Would desensitising help?

[Doormouse]

My 4 year old has thus been horizontal - easy to break, been all sorts of places and been very laid back but she has always been very spooky and looky and now she is feeling stronger and fitter she is getting to be a bit of a nuisance with it. Mostly she just pokes and peers at everything from a large leaf to a twig or whatever but the big spooks are somewhat extreme. She rarely makes a fuss about large really frightening things, brilliant in traffic etc but a change of colour in the ground or an unexpected pile of feathers - panic!

I know this is fairly normal for many youngsters but the problem I now have is that she is only 15.1hh, very short, short necked and a bit like trying to sit an elastic band in a bad mood! When she spooks, she shoots sideways and leaps away from whatever it is she has seen and I am really struggling to stay on board. She managed to shed me in a field the other day because she saw a stone that had been hit by the baler (think grey flecks on the floor) and she literally vanished out from underneath me. I should have had hold of my neckstrap but I wasn't expecting it to be honest. I really don't want this to become a funny habit as she is so difficult to sit to, just wondering if I could do anything to desensitise her to things like this?

 

[EQUIDAE]

Sounds like normal behaviour for a youngster. Instead of a neckstrap try a monky grab that goes between the D-rings. You can loop a finger or two under it just in case. It will get better - she just needs to get out and see as much as possible. I wouldn't say desensitisation as such, more experience. As long as you continue to be confident with her it will get less and less

 

[Doormouse]

Sounds like normal behaviour for a youngster. Instead of a neckstrap try a monky grab that goes between the D-rings. You can loop a finger or two under it just in case. It will get better - she just needs to get out and see as much as possible. I wouldn't say desensitisation as such, more experience. As long as you continue to be confident with her it will get less and less

Thank you, I'm sure you are right and I am trying to get her out and about loads now. She was so laid back and lazy that I was probably a bit gentle with her over the summer and gave her more time off than I should have. Now the weather has turned and she has started autumn hunting she has suddenly woken up and is becoming quite sharp. Will keep going and hope she gets a bit more sensible with plenty of work.

 

[OWLIE185]

Yes plenty of work. At least 4 hours hacking per day 7 days per week should get her used to the environment around her.
If she does not get better then get her eyesight checked out by your vet.

 

[Doormouse]

Yes plenty of work. At least 4 hours hacking per day 7 days per week should get her used to the environment around her.
If she does not get better then get her eyesight checked out by your vet.

Not sure exactly what you are meaning by this. If it is a dig about over working a 4 year old then perhaps you should not judge how much a youngster is doing unless you know the horse and the person dealing with it. Her eye sight is excellent, she is homebred and has been checked regularly.

 

[EQUIDAE]

Not sure exactly what you are meaning by this. If it is a dig about over working a 4 year old then perhaps you should not judge how much a youngster is doing unless you know the horse and the person dealing with it. Her eye sight is excellent, she is homebred and has been checked regularly.

Ignore the ashats... I think someone's on their period...

Of course I didn't mean 'lots' as in 4 hours 7 days a week.

 

[Doormouse]

Ignore the ashats... I think someone's on their period...

Of course I didn't mean 'lots' as in 4 hours 7 days a week.

I know you didn't! There is a big difference between giving a horse enough work and work variety and over working something. Far rather they were out and about at different places than endlessly pounding round a piece of sand everyday.

 

[Speedyfluff]

I use a rs-tor on spooky horses and youngsters. You can hold it without it interfering with normal use of the reins. I don't envy you. My retired gelding was like that. He could shoot sideways in a flash and was very difficult to sit to. The rs-tor was a godsend.

 

[LHIS]

I don't know if this would help, but my youngster can be a bit like this and instead of riding him out when he's full of it and risk falling off, I just walk him out and that way he can play silly buggars with the horse-eating plastic bag and I am safe on the ground. I have him on a long line and this gives us the opportunity to take a closer look at the scary bag/cone/leaf/wheelie bin/puddle and I make sure he is comfortable with said scary thing before we carry on.
I'm riding him more and more and the walks have definitely helped, he now just looks at it and walks past (eyeing it suspiciously still, but we'll get there)