Ridecamp: Re: [RC] No Go Solo

Hi, Dede,

Last year, my 8 yo Arabian gelding, Tanna, was doing the same thing. First
thing my barn owner did was convince me to use a saddle with this particular
horse and gave me one to reinforce it. :)

For Tanna, the root of his spooking seemed to be fear. When other horses
were there, THEY were the lookout, or at least, he had help with the
lookout. When we were by ourselves, he thought he had to be the lookout.
"She wasn't paying attention, I mean, didn't she see that new hay bale in
the previously overgrown pasture????? What if it attacks us?? She is just
asleep up there!"

It took a lot of concentration on my part to look and see EVERYTHING that
might cause him concern. He likes to hear me talk, so I'd talk under my
breath to him to convince him I was still awake and attentive.

When I saw something that is out of the ordinary or I thought he would spook
at, I'd say "HUP!" (Means heads up please, got it from somebody on ridecamp)
and I look right at what would spook him. Then I relax, look down the road
where we're headed (no longer looking at the spooky soda can on the side of
the road).

For Tanna, after several rides out by ourselves, it started to sink in to
him that I really was paying attention and while he still keeps a sharp eye
out, he doesn't spook so hard anymore. In fact, he used to spook and run.
Now he spooks and stops (most of the time). But his spooks are fewer than
they were last year.

Oh, and when we first started doing this on our own, he would spook, spin,
sidestep, levitate, closer to the barn than farther. So for us, we needed to
go far and wide.

Another thing I did when we first started riding alone was to start out with
a trail ride (I boarded at a trail riding and lesson barn). After a half
mile, I'd ride off a little ways, and meet back up with the trail horses
after 5 or 10 minutes. I did that a lot, making the time away from the other
horses longer and longer. So maybe you could enlist 2 or 3 of your riding
buddies to help you train that way.

Course, the root of Tanna's spooking was fear. Your gelding might have other
reasons for spooking (brattiness, laziness -- If I act up enough, maybe
we'll go home, stubborn).

But the above worked for us. Daniel and I were just talking about how much
better he is now than last year.

Good luck! It IS frustrating not to be able to go riding whenever you want,
with or without company.

April
Nashville, TN

----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott & Dede Johnson" <scottj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>


I'm really hoping you experienced riders can help me here.  My 9 year old
Arab gelding does not like to go out by himself.  He's just fine with
others, but when I take him out here at home by ourselves, he tries to turn
around (AKA spook and spin) every couple of minutes.  He spooks at clumps of
grass, gates we've seen 50 times- anything.  He can be very stubborn.  I had
a similar battle with him loading into a 2 horse trailer (I won that one).
It's getting very frustrating.  Any ideas?

Dede


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