Confidence!

[slh]

Hi,
I'm 24 years old and rode a lot as a youngster, mainly hacking and hunting on ponies. I've now come back to riding after all this time and am riding out on a 15.2hh ex trotter. He is fantastic, really kind with a mischevious character. My big problem is that he gets scared really easily (I've not much experience of this in the past) He gets scared by bags, the wind, things in the hedge - this sort of stuff. This is all ok, except once he is scared he gets really tense and skittish for the rest of the ride- trying to 'escape' as soon as he hears anything sudden..
the other day we were hacking out - having a really nice time, but after the accumulation of a few little'frights' I had to get off him because I didn't feel in control - I could feel him really jerky and tense underneath me, about to take off as soon as he heard/ saw anything and I was afraid to move him on with my legs/ whip incase he did take off. He is quite strong and the more contact he feels on the rein the faster he wants to go which doesn't help (as trying to stop him with my body doesn't seem to have an effect when he is scared), also as soon as a car came near us he was in the middle of the road trying to turn his bum into it (he is usually very good in traffic). My point is that I ended up leading him home feeling really disappointed in myself for not being confident enough to handle the situation from on board - would I have been better to stay on him and be assertive to try and give him more confidence? I am not a particularly nervous rider but now that I am older I think of the consequences more - ie what if I had come off and let go of the reins...??!
Any advice anyone???

[snailspace]

Is he yours or someone else's horse? Even if he's not yours, the owner may give you permission to do some de-sensitizing. It would really help everyone out in the long run.

Where I ride, they also do therapeutic riding, and the horses they use for that have to be de-sensitized until they're pretty bomb-proof. They have a whole program that they put the horses through. I don't know the details of it, but it's basically getting them used to "spooky" things like plastic bags and sudden noises and cars, etc. They do this in a safe setting, like an arena or something, where the horse can get used to something on his own terms. I know there are "horse-raising" books that have different methods in them, too.

This might also help to strengthen your bond with him, too, and then you can trust each other more. When you're out riding, he can think "wait, this person has shown me scary things before, and its been ok", and you can have a better idea of how he will react so that you can be more confident with him. Does that make sense? Also, once he understands that he will be allowed to investigate new things on his own terms (moving vehicles excluded:) ), maybe he won't be so flighty when something new crops up. If he's an ex-racer, he probably had never been out hacking before he became an "ex", so he may have never had a chance to investigate anything.

[slh]

Cheers for the reply!!
Makes a lot of sense - no he's not mine but I'm sure the owner wouldn't have any objection, luckily we have access to an indoor arena every few weeks or so and I shall try and sort something out (although I will have to ride him home along the road following the session)
It didn't occur to me, him being an ex racer that he wouldn't have seen the things that we all think are common whilst out hacking. He is 11 years old, but scares just like a 3-4 year old!!

I'll start looking for some appropriate books

Cheers again
slh

[horsemad]

I've done the same thing as you - got off my horse while out hacking because I was sure she was going to take off with me (she has done this a couple of times before and I think I know the signs just before she 'loses it'!).

Like you, I've never been sure if getting off is the best thing to do - some people say you should stay on board, but I thought I would be able to keep control of my horse better by leading her. I'd be interested to hear other people's views on this.

[lisae]

I've tried to stay on board and work through this kind of thing, but in the end it really should be your safety that comes first. By all means get off and don't feel like you're 'losing' the battle. I always tried to avoid going straight home, rather I'd stay with the planned ride, just on foot, or when we got home I'd ask the horse to keep working, leading him and backing, as though the ground work was my idea all along. It also helped calm him back down and sometimes once home I would do some work in our 'ring' a small field where we warmed up before going out in the first place.

[Peace]

I think horses find scary things easier to deal with for the first time if they are being led, not ridden.

