# 'Looky' Horse: How to get her attention under saddle?



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

As soon as that head starts coming up circle her fairly tight at the trot in the opposite direction she wants to look. Do three or four circles and ride on. You may have to do this exercise three or four times before she figures out cause and effect, the effect of her working harder. I suspect the first time she did it, you looked into the corner the next time which confirmed her behaviour. Do not look into the corner but keep your focus at least 30 beyond and ride her as tho it hadn't happened. Be confident.


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Saddlebag said:


> As soon as that head starts coming up circle her fairly tight at the trot in the opposite direction she wants to look. Do three or four circles and ride on. You may have to do this exercise three or four times before she figures out cause and effect, the effect of her working harder. I suspect the first time she did it, you looked into the corner the next time which confirmed her behaviour. Do not look into the corner but keep your focus at least 30 beyond and ride her as tho it hadn't happened. Be confident.


I already do this. My entire lessons usually ends up with me just doing circles over and over and over again, but when she passes that spot the same issue comes up. We have been using this method for weeks but to no avail.

It's probably worth noting that I am in a group lesson with 5 other riders, so changing direction entirely is not an option as this would disrupt everyone.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

How's her trust in you for other "scary" things?

Basically, storytime: my gelding failed as a therapy horse due to being "spooky." It was bad. 
The trick with him has been to forget the scary thing completely. The scary thing isn't actually the issue, the issue is that he doesn't trust his handler [me] enough to know he's going to survive an encounter with the scary thing.
Goal #1 has been to increase his trust in me so that it really doesn't matter what the thing is, he knows he's going to survive.

So, to that end, we started with EVERYTHING. Anything that might be scary, I get him interacting with it. I don't desensitize him to the things/expose him to them until they don't scare him anymore, I focus on getting a "YOU asked me to do this so I'll do it even though I'm worried"-response.

Some riders/trainers can get that level of trust right from the get-go, but I'm gonna be honest - I'm a timid rider on a timid horse. A loud noise behind us on the trail might make me jump more than my horse or I might anticipate a spook and physically "spook" at something Fabs doesn't bat an eyelash at. 
I just can't easily inspire that kind of natural trust some riders can.
But I _can_ teach my horse than I'm reliable and that I will help him work through "danger."


So basically, are there little things she's looky with that you could utilize to build her confidence in you? 

Alternatively, what happens if you stop her in a corner and just let her stand there for a bit? You could turn the corners into a "rest spot" and make them be the best evvvver - you get off in them, she gets to take a mid-workout break in them, etc.


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## BreezylBeezyl (Mar 25, 2014)

Wallaby said:


> So basically, are there little things she's looky with that you could utilize to build her confidence in you?
> 
> Alternatively, what happens if you stop her in a corner and just let her stand there for a bit? You could turn the corners into a "rest spot" and make them be the best evvvver - you get off in them, she gets to take a mid-workout break in them, etc.


The issue here is she actually isn't a spooky horse. There is no other place around the barnyard or in the arenas that do this to her. She is fine on the scary bridge and the terrifying corner with all the trees that other horses have issue with. It's just in the indoor arena at the two far back corners.

As mentioned, my instructor (who handled her a total of twice now) can get on and she is fine. This is leading me to believe that, I have let her get away with being looky in those corners and now she is doing it out of habit because I have not been able to correct her like a more experienced rider can. Of course I am not a professional but this seems to be the case here...

If the answer is to build her confidence in me, I have no idea where to start. She is pretty desensitized to almost anything and generally not a spooky mare. She has always been a 'looker' and is attentive to new and interesting things, but never spooky and most of the time can pass an object once and be okay with it going forward. This just seems to be an exception.

As for making this her rest spot... I ride her during group lessons and the arena is booked every day of the week. I never have any 'personal' time with her in there. I'm pretty limited on my options when it comes to that.

I do have private lessons once a week so I will bring this up to my instructor and see what she thinks, but I get the impression she is a bit more backwards thinking when it comes to this. She told me in my first lesson that she doesn't believe in letting horses stop to investigate, because you can't introduce a horse to every scary object because it's unrealistic in a real life setting. I think to her it seems redundant.

But I guess if her methods haven't worked so far eventually we will need to move onto something else?


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## falling (Apr 13, 2014)

My gelding is very looky and does the same thing as your horse- first ten times he rides past something 'scary' he's fine, but the last? Off he bolts! 
I click to get his attention back to me, and then back him up a few steps to teach him that zoning out like that is not cool. If I feel like he's going to be spooky about something, before hand I will ask him to drop his head because someone told me relaxed muscles = relaxed mind, and vice versa. 
My gelding also does the thing where he gets stuck on something and is right obnoxious about it. Just stops and snorts and stares and backs. My instructor told me to push him into the fastest gait I can and MAKE him ride past things scary. I've also been told not to let my horse look at things, and I take that to heart because to me it makes sense.
But all in all, different horses? Hopefully something I said was helpful


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## ecasey (Oct 18, 2013)

I have a lookie loo! I fixed it thusly:

I have a crop in my right hand at her shoulder. As soon as I see that I've lost her attention, I say, "Hey! I'm up here!" If she doesn't respond to this by giving me an ear, I give her a slight slap on the shoulder with the crop. She's very sensitive to crops, so this is all it takes. Once she realizes I have a crop and I'm willing to use it, that's usually all we need to communicate.

Also, when we're done working and just messing around, I let her look. This way she knows that I'm not an unreasonable sort; I just expect her to work when it's time to work.


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## kef2426 (Oct 10, 2014)

I had this problem with my horse as well. Try not to anticipate of even look at the corner that she is getting spooked at. Try putting slight pressure with the leg that is closest to the spooky corner, not the type of pressure that will make her walk faster or break into a trot, more of a comfort pressure if that makes sense. This is what my trainer had me doing with my mare when she was scared or a corner in the arena and it seemed to work. If that does not work try just walking her back and forth in front of the corner until she finally realizes that it won't hurt her. Hope this helps.


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## TXhorseman (May 29, 2014)

Have you tried simply distracting your horse either before or at the initial onset rather than waiting for the problem and reacting to it?

At the first hint of the distraction try simply squeezing and releasing your fingers on the inside rein as though you were trying to squeeze only one or two drops of water out of a wet sponge. The idea is to use little pressure and smooth movements. The squeeze does two things. It lets your horse know you are still there. It also indicates the direction you want your horse to point its head. The release, also, does two things. It provides nothing for the horse to resist against. Secondly, it allows you to repeat the motion if necessary.

Another thing to try is talking softly to your horse both to calm and to relax it. Humming or singing may provide the same calming reassurance of you presence.


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