Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

That really depends on why the horse is spooking.  If they are the type that spook just to jazz things up (I had one of these), then yeah, a slap on the neck would settle him down just fine. 

   For real fear spooks, I agree with Nick.  When we started with Chief, he was a pretty spooky horse.  Any type of slap or harsh word when he spooked made him REALLY scared, so I had to learn to totally ignore the spook and just keep riding as though nothing had happened - no tensing up, no grabbing the reins tight or grabbing with my legs.  It took some training on my part to be able to do that!  As Chief started to realize that whatever scared him didn't faze me at all, he slowly stopped being so fearful.  He still spooks from time to time, but it's mostly either in place or a single side step.

 

Rae

Tall C Arabians - Central Region

Nick Warhol <nick.warhol@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Some people believe that punishing a spooking horse will help him overcome his spooking habits.  In my case, I found this is just not true, and I learned a valuable lesson about my horsemanship.  My first young horse, Shatta, a big, strong arab, spooked like there was no tomorrow.  He would spook at phantoms, shadows, and stuff I never saw.  His spooks were so big I would tell people he would change time zones.  I fell off the first few times, but realized this wasn?t going to work if I was going to ride this horse.  An ?expert? told me, ?Oh, yeah, you have to get after him, hard, just after he spooks, and he will learn that you are not happy.  Smack him in the neck when he spooks.?   Okay, I tried that for a while, but what happened next made me feel terrible.  I?m riding along, he does a giant, leaping spook, and then he glances back and ducks his head to avoid my hand, because he knew I was going to come after him.  Boy, that made me feel like a fool.   He was smart enough to learn that he equated a spook with a slap, but that wasn?t going to stop him from spooking.   All I was doing was damaging my relationship with him. 

 

And no, sometimes they never grow out of spooking.  Yes, it can get better with time and experience, but it does not go away.  Zayante STILL spooks, shies, and sometimes refuses to go by things even after 12,000 miles.   He gets in moods- he will go along for 10 miles in front without a hiccup, then it?s like riding a pogo stick for the remainder of the ride.  He was so good at the three days of Wild West, but at Oakland hills he was spooking more than he wasn?t.   I suggest you stay relaxed and balanced, and just ride it out, even though it takes patience.  I do know that if you hang on tight, squeeze the horse, and are tense or frightened, it will just get worse.  

 

The only good thing about a spooking horse is it makes you a better rider.  After learning to deal with Shatta, Zayante?s spooks are a minor annoyance.

 

Nick