why the spook !

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Carolina24

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So now it's dark nights I'm limited to riding as I work full time, my weekly routine is now to ride Saturday and Sunday , lunge on Tuesday and Thursday a girl down the yard does some schooling for me.
So the weekend gets round and Saturday I hacked him out for about 40 minutes on our normal route which is in a residential area with lots of things to look at but it's quiet early in the morning and he seems to enjoy it. ( he gets turn out for about 10 hours of the day ) then Sunday I go down and decide to do a different route, I think I'll head off into the countryside instead and do about an hour and a half, so I get him ready and off we go, it means turning left instead of right out the yard , then he napped near the schooling arena thinking we we're going in there, I pushed him on then he has a big spook at some farm machinery in a gap in the hedge, he's seen this before but when following someone on a push bike and just had a jitter at it last time but this time we get full spook, on his toes on to the grass verge and proper scared managed to get him past that phew..... next we turn a corner on to a bit of road he's never been on before and I can't see anything he would spook at but he starts backing up and I can't get him going forward he has a proper fit and because I don't know what is causing it I can't confront the issue, we endded up turning round ( all I can think of is the ground was patchy due to some of it been wet and the sun was low in the sky so could have been a shadow ) I made him go back past the rollers which got an equal spook on the way back then I took him our normal route and he was fine though napped going past the yard but nothing major. Why did he spook so much for no apparent reason on a new route? He's been that way before behind other horses but why would he spook on his own on a quiet road compared to when I take him down a residential housing area with wheelie bins and loads of other distractions he seems fine!!!! just can't think what caused this behaviour but certainly don't want it again ! ; ( any suggestions ?
 
It sounds like he is testing you a bit and is succeeding in getting you to doubt yourself. Try not to think about what he will spook about hext, he won't spook, just boot him on! Don't give him excuses and if he naps at the start, e.g. thinks he has to go in the school, then make him go in the school, and then go on a hack.

If you find this a bit too much for you can you get someone else to hack him out that way on his own?
 
My horse will nap going out of the yard on her on use your leg and get him moving forward. Next, she will nap if she thinks she is going further than the small route - more leg! If she spooks more leg ride confidently if your confident they will be confident. Another thong i do is when we get to the entrance to the smaller route which is on her left i will place my whip on her left shoulder as an extra aid. Sounds like he is testing you. There is no shame in doing the smaller route for the first few times when you are on your own and then gradually lengthen it. My horse spooked at some oil on the road the other day!!!:rolleyes:
 
skydancer said:
My horse will nap going out of the yard on her on use your leg and get him moving forward. Next, she will nap if she thinks she is going further than the small route - more leg! If she spooks more leg ride confidently if your confident they will be confident. Another thong i do is when we get to the entrance to the smaller route which is on her left i will place my whip on her left shoulder as an extra aid. Sounds like he is testing you. There is no shame in doing the smaller route for the first few times when you are on your own and then gradually lengthen it. My horse spooked at some oil on the road the other day!!!:rolleyes:
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thanks I feel guilty enough that I work full time and now it's dark nights I only get to ride on a weekend, he has some exercise during the week and turn out during the day but it still makes me feel guilty. The other people at the yard have horses but very rarely ride so I go out on my own most the time which does mean I prefer my short route as it's safer in case anything happens.

Only thing is it's only about 40 minutes long which isn't ideal as it can't be enough exercise can it? He's an 8 year old Arab x welsh and very laid back he doesn't bomb around the field the minute I turn him out so do you think he's OK on that amount of exercise or could that be another reason for the spooky behaviour?
 
No useful information but I understand the frustration!

My horse is the only one I have ever known who has literally shied at a piece of grass in his paddock.

I took him out for one of our very rare trail rides a month ago. Late afternoon, happily investigating a new path up until the OMG HORSE EATING MONSTERS who were way up on the side of the mountain 100m away and there were a hundred of them if there were 2 at all and dear God NOOOO there was one on the ground with four legs and wagging a terrifying dagger located on his rear end and LOOK OUT they are moving away from us but that is just a ploy and I have to leave NOW NOW NOW NOW lmao.

