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Re: [RC] [RC] horse that spooks on the trail - Chris PausYou got it Laurie. First I don't care which "guru" you follow. Learn to listen to your horse and learn to breathe. Star was just as described.. spooky, jumping out of his skin over everything. We'd do most of a trail up and down and sideways. Now, 8 years into distance riding, he's the leader and charges down the trail with confidence. The difference? Well, After two years of fighting with him, I took several months off and went to dressage school. We both learned a lot and gained confidence. Then we just worked on it. I rode a lot. With others and by myself. We had relaxing walks in the woods. I wasn't thinking "oh, we've got a ride in 3 weeks, I have to do x miles in x time".. Nope. We just rode with no agenda. The other issue often is tack. Poor saddle fit can cause a horse to behave very badly and spook at every turn. One time when Star was having a particularly bad spooky day, I finally checked my saddle and pad. The pad had a wrinkle in it that was pinching the skin under where I sat. Poor boy, that must have hurt like heck! He was trying to tell me in his horse way that something was wrong. It took me a while to figure it out. It takes time and lots of it with some horses. If you are determined to compete in a certain time frame,then you probably need a seasoned campaigner. Some horses simply are more reactive than others and may never be a calm and quiet ride. My other riding horse is only 8 and he's far calmer than Star ever will be at 17. My young mare Ali, a 4YO also is calmer than Star. It's just the nature of the critter. chris --- Laurie Durgin <ladurgin@xxxxxxx> wrote: Personally , you can't rush them. They need to build, when I let go of my 'time frame' for something and worked thru it , however long it took, that is when I got results. ===== "A good horse makes short miles," George Eliot Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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