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.
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BINGO!!!!!! Marv speaks the truth. I spent YEARS trying to figure out why my horse was doing MAJOR bolts (that sometimes nearly killed us both); during those years I learned to be his leader (and became a much better horsewoman in the process), I desensitized him to lots of stuff, etc etc etc, but he still would bolt on random occasions with no obvious (to me) trigger. And he bolted blindly with no regard for his own life He is the perfect gentleman on the ground and has SO much 'try' under saddle that it was breaking my heart that I couldn't figure out how to stop the bolting. Training, massage, chiro, acupuncture, etc, didn't help and I coudn't understand why. He also started having some back trouble in the last few years, and I FINALLY found a chiro who has helped me come to the conclusion that his poll damage is serious and permanent. It was possibly caused by sitting back with a
halter on because he has hairless 'burn marks' on each side of his poll (and had them when I got him 8 years ago).
So, after several near death bolting experiences that shook me to the core (and once gave me a concussion), I've had to call it quits when it comes to riding him. I love him very very much and would sell my soul to be able to safely ride him, but I love MY life even more and can no longer put myself at that kind of risk. So, I've got a sweet, built-for-100's 12 yoa Arab gelding pasture potato. Sometimes it makes me ache to look at him and see all his potential that it appears will never be tapped.
