Young horse avoidance

[Lynzmc89]

Hi all,
I am riding/ hacking my newly broken gelding. He hacks out really well, have met cars, dogs etc. But if he gets scared and doesn't want to go forward he will go in reverse quite quickly. I have tackled this by turning him around and going in reverse in the correct direction successfully and not stressed either. Now goes past these scary things without any issue
Yesterday however, he didn't want to go into a puddle, it was narrow so difficult to reverse into. It was like he numbed the right hand side of his mouth, refusing to go that direction at all, going left so much he would nearly go through the hedge on road side. I was able to turn him the other way and carry on but am worried that he does this. Leg yielding didn't work either! I just don't want this being a bad habit. Any suggestions welcome. L

 

[outdoor girl]

Have you tried just standing there and letting him investigate the puddle? There might be lots of scary monsters in it and it might be REALLY deep. We had a horse which thought that one puddle in particular just wasn't worth the risk of going through but all the rest were fine????

 

[Meowy Catkin]

With my youngsters I lead them out in hand before they are backed so they are rock solid about being led past 'scary' things. If there is something they are worried about, it is then easy to ask them to stand, dismount, lead them by it and then remount and carry on. I personally find this method very effective at building a horse's confidence as they never get to the point that they are worked up. Horses don't learn well when they are scared so keeping them from getting to that point helps. When I have led them past the scary thing, they generally are more confident about it the next time so then you can stay mounted if they are ready to go by without the extra support of someone on the ground.

 

[IrishMilo]

I find if you give them a long rein and remove pressure they'll naturally gravitate to what the scary thing is out of curiosity. Once they bump noses with it I give them lots of fuss.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Have you tried just standing there and letting him investigate the puddle? There might be lots of scary monsters in it and it might be REALLY deep. We had a horse which thought that one puddle in particular just wasn't worth the risk of going through but all the rest were fine????

Yes horses definitely have a strong sense of self preservation and they don't want to damage their legs. Puddles where they can't see the footing is logically a worrying thing to step into.

I agree that if it is safe, it's worth letting a young horse have the time to look at and investigate things so that they understand them.

I also wouldn't get hung up about a horse actually stepping in a puddle or not, I'm quite happy if they step over it. The important thing is that they don't spook into the middle of the road. Mine regularly go through a ford and they'll still step over puddles.

 

[asmp]

Do you have a wing man? It really helps to have a well behaved horse along side to gain confidence.

 

[ThreeWBs]

You can usually tell what they're really scared of and what they're taking the mick with.

If something is really scary, I do let them have a look, a sniff and take the pressure off if they are curious. If they are just being silly and spooky for no reason, they get pressured to move on and get over it.

Certainly, if they're genuinely scared of a lot of things, having a hacking buddy will be very beneficial.

 

[Branna]

My mare can go into reverse quickly. It's great in theory giving them plenty of time to look, sniff, investigate - but when you have a high speed reverser it's not always possible!!

Usually now I can catch mine quickly with a kick/slap with the whip to stop her going backwards. If there is not enough space to turn/reverse, I would just hop off, lead past and hop back on. This allows you to have the time for them to have a good look. I know traditionally people think that's not good for them to get off, but for me it creates less of an issue and I have never had a horse get worse from it.

Said mare is now 13, I've had her since 4 and she now maybe meets 1 or 2 things a year that get a quick reverse response - the rest of the time she is great to hack but you need quick reactions if she sees something she doesn't like!

Also I would agree with other posters that a hacking buddy is great, can definitely help build confidence even if the baby is in front.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I definitely agree with Branna that dismounting while on a hack is not the awful thing that I was told it was when I was young. The horse does not think it has 'won' (what I was told) and as long as they stand when asked and walk on when asked they are doing as they are told. I also agree that the letting them look at stuff could always be done while you are dismounted.

A sensible buddy to ride out with is great. Sadly I don't have one available here but if you have one definitely arrange to go out with them sometimes.

 

[sport horse]

When you say the puddle 'was narrow' do you mean it was actually quite possible to walk around it? If so why would you use that to start to train your young horse to go through water? Find somewhere with a wider stretch of water, preferably with a lead from an older horse. I suspect your horse did not understand what you were asking and even more important why you were aksing.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I was always getting off my 5 year old as we were alone a lot I led him through a lot puddles, warning you get very wet and muddy doing so!

 

[MissTyc]

He's newly backed, he's learning about the world. Don't overface him. Rather than reversing around, I'd do like many others on this thread and hop off and investigate the scary things together. He needs to trust you, and to trust - with confidence not fear - that if you say something is OK, then it is OK. You have a lifetime to enjoy together