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another spook question



Carla Lawson robcarla@bellsouth.net
Oh great gurus of knowledge I humbly kneel before you to seek the answer
to one of lifes common mysterys. To give you some upfront knowledge of the
situtuation, I will put this into scenarios.
first some info.
Arab mare, have owned aprox 1.5 years.
original training owner was male. was with him aprox 8 years.
recently purchased better saddle. She likes it better!
no handling problems on the ground. will blow at new things.
I am on schedule to work with professional riding instructor in two weeks.
(she has just returned from Equitana) I am on vacation with our horses.
On the normal trail at home Ansata will spook. The normal amount, at holes
Part of me is leaning to depth perception. The other is leaning to
"bonding"
We recently have over come some parts of entering water. I shudderd as I
read the Forwarded Post from Darolyn Butler.
While here on vacation we have gone thru some very diffacult trail that
required nose to near ground work. Ansata when faced with diffaculty will
put her mind to the chore ahead and go but will still need guidance as to
turns and trees. But She will not BALK!
However when on good even trail with great footing plenty of room she will
balk at every stick, dried up puddle, leaf, butterfly, fallen log 5 ft
away, rocks of larger than hoof size, and just about every imaginable
thing possible,
She has balked at a wooden bridge but finally crossed it with much
encouragement and heel pressure.(no spurs) I made her cross this bridge
several times and even backed across. It was a 15 foot bridge that crossed
over water about 5 ft below with gaurd rails on both sides. She crossed
like a pro even backed like a pro. No major problems.
However the problem lies with going down the trial and the balking to a
complete stop at all gaits. even at a canter I get the full brake.
Needless to say I would appreciate some coasting room before the brake.
It was so bad that I lost my complete patience with her and ended up
sitting on a rock crying while my husband tried to comfort me and so did
my husbands horse by poking her nose up to me and letting me rest my head
on hers. Mean while Ansata pulled so she could nibble.
Husband wants me to reconsider her carreer as an endurance horse, But I
can't give that up just yet. SHe has some great qualities otherwise great
build. good lean horse with concrete hoofs, great recovery times,very
smart, competative,loads, camps,has tons of heart to give when the going
gets tough. eats, drinks, poops, pees, just really overall a well built
arabian mare. Short of a possible carreer in the showring She is a
wonderful mare.Husband asked what can I do my answer was other than short
of exposing her to the nearly billions and billions of different
environment changes and go thru them with her about ten times I am not
sure. I am nearly at my wits end, what to do? What am I missing?
Carla (desperate in the saddle)
Ansata (gasp......a butterfly)
Haley (mmm just another bug!)
Rob (desperate to help my wife!)



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