# Relaxing when your horse freaks out



## kenda (Oct 10, 2008)

I've found that the best remedy for my nerves has been knowing my horse. I've been on trail rides on greenies where I wasn't sure I knew what they would do in the event of a scare. With my own girl, I've seen the worst she dishes out and I know I can sit it. 99% of the time, she will spook on the spot, or maybe take a stride or two sideways and forwards away from the scary thing and now that I've been riding her for 2 years, I feel that I know pretty much when it's coming and if not, I've sat it so many times now that my body knows how to react.


----------



## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

After reading what Cheri said about how our demeanor effects our mounts I changed my thinking.

Made the world of difference in my horse, he no longer spooks like he used to, its more of a slight scuffle with his feet not his full out bolt. I no longer scan the horizon for possible spooks. I go out for a ride expecting a fantastic ride and that what I get. I also have the attitude of I can handle what he dishes out... kind of a dont mess with me 'tude.

If anything I laugh. Its what I did my my donkey "Willpower" tried his tricks on me. After awhile he stopped trying me out and became a fantastic ride.


----------



## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

I get real talkative to my horses. I tell them how stupid they are and call them affectionate names like "Dumb beast" and "Glue" and "Alpo" and just question their general sanity. I always tell them that the worst that happens to me is I get back up and have to chase them down and they don't want that! My gelding got me off once and ran off and I stood up, shouted: "Good luck finding someone who'll feed you crazy old nag!" people stared and I trudged after him while spitting insults. Got back on totally relaxed and ready for round two lol! My gelding's gotten really good at it, now I when he spooks I can shout a curse or two and he stops to think. It really helps me relax to just talk to them, not people and then remind myself that the worst that happens is I fall off and walk back home.

Then again I get real talkative to them in most situations, spooks, acting up, training etc. So whenever I talk most of the horses I work with realize that it's time to listen really hard.


----------



## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Having trained about 15 horses to handle gunfire and cannonfire, I can tell you that Clinton Anderson's idea of "Give you horse a heart attack" is the BEST way to handle horse fears. When the horse is overwhelmed with fear he gets over it.
Also, YOU are much safer riding a nervous horse with somebody else who has a horse who is fearless. Horses learn to NOT fear from other horses who are not afraid. Other animals, too. The chapter in "Black Beauty" where he was pastured for a week with the cattle right next to the RR track taught him that running around scared didn't change things, and that the cattle who ignored the trains and continued grazing had the right idea.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I rode bareback a lot on the trails and talked to and laughed at the horse. If he went on high alert I'd threaten him that if he misbehaved he'd wind up in a can of dog food. Worked every time. He spooked once in 23 years and that caused by an unseen partridge in the deep grass right beside us. It flew up under his jaw and he jumped on step sideways, realized he'd unseated me and immediately tried to get back under me. I was at the point of no return so I just slid off.


----------



## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

yesterday X spooked big on me. first time EVER that he's done that. and, I came close to tumbling off. I was pretty relaxed, and maybe too relaxed. had to really hang on with my left side leg crooked up and just gouged into his side, but, I just decided NOT to fall, and stuck it out, and afterward, I used the "laugh" strategy to calm us both. that's my preferred response, so far.


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

I'll second what Chit Chat and Cherie have said. There is the old adage of "fake it til you make it". Do realize, that at some point, you will have to prove up. 

If you can find Texas Horseman's posts on balance, I think they would be extremely helpful. For my own part, I can only say experience will help. It didn't take many falls for me to realize that the safest place is up top. 

I'm another who tends to talk to horses. I'm from Southwestern Virginia, and I'll attempt a phonetic equivalent. Sometimes it's just a laugh and "Izzat all yew got?". Other times it's "Yew knucklehayud! Git back in air!"

That's another reason I like horses so much. I can speak my native tongue, and they understand.


----------



## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I tend to laugh and/or growl. I have a friend who swears with incredible creativity and fluency. Another who says things like "Oh, now. That wasn't nice. You need to be a good boy/girl."

We all share lease a barn and pastures together in the summer between two towns where we have some work with young horses and rehab/reschooling. I wonder what it sounds like to outsiders.


----------



## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

boots said:


> ..... I have a friend who swears with incredible creativity and fluency..... I wonder what it sounds like to outsiders.


When I was a kid, there was a man who had a Russian horse. At least he always called it Dan Sonavitch. 

Sorry for the hijack...


