"Totally different" horse Indoor vs. Outdoor

[blue_heron]

Need collective hive mind: I have a horse I’ve had for 6 mos, he is a sensitive type Lusitano gelding who’s had one owner his whole life before me. He has talent for the upper level work but he’s kind of a weirdo with the LL stuff. For lack of a better way to describe it, he’s so ADHD and it’s so much better in the indoor.

I only have an outdoor at home and go for a lesson every 2 weeks at a place with only an indoor. He’s capable of jumping up like two levels in the indoor. We struggle with first level work at home, in the indoor it’s canter halfpass and flying changes. We will soon move to the indoor for the winter and I’m finding myself looking forward to it because he’s just frankly not that fun to work in the outdoor- totally distracted, behavioral spooking, etc.

Ideas? Footing in the outdoor is rubber crumb, indoor is like some kind of sand that absorbs water. He’s actually pretty good on the longe besides some occasional spookiness, can do some basic “natural horsemanship” stuff with no issues. He doesn’t love grain bags, shavings but it’s gotten significantly better since I got him (not spooking violently and leaving the stall, he lives in a runout). I just started him on a Vitamin E supplement and he’s on aloe, 1/3 scoop of Sentinel LS 2x day. Otherwise on grass hay and whatever inch of grass is outside right now and still looking chunky. He has one funny heel that’s high/contracted that my farrier is taking care of and it’s looking better. I mean this in the best way possible, is he just a weirdo? I love him and I’m totally willing to deal with his weirdness. I seem to attract the weird ones.

[AltersAreUs]

Following as I have the same horse, only going in the other direction. Fairly focused & fun in the outdoor and convinced there are tigers in every corner in the indoor.

[NancyM]

LOL I have a couple who are the other way round… prefer the great outdoors, not happy in an indoor arena.

[joiedevie99]

My stallion was ridden predominantly indoors for the first few years of his life. He’s pretty fine outside when there are no other horses around (or if there are, they are also being ridden). When there are horses hand grazing or turned out, he’s much more interested in keeping tabs on them than focusing on where his legs are in the changes.

We’re now at a barn that has tons of windows in the indoor so he can see the horses in turnout. I’m hoping that dealing with it a bit every day will help him realize that the horses in turn-out don’t need his supervision.

[DunByMistake]

All the horses I’ve ridden were the opposite. Kind of nutty in the indoor. So maybe he is just weird

You say you take lessons in indoor and ride outside at home. I wonder if some of the improvement is due to being in a lesson environment. Your coach is probably giving you more to do and keeping you both focused better. Have you done any lessons in an outdoor? Could you maybe beg trainer to give you a lesson at your place one day for comparison?

[blue_heron]

We lessoned in my coach’s outdoor in the summer and he was okay but definitely more distracted. It was also harder for me to judge the quality of the work then, being just because he’s distracted or because he was out of shape and I’d had him two weeks.
I could beg my coach but like I said we’re also moving in two weeks and won’t be back until the spring.

[blue_heron]

I don’t know too much about him when he was younger other than what the owner told me and she was very nice but her style of management and mine are very different. She keeps her horses stalled a lot, has morgan show horses so rides very “up and tight.” She says he’s never been super spooky but tells me a lot that he’s “sensitive.” Yes, he’s spooky and emotional. TBS, I’ve never seen him spook while outside eating. Lately I’ve been inclined to think the spooking is a “this is hard work” response.

[Abbie.S]

Ah, you mean you have an Aloofitano?

Given what you’ve been told about previous management style and how the previous owner’s other horses are ridden…I’d bet money he just hasn’t been ridden a lot in environments with more stimuli. Though I admit I also have a horse who is the opposite of your gelding.

I don’t agree that the spooking is a response to being asked to work. Were that the case and he felt you were asking too much, he’d be reacting the same in the indoor. More than likely he’s a sensitive ride as many Iberian horses are and so previous riders kept the lid on his sensitivity by dampening the environment instead of teaching him how to hone in on you. So I don’t think he’s weird at all.

If you aren’t able to get the same reliable focus in the outdoor that you are in the indoor, you need to change what you are asking in the outdoor so that you engage him on a level that doesn’t cause him to become more aloof and defensive. If he needs to look at something, let him look at it, then ask him to bring his mind back to you. Believe him when he says it’s a lot of stimuli because it probably is - he just needs to learn how to dampen everything himself to focus on you instead of having the benefit of four walls to do it for him.

[Lusoluv]

I hate to say this, but as a former owner of a sensitive Andalusian and Lusitano, if the horse can focus and work well with his rider in one of the rings, they can work well in the other. I teach dressage and I have found it is the rider who is distracted or takes their cue from the horse vs the other way around. I sold my Luso as a PSG horse to a lower level rider. She over did the aids and he started becoming reactive/spooky, tho he had never been that way with me. Her LL friend could ride him anywhere because she wasn’t uptight. I said he was tuned into the power of suggestion. Meaning ride him like something’s going to happen…it will. Ride him like he’s bombproof…he is. I currently have a client with 2 WBs. One she totally trusts/loves and the other she has always been a bit nervous with. Why…who knows, but he does. I love the horse she is more nervous about and she has me ride him almost weekly. He has never put a foot out of place with me, but I love him and trust him and he knows it - and acts accordingly. Or if he fliches, I act like nothing happened and he goes right back to work, where his owner will say “Whoa, Whoa” and start pulling on the reins, which causes a physical and mental escalation. This is very much a case of “mind over matter”, sorry to say

[blue_heron]

This is my fourth Lusi and its true that they like to work and sometimes like one person. They’re also super quick to let you know when they’re not interested in playing the game one day and that is why it’s so noticeable indoor vs. outdoor. It’s also worth mentioning that some days he’s fantastic in the outdoor and some days he’s everywhere.

This was a horse my coach helped me pick out and is giving me feedback about bringing up the levels with the intent to sell in the future. I trust her opinion on the work and her thoughts on my riding ability as we have a long term relationship.

[blue_heron]

LOL this is my fourth and all the others have been very brave lady and gentlemen, though yes, very sensitive and on the aids. I don’t think he’s had a lot of exposure to big environments and like I said he’s changed a lot personality wise since I got him 6 mos ago.

I thought about working on the harder stuff at home since it requires him to focus more, but I’m also a little conservative in that I don’t to be demanding of the upper level work until the lower level is solid-- and as of right now, it isn’t He can occasionally get upset when asked to do something new when my coach and I introduce it which is why I’m inclined to think anything more difficult exacerbates the spooking outside, even though he’s not being “naughty.” He does the same thing with my coach so it’s not “just me” thankfully.