# First Trail Ride By Myself :D



## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Sounds to me like you handled it marvelously. The head to the knee and circlecirclecircle is the same method I use on horses that are acting silly. If he spooks at the house again next time, push him a little closer. I try to avoid getting off if I can but there has been a time or two when that was the only way to get them going forward. After the initial "See, I walked by with you and we lived", the most I ever really got was a head up and hesitant walk reaction.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

sounds like you handled it just fine!!! Glad you got to go out! Congrats on that first alone ride


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

When my horse finds something too scary to proceed, I don't force him to approach it, but I do NOT allow him to turn his back to it. so, he tries to spin away and I put him right back, preferably against the direction he tries to spin, but if he gets around before I can counter him , I just keep him going 'til he's back where he started. Then I let him stand on as loose a rein as I dare, and if he indicated he's going to spin, I counter that with the other rein. I don't ask him to go forward until he indicates with body language, that he has a tiny bit more courage, couriosity and willingness to move forward. Could be he breathes deeply, could be he chews the bit, or lowers his head. You know.
Then we walk forward. If he needs to stop and look at it, we will, but we will not turn away. Usually he is ready to go on in a minute or two, but there have been some times when it took 10 minutes and he tried repeatedly to turn away from it. 

I think you did very well in your approach. Really.


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

I think I will try not to get off next time, I just couldn't believe how scared he seemed of this house.
And I was going by that if I went past it with him he should know theres nothing to be afraid of
Thanks for the input


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

RedTree said:


> I think I will try not to get off next time, I just couldn't believe how scared he seemed of this house.
> And I was going by that if I went past it with him he should know theres nothing to be afraid of


One of challanges of riding out in the real world is that every day and every ride can be different, _even riding the same route_. Horses see, smell, and hear things that we don't or take for granted, e.g. it may not be the house itself, but something about the smell of the area.

As smrobs said, it's best to just push them along and not get off, but as long as your impress that getting off is _your idea, _it does help build confidence more quickly for some horses. In any case, if your horse reaches the 'terrified' state, don't hesitate to shift your efforts from getting by the 'monster' to first calming and refocusing your horse, mounted or from the ground. A truly terrified horse has stopped thinking, no amount of pushing will get them by the obstacle, and may take you for the ride of your life.

Sounds like you did great...ride, ride, ride...every hour and mile on the trail adds to your horse's experience and confidence, and don't worry about little set backs along the way.


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

I will deffinatley be going for more rides by my self, I just had to get over the intial fear of it and he was great so theres going to be a lot more where that one came from


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

You did great! I'm very familiar with that spin/bolt maneuver. That's not so fun to ride out. I just have a slight modification for next time. After the part where you get to the stale mate spot where he is still rigid and refusing to go forward, just wait it out a bit longer but don't in anyway reward him or console him. Just sit there like you have all day. If he relaxes even a little, try the drunken walk to unfreeze his feet. The drunken walk is simple. Use no leg pressure at all. You're not asking him to go forward. (at least that's what he should think) That will just make him more rigid. Take one rein at a time. Use an opening rein to bring his nose left, then right, then left, etc. Always keep the rein you're not using completely slack. I don't know know why this works, but this makes the horse literally follow his nose and walk "forward" It looks like shallow serpentines, but without leg pressure. It's worth a try.


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

Puck-I may do that next time 
But I will wait longer and be patient and make him stand and wait


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## nate1 (Jul 4, 2009)

Hey I'm just letting you know what I do when my horse gets scared. I don't get off although I have read it's not neccissarily a bad thing to get off and work them through just whatever you think will be best for each situation, but when my horse gets scared and I turn the horse towards the general direction that I was going and I just work my horse through it by staying calm and keeping the horse calm by petting and patting the horse on the neck and talking to her while I inch her towards the area that scared her so she can see the boogie man isn't after her


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## AppyLuva (Oct 25, 2010)

I think that sounds like the right thing to do but I'm not very experienced yet. After reading the first post I'm even more confident that you did the right thing. I should look into this more because being a beginner isn't all that great and you can use some helpful info. If it is the right thing to do then I should do this if Quinn ever freaks out on the trail like this.


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## SailorGriz (Nov 28, 2010)

Glad I'm not the only newbie in the world! I took my first solo ride about a month ago. Mr. Big (aka Shandy) doesn't get real excited so I haven't experienced the spin and bolt routine.

He DID, however, once decide that there were Horse Eating Monsters down by the creek on the farm. The Mrs. was riding him that day and he just didn't want to go down there. I walked down and led him (with her on board) down along the creek. He was still freaked. So we went up to the barn and the Mrs. tacked up her spooky Arab and rode him down there. He didn't find any Horse Eating Monsters and, after seeing the Arab handle it with no problem, Mr. Big no longer cared, either.

That is the one and only time he's been really spooked by anything. I had a pheasant fly up about 10 feet away from us the other day and he barely flinched. He's a pretty bullet proof horse, most of the time.

But, thanks for the tips on how to handle it if he DOES get spooky on me someday! I'd have had little to no idea what to do . . . but I'm learning!


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## nate1 (Jul 4, 2009)

SailorGriz said:


> Glad I'm not the only newbie in the world! I took my first solo ride about a month ago. Mr. Big (aka Shandy) doesn't get real excited so I haven't experienced the spin and bolt routine.
> 
> He DID, however, once decide that there were Horse Eating Monsters down by the creek on the farm. The Mrs. was riding him that day and he just didn't want to go down there. I walked down and led him (with her on board) down along the creek. He was still freaked. So we went up to the barn and the Mrs. tacked up her spooky Arab and rode him down there. He didn't find any Horse Eating Monsters and, after seeing the Arab handle it with no problem, Mr. Big no longer cared, either.
> 
> ...


I have read that if you go into places like a creek bed and your horse is just spazing then it's generally a better bet to get off the horse and lead it across places that you could get seriously hurt or worse.... I have also found out that sometimes if you have a couple of horses around a nervous horse the nervous horse will calm down


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## SailorGriz (Nov 28, 2010)

We didn't actually go into the creek bed--just rode along it. Because we have a bunch of new shrubs in there for erosion control we have a fence blocking it from the pasture. We stayed on the pasture side. The Mrs. thinks the problem might have been the tall grass blowing in the wind spooking him. I think he was afraid of Horse Eating Monsters. Who knows? ;-)

We went down there a few days later and he was fine.  Go figure.


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