Spooky at new farm

[RileysMom]

Hi everyone,

Hoping to solicit some thoughts…

About 6 months ago, I moved my boy to a new farm. Prior to this, he had been at previous farm for 7 years (before that he was only ever at breeder’s farm at age 3). He is not a show horse and has only been off property (at old farm) a few times. Not my fault, not his fault, just what the situation was. Since moving him to new farm, he’s had a hard time settling in (he had a few health issues that have been sorted out) and although he is comfortable in his turnout, and places he is all the time, he is very spooky when he has to go anywhere remotely “new”.

It’s like a switch flips (calm to nuts) and once he panics I can’t handle him well from the ground and it’s dangerous. He doesn’t care where his human is when he panics. At this farm, everything is spread out and he will spook walking to different rings. He’s huge and I am not. The staff is well aware of this and is going to work in earnest to desensitize him. He’s a very good boy otherwise and this is fear and a behavioral issue.

A few extras:
He’s not extra spooky from pain/illness (please trust me on this one—he does have an ulcer history but he has been treated extremely well since moving and scope is clean). It’s not Lyme (we’ve treated just in case in the past), not anything neuro. Vet work up has been extensive because of this GI issues).
He’s not in full work at the moment (because we have been treating a health issue, which is cleared up but we’ve been giving him extra time). I am hoping his being tired from work takes this out of him a bit. This may be the driving factor behind recent antics.
He is better under saddle, and not nearly as dramatic as he is on the ground.
He never really got a chance to see parts of this farm and settle because winter hit soon after I moved him and then we were stuck in the indoor. So time and repetition may help.

We do have the unusual factor of his never being exposed to much and he is 10.

What strategies would you take with this horse?

[Alterwho]

has there been a change in diet and/or turnout?

[eightpondfarm]

if he were to have a good friend that he could turnout with and walk to and from turnout with he might be feel more secure.

[StormyDay]

I’d also be wondering about a diet or turnout change.
What exactly is he spooking at? Can you give us a play by play of a recent incident?

[lenapesadie]

BTDT. Near identical situation less the medical history. My horse got better as in we were able to increase the area he was comfortable in but he didn’t ever get over his tendency to explode in further out areas.

It was a turnout issue.

My horse will tolerate a stall with attached run/paddock plus daily turnout. Box stall plus daily turnout he does not tolerate. Solo turnout isn’t ideal for him either. He prefers 24/7 group turnout (unless it’s raining or blazing hot summer afternoons).

ETA: My horse is currently tolerating 24/7 individual turnout while his buddy is on “medical paddock rest”. When needed, my horse tolerates his current oversized (15x20) box stall with panoramic views and overnight turnout with buddy. I added all these details bc TO and stall setup is a big deal to my horse and has major impacts on his mental health.

[RileysMom]

So he has had same turnout situation since arriving at new barn. He is very good in turnout. We are going to change him to grass turnout, which would let him see more of the farm (which is huge). Always with buddies near him. He likes to eat, and he likes to eat grass so this may counter some anxiety in being in new turnout. We also will put some ace on board the first few times.

He is being fed more plus not being worked much (he needed to gain weight) so definitely a factor in spook threshold but probably not entirely the culprit.

I have NO earthly idea what he spooks at some times. I suspect the last time was some wind plus goose noises in the distance? He was fine for a solid half hour grazing near buddies and then when I walked him back to barn with said buddies nearby and headed in same direction, he lost it on the way. I never have him truly alone without buddies in sight at this point. He needs much more confidence first.

[Alterwho]

@RileysMom

He is being fed more plus not being worked much (he needed to gain weight) so definitely a factor in spook threshold but probably not entirely the culprit.

has there been a grain change? supplement change? type of hay change?

[lenapesadie]

@RileysMom

So he has had same turnout situation since arriving at new barn.

How does current barn turnout situation compare to previous barn turnout situation?

[IPEsq]

You are right that it’s a confidence issue. He’s probably not that spooky but he lacks confidence with the wide open spaces and so he’s always a little bit on edge, to where a relatively small stimulus can send him over the edge.

There’s some groundwork you can do to work on his connection to the human as well as on releasing that tension. To do that, you have to work where he feels pretty safe so he only gets a little tense, and then bring him back down. If he’s busier minded then things that are more busy on the ground or even clicker training could work. If he gets more just blank then you have to find his more subtle cues that he’s insecure and show him you see that and acknowledge it. You can’t put him in a blow up type situation and have change until he learns how to handle smaller, pre-panic stress and then recovery from that. And he has to always be aware of you, and both of you mentally present with each other. Even when he’s being obedient, he might not really be that aware of where you are.

I work on this kind of thing a lot because I’ve done a lot of rehabs where even quiet horses can turn into dangerous kites.

It will still take him some time to cope it sounds like. I do think that when they are in some kind of work they can be more receptive to learning and might not be as hot, but I don’t think you need to be working him hard. You might want to do something with him, this ground work, some longeing, tack walking in the indoor, to prepare him for going outside.

