Anyone else have a horse like mine??

[candyappy]

My mare crossed a miniscule trickle of a stream today. It was a foot wide at most.

My horse sees EVERYTHING and reacts to most everything. I have owned her since she was weaned and this is just how she is. She likes wide open spaces.

We moved back home here in August. We are in the Ozarks, which means TREES. She gets unnerved going on a ride where they are on both sides. Her reaction is : exit stage right. That is her reaction to 80% of her insecurities while riding. The other 20% is stop , look,bobble head, bug out eyes and back up fast.

She has been improving since we started riding this spring. We have 200 acres here and have been trying to use it all. My daughter has a "been there done that " mare who I have lead on when we start our occasional melt downs. It helps too.

I am so proud of her today:D We did water, trees, passed a buried piece of farm equipment and decayed round bales while going on a new route and she just bravely went on, in the lead, while melting down on the inside only ( felt like a coiled spring).

Happy for small accomplishments. She is almost 11.

[Marla_100]

Doesn’t it feel great when you can enjoy a little improvement? Sounds like she’s on her way to becoming a great trail partner. Boy that must be fun having 200 acres in your backyard to trail ride. I envy you.

[candyappy]

Thanks Marla, it does feel good to see improvement! Yes, we are fortunate to have woods, hay fields and bottom ground that borders a large creek that belongs to my in-laws that I have at my disposal. My riding places have been very limited in the 9 years I have owned this mare. She seems to like to go out, I know I do.

[clanter]

We took one of our Morgans from the show ring to competitive trail, the first steps were really as if the horse had been transported to another plant.

But I must day, riding in an organized competitive trail event taught the horse how to handle herself in the wilderness. She learned from the other horses as we learned from the other competitors.

We did rides in the Ozarks on that were mainly on old stage coach trails… I have no idea how in the world they ever got stage coaches up and down those trails… but at points there was no room for error as the drop offs were pretty far down the way.

When back in civilization, we worked her on side passing and eventually low level dressage as we needed the fine control over the mare and she was a good learner

The early days, everything was an adventure, but time passed quickly to the point that nothing was met with question

[reubenT]

Some horses are easy going and accept new stuff with ease, others seem to need reassurance at every new sight. It can help to teach a horse to trust you in the same manner a mare teaches her little one to stay with her. (Marv Walker’s bonder technique) I watched a mare using it on her foal. It teaches them to look to us for safety instead of flight. The best training a young horse can get is to run along with momma on many trail rides. By the time they’re ready to carry a rider themselves everything a trail might present is old familiar stuff.

I have several thousand acres of wild land behind our place. Most of it is pretty steep and rough, but there are some logging roads and old wagon tracks I can get through on. It’s a two hour ride through to town on the other side, but it ain’t strait, it’s up and down and round about through two deep canyons.

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=reubenT;8143612]
Some horses are easy going and accept new stuff with ease, others seem to need reassurance at every new sight. It can help to teach a horse to trust you in the same manner a mare teaches her little one to stay with her. (Marv Walker’s bonder technique) I watched a mare using it on her foal. It teaches them to look to us for safety instead of flight. The best training a young horse can get is to run along with momma on many trail rides. By the time they’re ready to carry a rider themselves everything a trail might present is old familiar stuff.

I have several thousand acres of wild land behind our place. Most of it is pretty steep and rough, but there are some logging roads and old wagon tracks I can get through on. It’s a two hour ride through to town on the other side, but it ain’t strait, it’s up and down and round about through two deep canyons.[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean. Before I married I boarded at a barn that literally had nothing behind us for miles and miles and we were surrounded by water. I used to pony my young horses and turn them loose as I rode. I didn’t think about it then, but every one of them was confident as a trail partner from the beginning. I wish I could have done that with my current mare.

[KariW]

Candyappy,

I had a mare who sounds a lot like yours, but hyper as heck, and she would never relax on trail rides. Its almost as if the longer we rode, the more energy she had, and she absolutely hated crossing even the smallest of streams. Often tried to jump over them. Even at the ripe old age of 15, she still acted like there were boggiemen behind every tree, and bush we came too. She never did settle down, but was an excellent barrel horse.

[MidnightWriter]

I have regular inside-only meltdowns, on or off a horse, more often in wide open spaces than in nice tree-girded ones.

I know the tightly-coiled-spring feeling very well!

My human friends never realize I am having an inside-only meltdown unless I tell them; then they sort of stand back eyeing me as if they expect me to explode rather than invisibly implode. Unfortunately horses can sense my internal meltdowns even though I don’t mention them and try to hide them. Years and years ago I was able to talk a 3yo across a trickle about a foot or two wide out in the woods. Now I think the 3yo (if I were nuts enough to get on one!) would have to lead me!