Your views please...

I think in some cases it can help if the horse can see you go first to prove there is no danger. It wouldn't help with something like a tractor [IMO] but something like a noisy stream or a very scary bush, maybe.

I wouldn't get off except in extreme circumstances though, in a situation where I felt I was more in danger staying on board or something where I'd tried endlessly to get a horse past something and the only way to "win" was to get off and lead past.
 
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If Archie panics out hacking and sees something he dosent like he will just spin and b*gger off with me in the other direction. No amount of persuading will make him walk past whatever it is either. I dont like to hit him when hes genuinly scared as it makes him worse. I just get off, lead him past (he loves following me around!) and then get back on and carry on. Problem solved!


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OK, so for sure with you and A, he needs to SEE you negotiate the scary thing before he can gain confidence himself? If you come across the same thing on a different day what does he do then?
 
Interesing responses so far. Ive always felt that in tricky situations you should try and stay on board however I think a lot boils down to the horses personality and stage of training. I know that if I take a young horse to something he has never seen before he may be one who needs driving past or he could be one that takes confidence in me as leader and will willingly pass if I go first.

Just to open this up more, sorry Weezy, what are your feelings on turning horses heads AWAY from the thing they are spooking at? I dont mean things they have seen hundreds of times before, things they almost use as an excuse, I mean things they have never encountered.
 
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it took her a while to get over it but we did.

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Excellent...see this is kind of what I am interested in hearing - your horse was still unsure with you on the ground as you on board - therefore you can 100% say that the obstacle was deffo worrying the horse, and the horse wasn't just being pig headed and followed you as soon as you jumped off - who knows if you had sat on top for a while longer she may have gone over as she did following you - Mind I would say you did the right thing as covers over holes in the ground are rather unstable!!!
 
Maybe Weezy..The same as he may need a lead from another horse. I guess its about knowing your own horse. I just feel sitting there for half an hour pushing, and shoving and/or whipping your horse until it goes over isn't helping in the long run.
 
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Maybe Weezy..The same as he may need a lead from another horse. I guess its about knowing your own horse. I just feel sitting there for half an hour pushing, and shoving and/or whipping your horse until it goes over isn't helping in the long run.

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And, lets face it, who has the time or inclination to do that if they are squeezing a hack into their long day!
 
Quite..why make a mountain out of a molehill
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I might get off not because the horse will act differently but because If he spooks or runs off I can't fall off as I am already on the ground. Also if his jumpiness is making me nervous he may feel that and be more scared whereas on the floor I would not be nervous.
 
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Just to open this up more, sorry Weezy, what are your feelings on turning horses heads AWAY from the thing they are spooking at? I dont mean things they have seen hundreds of times before, things they almost use as an excuse, I mean things they have never encountered.

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OK, say it is a big scary funfair ride on the back of a wagon on the road, I will shoulder in with the horse's head bent TOWARDS the wagon, absolutely deffo, never, not on your nelly, away - same as if something is coming up behind us (I have regularly with a horse that we are traffic proofing), we go into a space and turn and face the object - always.
 
If my horse was in a blind panic and I had tried staying on board, tried coaxing etc and felt she was going to start vertical rearing, bolting or cause chaos in traffic then I will get off. I have only got off a small number of times like reversing in to road when trying to open bridleway gate, rearing at something and horse and traps, if she is panicking down a bridleway I will stay on but on the road with traffic it is safer to dismount her (IMO) as if forced too far she will vertical rear, its all softly softly but forceful
 
The way I see it is, the horse often sees getting off as a reward - after a long schooling session/jumping etc. So effectively you are rewarding his frightened behaviour, which then makes him think that more frightened behaviour will get him more reward.
I often used to battle Murphy over plastic bags etc and I vowed never to get off. Now we hardly ever have any issues and I believe this is because Murphy had learnt that Ive never let him get away with it AND Ive never asked him to do anything that has harmed him in anyway.
Just my thoughts and as always, horses for courses!
 
Now thats my thinking too, in fact if theres time Id be very happy to stand and stare at it for a few minutes till the snorting and neck stretching stopped. So many times Ive heard riders say 'turn his head away' but that makes no sense, how on earth do you reasure a horse that these things are safe if they arent alowed to investigate them a bit first? Makes no sense to me.
 
Interesting thread.

I own a nappy horse. She will always be nappy, and I accept this. I've dealt with her naps in 2 ways as I've had to restart her and she's a youngster.