[StormyDay]

@RileysMom

So he has had same turnout situation since arriving at new barn. He is very good in turnout. We are going to change him to grass turnout, which would let him see more of the farm (which is huge). Always with buddies near him. He likes to eat, and he likes to eat grass so this may counter some anxiety in being in new turnout. We also will put some ace on board the first few times.

He is being fed more plus not being worked much (he needed to gain weight) so definitely a factor in spook threshold but probably not entirely the culprit.

I have NO earthly idea what he spooks at some times. I suspect the last time was some wind plus goose noises in the distance? He was fine for a solid half hour grazing near buddies and then when I walked him back to barn with said buddies nearby and headed in same direction, he lost it on the way. I never have him truly alone without buddies in sight at this point. He needs much more confidence first.

So, it sounds like even though the turnout situation is similar it’s maybe not enough for him. The fact that you say he’s not on grass currently leads me to believe he is in a smaller paddock type turnout, not a big field. Some horses just really need a lot of turnout. And good quality, large turnout too.

Extra grain/weight gain can cause crazy personality changes in horses. Ask anyone who works with OTTB’s or rescue horses. The horse you get in that’s underweight will have half the personality, energy, and spook as when it’s well fed and fat. There’s a reason we say they are fat and sassy.

I’d check his hearing and his eyes. Horses with hearing loss can spook at things that a normal horse wouldn’t. Horses with sight issues can be really spooky over things that a normal horse wouldn’t think twice about. The fence post becomes a giant dark blob, the dog looks like a demonic monster, etc. Usually it’s cataracts which can be treated, sometimes with more success than others.

[endlessclimb]

I think this horse was never taught how to deal with anxiety. He was kept in a “bubble” his whole life, and now that bubble is popped.

This is giant hole in his training, that can be addressed exactly like @IPEsq described. He needs to be taught how to handle his emotions around stressors. Start today with manageable stressors, interspersed with ground work related to yielding and respecting human space. The comment you made about his mowing anything and everyone down when he flips his lid shows the second giant hole in his training…

Time to go back to the basics.

[QHEventer]

@endlessclimb

I think this horse was never taught how to deal with anxiety. He was kept in a “bubble” his whole life, and now that bubble is popped.

This is giant hole in his training, that can be addressed exactly like @IPEsq described. He needs to be taught how to handle his emotions around stressors. Start today with manageable stressors, interspersed with ground work related to yielding and respecting human space. The comment you made about his mowing anything and everyone down when he flips his lid shows the second giant hole in his training…

Time to go back to the basics.

100% agree with this. Especially if he can’t be in regular work, at least make ground work a part of his daily routine. Teaching him this now is only going to benefit you both for years to come. If you don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to do this yourself, find a trainer experienced in this sort of thing to work with him. It will make both of your lives SO much more pleasant.

[RileysMom]

I agree—this is a training issue more so than a reaction to any particular change. It makes it very hard to trust him on the ground and so I end up leading him with some tension that probably doesn’t help.

It also doesn’t help that previous trainer used to use ace liberally with this creature. I hated it. I didn’t know the extent of it for a long time, and then when i did, I left. He would get rowdy in turnout so she’d drug him regularly. So not only did he not get off the farm (and when he did, he got ace), he was aced on the farm. This also occurred when he was in a fair amount of pain from ulcers. He did not have the voice he needed. It was a complicated situation because he was originally the trainer’s horse. As soon as I could, I left with him.

Despite this, he is truly a good egg. Has never tried to get a human off his back, and does not have a mean bone in his body. He loves his people, and he loves other horses.

We are working on this. Goal for now until he’s in regular work is to give him a little bit ace to raise the spook threshold and take edge off new turnout and leading to scarier parts of farm, with staff that can handle him. He can learn and has learned, but this is going to take a while. Yesterday he and I worked on maintaining his focus on me and backing up with a finger touch when I wanted him to focus on me.

[trubandloki]

@Alterwho

@RileysMom

He is being fed more plus not being worked much (he needed to gain weight) so definitely a factor in spook threshold but probably not entirely the culprit.

has there been a grain change? supplement change? type of hay change?

I think the answer to these questions matter too.

[IPEsq]

While I get using ace to make him safer to handle, you are also right that it takes away his voice. He not only needs to be kind to people, but he needs to know that his people recognize his anxiety, see it, and are there to help him and be kind to him. I don’t think that can happen so much on Ace. Both of you need to communicate to the other that you are present. He needs to figure out how to come back to that when he gets anxious instead of going into a blind panic. How to pause and reset. Not that you can avoid anything setting him off, but drugging him all the time at home doesn’t teach him how to deal with himself.

[RileysMom]

Oh no it’s not the plan to use ace instead of training—we need to use it this week only because he’s not yet in work and we need to change his turnout.