# AT A LOSS WITH MY SPOOKY HORSE !! HELP



## bings (4 July 2012)

Hi ,i posted on here a few weeks ago asking for some advice ,my problem is my horse who i have owned for only 8 weeks is extremely spooky in the school ,he is fine out hacking and hes very chilled out on the ground ,but when he`s ridden in the school he spooks at everything and nothing ,he has had me off and my instructor (which gives me no confidence in him as she never falls off )so i dont ride him in there now because i dont want to make him any more nervous then he is .I have had his teeth,back and eyes checked ,he is being treated for conjunctivitis,his eyes weren't gunky just watery . When he spooks at something  he will still spook at it after seeing it 9/10 times im at my wits end ,he is such a nice horse ,any advice would be really appreciated .


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## expat (4 July 2012)

I havent read your previous post, so hope this does not sound too repetitive; 

My horse can be very spooky (schooling and hacking) and I know what you mean with your going by 10 times  What helps most with mine is patience (he is an insecure horse), very soft hands, a quick leg, planning ahead and keeping calm. Try to get not too frustrated and laugh at it, it will help you relax. 

Let your horse look at the spooky thing, make it walk up to the scary spot, have it stretch down and touch the scary object with its nose (if safe) and big pat as reward if it manages.  

NEVER look at the scary spot but at least half an arena ahead or ride a circle/turn just before the scary spot for distraction; 
Pretend a spook did not happen and push the horse forward; 
Always plan your schooling session and add variety i.e. pools or scary objects to desensitise the horse

I would not want to miss him in a million, but believe me I was close to giving up on him, I have by now learned to channel his spookiness into positive energy (most of the time ). It did not happen overnight and it was a great instructor and at least 6+ months of hard work but he made me a much better rider and even after 2 years I am still learning and experimenting on what works best for him.


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## YorksG (4 July 2012)

Is it an indoor or an outdoor school? If indoor it may be related to the echoeyness (if that is a word) What is he like if he is loose in the school? As the owner of a mare who can and does spook at her own shadow (literally) it is worth seeing if there is a theme to what he spooks at and working on getting him used to those things. It is also worth introducing him to as many things as possible. Good luck with him and remember it is early days with him.


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## meandmyself (4 July 2012)

Have you had him checked out physically? I'd be looking at his eyes and checking for ulcers.


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## bings (4 July 2012)

Thanks for your reply's, we have an outside school ,when he spooks he launches sideways and drops his shoulder  my instructor has tried riding him past again and again the scary object which could be a jump wing,filler,white board etc and he gets worse ,spinning ,running with his head up high ,he gets really strong hes 17.2 so hes alot of horse when he starts acting silly , i had the vet out on monday to check his eyes ,but his vision is fine ,he is treating him for conjunctivitis ,i did think ulcers might be worth mentioning it to my vet ,i was also thinking of trying ear plugs as he can get spooked by the sound of a stone hitting the fence of the school ,anyone tried ear plugs before ?


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## NeedNewHorse (5 July 2012)

There's a good video (epona tv) on spooking which I thought was v-helpful defo have a look. Try Cool, Calm and Collected that's Suposed to be good (by equifeast)
8 weeks isn't the most amount of time either so crack on and at least lunge/long line around the school in the mean time and keep hacking (ad you say he's good)
Does he fixate on areas? What happens to make you fall? 

Is he truly forward as well??


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## YorksG (5 July 2012)

I would also cut out all feed that is not grass based. Not many horses need it at this time of year, with the grass at the moment doubt if any not in real hard work do tbh.


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## pookie (5 July 2012)

Here's my two-penneth...sorry if these have already been mentioned 

I wouldn't try to rectify any of this until his conjunctivitis is cleared up. If his eyes are producing a lot of 'gunk' his vision is likely compromised and may be making matters worse.

If he's good on the ground then try leading him around the school for a while. Allow him to become accustomed to his surroundings, then get his focus on you. Don't make a big deal of the things he spooks at - you being relaxed will help him relax. Pick something he usually spooks at and try feeding him progressively closer to it.

Allow him time to build a relationship with you. Eight weeks is no time at all. The better your relationship the more he'll trust you to direct him when something is a problem and (more importantly) when something isn't.

There's no reason not to do schooling when hacking if he doesn't spook then, at least until his eye infection has cleared.

I know it's frustrating but it's not as if you have a horse that is spooking in all situations and not ridable for you  Take your time.


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## Miss L Toe (5 July 2012)

Once he is well, and is settled,  start from day one, that is to say walk out in hand, then move on to handling in the arena, walk over poles, through and round labarynths, to allow him to co-ordinate and balance. once he is happy with all sorts of strange things then you can move on bit by bit.
Use the numnah , lie it on the back, and pull it off via the rump, if he startles, then give him a treat on the numnah,  work from both sides of the horse with all things.
Try to keep to the same routine, exactly every day, so he can relax, by this I mean he walks out along a route, then he goes in to arena and walks over some poles, do that for a few days, then next day do the same thing but in long reins, with someone at his head, saying nothing.
Use voice commands but don't natter all the time, he has to be waiting for your next instruction, or kind word if he does something right.
Keep to groundwork until he is no longer spooking. Also do lots of handling in the stable, grooming and tacking up and asking him to  "yield" with a bit in. He should be used to all his tack, and accept it as part of his routine.
Once he seems to be able to cope with things you are asking him to do you can ride him, again someone at this head, walk out then arena, just do not rush him or be in anyway impatient, but insist he does what you want. 
I assume you are feeding a magnesium calmer and have no molasses or cereals in his feed.
Once you have got back on board remove all spooky things from the arena, and ask someone to walk round beside him, then slow down so they are behind him, make sure he has a few poles to walk over, and if he spooks try to leg yield in past  it rather than allowing him to stare at it. It sounds like this is learned behaviour, so you have to unlearn it, and it is easier at the walk!


