Spooking

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khall
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Spooking

Postby khall » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:02 pm

Sounds like many of us are dealing with horses who are finding things to be concerned about. Thought it might help us all if we discussed the strategies we employ in dealing with spookiness. And the how the different horses change those strategies

It’s been windy here and rattling the bushes around my arena and other areas where I work the horses. And deer! They are moving through the farm daily. Joplin is the easiest to deal with even if she spooks she does not hang on to the concern and if I just continue with the work she comes back to you. Gaila is not a huge spooker but her attention just leaves and she tunes you out and gets charging around. Rip was a big difficult spooker thatif I could keep him from the spin he would not spook but would keep looking and looking. Not fun. Juliet leaves town. How she has hurt her owner badly twice and then hangs on to it all.

Is it even possible to get them back? I did finally with Gaila yesterday but it was not pretty. Give up and hope for better next time? Turn them loose? Put them on line? Work in hand? I’ve had times riding Rip where we stayed in SI just about the entire ride. Yesterday with Gaila it was 10 m circles. With Joplin it is ignore it and keep on working. It’s just difficult when those who tune you out trying to ride them through it

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Chisamba
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Re: Spooking

Postby Chisamba » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:56 pm

I admit that if the horse does something dangerous, or something that scares me enough to think it's dangerous, I do the ol' western horses nose to my knee. I'm simply too old and now less brave than I used to be to deal with a horse behaving precipitously when scared. Now, in my defense people bring their horses to me that have already become dangerous and want me to fix them.

Faramir, Art Deco /percheron /paint. 17'2 hh. When he spooks he starts to buck and mostly gets worse and worse til the rider comes off. Previous training. All kinds of sacking out. In hand with tarps, bags of cans, et al. He ditched his rider 3 times in one ride finally breaking her ribs. My approach. I am no one's crash test dummy. I won't even get on that pile of muscle if I don't feel I can keep myself safe.

My training. In hand, Nose to stirrup until horse is completely still. Release. Over and over until precipitous bend immediately stops the horse.

Care is taken to make sure the horse feels safe and rewarded when he stops. Then mount. Gently practice nose to knee halt a few times. Ride. Tension, distraction, bucking rearing, spooking, nose to knee. Stop reward. Yes I can imagine all kinds of people thinking I am being cruel, precipitous flexion blah blah. The horse has a choice. Stop stand I'm done.

When I was young and had a better seat I simply slacked the reins and let the horse run til it was done.

I have found some horses do well if they are just stopped and allowed to look. Some do better if you keep them on the aids and pretend it didn't happen.

But most of the horses I ride have been introduced to the bend to halt aid just in case I might need it.

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Chisamba
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Re: Spooking

Postby Chisamba » Sun Feb 13, 2022 9:01 pm

I do think it's really important that you do what you are good at and keep yourself safe. If you are training for some on else, you have to teach the horse to respond to something the other rider can do.

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Re: Spooking

Postby heddylamar » Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:53 am

I do a ton of groundwork with them before ever getting on their backs. Both on the ground and under saddle, Maia and Anz both know that shoulder- or haunches-in means business. It's awful hard to spook or misbehave while doing either, so if Anz is being skittish or Maia gathers herself in the "I'm about to leap" body language, I have a few moments to say "nope" and redirect their attention.

My elder mare, Anzia, is a special case. She's really anxious, so everything is spooky. I'm a very laid-back, relaxed rider in general, but I had to learn to become nearly comatose sitting on her. Any bit of tension from me just ramps up her conviction that everything is out to get her, so I end up doing some light meditation while riding some days. It works. If I'm calm while snow is sliding off the roof of the indoor, or the neighbor is firing up a leaf blower on the roof of his two story house(?!), or the barn owner's husband bleeds the compressor, then Anz just looks at those things sideways v. attempting to turn herself inside out in the next county.

And if all else fails, I can do the emergency nose-to-knee maneuver.
Last edited by heddylamar on Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Moutaineer » Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:00 am

Chisamba, I agree. You do what you need to do to keep safe.

