Your discourse here does not represent what my horse
does. Mine spooks only in safe situations (safe for him) and sometimes
there is nothing there at all. I truly believe he does it for
entertainment value. He had training over a woven blue tarp in an arena,
and he learned to walk carefully over it. On the outside, if a blue tarp
is sitting out in plain sight, it's a big horse-eater.
As for your saying you can ignore it and ride through
it, you must be fairly young, athletic, and have great balance. At 76, I
am none of those, but I care deeply enough for this horse to try riding him
again. I can avoid the spooks if I walk him only. He only spooks
when I am trotting him along an open road or in a field.
Whether there is a problem with his spine, neck, or
wherever, I have yet to find out.
Ah, the old Arab teleport trick! (I'm suddenly 20 feet to the left of
where I just was...) I'm surprised no one has mentioned desensitization
work at home around the barn - deliberately introduce scary things and teach
your horse it's OK to be afraid as long as he keeps his feet firmly
planted on the ground. Take the scary thing away when he doesn't
move or stops moving. Or, just learn to ride the spooks! My
mare and I have been teleporting left together for 14 years and it doesn't
even faze me anymore - occasionally a new riding partner will remark on
it.
Horses spook at things that look "out of place" because this is a sign of
danger. So it isn't the log or rock (or pop can) itself that is scary -
it's the fact that it may be a warning of things amiss - just like if you
live alone, and you come home from work to find your boots in the middle of
the living room (assuming you don't normally keep them there) you might freeze
and wonder if there had been a break-in or something. Therefore, horses
may be more likely to spook at a small something in a fairly featureless
landscape (a rock or log along a field road). On a rocky, technical
trail, the rocks are supposed to be there - they are an expected part of the
landscape.
