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  Discussion on Trail horse spooked by pastured horses
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New Member:
Dondi

Posted on Saturday, Mar 12, 2005 - 11:27 pm:

Hi! I'm new to posting messages but I've really enjoyed reading all of the great and interesting advice for the last couple of months. I do have a question about this particular horse's spooking problem.I rode him today out on a friends ranch for a couple of hours.He's a big and bold type of gelding with alot of trail experiance around cattle,wildlife and etc. To see his reaction to a single horses trotting toward us and stopping by the fence you'd have thought it was a herd of horses!He was SO NERVOUS!We had stopped and my friend had gotten off of her horse to open the gate while the horse I was on was dancing around and just really buzzed up!It doesn't really sound like that big of a deal but I will be riding that horse tomorrow too.I guess he has a history of this kind of fear.Any suggestion on how to help a horse out with this kind of problem? He's a ten year old quarter horse gelding.I only knew,in my limited space on trail,to do small figure eights with him.I ended up having to step off of him which I've very ,very seldom felt the need to do that.It just seemed to be the safest thing to do since the horse is fairly new to my friend...she's only ridden him a couple of times.He was also bunching up like he was wanting to rear.Other than that ...he was an energetic but calm trail horse. Thanks for any advice!
Member:
Lilo

Posted on Sunday, Mar 13, 2005 - 12:52 pm:

I'll be interested in the responses as well. I have had my mare (1/2 Arab/1/2 Saddlebred) for almost 13 years now. She's got many miles of trails behind her - got used to crossing water and encountering deer and other wildlife. Not a very calm horse naturally, but has quite a bit of Parelli training behind her.
However, one thing that can get her "up" is horses in adjoining pastures trotting or cantering - specially if they pass her and go on ahead. She wants to go - when I hold her back, we have a fight! Example: 2 days ago went on a ride with a friend. 3 Llamas came up to the fence - my horse walked past like a trouper, although she has not seen any for at least a year. On the way home, horse comes trotting up to the fence, then races off and gets his buddy going. Big problem - I circled her but almost came off. All these years of riding, and still she can't get used to this. Same problem if people canter on ahead on a trail.

So, I am listening! Lilo
Member:
Christos

Posted on Sunday, Mar 13, 2005 - 7:12 pm:

The way to fix this is easy, fun and very good training, Liselotte.

You need an arena or flat field and another person to ride with you.
The game is mirror patterns.
Stage one: Starting next to eachother, you perform the pattern you have planned, let's say 20m circles in trot, one rider to the left and the other one to the right. You have to synchronise while maintaining the trot (or whatever gait you have planned) and the pattern has to be acceptable.
Stage two: You synchronise mirror patterns while one is in trot and the other in canter.
Stage three: You ride the patterns next to eachother, while one is in trot and the other one in canter.

This way your horse learns that he has to follow what you dictate and not what other horses are doing.
Member:
Christos

Posted on Sunday, Mar 13, 2005 - 7:18 pm:

S.C., are you sure he was afraid of that horse?
Does he know this horse? Are they friends or enemies?
Member:
Dondi

Posted on Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - 12:47 am:

Thank you so much for the training idea!It does sound like alot of fun!Actually, he didn't know this horse but the other horse is in the pasture by himself because he's a real bully or boss to other horses. That would be an easy enough reason...that he felt threatened but when my friend(the owner) rode him in a similar situation,this time with several horses running up to the fence,he did the same kind of behavior.He was really scared!This horse has had alot of arena experiance and his previous owners had tried roping off of him but it didn't work out.Like I mentioned before he's a fairly new horse for my friend.What I wonder about is my friend was told that he had some kind of wreak,where he was hurt,but the previous owner either say they don't know ...or maybe....as in the horse world sometimes ....won't share that kind of information.Anyway, I like the horse and have been told that I can ride him when I like.I'd like to make it a safer ride,of course!Why ride him at all?I have a retired mare with a companion pony by her side.My filly is in training for a few more weeks....I'm kinda in between horses right now!I will tell the owner and also try this training exercise as soon as I can. If anyone has anything else to add I am open to suggestions! Thanks again, Sharon
Member:
Christos

Posted on Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - 6:11 am:

Sharon, he sounds like a horse that has only had bad experience from other horses and never had enough time to figure things out.
This is fairly easy to produce if you put a newcomer in a new herd, let him be beaten around for a couple of days, then put him in a new herd again to be beaten some more, then removing him without giving him a chance to realise that these horses did not actually mean to kill him and that this is standard horse "welcome".
I'd put him in a herd of calm horses and let him work things out himself for a couple of months.

Christos
Member:
Lilo

Posted on Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - 4:27 pm:

Christos,

Thanks for your answer. I believe that it would be a fun exercise. I am not sure it would really simulate horses racing off at a gallop. So, I would probably have to have my companion increase her speed quite a bit to simulate what I often encounter when going past other people's pastures. I will give it a try, however.

Lilo
Member:
Christos

Posted on Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - 6:45 pm:

Yes, Lilo, I ensure you it will help a lot.
As you advance in these patterns, your horse will be approaching and leaving the other horse at the exact tempo and gait you dictate, which is all you want to teach him.
A bit later, synchronizing different gaits, he'll have to simply extend his trot when the other horse breaks in canter, or, the opposite, he'll have to collect his canter to synchronise with the other horse's extended trot.
You can increase the difficulty to starting and ending the pattern with a halt next to eachother. One goes halt-collected canter-halt, the other one halt-extended trot-halt.
I do not think you have to simulate a horse racing by, as you don't need to simulate a horse bucking next to you or a horse refusing to move forward.
All you need to teach him is that whatever other horses are doing he has to listen to you. Once he gets the idea, I find the benefit extending to other disturbances as well, he'll generally ignore his surroundings and concentrate on you.
Member:
Lilo

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 12:09 pm:

Christos,

I'll let you know how it went. Might not be able to work on it until May (new grandchild due any day, and spring snows covering the ground).

Thanks,
Lilo
Member:
Dondi

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - 7:33 pm:

Christos, Sounds like good advice.Appreciate the responses.Yes, this horse has ,I'm sure, had some bad experiances with other horses.My friend buys rescue horses and then finds them a good home.Thanks Again, Sharon
Member:
Contilli

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005 - 7:25 am:

A few years ago when I was showing my gelding in-hand we were at a show and the same thing happened. Before my class I decided to walk around the trailers to loosen him up. We approached an empty field to walk through and about 150 yards out were 7 horses grazing in a pasture. My horse just about came out of his skin. He pranced and reared all over the place. We even walked up to the fence line and the horses started to walk towards him. He snorted and acted like they were Lyons or something and ran backwards. I lounged him in that spot because I was did not like his behavior and wanted him to listen to me and not his surroundings. It didn’t help. He ended up a dripping mess of sweat and lather. Needless to say I missed my class. I couldn’t believe it. I bred this gelding and raised him myself. He had also been to many shows and taken off the property before. I never had a problem before.

Maybe there is some kind of scent causing a fear in that area. It was a very strange happening for me.

I ride pas-de-deux and it is very fun. It does help horses with any fear of head on interaction. I hope it helps your friends’ guy.

Denise
www.BryantFarm.com
Member:
Dondi

Posted on Saturday, Mar 19, 2005 - 10:23 pm:

Thanks Denise! I want to try this exercise as soon as I can with him.Recently went to a funeral,its been raining...etc.Your own experiance at the show sounded very similar. There seems to be almost no way to settle a horse DURING this kind of reaction,but maybe those who use John Lyon's method would think differently. Sharon
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