There are many different kinds of "spooking," and many different triggers, I feel. The level and type of spook will temper my enthusiasm for either finding the trigger or not pursuing riding that horse.

Potters is a "spook in place, more or less" horse. They can be a pretty dramatic yard sale, but in general, they are one and done and he's back to work. He doesn't buck or take off, just sort of flings himself around. We've dealt with it up to now by ignoring and moving on, but we are beginning to feel that maybe a bit more of a "make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard" response may be in order. I know he's always going to have that bit of sharpness in him, but he also needs to learn to exercise some self-control.

He really needs a positive and assertive ride where he knows you are in control. There's not much room for error or fumbling or he takes over. I've had to learn to really ride him through the spooky spots or when he starts to tense up and look, rather than tensing up in anticipation myself.

Laddie was a "spook and bolt, buck and wrench the reins out of your hands" kind of guy. He is also 17.2, and I'm astounded and grateful I never came off him, but I got good at making damned sure he never got his head down, but he was also one you'd be very careful about pulling his head round to you knee, because I think he would have fallen over. I very much dislike a bucking horse, so I wasn't too thrilled about it being his go to response for any uncomfortable situation.

I do think its important to try and work out what the trigger is--is it aural, visual, pain, confusion? Does one cause feed another? Is the horse uncomfortable physically or mentally and feels like one more thing will overload and provoke an explosion? Is the horse just plain naughty or has it discovered that this behavior will get them out of work which is harder than they feel like doing on any given day?

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Re: Spooking

Postby StraightForward » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:39 am

Moutaineer wrote:Laddie was a "spook and bolt, buck and wrench the reins out of your hands" kind of guy. He is also 17.2, and I'm astounded and grateful I never came off him, but I got good at making damned sure he never got his head down, but he was also one you'd be very careful about pulling his head round to you knee, because I think he would have fallen over. I very much dislike a bucking horse, so I wasn't too thrilled about it being his go to response for any uncomfortable situation.


My mosts vivid memory of Laddie is when he was 5 or so - the indoor arena was open on one wall - I heard his owner scream his name and then he went bolting off down the arena and I saw her hit the dirt. Sorry to hear he didn't grow out of that. :(

I"m totally with you on the horses having different triggers and different reactions.

Annabelle tends to be much spookier when we are traveling to the right. She is stiff to the right, so I think she is already struggling to bend to the right, and feels less secure, so when she sees things out of her left eye she starts spooking. Her spook is what someone on ToB called "the pogo stick." She just slams her front feet into the ground and pops in the air. It will turn into a pretty scary rear in more tense situations, and you just don't see it coming. She did a few good ones in a clinic off property, and the clinician (after I declined to get off and lunge) talked me through just riding her through it, really keeping her front legs out in front of her so she physically couldn't stop and rear. Not fun at all, and I don't know that I've got the brass most days to ride that, but at least I know how when I need to. It does help to put her in haunches in more so than the common recommendation to put the horse in SI. I think because it allows her to see to the outside better and keeps her outside hind more grounded. I also use a little stirrup stepping to help ground her feet when we are working past a spot where I know she is wanting to spook. It works kind of like slowing the posting to just ground the feet more. The one time she dumped me was when Canada geese flew off the barn roof when we were walking on a free rein.

Telsa is mostly spooky about noises. No way will I ride her when snow is coming off the indoor arena roof, which incidentally Annabelle barely blinks an eye at. I haven't really figured out how to work her past that. Today she was just distracted by dogs and people up on the ditch bank, but not spooking. She gets a little agitated and it takes just sitting and putting leg on to try to get her back to work. Luckily she is sensible enough and an energy conservationist, so I know she can't be bothered to expend too much energy, and has a strong enough self preservation to not run into a fence or fall down.
Keep calm and canter on.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Kyras_Mom » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:45 am

Kyra seems to mostly be over the big spook thing however, I have no doubt it is still in there. Twice over the years she has literally teleported 5-6 feet sideways landing me in the dirt. I mean one second she is under me and the next she is not. The other big spook was when she nearly stepped on a nesting pheasant and it flew up under her nose. That one she literally squatted out from under me and spun. At least it didn't hurt much as I was already close to the ground. No time to do any correction... just fall off. She has never been a bucker. She just puts her Iberian agility on display.

