the trees.
Killer squirrels... They're everywhere!
Fly tipping but only of black bags, rubble, garden waste, pallets etc all ok
Rabbits, but only if they look at you.
Sprinklers. We cannot and will never be able to go past a sprinkler. Hoses ok, but not garden sprinklers.
And for some weird reason, the entrance to the local primary school...we've past it with no problem for years but in the last 6 weeks it's a potential minefield to be pranced past.

Absolutely bomb proof with anything man made, traffic, road works, dumped burnt out cars, tractors, dust cart (as long as they don't have flashing Amber lights....), rubbish bins....

The mare is pretty bombproof as long as she has time to assess the situation. Doesn't do surprises.
 
Brilliant with traffic, cyclists, motorbikes, plastic bags floating up the road at head height, footballs being launched over the hedge etc but:

1. The hole next to the gateway that's been filled with water for the last four years - terrifying
2. The fence posts that are lead down in another gateway - scariest things ever even though they just look like trot poles
3. Sheep - despite us having sheep, anyone else's sheep are horse eating ambulant clouds
4. Other horses in fields with scary flymasks on - you can't trust them
5. That leaf that's a funny colour
6. That flower that's turned the wrong way
7. Other people's dogs
That's pretty much it bless her.
 
Ours are next to bombproof. We live next to a shooting school, after all. But recent 'unexpected threats' have included:

A puddle on dry tarmac on a dry day (caused by lads swimming in the river nearby)
A pair of geese in a yard. Youngest daughter had to give us all a lead past them on her 30yo pony. The rest planted solid - cowards.
Particularly day-glo cyclist. They pass '000s of them every week, but to be fair this one was spectacularly bright.

The green recycling bags always get a sideways look, no matter how many of them we see.
 
1. CLIPPERS! The biggest, most scary, pony-eating things in the world! (....Needless to say, she needs full sedation....)
2. Speeding motorbikes - too noisy, and, did you know, they eat ponies?
3. Cars that speed up to her, and rev and try to push past very closely, pushes her hindquarters out to it, and tries to flee.
4. Going slowly out hunting - Sunny has to be at the front (besides, she is the leader out hunting, right?)
5. FIREWORKS, almost as scary as clippers - gallops round her stable kicking all the walls, and rearing out her door (the only time she kicks anything)
6. Tractors with trailers, very suspicious.

Only have 6, sorry.
Can I say the things she does like now? :).............
 
Havent had him very long but so far:

1. Raindrops falling on the outside of the indoor school, but only in one spot.
2. Poo on the floor. He MUST walk around it, cannot step over it and he looks at it suspiciously.
3. Any puddle or water. He hates the hose, keeps an eye on me when I am soaking his hay if he is stood nearby. I think cross country is never going to happen for us.

Otherwise he isnt scared a lot. A baby started crying and screaming in the indoor school and he just put his nose forward towards the child like 'whats wrong, why are you crying?'
 
I've just rememebered what the most terrifyig thing in the world is (even worse than hedge dragons)

Logs - the sort that are cut into chunks and placed along the side of verges to stop cars pulling over onto them. He looks at the first one, and each one gets progressively more terrifying, until he is complete meltdown mode by the end of the verge!

There is a large lump of log at the start of one bridlepath near here. He would rather run backward into the path of an oncoming car than go past it. God forbid I ever fall off and have to use it to get back on.
 
Hanson said:
Twiggy2 have you got a twin to mine?

Different patches of green in the grass.
Wet (not dry) logs.
Blackbirds - any other small bird is fine.
Pigeons in the hedges, ok if in the trees.
Killer squirrels... They're everywhere!
Fly tipping but only of black bags, rubble, garden waste, pallets etc all ok
Rabbits, but only if they look at you.
Sprinklers. We cannot and will never be able to go past a sprinkler. Hoses ok, but not garden sprinklers.
And for some weird reason, the entrance to the local primary school...we've past it with no problem for years but in the last 6 weeks it's a potential minefield to be pranced past.

Absolutely bomb proof with anything man made, traffic, road works, dumped burnt out cars, tractors, dust cart (as long as they don't have flashing Amber lights....), rubbish bins....

The mare is pretty bombproof as long as she has time to assess the situation. Doesn't do surprises.
Click to expand...

Quite possibly as your last sentence describes my mare perfectly
 
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