Spooking

[Kairoshorses]

My previous wonderful horse-of-a-lifetime rarely spooked–only during dusk, for the most part, and even then, the spooks were fairly easy to ride.

I have a horse now (age 11) who can be pretty spooky. Sometimes it feels like he’s testing me–if I get very focused and demanding, he doesn’t spook much–but if I let my guard down, all bets are off. He’ll be fine, coming home after riding, and suddenly he’ll spook. Very unpredictable. And I find that, the older I get, the less I want that!

I have a youngster (just turned 6) who can be spooky, and I’m REALLY hoping this isn’t a pattern. She spooked at cars coming down the driveway and the fences in the adjoining arena (which she later jumped). Do horses ever “grow out” of being spooky? I am hoping this is just a “getting to know each other” type thing…nonetheless, I’d love to hear what others have to say.

Thanks!

[Galtier]

I have found that horses never grow out of spooking.
However, the horse’s reaction to the spooky object will lessen as their riders teach the horses how to deal with the spook.

Ex: I have a mare that has the potential to teleport. She has taught me I have 10 seconds to refocus her attention back to me, and kick her onward, or she will commence with the teleportation.

[katherineyyyy]

I’ve learned that I care less about what they spook at and more about how bad their signature spook move is. I don’t care too much about spooking in young horses as long as it’s not a dangerous reaction (like a bolter), and as long as I can get their brain back focused on me and their job pretty quickly. If it’s not during the actual ride when we’re working and I don’t feel unsafe, I kind of just ignore it.

I sometimes ride one 17 year old mare who will be VERY naughty on the trail ride over to the ring sometimes and it’s one of those quirks we deal with because she’s such a freaking rock star when she’s actually working.

I recently started working with a 6 year old Irish horse who’s extremely green, he’s decently broke under saddle but will spend the first 30 minutes of every ride spooking around the entire ring as if he’s never been there before. I’ve been thinking about starting up clicker training with him to get some good groundwork and give his tiny pea brain something to focus on.Your 6 year old sounds like the spooks are a little more reasonable than that, but I’ve found that it definitely helps to keep him moving, lots of changes of direction, transitions, poles etc. and he doesn’t have the time to think about all the scary terrifying things all around him.

I’ve also found that they’re much spookier at home when something familiar has changed vs. in a new environment like a show, and it’s most often an evasion tactic or a side effect of feeling fresh and hot in the older ones.

There’s also always the inevitable “make sure you rule out physical problems” answer… When I was in high school I used to ride a horse that would spook at VERY silly things, sometimes nothing, only then he would bolt and it was pretty dangerous and hard to stop him. I still to this day think he was back sore and the discomfort contributed to his bolting, but his owners put him on a calming supplement instead that did nothing. sigh.

[JP60]

This may be a thread for people with more experience, but I’ll share my thoughts for what it matters. When I got my current fellow he had a tendency to spook, but over time I began to notice two things, he spooked when I was tense, even in the slightest. That little more pressure in the mouth, tension in the shoulders or seat. I also got good and picking up when he started to get tense, which also meant that he was becoming more relaxed and giving me time to play the leader and set the tone before he would decide to take over. I also learned to really relax yet be attentive to him and the environment in general.

Much of it came from just seat time, taking him out a lot into different situations (we trailer to lessons, conditioning), not always riding, doing a fair amount of groundwork to establish a sense of “I’m the leader”. I remember when we went to the beach, I hand walked him to the tide line, got him so having the water touch was not a freaky moment and thought, we got this. I jump on, ride him back to the tide line and it was like he never saw it before. But, the idea that I worked with him on the ground, I feel, made it less stressful when now I was riding.

At home they get 24/7 time in pastures with various things passing by. I also think that helps reduce the spook since they connect a noise or something going by as not a threat. If he does spook when I ride, and it happens, I will work with him right there, almost like teaching them a drop bank or water entry. Get him to step forward, no backwards, till he can put his nose on it and then look at me like “What, didn’t scare me a bit”. That takes patience. Something else I learned.

I think spooking can be trained down with confidence, controlled stimuli, and lots of pasture time with calm horses.