At the new barn, there is a bunch of deer in the neighborhood. I am sure that could elicit a teleport episode. So far at this barn, all she has done is spook in place. Her problem has been distraction. When she is so distract-able, it is very hard to get her to work with you. She is tense and quick and aids either don't go through and/or compound the tension.
She was that way last week. The second distracted ride, I finally figured out a way in...kind of the make the right thing easy and wrong thing hard theme. I have gotten much better at not taking any spooking personally. She has usually had a legitimate reason and a prey animal response so what are you going to do but continue to work on that partnership and convince her that I have her back(safety wise). Now that she is nearing 20, I am slowly but surely getting there but man has it been a process.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Moutaineer » Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:50 am

SF, I think I'm glad you've never told me rhat story about Laddie before! You make me feel like I'm not as incompetent a rider as I sometimes think I am, though.

Annabelle sounds a lot like Potters, except he doesn't have a rear that I've found yet.

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:01 am

Kyra’s Mom that is Gaila exactly. Distracted. Aids are difficult to go through. She will spook some but it’s more about just not paying attention. I had to ride the snot out of her yesterday lots of transitions and 10 m circles to keep her from charging off being on the muscle. Being a WB does not make her gaits choppy but does make her get strong in the hand.

Mostly with the horses here lately it is the wind. Today was even a challenge just leading Rip and Joplin in. They were on their toes and Joplin was going sideways to the barn. The worst I had was when we had spitting rain/snow mix blowing sideways. Joplin was about to come unglued and basically jogged sideways to the barn. Not surprising considering the first time she got rained on as a foal she pitched such a fit I could not catch her. She was highly insulted she was getting rained on. She’s better about it now but leading can still be dicey in the rain. Not sure what she would do riding in anything more than sprinkles!

I’m thankful though that Joplin still is so rideable even if she spooks. First she takes you with her and she comes back to you. I don’t mind riding a legitimate spook as long as they listen afterwards. It’s riding that distraction that is so difficult though not bolt off bucking difficult! That’s exactly why I quit riding Rip.(take off bucking last time I ever rode him) Though I think his was airway/physical issues that can be understood.

Juliet bolts but is not a huge bucker. She spooks hard though when she does spook ( which is not all that often) then takes off. I can stop her even in a snaffle. Though I quit riding her after she spooked so hard she fell over.

Chisamba those draft crosses can be nasty buckers. There’s a good reason the bucking string in the rodeos are often draft crosses. I have no interest in riding Juliet anymore. Or Rip for that matter.

I can definitely see needing the one rein stop with such a dangerous horse. Rip was normally not that bad though his spooks when I could not catch them before they happened were difficult to stay on. That prop and spin 180. Sucked.

I did feel like I finally got through to Gaila and ended up in a stretched trot both directions. We both worked hard though! I’m like chisamba I have no desire to ride the difficult ones anymore. It’s just not fun. That is how Mark died.

Hope those of you dealing with frozen cold warm up! My hay is off to you for persisting in such cold frozen mess. Especially having to slog around caring for them too. I just cannot imagine.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Domica » Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:05 pm

I forked over $20 for a Charles DeKunffy vlog on "How To Deal With A Spooky Horse", the advert came across my Facebook page quite frequently and I finally succumbed after another spookfest with my mare.

It started with an introduction to the Maestro, then the question posed by the interviewer, CDK responded (I paraphrase) "you must get ze 'orses attenshun". Marvellous thinks I, even though this would be entirely logical, now I'm going to learn how to "get ze 'orses attenshun". 5 minutes later CDK has repeated the attenshun requirement several times but has still not stated the how. 10 minutes later still the same, 15 minutes in the video ended. So I was told something I knew already but nothing about the practical application. Needless to say I've now blocked any feed from the CDK Facebook site.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Chisamba » Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:35 pm

Dominica he is very good at effusive language.

