Mare is scared witless of horse pulling cart

[Lori_B]

I have a 10 year old OTTB mare who is notably kind and laid back to handle and ride. Kicking quiet. Ok with all the animals on the farm (dogs, cats, other horses), all the random equipment on the farm (everything John Deere makes, drags, mowers, backhoe, weedwhacker, etc), and just not spooky. She is solidly a ‘1’ or ‘2’ in temperament on the 1-10 scale.

But she has a pasturemate, a young Morgan mare, who is apparently trained to pull a cart. Tonight when I was handgrazing her after a bath, she saw her pasturemate pulling the cart up the farm drive a hundred yards away or so, and I thought she was going to completely lose her beans. She got super tall and was really dancing around, very afraid and unhappy. She was a little too much to feel safe handling, so I took her back into the barn and tossed her in a stall until she settled down, then put her back in her field. It was the most freaked out I’ve ever seen her in the 5 years I’ve known her.

How do we acclimate her to the sight of a horse pulling a cart? I’ll definitely have a shank on her lead next time I think she might see the cartmonster chasing her friend. Any advice?

I would really like to be able to take her in the holiday parade next winter, but before I think of trying it, I’ll want to get her accustomed to the sight of carts.

[gothedistance]

Just have her walk behind the cart. In her mind she will see the cart “running away” from her which will automatically make her brave.

We’ve used this scenario many times with carriage-shy horses and it has never failed to remove that frantic fear.

Then later you can stand her in the center of the ring, or wherever the Morgan is going to be working, and just let her chill and absorb the activity. She’ll get over it all very quickly.

[Lori_B]

Hmmm, interesting. Will try it. W/ a little ace the first time, I think. Thanks!

[buck22]

Ditto gtd.

When I started driving where I board, none of the other horses had ever seen carts & carriages before and were quite freaked out. In the beginning I had to time my drives when everyone else was done riding and cooling down so I didn’t freak anyone out.

Everyone got a chance to ride after us and follow us down the lane. Horses really often conquer their fear by being in a position of 'chasing" or ‘driving off’ the booger. Let them come up and sniff and investigate as they became braver.

Also helped I have a bag of cookies with me always brave horses quickly figure out we’re not the scary carriage, we’re the party wagon! :lol:

[Lori_B]

I will try this when the opportunity presents itself. The cute morgan mare pulling the cart was completely chill and well-behaved, but Katy and another mare watching her (from an adjacent pasture) were very :eek::eek::eek::eek:!

My 16’1" mare suddenly looked about 17 hands and was blowing and generally acting freaked out.

She is pastured with the Morgan; I wish they could talk to each other; then the Morgan could reassure her that the cart isn’t going to eat her.

[oliverreed]

My gelding lost his tiny mind the first time he saw anything pulling a cart - and it was a MINI (he had never seen one of those before either). He’s used to both now. As a matter of fact, he LOVES minis and wants one of his own! I agree with letting her follow it, I never even thought of that, just gave him lots of exposure to both.

[China_Doll]

[QUOTE=Lori B;6351303]
Hmmm, interesting. Will try it. W/ a little ace the first time, I think. Thanks![/QUOTE]
Really? drugging a horse to get it used to seeing a cart being pulled by another horse? Seems extreme to me. Here is some info on the side effects of ace. I wouldn’t think it would be that big of a deal with a little exposure and get her used to it.
http://www.equisearch.com/uncategorized/using-acepromazine-horses/

[Lori_B]

China Doll, I lived through over a year of stall rest and hand grazing with this horse. During that time, she was extremely and uncharacteristically reactive (think: 1100 lb kite on the end of my leadrope), and occasionally I would give her a little ace to keep from getting injured and take the edge off her reactions. She handles it fine and I use small doses when I do use it. You will have to trust me when I tell you that last night she was more upset and fractious than I’ve seen her in the 5 years I’ve known her. So yes, I will give her a little ace the next time we are going to encounter the cart, for my own safety.

[Plainandtall]

Lori- I think that her problem was not seeing “a horse and cart”… if was seeing her PASTUREMATE being followed by something she’s never seen before… it’s wasn’t just some random strange sight- it was involving her buddy.