I refused to let him turn around and the end result consisted of buck buck buck rip the reins and spin and turn and buck buck buck buck jump to the right and buck and turn and OMG they are still moving away from us buck buck rear buck shy prance on the spot buck again. By this time I had really sore shoulders so I just got off and made the tool walk around in circles until I nearly fell over dizzy. By this time the monsters were long gone but we still had to go straight home!!!! :eek:
 
Sounds like all the variations of napping to me, he's obviously been reading a book on it and is testing out all the examples, ride positively from the start of a 'different route' hack and let him know that you are the boss, the leader and what you say goes, he will try it on and it may take the whole hack to start with , but NEVER turn round, you basically let him get an honours degree in napping when you do that, ride in company and make him lead if it makes you feel safer, if you feel safer you will ride more positively!
 
snopuma said:
Sounds like all the variations of napping to me, he's obviously been reading a book on it and is testing out all the examples, ride positively from the start of a 'different route' hack and let him know that you are the boss, the leader and what you say goes, he will try it on and it may take the whole hack to start with , but NEVER turn round, you basically let him get an honours degree in napping when you do that, ride in company and make him lead if it makes you feel safer, if you feel safer you will ride more positively!
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Yes he does seem very smart and has clearly got the hang of this napping game. we did have to turn around as we we're on a 60 road and a blind corner and it was getting rather dangerous but when we did turn around I didn't let him go straight home I made him walk past the yard and carry on to do our short route. I wish I had the option to ride in company but no one else rides there horses I don't know why that is but they just don't seem to ride or maybe they work different hours and ride whilst I'm at work during the day, it's really frustrating me, this is the first time I've had a horse in winter and I'm feeling like such a failure but I need to work full time to be able to afford a horse so how can I get round it, plus my little helper has said that it's too dark to ride after school now so she can't help me either !!! aghhhhh !
 
As my horse is an ex hunter she is used to lots of excercise - when you first leave the yard she is always on her toes and ready to spook at nothing. When we have been riding about half hour she tends to "settle". IMO the longer the ride the better - 40 minutes isnt long but if that is all you can manage try lunging him first to get him relaxed and vary the pace when you are hacking trotting away from the yard often helps as they dont have time to decide to spook insert at least one canter and when walking keep your leg on but dont let him trot lots of impulsion is required to get him working properly. Try shoulder in, leg yeild etc when safe try circles all of this will give him something to think about rather than looking for an excuse to spook or nap - talk to him so he is listening to you - hope this helps!:)
 
thanks I plan on lunging tonight and working on our voice aids - I need to teach him a voice aid for canter as my leg aids aren't great - does anyone have any tips for that ? sorry hi-jacking my own thread I know but I would like to know some good voice aids for canter and how to get him to respond to it ?
 
Of course he spooked - it's all new, isn't it? Just because you know there isn't anything scary there doesn't mean he believes you (it's your job to get that belief; horse takes confidence from the rider). If you do the same routine every day he will get comfortable with that, if you change it you will have to put up with some rowdiness until he settles. A good argument for not always doing the same things and making sure your horse believes you are a trustworthy "boss".
 
Cortez said:
Of course he spooked - it's all new, isn't it? Just because you know there isn't anything scary there doesn't mean he believes you (it's your job to get that belief; horse takes confidence from the rider). If you do the same routine every day he will get comfortable with that, if you change it you will have to put up with some rowdiness until he settles. A good argument for not always doing the same things and making sure your horse believes you are a trustworthy "boss".
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All well and good but on a main road on my own with not many people about and I've only been riding since April this year I think that's asking a lot, yes when other horses are there or someone on a push bike etc he'll go anywhere but it's simply the fact of having to do it just me and him .
 
Carolina24 said:
All well and good but on a main road on my own with not many people about and I've only been riding since April this year I think that's asking a lot, yes when other horses are there or someone on a push bike etc he'll go anywhere but it's simply the fact of having to do it just me and him .
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Yes, I do think that's asking a lot, and I'm surprised you are riding out alone on a main road without company at this early stage of your riding career. Why not stay somewhere safer until you are fully in control and able to cope with situations as they arise?
 
Persist and carry on eventually he will stop napping and spooking. My horse was ridden through Central London for years yet when taken on holidays to the countryside he found something to spook at. It is all a matter of getting them in an established routine and used to things in unfamillar surroundings. Horses have a very good sense of smell and will recognice new things by smell.
 
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