Possibly not helpful, and just good logic, but to keep my horses attention through a spook I re establish whatever they took away as quick as possible. So if they leapt left, I push them right. If they stiffen on the left rein I make them supple on the left rein. I ignore the spook but try to resume the aids immediately til I never lose them
Last edited by Chisamba on Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Spooking

Postby exvet » Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:04 pm

I'm pretty lucky as none of the three I'm riding now are all that reactive. When they do spook it's pretty much in place and once they get to look at it and figure out all is okay just move on and forget about it. Of the three here, Brandon is the most dramatic because he'll spook and try to jump or swing out from underneath you but that's really about it. He's going through a stage now whereas the demands increase he starts to look around more and seek things to make an issue over but that too is rather benign. So, for the most part I just let them get a good look if it's an honest spook and then move on. Now Morgan, the infamous stinker pony, is another matter. He's a typically brave pony but if something does spook him, the amount of velcro on your seat is the key to survival. He will first jump then buck and keep bucking until you're unseated, or you've managed to stop him. While that would seem easy on a 13-hand pony, NOT! No matter the height of a Welsh cob the one rein stop requires a fitness level like no other. For him I would do my best to ride through it; but if I noticed that he was particularly distracted or 'unnervy' we would work in hand that day as opposed to even stepping into a situation that was likely to escalate. On those I've ridden that were more middle of the rode like the infamous Monty (who's doing one-tempis now at the age of 24), the key was lateral work and not just lateral work but composing a well thought out ever-changing-the-direction dance because he is definitely one that once the tension creeps into his brain the scary thing never totally goes away until the venue or day changes.

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Re: Spooking

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:34 pm

I was thinking about this yesterday, as it was chilly and breezy as we headed out to work in the fields.

In general, Emi is such an honest horse that if given an aid (a bit of seatbone, a touch of leg, a brief addition of contact in the reins, etc.), she is going to flick and widen her ears and listen. If her ears are dead forward and not moving, she is on high alert and will spook! My job is literally to get her attention and get her ears moving (which might require a demand like a lateral movement). I honestly don't let her travel in the ring or out and about with those ears in high alert mode and me on her back! So there is something to "get their attention" :lol: :lol:

That said, Emi is a somewhat spooky horse despite also being very reliable and obedient in many ways. For her, being put on the aids is a security blanket. I also don't make her face new scary things head-on. I think if I "made" her face her fears, she would think that I am very untrustworthy leader :-)

Her go-to moves range from spook in place to 10-foot teleportation to 360 spin and bolt. Honestly, the bigger moves have all been things that were shocking to both of us (like a deer or bull appearing very suddenly out of brush) and they were kind of fair to do from a horse POV. And yeah, I've ridden that stuff out. Call it the benefits of a dressage saddle + a comfortable horse with "average gaits"! I do not put beginner riders on her, though, because they can easily be lulled into thinking she is sooo quiet. Yup. She is until, she needs help (put her on aids) or is scared.

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:49 pm

Exvet size is not an advantage in horses other than the shorter ones are closer to the ground. My DH and I had to wrestle a 150 lb new born foal that could not stand and nurse when first born. It was WWE with us on the losing side. Horses are just so strong and quick.

Piedmont I do feel that the Iberians are just bred to work with the riders in general and like you say are just so honest. Joplin is not a spooky horse except in windy conditions Gaila too is not so spooky just very distractable.

I generally like lateral work to help get their attention. It just was not working with Gaila but the small circles and frequent change of direction did ultimately get her back.

We’ve had wind and more wind as I’m standing here in the wind letting the dogs play. Mom won’t hardly step outside in the cold. Though thank goodness not 9!! That’s frostbite cold

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Re: Spooking

Postby blob » Mon Feb 14, 2022 4:49 pm

Neither of my current two horses are spooky. RP can be reactive, but it's usually not to things he sees and MM is just about as 'bomb proof' as a horse can possibly be.

