Re: Is spook proofing possible?

[JFtteam@aol.com]

In addition to helping your horse stay calm by breathing yourself, riding with
calm horses, following Karen G's suggestions of slow, patient trail work (walk
first, then trot, etc.) you can help your horse by teaching him to lower his
head.  A horse's instinctive fight and fllight posture is to put the head up,
hollow the back and then fight or flee.  Running away is fleeing to the max.
Spooking is fleeing a bit less.  Spooking in place is fleeing with more self-
control.  However, if your horse tends to travel head high and tense in the
body it may not take much for him to spook. You can teach him to lower his
head from the ground w/ a bit of pressure on his pole while asking him to
lower it w/light pressure on the halter lead.  And use a voice cue such as
"put your head down."  Then you can ask him from the saddle with hand pressure
on his neck while saying "put your head down."  A high headed horse tends to
react rather than think his way through a situation.  It's a survival
mechanism--if you think too long about a cougar it may eat you.  However,
while the reacting horse may get away, we may not stay with him!  When the
head is down (that's where a relaxed eating horse keeps his head), he can stay
calmer and figure out the problem is not so bad after all.

I have a Morgan gelding who would bolt when being saddled, at the walk or at
any other inopportune time, when I first got him 12 years ago.  By doing TTEAM
all over his body I discovered this guy had rock=hard muscles on his inner
thighs.  He also had a hard time figuring out where his body was in space.
The puddle could be 4' away but he still jumped sideways to avoid it.  For the
first month, I didn't mount him until I had softened those thigh muscles with
lifts and touches first.  (Seemed as if he would see something of concern,
tighten up and then run away from his own tight arse!)  I also ride him in the
TTEAM bit which can be quite helpful in keeping a horse from spooking.  It
keeps them soft in the poll and through the hip.  He shaped up in a hurry (he
was my daughter's horse till she left home) and is great fun to ride on the
trail.

Jodi Frediani
TTEAM Practitioner