----------



## Roman (Jun 13, 2014)

My horse, and pretty much every other horse I've ridden that has spooked, either shoots forward, sideways, or jumps in place. I do get scared or startled, as it is something unexpected. I just get that rush of scare and then take a few breaths to calm myself. Depending on what it was he spooked at, I'll either just continue on with the ride like nothing happened her go back through that area he spooked at.


----------



## STT GUY (Apr 23, 2014)

Well.. I relax but always ready to do whats needed. I trail ride a lot and we have plenty of things that can and do jump out at us and have had plenty of practice. Never had a serious wreck........until today. 

Today we were crossing the street a half mike or so from the house (street was just paved) and a pet pig rushed us.....my Paso Fino spooked, no big deal until he lost his footing on the slick pavement and down we went. I was in the saddle, both feet in the stirrups, hands on reigns and didn't even have time to say "Oh cr#p" before we hit the ground. It happened so fast that Im still not sure exactly what happened but he rolled over on me for sure.

He's ok, I walked him a bit and then rode him home. My knee is the size of a nice cantaloupe, my shoulder is banged up, ribs are sore and foot is bruised. I had a helmet on and banged it off the pavement so it did it's job. Could have been WAAAAAAY worse. I'm glad my little buddy is ok and I'll be no worse for wear after a couple of days.


----------



## Clydesdales (Sep 12, 2013)

I tend to sing or swear....sometimes it's both in one!


----------



## sunnyone (Sep 4, 2014)

I love these responses, 
One time I was so relaxed on a ride at the coast. We had gone through the waves, played in the sand, and my horse was just mellow as can be. I had a completely loose rein, just enjoying the weather, following a friend's horse. I was riding in my dressage saddle. We went into the brush a bit and out of the blue my friend's horse spooked, causing my horse to wake up and decide to jump too. Needless to say, I was unprepared and fell off. I told my friend not to go after my horse, he would hang around but they left me...I was nervously looking around, hoping it wasn't a bear that caused the ruckus.


----------



## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

For me laughing and joking help the most. Cruiser is a bucker (well crow hopper, really) when he spooks, but they are short lived and kind of pathetic most of the time. So I laugh and joke to him that he'll have to do better than that if he wants a career as a bronc. If he starts tensing up about a piece of garbage, I joke about the MILLIONS of horses slaughtered ruthlessly by plastic bags. Laughter, leg on, look up, and we're done.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I started riding when I was too young to understand 'fear' so by the time I could realize how badly things can go wrong I'd become able to deal with most things a horse could do so instead of letting fear take over I concentrate on riding through whatever's happening
I'd started to get nervous on the UK roads - but not of the horse - it was idiot drivers that scared me and not a lot you can do to change them
I also hate heights so if we end up on the side of steep drops on narrow trails I'll get off and walk rather than pass my fear onto the horse


----------



## Gossalyn (Sep 12, 2013)

I too talk to my horse occasionally. When she starts to get nervous I talk to her in a way that you can tell I am just rolling my eyes at her and bored by her high alert. The only time I can't deny I'm a little nervous is if I'm on concrete. I'm somewhat confident particularly when she's at the walk, but i really don't want to test that theory on concrete. Sometimes I can feel my heart quicken if she seems concerned AND on concrete... and i just try and breath and laugh at myself and get to the dirt part again.. but I know when i suddenly can feel my heartbeat she can too.. i just try and contradict it with my breathing seat and voice.

Luckily most of the time we're on dirt though.


----------



## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

I am a huge fan of "fake it 'till you make it." Have you all read or seen Harry Potter? You know how Professor McGonagall politely tells off her students? That's more (or less politely) what I do. Usually something along the lines of, "Yes. That's a rock. The same rock that has been there for the last two years. Yep. Terrifying monsters are most certainly about to erupt out of it and eat your face. Indeed." and so on and so forth. 

Telling him how obviously silly he is being helps me relax and avoids that moment of tense silence that precedes badness. Mr. Jayne, over time, has also come to learn that once I start lecturing him, there's probably no need to worry any more and he'd best just do as I asked from the start because he will do as I ask in the end anyway, so he can worry and stress and work about or or just heave a big old sigh, accept that his human is inevitably leading him to doom, and give up and accept his fate. ... that might or might not be a lecture he gets regularly too. 

Now, when he does actually spook out of the blue with no tensing beforehand, worried looks, or the like, lecturing him is far less effective.