[tbchick84]

Funny this thread comes up today. My normally mellow TB was a lunatic today and made me wonder if he was suddenly 5 years old again. Silly me made some cute little flower boxes which apparently were horse eating monsters. I have ridden a lot of TBs over the years and do find spooking falls into 2, possibly 3 camps. My current horse falls into what the most general camp. His spook was the freeze/snort/shiver/spin/bolt variety. With him it was a matter of working with him over time keeping him pointed at whatever he was terrified of, and teaching him how to manage his fear rather than just react to it. I realized he just needed a lot of support, not leg/hand support, but more in terms of “I’m up there ready to be a leader and caretaker for him whenever he needs”. His spooks are genuine. He is actually afraid of the things he is spooking at. He’s come a long way in 10 years. We still get the freeze/snort/shiver, but he now knows I will take care of him and get him past the monster. He’s not thrilled about it, but I know he’s doing all he can to hold himself together until he feels safe again. Shoulder-in is a wonderful tool.

The other type of spook I know of is the get out of work spook. All you can do is call their bluff. Sometimes it’s a matter of just ignoring the spook, others it’s a pop of the crop on the butt and it’s all over. I’ve ridden both types. I know with geldings at least, once you call their bluff a few times, this behavior tends to stop.

The 3rd type I only know of from one horse. It’s the beyond repair never gonna fix it spook. I leased him for a year and rode 5 days a week. There was a tiny little space between the doors in the indoor arena that let a tiny ray of sun to pass through. I don’t think that horse made it past that door a single time without us instantly teleporting to the center of the ring. As long as we stayed about 10’ from the door, we were okay. Otherwise whiplash.

A few general observations I’ve made are, the first type of horses tend to have curious personalities. They’re willing to at least investigate the situation and can usually learn to manage their fear. Horses who need lots of guidance from their rider are easy to test. When you’re out hacking, watch your horse’s ears and think about only him. His ears will most likely stay forward. Then switch your thoughts to anything else (work, grocery list, etc) and watch his ears. A horse who wants moral support from you will instantly put an ear back on you as if to say “where did you go”? Go back to thinking about him and the ears magically go forward again. It’s pretty cool.

OP, I do think yours is probably just looking for some more input from you and it’s just a settling in getting to know you thing.

[btswass]

From my experience a spooker is a spooker. My last horse spooked at just about everything. He tended to kind of go off in la la land and when something happened (like someone opening the arena door or my trainer moving) he would have an “oh shit what just happened” moment as he came back to the real world. But his spooks were easy to ride so it never really bothered me. He wasn’t one of those naughty spookers that couldn’t get over the tractor in the corner or anything like that.

My current horse I bought for his brain. I did a lot of ground work with and introduced him to a lot of “scary” things. He just kind of laughs at me. I literally spent one session doing everything in my power to get him to spook. Jumping around flapping plastic bags tarps you name it. He just looked annoyed at me. This horse I can take on the road past garbage trucks and school buses and trailers you name it doesn’t phase him. If he’s not in regular work he can throw a tantrum or two in the ring but I wouldn’t call that a spoke. Just having an attitude. So long as he’s worked at least twice a week it isn’t an issue.

I think you can definitely work with a spooky horse and improve the behavior but for the most part they either spook or don’t. I think its really part of their personality. My horse is super laid back. Prefers to walk at a snail pace with his ears straight out to the side. He’s been like that since I got him at 3

[Hilary]

I have to agree that the ones that are spooky are always that way, although age and experience certainly helps. Like being 15. The ones that aren’t spooky, are pretty blase about their world and that’s just who they are.

I also think that exposing them to lots of things when they are young and with other horses who don’t care is important. My homebred is a spook. She was like that from the get go, but when she is with other horses who are not worried about whatever, she is less reactive. If I had it to do over again, knowing that was her nature I would have sent her off to a big busy barn when she was really young, to live with a bigger herd.

[rockonxox]

I think that in many cases you can lessen the reaction to spooky stuff (ie: how far they bolt, side jump to maybe a side step, etc)… but a horse that spooks is probably always going to pay attention to stuff and be “on alert”. I agree with those saying it is just a part of their personality. Now, a horse that isn’t really a spooker but gets worse when they get older is a different story because it could be a medical issue.