What do I do with her?

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Kirstin fairyNfire@jahoopa.com
Ok, my mare is 7 yrs old arab/appy.  I love her to death,
but lately she's getting very annoying.  I'll be riding along on
the trail as if nothing is wrong in the world and uh oh she sees
a bird in a tree or flying....or a fallen log and she loosens my
seat when she spooks.  I have never fallen off of her, but she's
gotten me close.  We raised her from a newborn so she did not
have any bad experiences.  I just started riding her when she
was about 6 yrs old.  My father had trained her, but he was too
tall to ride her.  She's about 15 hands.  So I just started to
condition her.  She was doing VERY well in MN but we just moved
to MI as of the last month.  At home she could go 15 miles no
problem...but here she's just not doing as well as I know she
can.  It's like she used to be fun to ride, but as of lately
it's just not fun anymore because of her spooking and giving
no heart.  I don't know if she's just lazy or what.  When we go
out onto the trail she "will" obey me with a little encouragement
but she has no will to go forward or to trot for that matter.
She always tries to turn around...and trembles at things she's
scared of.  I tried bringing her up to everything that she's
scared of so she wouldn't be like that.  It did work for a while
but lately I am not even sure what she's scared of.  I just don't
know what to do about her.  My dad and my uncle both said I could
get a new horse if I wanted, but I'm more than determined to have
my lil mare be a fabulous horse.  I just wish I knew what I could
do for her.  I talk to her a lot while we're riding but it seems
not to work anymore.  So a few weeks ago we had bigger problems,
she would stop in the middle of anywhere...including roads and
wouldn't budge.  So I tried to encourage her to go, but unless
I got off of her to lead her she wouldn't budge.  That's when
I started to use a crop or sometimes a twig to give her a little
tap on her shoulder.  She responded so that's not a problem
anymore.  The horses I used to ride were just yanking the bit
and didn't spook at a thing in the woods.  I loved it!  Will my
mare ever be like that? I know I just started not too long ago
but I'm concerned.  I don't want her to just "obey" me I want
her to want to do it also.  Her mother used to be a spooker
but in the last month changed to a non-spooker over night
literally.  I just am not sure as to what to do.  Is she lazy...
Or am I doing something wrong?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Kirstin


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