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Ah, it's so nice to see I'm not the only crazy person around here! :rofl: II like to sing when trail riding. When you're doing a posting trot, you kind of have to have something with a matching rhythm, or it goes all belly-up!

I will also confess to crazier stuff: Teaching horses onomatopoeic words to associate with different objects/animals they may spook at. (Works in my dog too: If I say "broom-broom" she immediately runs for the car waiting to get in...) ...so if there's a cow behind the bush and I know it's a cow and the horse doesn't yet, I might say, "That's right, boy, it's a cow. Mooooooo!" And when he sees it, "See, told you. Mooooo!" It kind of stops them spooking to do that... especially when they learn the sounds and notice you are predicting the experience correctly.

Kangaroos are harder: They are silent, so I make a "boing-boing" sound to alert my horse to kangaroos, in imitation of their jumping through the undergrowth. It's fun, and helpful. 

Anything that relaxes the rider transfers to the horse, like singing (unless it's really bad singing... I have been known to sing the Lumberjack Song, or the classic Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer, when running out of ideas... :rofl...

Yesterday I was on a trail when we heard some shots, and came upon a group of native Australians hunting kangaroo with the traditional ambush method (used to be done with spears, now with guns). Basically they have a line of people lying in wait at animal trails, while a bigger group of people hallooos the game through the bush towards them. The shooting line was set up near our perimeter fence, so I had to go right past them. To do that, I actually got off and walked next to my horse's head to settle him. I had a chat to one of the hunters. When the volleys started going off, my horse wanted to high-tail it out of there, and started prancing on the spot. When we did eventually go home, I drove him over the saddle for a while until he was calmer again, instead of mounting immediately. He's ex-harness, and in harness training the handlers will hop out of the cart and walk with their horses when spooky things happen during their education - kind of long-reining from beside the cart and closer to the horse. It always calms the horse.


----------



## Little Jane (Mar 7, 2013)

Having spent the last two years training a flexible, athletic, spooky mare ...

If it's just a "oh, what was that?" type of spook, rather than the no-holds barred spook, then I can just sigh and say, "It's okay, Grace," and she'll sigh and relax too.

Mostly, though, if she spooks, all hell breaks loose. I just sit tight, exhale, and bring her nose to one side. When she's quiet, I pat her and croon "good girl" until she gives a big sigh. I know her well now—as soon as she sighs, the spook is over. But let me tell you, this horse knows how to spook! Jeepers.


----------



## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

sunnyone said:


> Is that possible?
> 
> Sure, you can plan and train to help prevent the unexpected, but there comes a day a bee bites, you run into unexpected wildlife, or your horse has been arena bound all winter and his first trail ride of the season is an adventure. I used to cross my fingers and hope my horse would throw a shoe on the first ride. He was a wimp without them...I'm joking here...
> 
> ...


There are times when a horse reacts so suddenly that we have no time to think about it. Our reflexes respond by causing our legs to grip our horse and our hands to pull on the reins. We cannot prevent this. What we can do is determine what happens after this occurs.

If we do nothing to change the situation, our horse will likely continue to be frightened. Our actions will reinforce this fear.

We must concentrate on our responsibility rather than our own fears. I once saw a comic strip that illustrated this well.

A little girl ran up to her mother in the house. "Spider! Spider!" she cried. The mother responded calmly, "Oh, it's just a little spider. Let's carry it outside and turn it free." After the mother had done this, the little girl ran off smiling. Once the little girl had left, the mother shivered with the fright she had suppressed for the sake of her daughter.

Relating this to horses, we must relax our hold on the horse so the horse will relax. When startled, a horse will generally jump away. Then, it will check to see if there was a reason to be frightened. If we clamp down on the horse, we are telling it there really was a reason to be frightened. If we relax, we give the horse the opportunity to realize there was no reason to be afraid.

I know that this advice is not always easy to follow. On my first ride on a trip to Portugal, I was riding in a newly constructed covered arena. The stallion I was riding was frightened by the actions of a woman cleaning the ceiling of the dining room above the viewing area. The horse bucked and continued to buck. Finally, the instructor yelled, "Spurs!" I realized that I had failed to do what I advise my students to do. As soon as I released my legs, the horse relaxed.

To cover my embarrassment, at our next meal, I told the other guest who were from various countries that I just wanted to show them what American Western riding was like. Everyone had a good laugh knowing what had really happened.


