What do you class as a spook?

Syrah said:
Just curious really as to what people would say was a spook, what do you expect a horse to do in a spook?
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my horse is probably the spookiest thing i have ever sat on....he will spook, drop his shoulder and spin all in one go....

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That's what I would class as a spook.

Out hacking, my mare will jump, not leap to the side but in the school, she'll leap.

Just curious as to what others class as a spook or what their horses do.
 
anything that interrupts our direction or going forwards...so a spin/jump/jump sideways.
I wouldnt class 'looking' at something as spooking as long as she kept going forward :)
 
All four feet leaving the ground at the same moment, and landing, in unison, three feet to the right (usually, although would not rule
out left), usually for no readily apparent reason, but sometimes it is cows. NB I should add that it is not unusual to get random flying changes if cantering out hacking, due to horse looking around for things to spook at. I'm very crap at training horses...
 
My initial thought on reading the thread title was someone who works for MI5 or MI6... too much TV I think!

In terms of horses I would say it is something they shy against and sudenly move in a direction you weren't intending. Rather than when they look in a hedge for a plastic Bag.

So I would say when the legs move in a direction you weren't intending as a response to instinct (and not rider error).
 
Usually a drop of the shoulder and a shift at high speed either direction! We've had the occasional half rear and spin too.
I wouldn't class 'looking' or a 'jump' (literally just like we do when something makes us jump) as a spook and sometimes if she spots something she doesn't like and does her lovely dressage impression sideways, I wouldn't class that as a spook either as it's kind of expected! :D
K x
 
as others have said, jumping to one side, dropping shoulder etc but also coming to an abrupt halt and refusing to move forward due to a hedge gremlin or whatever the culprit is at the time!
 
My sisters horse spooks at everything, puddles, grass, dogs, mirrors... his OWN shadow one day! Makes me giggle myself silly because he usually does it with no pre warning and then jumps or scoots of sideways for a few steps. I'd also say refusing to move forward because of something "scary" is sort of a spook but I wouldn't put it in the same leauge as the rearing spinning and bolting off type of spook.
 
nobody seems to have mentioned stopping dead! That's my horses favourite spook..... especially at gallop across the beach......he will see a change in pattern in the sand.....go from 30mph to 0mph in a tenth of a second and put his head down to look at weird floor! When I first got him, it was patch of grass with bigger leaves than the rest of the grass / puddles / shiny coin on floor ....
He can do all the other twist, drop a shoulder and 180 degree turn stuff for spooky things not on the floor! My other horse just bounces in the air.
 
summerguest said:
nobody seems to have mentioned stopping dead! That's my horses favourite spook..... especially at gallop across the beach......he will see a change in pattern in the sand.....go from 30mph to 0mph in a tenth of a second and put his head down to look at weird floor! When I first got him, it was patch of grass with bigger leaves than the rest of the grass / puddles / shiny coin on floor ....
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This! Her favourite is trotting down the road, slamming on the brakes and dropping her head to inspect a crack in the termac,

The other mare will stop dead or leap sideways or spin but is always kind enough not to drop her shoulder and doesn't follow it up by reversing or running off! I ride with my neckstrap permanently in my hand like a third rein!

Sometimes I wish for a boring horse!
 
Mine goes into top gear suddenly with enough acceleration that he has had me off backwards once or twice when I'm not paying attention. It's usually caused by something he doesn't like behind him - once it was a woman in a white sweater. You couldn't call it a bolt because he stops after about 30 feet but it's quite dramatic!
 
BillyBob-Sleigh said:
as others have said, jumping to one side, dropping shoulder etc but also coming to an abrupt halt and refusing to move forward due to a hedge gremlin or whatever the culprit is at the time!
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I think this covers it for me. Why do I love riding so much? Makes no sense!! my 19 y o has started spooking and I do not like it! I am too old. However, all horses spook to some extent don't they? We as the riders have to be able to anticipate and take appropriate anti falling off measures when this happens. Heels down and not having reins like washing lines helps IMO.
 
hessy12 said:
I think this covers it for me. Why do I love riding so much? Makes no sense!! my 19 y o has started spooking and I do not like it! I am too old. However, all horses spook to some extent don't they? We as the riders have to be able to anticipate and take appropriate anti falling off measures when this happens. Heels down and not having reins like washing lines helps IMO.
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:D Why do we do it!

My mare can be hacked on the buckle but I tend to keep a light contact as she gets confidence from that.

From what others have described, I'm extremely lucky in that all she does when out hacking is her body jumps but she doesn't go anywhere or she'll stop and look. But a squeeze of the leg and she gets confidence from that and decides it's really not that scary.

We had some really cute shetland foals running up the side of a hedge after us the other day. She was a little concerned but keeping the leg on and talking to her with the occasional tickle on her neck did the trick.
 
My two have very different styles of spooking, one will do a dead stop, we can be trotting, cantering, whatever and she'll just land on all four feet, rattling my teeth, giving me whiplash and being crashed into by anyone behind.

The other used to do something that felt a bit like teleportation. We'd be walking quietly along a lane, then maybe there's a cow in the middle distance or some equally dangerous creature and in the blink of an eye we'll be 20 metres down the road facing in a different direction
 
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