But I've had plenty of spookers in my past. Like Chisamba, I learned to do a one rein stop on the ones that were going to get especially dramatic about their spooking. but I also found that often my spooky horses were mostly distracted/unfocused more than being genuinely scared of something. I used to lease a mare who could have an explosive spook, but it was almost always because she was starting to get unfocused. So, the trick with her was keeping her very busy. If she started to get even the slightest bit looky, it was time to quickly get her working and busy. but I also had another one who was often genuinely scared of things and actually needed the opportunity to be able to pause, look, and process. Trainers often got frustrated when I would 'let him look' at the thing that was scaring him but I had learned that if I gave him the 5 seconds to look he'd get over it, but that if I kept pushing him past something it would continue to be a thing until he could evaluate it.

All that to say, I do think the strategy has to fit the horse and the root.

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Re: Spooking

Postby MsM » Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:29 pm

MY old horse was a bit unpredictably spooky. The joke was that you could fire up a chain saw by him without a spook, but then he will spook at a butterfly. Fortunately, he usually took me with him. Unfortunately he tended to hold onto the tension so the rest of the ride was rarely relaxing.

Current horse is basically sensible. But he has a strong startle reflex. And a wicked spin that has lost me a couple of times. Mostly he is fine once he figures out what is going on. When I came off, he was standing there like "Look mom, it was just a cat!" Noises from the roof or outside the indoor can be more difficult for him and he can be tense and strong. Lots of lateral work and once in a while "doubling". I can bend his neck easily to the right, but when he is tense, he can lock the left and make that much more difficult.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Domica » Mon Feb 14, 2022 5:40 pm

One of the best things I did with respect to the spooking was to take her off feeds which had added magnesium. I found that the magnesium calmers just sent her doolally, I spotted an equifeast advert that said no magnesium just calcium was the best but when I tried their calmer she wouldn’t eat it. However I did use their recommendation of taking her off feeds with added magnesium and she has definitely improved.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Tue Feb 15, 2022 1:33 am

What a good thread! Lynx is definitely a "looky" guy although like Blob said, I think for him it's more a distracted thing than real fear. Or at least sometimes.

Usually a little inside leg and vibration of the inside rein is enough to get his attention back. But lately he has been surprising me about and getting a little more tense about certain things. I'm not sure if it's just winter/being 4 1/2 or if maybe I got a little complacent. But he has started sometimes planting and sprawling out and then thinking about spinning. So far we have been able to get over it. Although sometimes it can take a few times going near something for him to totally relax. Just depends on what it is though. We are using a lot of shoulder fore and shoulder in right now.

Sometimes he just needs to look at it for a second. And other times if you let your guard down he might try and spin. I'm still figuring it out, honestly. I think the biggest thing is a light lunge before riding or really putting him to work as soon as you get in the saddle.

I'm hoping he will return to not being so spooky when the weather warms up!

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:13 am

Well we had deer zoomies going on while I was working Joplin in hand today. We had to sit and watch for a bit then back to work. She does not get spooked just was intrigued watching the boogers run around playing.

Warming trend here with T storm Thursday and by mid week next week supposed to be 80:(. Poor Rip will have to be up under a fan he’s so hairy.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 2:31 pm

Well I've been returning to this thread the last two weeks for obvious reasons.

I was wondering if anybody was familiar with Jane Savoie's "Valium" exercise. (or plus 7 plus one) suppling exercise?

I know you have to be careful too apply it correctly I was wondering if anybody thought that might be effective for a tense horse. Obviously not one actively scooting around but the moments beforehand? Lynx can get locked into something, So I was thinking of trying to incorporate it.

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Wed Mar 09, 2022 3:00 pm

I have not. I use lateral work to help reduce tension. Don’t know if you follow TRT at all but similar to what they do. Moving tof. There have been many times riding Rip we lived in lateral work. SI is your friend

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Re: Spooking

Postby blob » Wed Mar 09, 2022 3:22 pm

I don't know the valium exercise. But an exercise I REALLY like for tense or looky horses is called 'threading the needle' or something like that.

Basically at the trot you do a 20 meter at the equivelent of A/C and then go down the long side and do a half circle and back to the rail at b/e and then another 20 meter at a/c and then again half circle and back to the rail at b/e.