----------



## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

I find the more I get to know my horse and the more comfy I feel with her, the easier it is to remain calm. It also has this great side effect that she stays calm even when she would probably have freaked before. It takes time to build that relationship. For us, it's been a year now, of riding several times a week.


----------



## CASugar (Oct 17, 2014)

HaHa. This has been a good post. TXHorseman I am reminded of a comic I once saw. Three bushmen were on a trail walking in single file. Suddenly the lead bushman gets nailed by a deadly snare. The second bushman tells the third bushman "That's why I never lead". A little bit of wisdom which comes in handy from time to time. 
Like most of you all, I laugh a little, it is an automatic release of tension and I do identify the scarey object with a label, " bird", "squirrel"... even if "just some kinda animal". It seems to help the horse if I demonstrate that I too see the object, and know it is ok. I have read many times horses only understand a handful of words, but I have had a couple horses who understood many words.
Also helpful is the shoulder-in with effective engagement of the hindquarters training at home. It can be used on even a narrow trail and it gets the horse engaged in an activity which helps get his mind off other things. Your horse can still spook while in a shoulder-in but it will much less powerful. Shoulder-in is also very good for the horse who wants to jig or prance, provided your horse can produce an effective shoulder-in; walking is less work. Consider the shoulder-in while crossing the street or concrete. Although I think I too would spook at a charging pig!


----------



## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

ecasey said:


> I find the more I get to know my horse and the more comfy I feel with her, the easier it is to remain calm. It also has this great side effect that she stays calm even when she would probably have freaked before. It takes time to build that relationship. For us, it's been a year now, of riding several times a week.


A good relationship does more than simply help prevent a horse from getting scared. When a horse that trusts you spooks, it often requires just a reminder of your presence to help the horse relax.


----------



## skiafoxmorgan (Mar 5, 2014)

my first horse was a spook. I learned all of these coping tactics. Ultimately, what worked for me and has continued to work is once the initial fright and clutch has passed, I relax my lower body and slowly relax the reins, assuming that the horse isn't still trying to bolt. I'll croon or laugh, depending on my mood. I'll sing if it is still excited, but my song choice is usually "Waltzing Matilda," which I picked up as a kid. Then I'll turn back toward the object and begin circling towards it. I don't stop until the horse is calmly touching the object.  with one horse I rode, the best tactic was CHASING geese and deer, instead of making her stand or walk past them. As soon as she began chasing them, she got very bold.


----------



## Sharpie (May 24, 2009)

Oh yes, CHASING dogs and bicycles (with the rider's cooperation, of course!) was the trick for those scary beasts here too!


----------



## skiafoxmorgan (Mar 5, 2014)

With my current girl, I actually chased kayaks down the stream. That was fun.


----------



## Gossalyn (Sep 12, 2013)

Yesterday we had a spook... these ladies who unfortunately are blessed with free will often sit in a cart pulled by a miniature pony and have at least 10 little dogs attached w/ leashes that happily walk along side/in front/back, etc. It's a circus, colorful.. and especially dangerous when they round a blind corner of the barn.

I hate them mostly because walking around the barn is generally safe, many do it on loose rein letting their horse stretch after a ride. Beginners walk on these paths to get to their arenas. 

Anyway, had bad timing and they surprised us around a corner - and my girl decided to spin 180 degrees and go the other way. I really can't blame her. but after the initial 'what the heck!' (during which my thought process was "ok i guess we're doing this...") I sat back and gave a gentle tug back (the reins were really long so that's all i could do, i just hoped my seat conveyed the message) and i think she sensed my confidence and just stopped. I circled her and we walked past the circus a little more prepared and she did great. Everything is easier when it doesn't come out of no where...

we can all say laugh or talk through it, but the thing that makes me more relaxed is every time i have a "win" and stay on.. bonus points if i stay on w/o much of a fight.


----------



## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

Gossalyn said:


> Yesterday we had a spook... these ladies who unfortunately are blessed with free will often sit in a cart pulled by a miniature pony and have at least 10 little dogs attached w/ leashes that happily walk along side/in front/back, etc. It's a circus, colorful.. and especially dangerous when they round a blind corner of the barn.
> 
> I hate them mostly because walking around the barn is generally safe, many do it on loose rein letting their horse stretch after a ride. Beginners walk on these paths to get to their arenas.
> 
> ...



