Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Bambi Forbes jbforbes@xxxxxxxxx

I have had luck with letting the horse stand with his feet glued to the 
ground (after all, he outweighs me by about 7 times, and kicking him or 
distracting him won't alievate his fear), then I continually ask him to 
keep looking at the object.  I don't let him look away for a second, just 
gently face him straight at it (unless it's close enough that he needs to 
look at it with one eye).  He will get bored with it after a while, then 
want to move closer to check it out, or will want to move on.  I believe 
the horse needs to assess whether or not unfamiliar objects will eat him, 
and he can usually decide that the rock isn't breathing (or that the motion 
in the distance isn't approaching him at a great rate of speed, as in 
Mountain Lion.)  Many miles later the horse gets really good at assessing 
real or imagined danger on his own.

The really smart horse will decide that this is a game, and will stop and 
"pretend" that there is something out there as often as he thinks he wants 
to stop.  Trust me, be consistent and he will get tired of staring at 
nothing and the game will balance itself out.  Have fun!

Bambi


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