Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 12:27 AM 9/2/2009, Barbara McCrary wrote:
> What advice does anyone have regarding a 13 year old Arab gelding 
> that spooks six feet sideways, suddenly, violently, so fast that I'm 
> off before I realize it is happening?  He's rock solid on 
> treacherous trails, never spooks on endurance rides, but trot him on 
> an open road or field, and I'm fair game to him.  I'm fairly sure he 
> is playing games with me, because he's had opportunity to blow up 
> under some really unusual situations, but he doesn't.  Only on open 
> roads at a trot.  Things like ferns and rocks and logs on the side 
> of the road will precipitate this "pull the tablecloth out from 
> under the silverware" technique.  Then he stands and looks at me as 
> if he wonders what I'm doing on the ground.  Granted, this happened 
> about 3 years ago, during the interim my young granddaughter rode 
> him and completed on him.  He finished Swanton Pacific 75 like a 
> breeze.  G'daughter is now a senior in HS and too busy with 4-H and 
> a boyfriend to ride at all.  I now have said horse back and I plan 
> to ride him again...with a more secure saddle than a nice little 
> English model.  But life would be more fun if I could know why he is 
> doing this and how to deal with it.

Horses that are abnormally or erratically spooky very often have
cervical issues.  The sides of your horse's neck must mirror each
other.  Any bump or dip on one side must be on the other side.  The
groove between the mandible and the axis/atlas must be the same
width on each side.  The axis/atlas must be perpendicular to the
face and parallel with the eyes.

If not, your horse has cervical issues.

Chiropractic adjustment usually corrects the problem.  If you
can't find an chiro in your area try http://AVCADoctors.com

If the horse has cervical issues it is like having a sore stiff neck.
In order to look to either side the horse has to pivot its body
instead of just turning its head.  A human has a centered pivot
point when they turn their body.  Humans sit out on the lever of
a horse's turning point a little bit like an apple on a stick.  If you
aren't glued on you fly off.

When he's on the trail "spookers" are usually less visible.

Marv "My stick horse spooked and sprained my nose." Walker
Horse Info & Training DVDs ~ http://MarvWalker.com



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