It's a great exercise because it's both repetitive (puts horse at ease), but also somewhat busy (keeps them working). Plus there are lots of bending lines that help with relaxation and loosening up. Also keeps you on one half of the arena.

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:20 pm

Blob we call that one tear drop exercise you can also add in a circle at B or E 20 m on down to 10 m. I agree it is a good exercise for repetition key is to really emphasize change of bend

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:38 pm

Honestly yes we live in Shoulder fore or shoulder In right now lol. We also tried a variation of hunches in to hunches out. My trainer said that she read a study that for some horses riding in a hunches out type movement can make them feel better.

We haven't done the tear drop yet but we do a lot of serpentines.

I'm just trying to build my toolbox as much as I can. He seems like he's been better the last few days but I don't think he'll ever be a bomb proof horse!

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:59 pm

https://youtu.be/a18Szuiw1lo here is an example of what I'm talking about.
I can see some pitfalls in using this- certainly don't want to create a horse just falling out the shoulders. But I've just been thinking about different tools to use.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 5:01 pm

We have a large indoor arena but this winter we've all been in there (not typical of the area, usually we have enough sun in between snow so we can ride outside too but it has not really worked out this way until recently.) So sometimes the arena is very crowded and there might be jumps in the middle. So while I love serpentines and other figures, sometimes it's hard to do much besides going along the rail or staying on a circle. And that gets really hard if your horse is spooking! So I guess that's where my mind went to look as many techniques as I can. Right now if I am on the rail it's pretty much doing shoulder fore or shoulder in to get past spooky areas.

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Re: Spooking

Postby khall » Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:28 pm

Lsp just keep him busy! That video from JS to me is just asking and reminding the horse to stay released to the inside rein. I start that on the ground first as always. Asking for jaw releases also helpful because of the parasympathetic NS.

You can also do lots and lots of transitions to help keep him attentive. Keep him busy enough with the work to not worry about spooky things.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Ponichiwa » Wed Mar 09, 2022 7:33 pm

khall wrote:You can also do lots and lots of transitions to help keep him attentive. Keep him busy enough with the work to not worry about spooky things.


Yep, this. Lots of transitions. Between gaits, within gaits, playing with the tempo, alternating between stretching and working gaits-- anything that gets him thinking about how he uses his body and not about what is going on in the outside world.

There are ways to do transitions to get the horse more "up"-- sharp trot/halt/trot, for example-- but I find the outcome is more driven by intent than the exercise itself. So if you want a relaxed horse, make sure he's breathing into the transitions and focus on the quality of the gaits on the other side of the transition (i.e. that you land in a quiet and consistent tempo trot from canter, for example).

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Wed Mar 09, 2022 8:45 pm

Ponichiwa wrote:
khall wrote:You can also do lots and lots of transitions to help keep him attentive. Keep him busy enough with the work to not worry about spooky things.


Yep, this. Lots of transitions. Between gaits, within gaits, playing with the tempo, alternating between stretching and working gaits-- anything that gets him thinking about how he uses his body and not about what is going on in the outside world.

There are ways to do transitions to get the horse more "up"-- sharp trot/halt/trot, for example-- but I find the outcome is more driven by intent than the exercise itself. So if you want a relaxed horse, make sure he's breathing into the transitions and focus on the quality of the gaits on the other side of the transition (i.e. that you land in a quiet and consistent tempo trot from canter, for example).

He's in that fun stage where he gets behind the leg and the when the spooky starts things get really tricky! It's a whole another ball game then just having them scoot or jump. He was starting to do that spinning thing which I think can be really connected to not having him really in front of the leg.

I'm taking care of any physical aspects that might be a play here but I do think it's just a new manifestation of a few things.

I definitely have gotten a lot of good tips from this thread and I'll definitely incorporate a lot.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Flight » Wed Mar 09, 2022 11:01 pm

I did a lot of groundwork and early riding with Norsey following Warwick Schiller's method. Norsey was big and scary. I taught the nose to knee thing as well, and most importantly, the horse to relax in that position.

