I have one gelding (Bask lines) that is like greased lightning - he can
spin/bolt so fast he gives me whiplash - he's 12, has had tons of trail
exposure his whole life, is on full-turnout, gets regular handling, and has
a solid base in dressage and the aides. His saving grace is that he is not
malicious in his spooks - I never get the impression he *meant* to dump me
<g>. He will always spook - till the day he dies Tony will be bolting down
the trail, in the ring, in the pasture, ...well, you get the picture. But,
he can be passed by dumptrucks and schoolbuses safely - go figure :->.
My solution?? I decided that there was so much about him that I do like
that I - 1) developed inner thighs of steel and 2) made an agreement with
him - he can spook but I want it done on my terms and those are to keep
going *forward* at a reasonable pace- not spin and run the other direction
or bolt and run in a blind panic. He has improved tremendously in 3 years
but I will **never** totally stop his spooking - if I couldn't live with it
I'd have to sell him - I'm convinced he literally cannot help himself. But
to me his feet, legs, recoveries and disposition make up for his spooking.
(Besides, I like chestnuts with white - what can I say?)
Of the several Arabs I have ridden over the years more of them have been
*alert* than not and I just thought all of them were like that UNTIL......I
also now have a stallion thanks to Samm :-> (also Bask) that has probably
spooked 5 times in his whole life of nine years. And when he does spook
it's more of a side-pass than what I'd consider a real bolt. Embers also
has tons of trail exposure and some knowledge of the aides, is on
full-turnout, and is handled regularly. He's just not a spooker. It's taken
me a few months of riding to believe that an Arab can act like this!! (Tony
is just coming off of three months pasture rest for a pulled suspensory and
is ready to start walking again - I'm afraid I've gotten soft from riding
Embers :->).
So why does Tony bolt and Embers doesn't? Who knows? Why do I talk alot and
my husand doesn't? <vbg>. IMO, *some* of the way our horses act can be
attributed to handling/experience/age but the rest of it boils down to
individual differences in the horse. Tony is simply <clearing throat> a
little on the hot side by nature and Embers is very laid back. Another
_important_ aspect to this is what you, the rider, can tolerate based on
your ability, time, knowledge, etc....
So....my advice to anyone with a flighty arab <*or any breed*> that you
want to ride where you cannot control the surroundings (that would be on
the trail as opposed to in the ring :->) is this: make sure there is no
physical reason for it (particularly sight problems) and then do all you
can to mitigate those tendencies and increase your chances of staying on -
trail exposure, a lot of schooling so the horse is tuned to the aides and
listening to you when he does bolt, a helmet <g>, a secure saddle, some
glue on your pants, and a bunch of common sense regarding your safety go a
long way.
Gadgets (increasingly severe bits, tie-downs, etc) may stop the spook today
but not forever if you have a true spooker - you end up escalating the
gadgets in severity until you're left with nowhere else to go and a horse
that has learned to spook even harder as a result. I mean, I could tie
Tony's head to his chest (and I think that was done by a previous owner
:-<) and he would still jump 10 feet to the side if a leaf looked at him
wrong - only with his head tied down he might be inclined to do something
worse, like rear or go into a dead run with me, since he couldn't do
anything else to get away from the leaf. As it is (with a plain snaffle),
we would (and has many times) simply jump to the side and keep trotting -
which I much prefer!
Beyond that, IMO, you also have to decide *is this horse worth the
spooking?* - after Tony, I no longer believe the "spook" can always be
ridden out of a horse.
Sorry for the rambling - this just hits a real chord with me - if I had a
dollar for every time I was told _Tony just needs more wet saddle blankets_
I'd be rich.
Tina (who just killed her chances of ever being able to sell Tony to anyone
- he's not that bad, really....<vbg>)
Embers (don't put a wet blanket on me - I hate being wet - I'll just roll
anyway)
Tony (how can you *not* spook when there are sooo many things just lying in
wait for you?????)
P.S. - I always smile when I see phrases like "not for beginners" or "needs
experienced rider" in ads for Arabs- I figure they must have another Tony
<g>
hickst@nichols.com