My horse can be quite spooky from things that pop up not unexpectedly but appear suddenly in his field of vision. Hard to explain, could be someone walking by the open end of the arena, to a horse passing behind him on a xc course (he did that last year and I came off). I see some riders use blinkers or at least sheepskin rolls on the bridle cheekpieces to limit their sight to what’s ahead. I bought a pair on line and have yet to use them as my horse is out of commission right now. Anyone use them? Good, bad, indifferent? Thanks
I tried fleece on my bridle and it did not seem to make a difference for my horse. I have a picture and more details on my blog: http://trainingcupid.blogspot.com/2020/12/fleece-blinkers-for-spooky-horse.html?m=1
My riding teacher rescued an Arabian gelding who turned out to have problems.
Without warning he would bolt, with no obvious trigger.
Since I had a treeless saddle that fit him better than her treed saddles I talked my way onto his back (I have MS and my riding teacher is protective of me.)
After a few lessons I finally figured out that the reason there was no warning was that he mostly spooked from stuff behind him, but he did not always spook at the scary places.
I finally sort of figured out that when he saw the scary thing behind him from one part of his eye he would spook, if he saw it from another part of his eye he would not spook.
I got him a pair of the D’yon blinkers and he stopped spooking from stuff behind him.
To get him quieter about other scary stuff I got him a Fenwick Face Mask with Ears (we have nasty gnats here.) With the blinkers and the face mask he only spooks occasionally, like where you would expect any other horse to spook. The Fenwick people call their Face Mask the horse’s “Happy Hat”, and no, other face masks probably won’t work.
My riding teacher has DIFFICULTIES with him on the trail if she forgets either piece of gear. She is a very good rider and can handle his explosive spooks but it is so much more enjoyable for her to ride him with the blinkers and face mask because he generally stops spooking and acts more like a regular, reliable horse on the trail and in the ring.
Without the blinkers he will spook without warning from something behind him. Without the Fenwick face mask he gets all anxious about everything else around him to the front and to the side, every rustle, every moving leaf, shadows, ANYTHING can get this horse anxious and spooking.
And yes, on this horse the blinkers helped tremendously. I would not ride her horse without them ever. I also would not ride him without the Fenwick Face Mask either.
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That’s what I bought, the D’yon blinkers. Hope they work as well for him as well for your horse.
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Some horses relax and can concentrate better if they see less… less distractions. Blinkers are pretty common on the race track, and come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and are often customized to suit exactly what a horse needs. In the past decade or so, they have shown up in the jumping ring too (jumpers only of course) as “no see backs”, or sheepskin (or fuzzy) tubes on the sides of the bridle. These are very minimal blinkers, and simply block the sight of the rider on the horse’s back, a bit. That is one end of the “scale”. Those used on race horses are usually on a “hood” which goes over and under the bridle and range from “cheaters”, which do about the same as the “no see backs” and are simply pared down French cups. French cups are seen on steeplechasers, they just surround the back of the eye so that the horse can not see behind him, but do not impede vision out the side, or forward at all. Then there are 3/4 cups, which curve a bit further forward, and restrict a bit more of what a horse can see out the sides. Then there are “full cups”, which only allow the horse to see in front of him (as much as horse can see in front), and fully restrict vision to the back and to the sides. Full cups are for horses who have a distinct problem with how much they can see, usually fear based, and spooking off things as they approach, or are distracted by things we don’t want them to pay attention to. French cups are for horses who are afraid of the sight of the rider on their back, or for horses who want to wait for others who are gaining on them, to run with them, looking for some fun and games (we don’t want them to wait for any other horses when the object of the exercise is to hopefully win the race).
Young horses are often started out wearing blinkers, if they have an innate fear of the sight of a rider, or are nervous of any motion that the rider makes. The advantage to using blinkers on young horses who have this innate fear of “anything” on their back (that makes them think they are being attacked by a predator), is that the horse can learn about being ridden, leg cues, weight cues, the “feel” of a rider, WITHOUT having to face his fear right away. Facing that fear is “put off” until after he has some clue about being ridden. Once he can be ridden with the blinkers blocking that fear and be relaxed and respond to cues from the rider adequately and accurately, then often the blinkers may be reduced, and eventually even removed entirely. But sometimes they are better to stay on indefinately. The other option with a horse who is frightened of the sight of a rider on is back is the use of a “dummy”, which is tied onto the young horse’s back and scares the crap out of the horse, who then tries to run away from it, and tries to get rid of it, in terror, and may well injure himself in the process, or become even more frightened. Some folks like doing this sort of thing to young horses. I prefer the blinker option.
If you use blinkers on a horse, you must remember that YOU become your horse’s eyes. There are things he can not see, and he has to depend on you to keep him safe from bumping into things that he would normally be able to see approaching. Don’t let him down in this responsibility. Do not put the blinkers on in the stall, and attempt to lead him through the doorway, because he can’t see the side of the doorway as he comes through… things like that. You have to THINK, he’s depending on you to look out for what he can’t see.
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I come from a driving horse angle here. We use blinkers on our driven horses to aid them in focusing attention forward. What I have learned is that horse KNOWS about things around him, needs training with vision, be able to see those things first, to be accepting of them. Wearing blinkers does not affect his hearing! Our horses see the stuff they drag, before they move into blinkers. They need to be quiet, accepting of things around them, noisy behind them, obedient to commands. You can’t drive a terror stricken horse.
Among our driving horses are a couple who really want a lot of vision. We can give them more than most horses get, using blinkers in various configurations of settings, or styles they are cut into. With more vision, these specific horses calmed down, less startle if something suddenly appeared in front of them. One long necked horse needs to only turn slightly to see behind with smaller blinkers, to identify things, now solid as a rock.
However with the driving horses, seeing behind can cause problems. Horses are so good at reading body language, they may try to “help” in anticipating the driver’s next request! That can be dangerous for all involved so we do not want it happening!
Driving horses wear blinkers to prevent seeing too much, not to prevent being frightened by the carriages! As I said, our horses have seen the things they pull, are not frightened by them. We go to great lengths in training, for horses to be accepting, listening to the Driver in all situations we might encounter while out driving them.
I posted the above to let you know using blinkers on frightened horses, to stop horses being scared, reactive, may NOT work!
A nervous or scared horse probably will need additional training to let blinkers work well for his issues, before he settles. Some may not settle even with extra training, while using blinkers.
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