what is yours scared of?

[Mariposa]

One of mine is scared of white lines...which isn't hugely helpful on a polo ground. She is usually fine by mid season but for the first few weeks she jumps them every time...

She is also scared of big leaves....

 

[Crazycob06]

Not much any more, used to be every little thing when I first got her. Now it's just the little 'clank' noise a gate can make as I lead her to/from her field. She resorts to prancing around snorting or if it was a big enough 'clank' we'll have a full blown bolt! I then find her in her field hanging her head in shame.n

 

[Delicious_D]

drain hole covers, white rocks and daffodiles.

 

[Gusbear]

I thought mine was bomb proof as nothing seemed to phase him (apart from the first time he heard a duck quack in the village pond and launched himself into orbit). He is over that small phobia now.
We were riding through the village last week and a few small and very pretty balloons that were tied up outside a shop gently blew in the breeze. Cue the dancing horse on the road doing a very good piaffe, passage and an impressive capriole over the bonnet of a parked car.
Horse, rider and said car a little shaken but otherwise OK.

 

[MrsElle]

The first time I rode a cob I had on loan I was quite relaxed, thinking, 'ahh, ploddy old cob...'

The first thing was the white lines on the crossroads. He jumped the first lot, then looked around and realised he was completely surrounded by traffic lights. A set on each escape route. Cue much spinning, shooting backwards, and snorting. Managed to get him out of the scarey situation and off we set on our hack. We were walking merrily along, me admiring the scenery from horseback when I found ourselves at the other side of the road. Apparently gates are fine when you walk straight at them and go through them, but if you walk past them they will try to kill you. As will boulders. And the big reels of hose to water the fields. And random bushes. And rabbits. And children in fancy dress. And balloons. Strangely, he didn't bat an eyelid when we walked through the village on carnival day, encountering scarecrows, a brass band, floats, lots of flapping bunting and loads of people milling about. Still jumped the white lines and had a paddy in the middle of the crossroads though!

 

[caramel]

Mine's pretty good on the roads, often the lead horse and gets horses past scary scary things! However he's scared of geese, dogs if they start jumping up and barking behind gates/fences, sheep (fine if they are quiet, but he doesn't like the noise!), alpacas, any bird that dares to move in a hedge, being alone. He's fine in company but is a nervous wreck on his own!

Oh and narrow spaces (gateways etc), we tend to bolt through them or refuse point blank to move!

 

[Serenity087]

Wheelie bin monsters, every time.

Also cats. Not cats close up, but cats about 5 fields away. Took me yonks to work out that's what we were stopping to stare at.

Oh, and any space in which a wheelie bin or a cat has been previously spotted. It may return and Dorey's memory was like an elephant... she'd never forget!

 

[Simbacat]

What a difference a year makes. this time last year she was scared of leaves, twigs, logs, birds, horse poohs, (you get a lot of all those in the countryside) and anything "lumpy" looking like a fire hydrant. She would just stop and spin or jump sideways at any pace. Now she is fine with all of the above! so perseverance definitely works. OH's horse is fearless, except for Shetlands / small horses, but who can blame him, those are scary!

 

[sandi_84]

Oh I forgot one, Loki is also scared of sawdust! The forrestry had been felling a couple of logs here and there along our usual hack route and the spray of sawdust at the side of the path was obviously a scary colour and he went sideways at speed almost unseating me Once I'd regained my balance I then felt free to laugh at the daftie

 

[Simbacat]

I've just read the whole thread and its really interesting the weird random things that recur - namely leaves, purple flowers, Shetlands, daffodils ( mine looked askance at some today) and milestones... what do they know that we don't??

 

[creamsoda]

My daughters first pony was brilliant with almost anything-tractors,cars,cows,sheep and even the steam roller that was at the yard! But any yellow flowers could kill!!

