Re: RC: Spooking and other problems you have asked me about....

[DESERTRYDR1@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/20/00 7:59:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
Marv@MarvWalker.com writes:

<<  Here is a question-if the horse is by itself and has no other horse to
 > take direction from (example of a loose horse in a round pen), how is
 > it that some horses are just more spooky than others?  You could put
 > lots of loose tarps in the round pen, plastic bags tied to the posts,
 > scary things, etc. Some horses will just not care, and some will come
 > unglued.  Is it just that those that don't spook are confident horses
 > and the others not confident?  >>

Marv, I am not disputing anything you said, just trying to more directly 
answer this person's question. 

Yes, some horses are more spooky than others.  It may have to do with 
eyesight variables, how the nervous system is hard wired, or the individual 
horse's temperament.  We know that horses do not see the same way that humans 
do.  Their eyesight is based on being able to spot predators from a distance, 
and they have blind spots in their closeup vision.  It may appear to some 
horses that monsters just jump at them out of nowhere!  They may not be able 
to determine that an object is harmless if it suddenly appears in their field 
of vision, as horses change their closeup focus by moving their whole head.  

The alpha horse in a herd is responsible for alerting others to danger, and 
directing the course after that.  Therefore the lead horse is often more 
naturally alert than following horses.  

Some horses have been desensitized to many stimuli, which makes them less 
spooky.  They are used to things flapping, jumping out of nowhere or touching 
them in unusual places. (One of the advantages of imprint training--although 
you really can't say for sure that an imprinted foal is less spooky because 
of the imprinting or because of inborn temperament)  This also explains why 
most horses get less spooky with age "Been there, seen that"   jeri