For some reason, I am imagining the driver in a big Kentucky derby type hat with a bunch of poodles :lol:


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I ride with a riding crop as it's often handy for brushing flies off the horse. But should it think about spooking I'll immediately turn it tight and use the crop to drive the hindquarters around. This causes the hindquarters to do the circling, not the shoulders and the horse never completes two circles, 1,1/2 at the most. If done consistently it soon figures out that being stupid results in tiring work. Horses don't just suddenly spook. They give us subtle signs that they have something up their sleeve and are just waiting for the excuse to blow. It's the subtle signs we have to be aware of and take action then.


----------



## Canterklutz (Jul 20, 2012)

Well yes, horses do just suddenly spook when that tree falls down or that vicious plastic bag out of nowhere goes for their jugular. :wink:

I don't necessarily find it true that you have to take time and develop a bond with a horse to help it cope through spooking. The trust comes simply from being assertive (this is the part that takes time to develop within yourself through experience). I see it often where horses will take advantage of timid riders by spooking as an evasion. When I have to work through a spook I always laugh and say "really?" or "seriously?" then immediately move on and put them straight back to work. Dwelling on the spook relays your fear and confirms that spooking was the correct response to the horse.


----------



## CASugar (Oct 17, 2014)

Agree. Sometimes you get a warning, sometimes not. My husband and I were riding a forested road we liked because it was not used often. We were at the bottom of a hill and just about to start up another incline when a guy on a mountain bike slammed on his brakes behind us and skidded on loose dirt. Our horses spun around to face him and my mare who never spooked snorted hard, I called it her "dragon snort" (does it have an official name?). Poor guy flushed white in the face and apologized. He looked scared. Lucky even my novice husband stayed in the saddle, but a total surprise and all at once and all of the sudden!


----------



## Chicalia (Nov 5, 2013)

kenda said:


> I've found that the best remedy for my nerves has been knowing my horse. ... With my own girl, I've seen the worst she dishes out and I know I can sit it. 99% of the time, she will spook on the spot, or maybe take a stride or two sideways and forwards away from the scary thing and now that I've been riding her for 2 years, I feel that I know pretty much when it's coming and if not, I've sat it so many times now that my body knows how to react.


My situation is the same. I know how my horse typically reacts to something "scary" and I've been through it enough times that I know I can handle it (she's the type that typically spooks in place, so that helps, because I don't have to worry much about her bolting). Most of the time, I just laugh at her and tell her it's okay (she's usually spooking at something goofy, anyway). I'm like, "Really? That scared you? It's okay, girl!" Staying casual and finding humor in it keeps me from getting tense, which would make her tense.

Like Canterklutz said above, I find getting her right back into work after a spook keeps her focused, too.
http://www.horseforum.com/members/35471/


----------



## Rebelwithacause (Aug 7, 2013)

I had my first spook on my new mare this week, wish I would have read this thread first! We both kind of looked at each like, _" are you ok?".."yeah I'm OK, are you ok?!"..."Yeah, I'm good-- that was close!!!"_


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

For what it's worth, I don't think horses spook with beginning riders as an evasion, I think they spook because their riders are nervous / unsure, and it transfers to them. I also don't think horses generally "take advantage" - I think that's anthropomorphising. Horses are prey animals with over 40 million years of natural selection for evading predators, and it's wired into them to take off at the possibility of danger - better safe than sorry. A calm rider who communicates well with their horse (a two-way thing) can work wonders in getting a horse to respond differently than they would at liberty. To an extent, so can badgering the horse, but I prefer methods that are based on a mutual respect and camaraderie between horse and rider, and I prefer the outcomes of such methods.


----------



## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Well said, SueC.


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I like your posts too, TX.  It's nice to read posts by people who get horses, not just repeat dogma. I used to teach zoology to undergraduates in my 20s and so some of the popular myths to be had about animals really frustrate me - but that's the collateral damage of the way our culture works, I suppose.


----------



## sunnyone (Sep 4, 2014)

Well, no one follow my example. Since I currently don't own a horse, I am prone to riding whatever I find available and many English/Dressage riders don't seem to get beyond the arena and the stall. 

So, I come along, taking up opportunities to ride (and since I get bored with the arena) take the horse beyond the scary farm gate. It depends on the horse and the warm up work, but I may do a small trail ride at the end, just to see their response. Sometimes I lease or ride the horse for a longer period, so I can do more trail work. So I kind of set myself up to unexpected situations. And it takes me a longer time than most folks for my muscles to relax when I first get on, hence the arena work.


----------