 

[starryeyed]

Sheep - dead and alive! - a MASSIVE issue for us!
I nearly got killed (no exaggeration, I was very lucky!) when I attached a white girth sheepskin girth cover to my horses saddle - she went into full blown panic and broke the stable door off the hinges (with me between her & it!) trying to get away from the fluffy monster - ironic thing is, she's always worn a black one and been fine with it

Also, horse heads on gateposts. There are a lot around us - however this is completely understandable

 

[Spit That Out]

A tree stump...but only the one down a particular lane, no other tree stump offends him so much but the evil tree stump gets the full snorting, running backwards, spinning and finally the leap forward past it then we are back to the normal dead from the ears down horse?!!?

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Jeff is only scared of portaloos! We can go anywhere and do anything but if we are at a show and we have to go past a portaloo to get to our ring - well thatd a sideways dancy prancy fire breathing dragon moment! And hell mend anyone that has the cheek to exit a portaloo whilst I am wining sideways past it!

Gray is scared of everything at the side of the road. Buses, tractors, lorries, rattly trailers are all fine but if a blade of grass moves at the side of the road? The devil has arrived!

Jasps is only scared of the pony eating drains and has to sidestep them whilst never taking his eyes off of them!

Bloomin critters!

 

[Vanner]

about the only thing my lovely Vanner has taken offence to was a Buddhist monk from a local retreat! it was a very cold frosty morning and the monk was in bright orange and wearing flip flops .. most terrifying thing The Cob had ever seen, give him a landing hot air balloon or a combine any day of the week!!!!!

 

[cambrica]

Can't quote Vanner but a Buddhist monk)) LOL ! never thought of having to desensitise to one of those !

 

[Fluffy bunny]

She is only scared of two things...........




Everything that moves and everything that stands still!

 

[kerrieberry2]

stables are really scary to my mare, she will do anything to not go through the door way!

 

[horse.love92]

My just turned 4 year old irish cob/sports horse is not scared of anything , tractors , lorries , crossing railway lines , cows , sheep , water , drains , guns going off very close to him , Flapping black sacks, goats, donkeys , pigs....You name it , he just goes straight on past . Love him

 

[vieshot]

Pigs. He's not scared of cows but will use one of them moving as an excuse to do a sharp 180! Little sod.

 

[Copperpot]

One of them nothing, the other one everything!

A rabbit running out of a bush caused a spin and a canter off last week. Damn those horse killing rabbits!

The other one had a jewsons blue bag thing blowing up the road in the wind at him and as it reached him he kinda jumped it and carried on his way.

 

[Autumn sonnet]

Sheep . Not single sheep , but the ones that move in flocks . You know , the mutant ninja assassin sheep that move in suspiciously stealthy groups . My neighbour had some in the field next to my diva , who then spent the next week rounding everything else up in the field away from the killer sheep , and wouldn't turn his back on them in case they decided to rush him when his back was turned . I had to sedate him in the end .

But then it got worse . For the sheep disappeared , but in the next field over , the farmer did his haylage baling. In black and that greenish off white wrap . Well as any self respecting diva knows , it's not haylage . No no . Those round things are indeed sheep eggs . Black ones for black sheep , offwhite ones for white sheep . For the next three weeks , he spent his time either herding the others away , or glaring at them waiting for them to hatch .

 

[FabioandFreddy]

Geese!!! Terrified of them!! Although to be fair, the 10 geese flapping their wings and honking and hissing at us wasn't particularly pleasant for me either so don;t blame him!

 

[MrsNorris]

Just pigs, brilliant with everything else but a nightmare with pigs! Luckily we don't have many round here so its not really an issue for us.

 

[Shantara]

At the beginning of the week, I went for a hack on Ned. He dealt with a small airplane taking off in the field next to him, 3 lorries whooshing past him, buses, bikes, motorbikes, kids playing football, donkeys, uni students being loud, vans passing less than 2ft away, a petrol station, a fallen tree, pigs, chickens and other such things.

What did he freeze, snort and think about spinning at? A rabbit in the middle of the road. Horses!!! Why do we have them?

 

[Clannad48]

Only two things, the stack of six house bricks outside one of our local competition outdoor arenas and the horse eating long strand of grass in the corner of the school.