Why do horses spook?

MontyandZoom

MontyandZoom

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 June 2007
Messages
2,478
Visit site
So I have a girl who has monty on sort of part-loan so i don't ride him any more. I asked her if I could borrow him last night since I really miss riding him. He is a tb in his late twenties.

I took him down the lane (just in walk and a tiny trot) in company and he spooked about a million times! He wouldn't walk past the bin that has been there for 2 years and even spooked at his own leg in trot! Luckily he's very handsome so I forgive him
wink.gif
but why do they do it!

Monty is 17hh and you can put a five year old on him and he is perfect. Same with my novice mum, never puts a foot wrong but he always spooks for more confident riders. I am not nervous on him and he's not geniunely scared since it only takes a good pony club kick to get him to walk on (apart from when he's having a tantrum).

Just interested in your thoughts......why do horses spook?
 
i think Dragon does it for fun and red leaves are VV scary indeed! Sorry not helpful at all, i'd be interested to know too!
 
I suppose it's originally because they are flight animals... in the wild (of their comfy field or a hack they do every day) they would react quickly and run, even from something that isn't necessarily a predator but just might be - because otherwise you just might be dead...

Which doesn't quite explain spooking at their own legs / shadows / rabbits / daisies... or why they do it with good riders and not novices. I do think some horses are very good and kind, and with a novice on board somehow know to behave.

Also a more experienced rider probably asks more of them - even if you aren't thinking about it you are probably asking them to walk on, in a straight line, and pay attention. Spooking for some horses seems to be an evasion of this, as they have learned that it's a way to get out of work even momentarily. But if being sloppily ridden, they can mooch along any old how without being asked to do more, so there's nothing to evade.

I am willing to be corrected if anyone knows better!

xx
 
We've had some driving horses like this. I think when they have a novice they're more thinking about that person, maybe not given the confidence. or perhaps the more able rider has their head down more imparing vision... who know... I think some horses just know what they can be sadists!
tongue.gif
 
I suppose that is a good assessment.......he is a lazy bugger! Maybe I inadvertently make him work. I ended up laughing the whole hack since he is so ridiculous.

At least he has taught me stickability. I almost ended up on my arse last night just from a splat in walk!
 
I think genuine spooks are normally becuase of the horses natural prey response and obviously if something is different they need to be able to react quickly. I find horses are often worse if something changes in a familiar place i.e. the yard as they obviously notice it more

It can obviously be a sight issue as well - my horse is partially sighted in one eye which makes him more spooky.

Also a sign of evasion - if the horse is bored they might look for things to react to. My horse actual looks for things to spook at when you are asking him to work particular hard or do something that he finds difficult.

As for silly spooks I wish I knew - my horse dislikes shadows, certain flowers, certain patches of grass, a black bin that hasn't moved for 2 years, poles on the floors, showjump wings when we aren't jumping them, open lorries and trailers if we go past them etc etc
crazy.gif
 
My mare does it totally for amusement purposes!!

Took her out last night and she was horrendously spooky and tantruming about having to work into the contact! I put her on a grass verge for a car to pass and she decided enough was enough and had a full scale hissy fit and made out like she was terrified of the car everytime it tried to pass her!

Now I know for a fact she wasn't scared as the horrendously scary tractor and contraption had passed her on the same lane 2mins earlier and she didn't bat an eyelid! She was also hissy fitting on the spot, she had no intention of getting me off or putting us anywhere near said car or even running away from it!

She's such a drama queen!
 
Chad is becoming more spooky and I think he does it for fun.

We have a scarecrow festival in our village this weekend, every other house will have a freakily scary scarecrow outside - I think I will need my velcro bum jods and a large tub of superglue!
 
My horse spooks when she doesn't have enough to think about e.g. if you give her a long rein at the end of a lesson or if a well-balanced competent rider is deciding to have a ploddy slow warm up on her before jumping.

Hardly spooks with novice riders, except when she's fed up with them.
 
Porridge is particularly stupid about random things at the moment, her turnout has been seriously restricted due to a field spraying error and she is rather full of herself
smile.gif
. I have taken to hacking her out with a short stick that makes a good slapping noise, because it makes me mad when she spooks at white marks on the road, a particular gateway and bits of hedge that look very similar to other bits of hedge but obviously are hiding Porridge eating gremlins under their leaves. The slappy stick focuses her brain and keeps her going forwards - left to her own devices at the moment she would be spooking at her own shadow
smile.gif
 
Frank does spook at his own shadow, it was right in front of us the other night trying to have a canter home, 5 strides oh whats that attempt to apply brakes gets big dig in ribs, 10 strides oh whats that attmept to apply brakes gets big dig in ribs, 10 strides later- the same etc etc.
 
Don't y'love the ones that spook like mad on the way out on a hack, but don't give it another glance on the way back
cool.gif
.

It once took me a good ten minutes to get the Dizzy one past some road work barriers and a triangular sign (the car behind switched its engine off
blush.gif
). On the way back Dizz started to get silly, then stood stock still, so I sat on a loose rein and told her that if she wanted to be get home and be fed she was going to have to go past it and it was up to her, I was too kn*ckered for a discussion
grin.gif
. She did one snort and walked past beautifully
grin.gif
.
 
trying 2 get a baby used to water trays this morning, he would walk over it fine the put a pole up for him 2 jump in trot and canter all went fine !!!
asked him to go the other way over it and it became the scariest thing ever!!!!! one way was fine but the other was clearly going 2 kill him
stupid animal!!!!
 
My horse spooks as an evasion in the arena at home. Hes fine in a new place (too much to think about) and out hacking but in the areans he gets bored, doesnt want to work and spooks for britain. twat
 
Mine was spooking like mad yesterday. I think in part he was trying it on to see if I would just give up and go back (he was doing a very nice half pass down a track at one point!).
We were going down one track and there was nothing there, I think it was just a tiny purple flower and it took a few minutes to go past it.
At another point, he slipped, wound himself up and then was on his toes just looking for things to spook at!
 
Horses have way better senses than us (better hearing etc.) so they can hear things we cant which can spook them. They are also obviously flight animals who have predators (or so they think) so its only natural.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top