I forgot to mention that my horse was born and raised
on the prairie of east central Montana, and there aren't any trees there.
He spooked there, too. When I e-mailed the man I bought him from, he said
the horse had spooked with him but he thought he had the horse past that.
He hadn't!
I seriously doubt if there is any problems
with neck or back. I also suspect it may be for entertainment value. I have
one that on a single track through the deepest, darkest, scariest woods,
goes along blasting away without ever a thought of a spook. However, put him
on a wide two track trail and he will "shuck and jive" from side to side down
the trail shying from everything. He's 20 - been doing it since we got him at
4 - probably will do it on his last ride before he crooks.
I have not
idea what it is, boredom, opinion - I doubt it is fear but maybe he is not
comfortable in open spaces. I do not know. I have found after taking a soil
sample if I come back to the truck, take off his tack, get out my 45, show it
to him, hold it to his head and explain to him I will be carrying it the next
time we ride and if I come off - he will be buried on the trail at that spot
(just kidding her folks - don't have a 45 it's really a 40 cal ;-) ). It seems to help - at least
for the next ride or two ;-)
.
In reality I think he is really a sleeper member of the
Jihad and I am the target. He is the only Arab I have ridden extensively -
does 13 years count - and he will be the last.
Truman
Barbara
McCrary wrote:
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.
Barbara
--
?I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in
pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning,
science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of
being true.? Carl Sagan
