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[RC] Spooking - Sharon HahnAh, the old Arab teleport trick! (I'm suddenly 20 feet to the left of where I just was...) I'm surprised no one has mentioned desensitization work at home around the barn - deliberately introduce scary things and teach your horse it's OK to be afraid as long as he keeps his feet firmly planted on the ground. Take the scary thing away when he doesn't move or stops moving. Or, just learn to ride the spooks! My mare and I have been teleporting left together for 14 years and it doesn't even faze me anymore - occasionally a new riding partner will remark on it.
Horses spook at things that look "out of place" because this is a sign of danger. So it isn't the log or rock (or pop can) itself that is scary - it's the fact that it may be a warning of things amiss - just like if you live alone, and you come home from work to find your boots in the middle of the living room (assuming you don't normally keep them there) you might freeze and wonder if there had been a break-in or something. Therefore, horses may be more likely to spook at a small something in a fairly featureless landscape (a rock or log along a field road). On a rocky, technical trail, the rocks are supposed to be there - they are an expected part of the landscape.
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