If I was with someone else, which I made sure I was for the first 6 months of hacking out, then I never got off her, and made her go past 'scary things' from my leg (and whip aids) once she'd seen most things following the bombproof horse.

Now she's a confident hack on her own, and I've learnt to tell the difference between her naughty naps, which get a wallop, and are very very rare now (she hasn't stopped for at least a year), and her scared naps.

If it's safe when she's scared, then I wait and coax her past with me on board. I'm her 'leader' regardless of whether I'm on foot or on board, and my leg aids, backed up with stick if needed are enough to get her past almost everything.

If it's not safe I get off, for example I got off her fairly recently to go past a building site for the first time, with lots of cars going past and she was starting to back into the road.
When I'm on foot she can see me go past the object confidently, and is very happy to follow me anywhere. I've found it's better not to force the issue sometimes, a quiet lead past and hop back on.
She's since been past this building site without flinching.

I have to say though that she's a quiet horse in general, and I wouldn't contemplate getting off a worked up, spinning horse, but then I don't think I'd want to ride a horse like that any more.
 
interesting - my old horse took confidence from anyone or any dog to lead him past something - it didn't have to be me or another horse

if it was something spooky (and he was a spooky old B) he would plant himself to the point of danger and he was also bad to get on (even when i was more athletic)

but all we had to have was a normal dog walker or walker or cyclist or basically any old person on the ground walk past the object and he'd follow them - nothing to do with me specifically or anyone he knew leading him

on his own the only route past some things was in reverse - turn him round, rein back and when he got level with whatever he'd 180 whip round and then end up facing the direction I wanted to go anyway and then carryon

as I said - he was a big B
 
Usually I would stay on board, but have got off of both of mine on a couple of occassions when we have been hacking out alone and they have been badly frightened by something and they have walked reasonably calmly passed whatever was scary with me in between them and the scary thing but this is probably because I do a lot of work in hand. I can usually coax them past the majority of things.
Sometimes I will ask my horses to concentrate more prehaps by doing some lateral work or asking for an outline or change of pace if we are approaching something scary and I will ask them for slight flexation away from a scary object if we are on the roads as I find this seems to stop them spooking into the middle of road, however I will let my horses investigate things if it is safe for them to do so.
 
Ditto Spaniel,i cant think what would scare a horse more than not being allowed to look at the thing that is scaring them, for all they know it could be coming after them and they cant see it.

with Beau I let him explore whatever he wants, which is why he has ended up with his head in cardboard boxes and in bins, but he knows there is nothing to be scared of.
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Do these people, who say "turn his head away" understand the range of vision a horse has
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No, you face whatever it is head on - you let the horse look, snort, evaluate, and (hopefully) realise that there is not a dangerous horse eating tiger hiding somewhere near
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Totally agree with this, Ive always let Murphy look within reason, that way he feels he's made his mind up too. I dont see the sense is downright bullying a horse past if its genuinely scared - that way it'll stay scared because its never had the chance to think otherwise!!
 
I always let my horses look at whatever is scaring them. in the case of Rosie this is enough for her to use her brain and realise it is nothing to be afraid of. Jack I often have to use a pitying tone of voice implying my distain of his stupidity. Then rather sheepishly he goes past.

If they are truly refusing to go past something (which usually means in their case that they are napping) I reverse them past it. I never carry a stick and never let it become a confrontation.... Hmmm feel I am tempting fate by writing this....
 
I don't think i have ever got off a horse that wouldn't go past something........possibly as up until this horse i have never had a horse that wouldn't go past something after a little persuasion!

However with my girl it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference weather i'm on or not so i stay on as she is a big girl and when is is scared of something she has no awareness of anything around her so there would be a good chance i would get trampled!! My girl doesn't tend to plant her feet unless it is something that is really scareing her and i can just tell the difference now between her being a wuss and being scared! As i havn't had my girl that long she still doesn't look to me for confidence...but she will look to other horses. She is a spooky mare when ridden or when being taken to field etc but she is getting better..........the reactions are becoming less extreme, but is is definitely a flight animal!

I won't get off her as i'm safer on her than next to her and if i start getting off now she will never learn that i won't make her go somewhere that isn't safe. She needs to trust me and theres no point in gaining trust by leading her when i'm riding as i need her to trust me when i'm on her and out and about!
 