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## Goldenstar (5 July 2012)

When he spooks does he have his tail up or clamped down .
I went to a great lecture by a vet who studying equine behaviour and she showed a series of videos of a spooky horse persistently misbehaving trotting round a school full of set up horse scary piles of jumps coats on the foot etc etc.
Basically a person on the ground was saying up if the tail was up ,down if the tail was down their view was if the tail is up the horse is aroused and being naughty and if it is clamped down he's scared and needs reassurance .
By correcting the horse in the tail up spooks and supporting in the tail down spooks they made a lot of progress with this problem horse.
I took this idea into my training system when say riding out youngster my groom will say up or down to be if a baby spooks and I tailor my response, of course often you know from the feel of the spook but sometimes it's not so clear it really helps.
Just something to think about.


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## Circe (5 July 2012)

Is it possible hes spooking in the school to avoid working?
My boy will be a terror for doing this if he doesnt want to be in the arena, if you are sure his eyes aren't bothering him ( maybe wait until the conjunctivitis has cleared up ), then I think expat has given some excellent advice.
Kx


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## cheeryplatypus (5 July 2012)

I'd work him on a line or lunge him in the school until you can build some trust in each other.  That way he can work through his problems and you can help him while staying safe.  It may also give him time to understand your voice etc.

When he spooks, sigh and act like its really boring nd ask him to move on if possible.  See if your instructor can recommend any behaviourists.


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## Cocorules (5 July 2012)

Goldenstar that is really interesting.

One further idea is to see if he is any more relaxed with another horse in the school having a group lesson or clinic.


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## bings (5 July 2012)

Wow some really good advice thanks everyone  he is on a calmer relax me ,it hasnt made much of a difference to be honest  my yard owner`s son is a jockey ,he rode him today i wanted to get his opinion ,he thinks he is taking the mick and that he has learnt to get out of work by behaving like this ,he rode him forwards but with light hands ,ignored his spooking ,he must of spooked at least 25 times  ,i was watching him and i noticed his tail was up ,which could mean he is being naughty like Goldenstar said ,i did start to desensitize him ,but i admit i felt a little foolish as im on a big yard and i did have some very strange looks lol , but i will go back to ground work because i did feel it was helping build a bond between us . I am determined to sort this out , i know its going to be a long road ,i just wish his previous  owner would be more honest with me and fill in some of the blanks  Thanks again i will keep u all updated with him


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## mole (5 July 2012)

i would put a load of spooky things up in the school (non dangerous ones) just like what he is spooking at at the moment and then i would turn him out in the school. then i would watch and see what happened if he calmly walks around or does  afew spooks then settles id say he was being naughty and spooking to get out of working. if his eyes are rolling and he's rooting to the spot then he's scared and needs some help. 

doing it this way takes out any contact and so your horse wont think that he is meant to be working so you should get his true reaction


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## Meowy Catkin (5 July 2012)

I agree with Mole. Turn him out in the school, preferably for a few hours with a couple of haynets, water and a non-spooky mate. OK, you will need to poo-pick and rake up the dropped hay, but this cured my nervous ninny (total transformation between the before -spooky twit- and after -well behaved non-spooky neddy-).


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## Ali27 (5 July 2012)

My daughter's mare can be very spooky in school and she has just started dressage lessons with a new instructor! She took one look at pony and said she was obviously very tense and stressed and recommended cool, calm and collected by Equifeast. Normally she doesn't recommend calmers but she knows someone who amazing results with this so just bought some to give it a try! Pony spooks at the silliest things like grass changing colour or a pile of leaves!


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## bings (5 July 2012)

Have you tried cool,calm and collected yet ?i have heard good things about it , its a pain cos i brought him to do dressage with  he has amazing paces in between the spooking lol . I was thinking of trying the sheepskin covers you can get to go on the bridle or ear plugs as thats ment to help anyone used them before ??


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## Ali27 (5 July 2012)

We have just started with the loading dose so it can take up to a month to take effect! It is fed 5 days out of 7. It has really good reviews! The reason we are trying it is to improve ponies dressage as she is too tense and rushed! She also suffers badly from seperation anxiety with my mare. I emailed them and got lots of good advice! It is around £45 for the first month and then reduces down to £18.95. They can also adjust it if necessary to your horses specific needs. Fingers crossed it works as pony is fab in company but just hates being on own.


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## npage123 (5 July 2012)

(I'm not sure if my ideas would work, but I thought I'd let you know what I would try.)

If he's genuinely scared at an object and spooks at it (suddenly dropping a shoulder and jumping away from it) - then don't try and ride straight towards the object to get him used to going past it.  Ride a circle/half circle around the object, so he can have a good look at it first.  Do it on both reins, and don't try and make the circle smaller until he's completely at ease with the larger circle around it.  (If you watch a loose horse in a field investigating a strange object or something he's a bit nervous about, then he won't approach it in a direct line.)

Regarding the spooking at the sound of stones hitting the boards around the school - try and desensitize him to the noise while you're leading him from the ground.  E.g. lead him on the left rein, with him on the inside and hold onto the reins with your left hand, i.e. you positioning yourself between him and the long side of the school.  Pick up a stone with your right hand and throw it against the boards, obviously not too close to him, but close enough so that he would hear the noise - and repeat it over and over again until he isn't bothered about the noise.


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