It's hard to tell what she's afraid of, but prior bad
experience may be the cause. I have a friend who
says her Arab was chased by motorcycles around
his paddock and now he's petrified of them. I would
say riding the bike around her in the way John
Lyons uses a tarp in the round pen would be a good
idea. At first you could just stand it next to you or
just outside the pen. She may not respond to it
if it isn't moving, but then again she just might.
As always, keep her in her comfort zone and proceed
slowly. If prior trauma is the cause, the cure will be
that much more difficult.
My horse is also afraid of bikes lying down. I'm sure
it's because HE's sure they're dead. But if they are
moving, it's OK. Often a biker will ask if my horse
is OK around bikes and I can break the ice with
the "Dead Bike" tale. :)
When on the trails, I try to get off if I can since around
these parts (No. CA) we have mostly rolling grass hills
that have been disc'd this time of year. It's much easier
for me to walk my horse off the trail than for a hiker or
biker to stop and move off. Especially if there is
poison oak around. I would hate for someone to get
into poison oak when my feet are that far off the ground...
... and I've found that most people do talk to us (Magnum
and I), but there are those few who just can't deal with
talking to a stranger! (even one in a bike helmet)
:) - kathy.myers@syntex.com
... and Magnum who passed a woman hiker from India
on the trail one day. It was after we had climed 1500 ft
and gone over 8 miles and he was pretty tired. He's
really a sweet horse when he's tired... so the lady
says "Is he OK?" and I said "Sure... he's really good
once he's tired"... and she said "He looks a little
nervous to me!" I figured if she's from India, she
probably really knows how to spot a nervous horse.