I don't see how anyone can say 'never do it' or 'always do it' - surely your response to a spook should depend on the horse/on what he is spooking at. It would also depend on whether he was frightened or just full of mischief.

So in answer to Weezy's question - sometimes I get off, sometimes I don't.
 
For me, its how far would I go to get a horse past something. If it isn't going to go past/over/through the obstacle with increased leg or 'normal' whip use (ie, leg backup) or a bit of growling or whatever then my answer is to get off.
 
I prefer to deal with this by staying on top - in my case it's generally safer than being trampled underfoot by a 1600lb beastie!! Henry is clever though, and normally when he spooks it's more for fun that actually being dense enough to be scared of something. If I sense it's general merriment on his behalf I'll just ride him through the spook, however if he is genuinely scared (doesn't happen often) I will reassure him by speaking soothingly and patting his neck, but will not allow him to turn away. He then accepts I know there's nothing wrong and we'll get past the thing fine.

IMO and IME - horses aren't often scared as such - they just play up to make entertainment, test that we are still on board and functioning and to enjoy a snort or two!

Or have I just been lucky enough to own horses that don't scare easily (with the exception of my old bolter!).
 
i never used to get off, never never never. as far as i was concerned, since i was training mine to event and they'd always have to go where i said, on their own, getting off wasn't an option. patience and determination won every time, for every horse, for years and years... until my latest homebred.
she had a big fright as a 5 yr old... hacking out alone, a van came speeding towards us and believe it or not its shadow travelling along on the other side of the ditch parallel to it scared the bejeeezus out of her... she turned and ran. nothing i could do but stay on, stop her, calm her down, ride her fwd again. the van driver backed up and went another way, but she hadn't been frightened of that anyway... it was the weird-shaped shadow doing 50mph towards her that she was looking at.
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unfortunately, since then she's been a bit of a wuss about certain things, and i have had to get off her more than once. i sat on her for 3 hours once to get her past a parked bowser trailer (which she'd been past before, but never without being led past it)... she isn't playing up, she's genuinely terrified.
as soon as i'm on the floor, she will happily walk on with me. i think she reasons that whatever it is has to eat me first, so she'll have time to escape!
with any other horse, i wouldn't get off. it's too easy for them to go up in the air, say, snatch the reins out of your hand and head for home. at least when you're on top, you're with them.
 
as the one who perhaps instigated the thinking behind this thread.....well...i think i will risk a reply
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unlike many other people, i actually feel safer ON my horse than off her - when i was younger, i used to get off during many incidents, as I was less sure of what she would do and how i should handle it. in doing so, i have actually received several nasty injuries; i dismounted to lead her between two bollards on a byway (which had been placed there to stop off roaders, about 1m apart, oh-so-scary!!) she trusted me enough to follow, but just as she got her body between them, she lurched to the side, crushing my hip against it. Cue v v v black hip, and a later-to-be-discovered twisted pelvis! so its soooooooooooooo much more preferable for me to stay on top; i feel i have more control that way, both over her and, more to the point, over me!!

also, as many of you may have gathered, i dont like mickey-taking; IMO, if you own a horse, you are in charge, and so (within reason) if rider says go, and all is safe, horse should go. (i am a little hippocrittical here; i have been known to drop the reins on ellies neck and say hey! where dya want to go today! LOL. but thats going away from the point!
 
I'm a stay on board till you really need to bale out. Although one of mine has a tendancy to just be a complete bitch when she feels like it and will start to snort, jogg on the spot at that point I bale out as it doesn't matter if she is on the drive or in a field we then get the mini rear the 180 turn (she's a polo pony) and then the bronking! At 24 she should know better but you can't give her a smack at this point as it then becomes a big battle and believe me she can and will deck you! not on concrete so I will bale out. Other than her little tizzs she isn't spookey or nappy at all. She tends to go through the naughty stage when ridden past the stallions field or when she's nearing peak fitness. Either way I don't want either her or me to end up on the concrete. Any other horse then yes I would stay on board and it would get a firm reprimand, it's only with her that I let her little fads go amiss, at her age there is not alot one can do about it now.
 
i've never baled out either. i knew someone who had an ex-racehorse which used to bolt with her (well, i think it used to run away, not a proper blind-panic-bolt) and she used to jump off it. broke bones every time. durr. amazingly the horse never killed itself after she'd baled out.
 
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