I would let her see the cart a lot- if it’s not a fancy show cart and the owner would be ok with it- I’d park it outside the pasture fence, heck I might use it for a feed cart. Let her see a HUMAN pulling it around a lot- she sees humans with wheelbarrows all the time and I’m sure that doesn’t freak her out. Then I think gothedistance has a great suggestion for her to follow the cart… I’ll suggest she follow the cart being pulled by a person first. If she’s totally loopy- it’s not really fair for the driver of the morgan to have to deal with the potential danger stirred up by your mare’s reaction while their horse is in harness.

I don’t like the idea of drugging a horse in desensitizing… unless you count food treats … chewing does wonders to get them over imaginary problems.

[Lori_B]

I’m sure that’s it, plainandtall, I get it.

I think that the cart is not going to be kept at the farm; it was hauled in, and I think they hauled it back to the place they got it from. I would of course be happy to walk her around it, etc. as much as possible if it was going to be at the farm. I think she will become accustomed to it if she has enough exposure. but if we don’t see it again for some weeks, which is likely, I may give her a little ace before I try to handle her in proximity to the horse and cart. And the mare pulling the cart didn’t pay the slightest attention to the horses who were reacting to it. Even though she is young, she was fine.

[vtdobes]

@Plainandtall;6351724

I’ll suggest she follow the cart being pulled by a person first. If she’s totally loopy- it’s not really fair for the driver of the morgan to have to deal with the potential danger stirred up by your mare’s reaction while their horse is in harness.

I’ll second this. I hate when people use me and my driving horse as training for their horse. If your horse spooks at my horse driving then my horse is most likely going to get worked up over your horse!

[Drive_NJ]

Ask the driver to help you get your horse over her cart fear. Most of us are more than happy to help.

Agree with Plain and Tall, if your horse is being really reactive, ask if you can let her see the cart and eat from it every time they are there. AND have someone pull it about with you following it. As that gets solved move up to the horse pulling the cart and her following and then (as already suggested) let them work in the ring with you managing your horse in the center ring/field.

[Plainandtall]

Lori- If you don’t have acess to the cart on a daily basis- I’d approach it almost like you would if you were training your mare to drive (which from the sound of her disposition is not something I think you should do) Dragging stuff- ANYTHING… is probably going to work her up… a big branch, a pvc pipe, a travois, a travois with a tarp, a tire… a bicycle…a bicycle with cards in the spokes…and a balloon tied to the seat…

The tactic I’d take is- do something with the scary object enough to get her attention- then leave the object near her pasture gate or in the pasture if that would be safe. Do something every day that’s new and unusual- and then boring. I wouldn’t try to despook her by forcing her to deal with it untill she accepts it (like sacking out) I’d just keep letting her see something new moving and then let her get used to it over the fence…

[CDE_Driver]

Good advice given.

I have a funny sort of opposite story…

We drive here, not much riding. We had a colt born here and when he was a few months old someone came out to ride. His reaction to seeing someone ride a horse was hilarious! It was like what your horse did… he had never seen a horse being ridden before.

His Mother’s reaction to him was pretty funny too. She kept looking from him to the horse in the arena, like she could not figure out what he was all worked up about.

[Lori_B]

As I said in the original post, I have never seen her react to anything so unhappily. She sees all kinds of ‘stuff’. Doesn’t usually react much to things. Bicycles, various farm equipment, other animals, etc. don’t usually rate much reaction. There’s even an old and unused cart parked next to one of the sheds on the property that I’m sure she’s never given a second glance.

So I don’t need to get her used to new objects, I would just like for her not to get riled up if this mare is worked w/ the cart again. If the cart is on the property, we will investigate, and get her used to it. Next time it’s possible, I would like to expose her to the horse pulling the cart, while of course being respectful of not upsetting the horse pulling the cart (who didn’t pay any attention to her and the other horses doing this: :eek::eek: yesterday evening).

[Carol_Ames]

even at Rolex

This happens at rolex, too. :yes::no:.A few years ago, they agreed to stop the carriage/ cart/ wagon rides during the dressage;)

[susanne]

oliverreed beat me to it…

Something about a mini pulling a cart tends to wig out many horses.

