My horse is afraid of everything! --> Trotting poles

[dpndetfarm]

I am by no means an expert here, but did watch my daughter interact with a “Nervous Nelly” for far longer than she should have (This horse is one who inherently gets her confidence from her rider, but was not originally crazy). Trainer inadvertently taught her that when something scares you it is best to explode. Stupid, trusting us. ssole trainer.

Anyway, my daughter tends to get nervous, but has always been a confident rider. First time dd got launched by panicking mare no big deal. Second time same thing. Third time dd started to get nervous when riding mare. Not visual to the human eye, but glaringly obvious to mare. DD was nervous, mare decided there was something to be nervous about. This got dd more nervous which told mare there was even MORE to be nervous about. Rinse, wring, repeat. DD quit that mare after 1 1/2 years with my blessing. DD expected something to go wrong every time she got on the mare. Mare reacted. After a time no matter how much my dd tried to “relax” and have only good expectations somewhere inside my dd was still expecting an explosion. Mare, being extremely sensitive/reactive and not having her own confidence just couldn’t hold it together for dd. DD finished out the year on her lazy *ss, been there done that “I like kids to ride me cause they don’t ask anything of me” paint gelding. He didn’t give a crap how nervous she was. He did what he did and never even thought about unloading her even when she was just about in tears.

Fast forward a few years mare came home and got to be a horse for a long while. I plan to hop on her this summer. I am a su*ky rider. DD is an awesome rider. BUT I don’t have nervousness issues. Mare can get her confidence from me. I won’t ask much of her, but she will feel safe.

I guess this is a long-winded, convoluted way of asking if you two are at a point where even though you think you are projecting a confident, no nonsense image to her, you are actually subconsciously sending her EEK vibes. Ask a confident horse person who has no history with this horse to take a shot at this problem. See what the horse does. You may be surprised.

*Not suggesting you can’t work with mare etc., just that this will give you more information on what you might be up against. Hopefully this makes even a little bit of sense.

[Countrywood]

Another thing I’ve learned the hard way, is a rider /handler can’t be told , convinced, or persuaded to “relax” and be confident…in fact often the more we try, the more nervous or unsure we become. Confidence in a rider, as in a horse comes from applications of specific learning habits, repeated over and over till the confidence is there. The confidence comes from having a skillset one can rely on, not being told or self convincing ourselves to relax, or be confident. NH is one way to achieve that on the ground, the person builds up a repertoire of skills that work with horses. Same thing under saddle, many trainers or coaches are too limited to impart the skills necessary and instead keep chiding a rider to be more assertive or confident, which is ridiculous. The rider needs to develop skills they can be confident in. Skills can mean a better seat, better use of aids, learning how to solve horse behavior problems effectively, etc. If a trainer keeps repeating same stuff that is not working, get another trainer.

I also found though that even good trainers tend to be limited, and repetitive, and learned some of the best things on my own, through bulletin boards, books, websites and CD’s. NH is great that way in that the trainers seem to have very organized accessible programs (for $ of course, but at least it is available on CD etc ) Some trainers are really riding instructors and can school a made horse but cant really train a horse or address a serious behavior issue…the problem is they wont’ admit that, and perhaps don’t even realize it, thus giving useless advice to student that never solves the issue.

[victoriaseb]

@Flash44;7607858

What enjoytheride said. Your horse does not have confidence in you and is literally taking you for a ride. Check out some of the natural horsemanship clinicians and get with a program. It’s OK for a horse to be nervous and hesitant about new things - but you need to work through it with the horse, and something like trot poles should not be THAT terrifying for a horse.

This makes a lot of sense, thanks. She’s the first and youngest horse I’ve owned and this is all kind of new to me. Often when she pulls her ‘fear’ stunts, I do think it might just be her not wanting to listen, I’m just not too sure how to go about it. I’ll definitely check out natural horsemanship though.

[Huntin_Pony]

Where are you located? There are good (and bad) NH trainers all over. If someone here can name a really skillful one near you, you and your horse both will benefit enormously from giving him/her a look-see. If not, be careful because that NH label can mean anything!

[kkmrad94]

I have had a similar issue with my horse. He is 10 but was just broke out last year. I was riding him and he tried to avoid simple things like plastic barrels when nothing bad had happened to him.

After working with my trainer yesterday I found that it was a confidence issue on my side that was causing him to over react because I was assuming that he was going to refuse (walking calmly by “scary objects”) After seeing the trainer waltz him through a bunch of scary things and having him not balk at all, I know that he just needed reassurance.

Good luck!

[victoriaseb]

Hey everyone,
just to say that I do think my mare is taking ‘advantage’ of me - and that I am going to try some natural horsemanship to bond and gain her respect.

BUT today I got her over poles! We spent like 45 minutes just walking around the round pen with poles in the 4 “extremes” (not sure how to explain that on a circle). We went around and around until she wasn’t hesitating at all and I think she’s getting it haha.

Thank you so much for the input, everyone!

[ako]

Get yourself someone to help you through this. I agree your horse doesn’t trust you to lead. Groundwork is key. And repetition. Maybe cut back on the grain, if she’s getting grain.

Through no fault of my own, I have a relatively nervous/looky horse, as well. But someone trained her well before me and she naturally looks to her person for direction, so she will pretty much do whatever is asked of her, even in new situations. It’s a great feeling to see her look at me in new situations, and then I watch her move forward to check it out.

[Pipkin]

My horse has a fear of things on the ground.

He has impeccable manners, I don’t need to tie him up to be shod/clipped/tacked up, he knows to pick up his feet when I point at them, and when leading is totally off my body language (if I start jogging he will trot, if I stop he will stop INSTANTLY with no pressure on the rein) and he lunges like a dream.

And yet I can’t get the little sod over drain covers!! There’s a couple in my yard, I’ve tried even when he’s sedated and he still scrambles round them. I’ve decided it’s not worth pressing the issue.

Ground poles were a problem, he goes over them now with zero fuss but I don’t think he’ll ever be 100% happy about them. That was just repetition. He’s the horse who spooks at his own hoofprints if he has wet feet in the stable… I have to say, I’m thinking he either had some sort of traumatic experience (fell in a ditch??) or his eyesight isn’t the best.

The key I suppose is building leadership and a good partnership, but some horses are just like this and it’s not worth stressing them out needlessly. Pip tries his heart out for me, unless I tell him to step on a drain cover. I can deal with that :lol: I just need to be sensitive to him and not leave stuff lying around on the floor.