I totally understand why - I have to cross a busy street to get to school in the mornings, and I find this a much scarier experience when I have my 40 lb. bookbag on my back than when I'm only carrying a purse!:)

[FreedomStar]

Try this. Get a bag or something, and take the horse to a roundpen. Take off his leadrope, so he can go away if he wants to, and show him the bag. Flap it around a bit, and if he takes off, wave your arms and make him run around the roundpen. When he's ready to come in, let him come in and pat him and such, then show him the bag again, and flap it a bit. If he shies back or spooks again, make him run, and let him come in when he's ready. Keep doing this, and soon he'll figure out that he has to work everything he is scared of something, and you're making him choose to accept the bag or not, but if he doesn't accept it, if he doesn't want to let you flap the bag in front of him, then you don't want him around until he's ready to accept the bag. When he accepts it, rub it all over him, and he will start to realize that it isn't a scary monster hiding under the shavings, but a nice, ol' bag that doesn't do anything. This might seem like a mean thing, but you're letting him choose to accept the bag or not. If you're not getting anywhere, and he's just tiring out, stop and just try again later or the next day. good luck!

[horsy]

Hes an ex trotter, so when you think about it, he will be used to going pretty quick, blinkered, with tunnel vision. this means he can hear the things but doesnt see them. Take blinkers from a horse that is used to them and they see so much more when they are out it sometimes sppoks them. Dont worry about it, its normal! Just think how much more he can see! Walk him out if you can, its alot safer to get him calm from the ground. And dont feel as if you are defeated because you got off and led him! Lisae is right, you need to think of your safety, and also of the horse's safety. Take things slow and he will adjust to hacking out just fine.

Horsy
xx

[slh]

Thanks for all the advice etc....... we've been out quite a few times since then, most days have been fine - he did get a bit freaky last Saturday (a big scary bus came up behind us on a narrow lane- I trotted him on to a passing place and he decided that I was obviously trying to 'get away' from the bus - I was at fault there!) Luckily no other vehicles were around so I stayed on him, he wouldn't walk for ages, just trotting/ cantering sideways and sweating a lot. I stayed on him and calmed him down (took around ten minutes) and he was fine again for the rest of the ride. I felt much better (and safer) staying on him. I didn't mention that the other day when I got off, it was even harder to control him on the ground (he dragged me off my feet - but I was determined not to let go of the reins) I don't know if I would have stayed on him if other cars had come near us soon after though - as during his 'freak out' he is all over the road with his bum sticking into the centre - but at least I know now that he isn't going to bolt!!! I think he is trusting me more now as I am handling him a bit firmer - making him go past 'objects' and not taking no for an answer, I suppose if I'm confident a little of it passes to him!!!

[RachelT]

YES slh - you've basically just said yourself what I was about to ask/say!

I was going to question whether he'd calmed down once you got off him - if he had done so immediately, it would suggest that he was perhaps tense because of you. But considering he got worse, it would suggest that perhaps you're best off on him. It definitely sounds like confidence problems and he needs someone to give him that confidence to go forwards.

Do be careful though - the road is not the place to try and re-educate a horse like this. I'd try and avoid the roads for a while if you can.

When my horse shows signs of being worried by something, I try and introduce her properly to it as soon as possible. She doesn't particularly dislike anything, but the other day she jumped at a rustly plastic bag I was carrying. So I let her sniff it, and then gradually progressed to being able to touch her all over with it and even stroke her nose with it. She then let me flap it around without a worry.

Building all this up with the horse on the ground can only help you when you're out. Try some schooling over scary objects in the school - walking over plastic sheeting, etc. It will take time, but it's definitely worth it. Remember to reward good behaviour and make the right behaviour easy for the horse, and the wrong behaviour difficult.

And if you are out on a hack and you feel scared, be aware that your fear will pass to the horse. I find that if I know a horse is genuinely scared rather than being naughty, I can overcome my fears by telling myself I am with a small child and I have to be responsible. If you find you cannot overcome your anxiety by deep breathing and that the horse is getting worse, get off, soothe him on the ground and try again another day.

This stuff takes a while, but better to progress slowly but surely than to try to rush things and destroy his and your confidence.