I entered a driving class at our county fair a couple of years back, where the classes were primarily Western and English riding. We had nowhere to hitch and warm up other than the trailer parking area, where all the other horses were being groomed/tacked or tied up. We talked to the people near us and tried not to surprise any horses, but the responses were interesting, to say the least.

Most of the horses ranged from nervous to freaked. The owners’ responses ranged from “How DARE you bring that nasty little beastie and contraption anywhere NEAR my valuable steed?” to “I’m SO embarrassed that my big horse is afraid of your mini” to “My horse needs to learn…please let him see that no horses are being eaten.”

As others have suggested, give your horse every chance to see that a cart, hitched or unhitched, being pulled or stationary, is nothing to fear.

As for Rolex, did they also extend that courtesy to stopping anyone from riding their horses during driven dressage?

[Zwarte]

I suspect not.

[Cielo_Azure]

We had 12 Percherons that we drive a lot and one hot blooded (TB lines) Hanoverian (as well as mixed assortment of other horses). It took our hanoverian almost two years before he could stomach seeing a horse and cart. And he saw them a lot, he went camping and riding with carts with all size horses around, nothing made a difference. He saw them pass his paddock each day, he best (Percheron -he loves Percherons) friend drove all the time. He just “knew” that the cart and horse was out to “GET HIM.” Desensitization -yeh, if you wan’ted to get killed. Now, he had no problem going by the cart in the barn. It was the horse and cart combo that got him.

We finally just ignored him and he just finally gave up being scared but it took a hell of a long time. He is that kind of horse though. One of the reasons we call him a “dumb-blood.” His panic button is set way high and shuts off his ability to think rationally when it turns on.

In the case of our very scared horse, the more we pushed -the more he got scared. When we gave up and he had to accept carts and carriages going by his pasture on his own terms -he learned to live with them without panicing.

[Chewbacca]

I’m just going to speak honestly from my experiences with being the only driving person at barns full of riding horses…

To me, it doesn’t sound like your mare over reacted or acted in any way unusual or frightening. It sounds like you’re a little intimidated by the mare unless she’s absolutely perfect, and if you’re unconfident about handling her, how can you possibly give her the confidence to see something new and conquer it?

At the barn I’m at, I drive a mini (well 2 actually), a pony, and a horse. Sometimes a neighbor comes to visit with her horse and 4 wheel surrey. A whole lot bigger than my meadowbrooks & EZ entries. The majority of the horses at my barn (14 of them to be exact) are all OTTB’s that play polo. Some of them are older, but the majority of them are less than 5, and arrive to the barn within days of their final race. They are as fit and hyped up as thoroughbreds can get. And believe me, they’ve never seen anything like a horse-drawn vehicle, or even minis.

They all spazz a bit the first few minutes they see the cart (from their paddocks). By the time a few days go by, even the newest arrivals, two 3 year olds that just got there last week, are bored to tears with the driving horses. The outdoor arena, and the main driveway border the polo paddocks on several ends, and share fencelines.

I have personally never met a horse that doesn’t “get over it”, when exposed to it properly. They all freak out the first few times.

Others here have given you valuable suggestions - especially the one about walking the mare behind the cart.

Recently at a show, the warm up grass area was shared by both driving & riding horses. I’m sorry to say, one of the young TB mares being schooled, flipped out over seeing me and the mini enter the area and dumped her rider. Instead of getting angry that the dreaded mini spooked her horse, the rider came over and asked how she can get her horse used to it. I told her to lead the mare behind us while we walked. Within about 3 minutes, the mare took a big, bored sigh, and was done.

I used to pony a 3 year old behind my cart, with her owner sitting next to me, holding the lead. Sounds a little unsafe, I suppose. Probably was, but it got that young mare absolutely dead about carts !

Maybe your mare may take longer than a few minutes, but DRUGS are NOT the answer, and really make me think you are fearful of your own abilities to handle your horse.

You maintain that:

So I don’t need to get her used to new objects,

But yet, you would…

just like for her not to get riled up if this mare is worked w/ the cart again.

So isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron in a way? Clearly, not only does your mare need to get used to dealing with new objects- but you need to learn how to grow confident about exposing your mare to “scary new stuff”. You came here to ask advice on what to do about getting your mare used to it, but you seem unwilling to admit you have anything you need to work on.

Anyway, that’s my opinion based upon my own experience. Agree with it or not.