# para sailer almost landed on us!



## redrose1 (Jan 17, 2014)

today we were out riding and sometimes there are para sailers on this one hill right above the trail we take. They have never been a problem. I always get off and walk this part IF they are out there unless the horse is completely ok with them. It's scary for them because they are above them.
So, I'm off walking and the para sailer lost control and headed right for us!! My husband yelled, "HOLD ON." I wasn't watching the sailer because I didn't want my horse to think I was nervous over it or anything. But then I looked and the guy purposely crash landed so he wouldn't hit us and he landed about 15 feet from us. As his giant sail was going WHOOSH up and down.
Both horses went into full flight mode!! I was determined to not let go unless I had to because I didn't want my horse to think I threw him under the bus and I was afraid he'd get hurt once he took off. But both horses spun around in circles and ran backwards and just trying to get away from the monster. He's had tarps wiggle above his head in an arena and he was fine. Just goes to show you, a para sailer is so different out there on the trail. I waited for him to calm down (his eyes were as big as saucers!). I talked to him and once the guy had the sail down and it wasn't flapping, I touched my horse and then we continued to walk away, down the trail. My husband's horse was a bit more shaken up so he continued to walk. I got on once we were well past that spot. He was fine. But GEEZE!!!! That could have been a disaster if I had been on him!!!


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## SouthernTrails (Dec 19, 2008)

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Wow, glad no one hurt.

I could only imagine the poor Horses as a huge monster was attacking them.... :-(

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## Drifting (Oct 26, 2011)

Man, I'm not sure any horse can be trained for that one!

I would have been trying to handle a spook while trying to take a picture at the same time! lol

Glad no one was hurt.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

All in a day of being out on the trail. You never know what will spook your horse. So it's important to work on stand in place spooking, One rein stops, and calming queues so you handle what life dishes out.


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## 6gun Kid (Feb 26, 2013)

Geeze, how do you desensitize a horse to that?


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## SouthernTrails (Dec 19, 2008)

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We used to have Balloonist (dozens of them) fly over the farm several times a year, every time they would hit the burners and make that whooshing noise the Horses would go ballistic, but after several years they finally got used to it :lol:


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## redrose1 (Jan 17, 2014)

6gun Kid said:


> Geeze, how do you desensitize a horse to that?


I don't think you can.  I think all you can do is have your horse trust you enough to stay with you. I was off and walking and if he really wanted to, he could have bolted down the road without me but he stayed with me. Even tho he was trying to flee from it, when he felt the pressure on his rope, he stopped. I had it connected to his rope halter - it was not attached to his bit. If I had been on him, probably a different story. I don't know. I don't know if I could have gotten him to safely stop his feet long enough for me to get off.
He knows a one rein stop and a put your nose on my foot stop but with kind of thing coming at him...... he's just a horse and he thought he was going to die at that moment.
I was just determined to NOT let go of him because he might have felt like I thru him under the bus to fend for himself. With me still attached to him, he might have felt safer. 
He's a horse that has been thrown under the bus by his previous owner and he has very little confidence in himself. I have worked very, very hard to gain his trust and have him trust in my ability to lead him. 
He is finally getting it and trusting me now. When I first got him, I couldn't lead because he would plant his feet and he had NO flexion. He only knew how to fight pressure. He didn't have a rider who gave him release. 
So we went back to ground work and basically started over as if he was a youngster. 
When I have him in front now, there are times when he's not sure he can do it or go thru a scary area but I really use my seat to tell him to keep going and I talk to him which relaxes him. I have a tiny bit of contact with his bit when he's worried - this calms him. I guess because he feels like I'm still there...
More like a contact, release. Not to slow him but it comforts him for some reason. 
Now when something really spooks him, he needs to move his feet otherwise if you pull back on him, that makes it so much worse. Like he feels trapped.
So when the big parasail came at us - my brain had to really focus on so many things at once!!! DON"T let go of him, rope pressure but then release, talk to him.....!!!! And just hope for the best.
I was able to get back on him after we cleared the area and he was just fine - like nothing ever happened. If he had gotten away from me, I don't know if his trust would have been there and who knows how many steps backwards we would have taken.

YEARS ago we lived by a train track. It was a rental house with 2 acres and the pasture butted up again the track. Horses would hang out back there and the first few times the train came, those horses FLEW back to the barn!!! After a while, they could care less about it. They just stood there eating grass as that noisy train went by.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Good for you on walking past that area!

I've gotten flack for dismounting in dangerous areas, I could care less, my hide is more important than my pride.
Glad everyone is ok!

We live in NF, the local Army base does flight exercises out here on a weekly basis. I've been buzzed several times on top of mountains. The jets come out of nowhere and most of the time you see them before you hear them... I know the general down there quite well and told him to tell his pilots thanks for being the best horse trainers around, LOL! They now buzz my farm often, horses are bomber/helicopter/fighter jet proof!
(While in the air, now if one crashed 15 feet away... Whole mother story! You done good!)

We also have ultralights flying around here daily, they LOVE to dip down in the valley I used to live in, sometimes being only 20 feet overhead... Horses don't even look up anymore. Call a local chapter and have them "train" your horses for ya!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## bbsmfg3 (Aug 12, 2010)

That's about as bad as the repelers hanging from the rocks overhead. Had that happened several times. The horses told us there was something there, before we saw them. Too bad they didn't say something, anything, before we got under them. The horses just snorted and went on.


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