Here's an old vid of him getting a fright from the neighbours dogs. In that split second I thought he was going to go through the fence. But he comes down off the fright really quickly.

https://youtu.be/6SxsRvFfvUQ

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Re: Spooking

Postby goldhorse » Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:44 am

I have 2 very different horses in regard to spooking. Junior, the original Goldhorse, is a good old boy QH who grew up on a feedlot and worked cows for a living. His cowboy breeder/owner didn't allow him to think for himself. He always was being asked to move his feet. When I got him, if I let him look at something, I could feel the hamster wheel starting to spin and then he would get all worked up. The cowboy told me to keep asking him to move his feet so he didn't have time to think about anything else. Leg yields, TOF, TOHs, etc.
Piggy, the second Goldhorse, is the opposite. The longer I let him look at something, the calmer he becomes. It is me that gets tense when he raises his head to evaluate what's going on. However, when a heron flew out of a tree right at him, all bets were off. A one rein stop into a tree was necessary followed by a dismount because I'm too old to deal with that kind of shit.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:55 pm

Flight, I've been revisiting been in him around to my knee lately. So far I've never had a spook that I felt I really needed to do it to stop him by any means It's definitely more like you have to get him in front of your leg and get pretty tough with your outside aids to prevent a spin. But he's five so who knows what else he might try out! Thanks for sharing the video, it definitely was a clear representation of how that technique can be a lifesaver!

Goldhorse, I'm not really sure yet where Lynx lies on the let him look vs not. I think sometimes it's okay to let him look as long as he's still moving and it's not right next to the thing that he's worried about. But It almost seems that if you let him dwell it does kind of build him up a little. Although it depends on what it is and what degree he's actually scared. Sometimes I think he's not even that scared and sometimes I think he is. It just depends ;)

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Re: Spooking

Postby exvet » Thu Mar 10, 2022 6:00 pm

The majority of horses that I've had that are more of the bold type, dominant in a herd situation do better with being allowed to look at it. Now in doing so I talk or sing depending on the horse to reassure them and give huge praise when they've lived through the monster's presence. Those who are more submissive, known to be afraid of their own shadow, jump in your pocket when the wind picks up, are the one's I've felt did better not looking and being put to work as I approach anything I think might set them up or give them reason to be concerned. Of course there are those who fall into the grey area; but, I really don't think it's that many. My bolder types (the 3 I have now) are more the spook in place. Brandon can do a pretty wicked spin; but, it's not the spin and bolt or take off, just jump, 360 turn and then see if there really is still a monster there. I do find that once you find something works for the specific horse you need to be pretty consistent in how you talk them down in order to develop the trust and reliance you can develop to work through even some pretty hairy situations. With all the trail riding I do, this has become a necessity. We've had some pretty close calls that with another horse I could have ended up seriously injured and did not because of the trust I've built with these 3.......especially Junior.

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Re: Spooking

Postby piedmontfields » Fri Mar 11, 2022 12:48 am

I definitely have that second type from exV's descriptions! Better to put to work/put on the aids than directly face the scary thing. But honestly I love these types of horses.

Lipsmackerpony88, one of the best tips I got somewhere along the journey was to really soften and given the rein on the scary thing side. That way, the "thing" is serving as an outside aid, not you. And you can overall be much more polite in your shoulder in/shoulder out away from the thing.

For example, if there is something really scary outside the arena, I will give the outside rein as we go by it because my position and positioning of the horse (shoulder fore or shoulder in) is plenty to make the point that staying on the aids is awesome and safe---and backed up by the "emotional outside rein" of the scary thing outside the arena. Make sense? The first few times you do this it might feel weird and scary...but it works.

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Re: Spooking

Postby Lipsmackerpony88 » Fri Mar 11, 2022 5:01 am

Piedmont, makes sense! I was thinking that when he spun with the trainer he spun to the outside (towards the spooky thing) but that one caught her off guard and she didn't have him "in position." I pretty much know his tell tale signs now so I try to be proactive but not defensive.


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