Good luck!

[slh]

Hi, thanks for replying - I think I will try introducing strange objects to him in an indoor school, the only problem that I have is that I have to ride him home afterwards (takes around an hour). We can start slowly though and build up to big plastic sheets etc.. I will be using him a lot more off road from now on (the main reason I was doing road work was because he was very unfit and fat, so I wanted to do a lot of walking up and down hills (and lately trotting)to get rid of the excess weight, it's been very good for him! but I think I'll start taking him cross country (he's fitter now and feeling his feet a bit!) and just let him go, we've got some great grassy bridleways here- I haven't done fast paces on him yet (I've had the occasional canter around the field) I think you settle to each other a lot better once you've had a bit of a gallop so this might help us bond a bit more too !
I'll let you all know how we get on!!!

[DebO]

What breed is this horse, if he has thoroughbred in him it will be part of his nature. My ID/TB is 11 now and had him 6 years and sometimes he acts like a 3/4 year old. I have found that he is very insecure on his own going out, going to shows etc, he changes with the weather as well. Hot summers he is like a puppy this time of the year he is a handful (monsters all over the place).

Try getting him accustomed to different spooky objects but you may find you have to do this constantly. I have a JCB, tractor and dumper truck here and he has seen all them working and going past him, but see one on the road its like he has never seen one before!

As for getting off him when riding, sometimes you have to and sometimes it is safer especially if he gets courage from you walking past spooky things. You just have to learn his body language as sometimes if you stay on and try to push him on he may try to back up and then rear up.

Good luck

[Piaffe]

My 19yr old TB (ex Racehorse) also thinks hes still 3!! I have similar problems from time to time, particularly if we ride out alone. But I know with my horse he's just being daft or having what I call a 'thoroughbred moment'!! I would never get off him on a hack - you have much more control on top.

It is very very important not to hold the horse up tight with your reins, particularly with an ex racehorse/trotter. It is also important to stay relaxed and try not to do anything with the reins. You don't say if you ride out alone or in company - does the horse behave the same in company? If not, I would just make sure you ride out with another experienced rider on an equally experienced horse, which can act as a 'comfort blanket'.

slh, your posts have made me giggle - it sounds like you're describing my horse to a T.!! The half canter/trot sideways (sideways is my horses favourite way to go!), sticking his bum out into the traffic etc - I do believe some of this silly behavour is down to them being thoroughbreds!

If you haven't got regular access to a school, you could try some of the suggestions given in the paddock, stable etc. Its all worth a try!

I do wish you luck - but I don't think you'll need it - it sounds like you've got the confidence to deal with this. I don't think the problems will go completely, but you will get better and better at dealing with the 'tb moments'!! - they are quite entertaining sometimes!

[slh]

cheers for taking an interest in us....we've been out quite a few times now and the more we go out the more I wonder whether de-sensitising will do anything - as DebO says - he can see one thing one day and be fine, the next day he'll look at it in horror - JCB classic example, they are around the farm where he is kept and he takes not a blind bit of notice, the other day we passed one (nearly on top of the hedge on the other side of the road!!) and you'd swear he'd never seen anything like it...

The weather also has a major effect on him....wind makes him even more jittery...some days we go past stuff and he doesn't make a sound... we passed a tractor spreading slurry the other day - he didn't hardly notice it!!!!

He has also just been clipped so he is a bit exitable at the moment, probably because he can feel the wind around his bare belly etc (he does look lovely though..!)

I am much more confident now that I know that he won't bolt with me - that was my worst fear...I don't even try to 'hold' him when he gets panicky...I just sit there quietly and wait for him to cool down a bit...I can tell when he is genuinely scared because he is shaking, and jerking...etc.....he is such a genuine horse - not a nasty bone in his body...I don't have anyone to ride out with....I've never experienced him with other horses...and in relation to breed - I'm not entirely sure - he is from American stock and has got a bit of bone...so although there may be a bit of TB in there, I'm sure he's a bit of a mix...

thanks again..slh