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Kathy -
Your 3 horses sound exactly like my mare all rolled into one!  The injuries, 
finding yourself abruptly on the ground, the screeching halts, the 180's, the 
bucking uphill exuberance thing, dishonest spooks, honest spooks, the whole 
gamut.  We've been through enough that now I can tell what kind of day or mood 
she's having before we even leave the property, and I ride accordingly.  Either 
white-knuckling or loose reining, it's never boring and frankly, I wouldn't 
have it any other way.  She's taught me how to be a decent rider, to never get 
complacent, she has improved my seat, my confidence, patience and diligence.  
Most of all, she has taught me that horses are just like people in that they 
have moods, likes, dislikes, fears, loves and quirks, and even when it seems 
like they're trying to kill you, it's the only scenario on earth where I would 
go back for more (as long I still know which end is up).
I almost DID give up on her . . . 3 or 4 times, but I just couldn't do it.  And 
I'm SO glad I didn't!  I'd rather have a drama queen, sit-n-spin, rodeo, 
hit-the-sky kinda day with HER than any day at work.  Now, THAT's living! 

Carrie Kitley-Jackson
30th Medical Group, Vandenberg AFB
DMLSS?Database Sustainment Specialist (DSS) 
CACI?International Inc? www.caci.com
dsn?276-1077, Comm (805) 606-1077
fax dsn?276-1179
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carrie.kitley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?


-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Kathy Mayeda
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 1:00 PM
To: Cindy Stafford
Cc: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] horse shopping and the spookiness scale

To me, spookiness is one of the easiest things to resolve.  Even with my 
ding-dong Bey Shah bred horse, I've been able to manage his spookiness.  He has 
other quirks that I'm trying to work with, but he's done well with all the 
scary green balls, Arab eating rocks and mice in the bushes.  However, it did 
take a lot more work to get him there, and I still work on it. Lot of 
desensitization on the ground, then in saddle.  That's the reason why I joined 
the local Parelli group so I could work on these issues in mayhem group 
settings - and I didn't have to do it with the other two. He spooks by grabbing 
the ground, no 180s and I've never been dumped off of him but I have bailed off 
of him on his bucking uphill sprees (not spooking - just sheer exuberance).  I 
did better with him by letting him look at stuff after he spooks so that it can 
get his brain back.  I have had him for several years and we are still learning 
to trust each other - it's hard work for and with him.

My most trustworthy horse - coincidently the one I have the endurance miles on 
-  has a scar in his left eye from a corneal ulcer, so he tends to shy and do a 
very quick 180.  Since he's normally such a good boy I ride him with totally 
loose reins so I'm usually un prepared to prevent the turn, and he dumps his 
shoulder on the 180 and I'm on the ground.  (I'm usually white knuckling on the 
other guy)  Two times to the ER with minor injuries from that guy.   He is a 
quiet inward worrier and sometimes I don't pay attention that he's concerned 
about something until I'm on the ground.  He hasn't done that for years though, 
a nd he did it so infrequently anyway.  I never reprimand him because he always 
has a "omigawd I blew it Mom, so sorry" look on his face after he turns around 
and sees me on the ground.  Honest spooks.

My mare - that we both went through our green on green means black and blue 
times together - spooks at things on the ground, so when she's wound up I have 
her on the bit and with leg pressure on if she shows sign of putting her head 
down to have a drama queen moment.   Dishonest spooks. She used to trot fast 
and then slam on the brakes, so this cured her of doing that.  She's great on 
the trail now and is everyone's favorite horse to ride. 

That's my three horse study.  I know of others that never felt comfortable with 
their new horses and then moved them on to other homes.  There's a pretty good 
chance that other people would have given up on a horse like Drako, or they 
would have welcomed the challenge of having a difficult horse.  To me, he's 
been a valuable learning experience - I'm a better rider and horsewoman because 
of him even if he's taking a long time to get on the endurance trail.  (He 
rather be an arena horse so he doesn't get sweaty.)

I also think that some Arabs are pretty darn good at testing their riders by 
spooking to see what they would do, if they can intimidate the rider into 
getting off, so they can go back to the barn to socialize with their buds! 

K.


On Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 9:39 AM, Cindy Stafford <cjstaf@xxxxxxx> wrote:


       once again, i'm going to have to beg your collective advice.
        
       I've been casually horse shopping for a while for a new LD horse.  One 
of the qualities I'm looking for is a horse that is low on the spookiness 
scale, lol.
        
       But here's where i'm perplexed.  How do you judge a horse that may shy 
a lot just due to being green, but may grow out of it with additional miles?  
Versus one that will always be a 'spooker'?
        
       Or should I pay more attention to how the horse reacts when it spooks?  
Like a stop, stare and blow is a lot more easier to handle for me than one that 
might react with the spin and bolt, or worse, rearing/bucking (gasp!).
        
       I"m not a green rider, but am seeing the results of my limited 
experience of too many miles on only one horse, and one that became relatively 
bombproof fairly quickly LOL.  I don't mind getting one that is green and 
spooky and working iwth it slowly (i'm in continuous lessons with a trainer, so 
have others more experienced to work with me).  But am wanting to avoid the one 
that may never grow out of having extreme meltdowns versus the casual sidestep.
        
       comments?  thanks again as always for your opinions.
        
       cindy
       



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