CW Foundation Horse Training
The Spooky Horse
Carl Wacker, July, 2014
www.cewak.com
"You can never rely on a horse that is educated by fear. There will always be something that he fears more than you. But, when he trusts you, he will ask you what to do when he is afraid."
Antoine de Pluvinel (1552-1620), French riding master, known for his kind, humane training methods.
Trail riding can feel downright dangerous if your horse is "spooky". Bad things can happen quite suddenly. He might startle at a falling branch and buck you off, rear uncontrollably, or gallop frantically back toward the stables. Or, he may just be a little nerve-wracking and unpleasant to ride: bracey, prancing, nervous, and under only marginal control. But, the good news is you can use his natural tendencies to help him be calmer and more confident. Your horse is a natural follower, a prey animal, a herd animal, and a creature of habit. Let's take each of these in turn:
Your horse is a natural follower: He willingly follows a strong leader, and is content to let her make decisions and even look out for his safety. On the trail, you want to be that strong leader. If he trusts you to be calm and confident, to listen to him, and to guide him through situations that make him nervous, most of his spookiness will simply go away. He will know that he can look to you for guidance, and that you can help him stay relaxed and safe.
How do you do that? Specific techniques are part of the answer, but the most important thing is to develop a trusting relationship. I discuss this in the article: “Relationship Based Training”. This is probably the hardest challenge, but it's also the most important. A poor relationship is at the root of many problems. It's essential to work on that first.
Before we move on: let me cover another important point. This article discusses over-reactive behavior from a training standpoint. Before we assume any behavior is a training issue, we should do our best to make sure the problem isn't due to issues that can't be easily addressed by training. Issues such as physical limitations, ill-fitting tack, or environmental conditions:
- Horses vary in their natural energy and alertness level. If your horse is more than you want to handle on the trail, and trading horses is an option, you may be better off side-stepping the problem with a quiet, experienced trail horse.
- Diet can have a pronounced effect on horse behavior, just like with pre-schoolers. Too much starch from rich hay or cereal grains for example may make him jumpy. A simple increase in fiber may have positive effects.
- Physical limitations can cause a horse to be uncomfortable and spooky. Poor vision might cause nervousness in unfamiliar or noisy spaces. A sore back, arthritis, colic, ulcers, and many other ailments can also be a cause. If behavior has changed, make sure hoof and tooth care is up-to-date, and your veterinarian gives a clean bill of health.
- If other, more experienced riders, can ride your horse and do not experience the same problems, consider whether you could benefit from lessons or coaching to help you learn how to build confidence in your horse.
- And make sure his tack fits well and is not a source of irritation or pain.
If you've considered the above issues, and still identify his behavior as a likely training issue, please read on:
Your horse is a prey animal: his primary defense is flight. When something startles him or is unfamiliar, his natural reaction is to run and ask questions later. But your horse also wants to conserve energy. He quickly learns which scary things he can ignore, so he doesn't have to constantly be on the move. With repeated exposure, he becomes desensitized and non-reactive to those things.
You can help him become less reactive by desensitizing (“despooking”, “sacking out”) as a part of training: exposing him to things that feel scary, but are in fact non-threatening. Desensitizing can be done with anything that makes him nervous: a tarp, clippers, needle, farm machinery, barking dog, tight space, or noisy arena. Repeated exposure, if done correctly, will help him control his flight impulse and look to you for reassurance when something scares him.
When de-sensitizing, here are some important points to keep in mind:
1) You're not desensitizing if your horse is not afraid of the situation or object. He should be visibly tense and outside his comfort zone at the beginning. And, before you stop, he must be clearly and visibly relaxed. The relaxation at the end is the most important. If you quit too soon, before he relaxes, you'll be taking a step backward. If you're not sure that he's relaxed, assume he isn't. The release of tension at the end should be easy to see - lowering his head, relaxing his posture, softening his eyes, blowing out, licking and chewing.
2) He must relax and release his tension while the scary stimulus is still present, not because it's removed. If you're seeing no improvement or he's over-reacting you can back off the stimulus, but don't quit until he relaxes. For example: if you're flapping a tarp and he's having trouble relaxing, flap it less vigorously or move it farther away from him or use a smaller tarp, but don't stop altogether until he relaxes.
3) Rhythm, repetition, and patterns are your friends when a horse is nervous. For example, flap the tarp twice while moving away from him, then lay it on his back, then repeat with rhythm and regular timing. If he “locks up” and is just tolerating the stimulus, waiting for it to end, ask him to move as part of the pattern, to help him loosen up. For example, ask him to take a few steps every time the flapping tarp moves away from him.
4) Keep your body and focus relaxed. There may be a tarp flapping away, but you are signaling with your body language that it's OK to ignore it and relax. You want him to look to you and your body language for guidance on how to respond to the scary thing.
5) Suggest a response he can offer when something scares him. If you've taught a “head down” cue with the reins, just asking for that may help him relax. He may eventually generalize this response to any scary situation, without even being asked. However, the best response is a look to you, asking “is it OK? what should we do?” If you get this look, have an immediate answer. For example: with a relaxed attitude say: “it's OK, I'd like you to put your head down and leg yield a little to the left – now let's just move past that scary thing – it's harmless”.
6) On the trail, if he gets nervous, stay relaxed and take up a little contact so he knows you're on the job, and his attention should be on you. Keep riding with a relaxed and rhythmic seat. Don't focus on the scary thing - your attitude should be telling him: “nothing going on here; let's just keep going; it's safe”.
7) Teach a few basic movements that he knows very well and can easily perform with rhythm and relaxation. For example: leg yield, framing up, slowing his walk, circling with relaxation, or lowering his head. Practice these movements occasionally as you're riding on the trail. Then, if he's having trouble settling down, ask for his attention on you, because: “we need to frame up and leg yield now; very good, thanks; now can you walk a small circle with your head down? good, thanks; let's just keep moving along now – everything is OK” Get his attention on you.
8) On the trail, if your efforts to keep him calm are failing, allow him to move away from the scary thing, and stay as relaxed as you can. Be ready for an emergency dismount if needed: release one rein, pull his head around with the other, disengage his hindquarters, and slide off on the side his head is bent toward, being careful not to lose the reins. Then immediately help him calm down. You do not want to over-use this maneuver. Forcefully pulling on his head will feel confining to him; and may escalate his tension. The emergency dismount should only be used when you've lost control and don't think you can get it back. It's much better to calm him down by remaining relaxed and providing strong leadership.
9) If you find that you're not able to control his escalating tension on the trail, think about how you can expose him more gradually to the situation. Pick a trail partner with a calm horse and work on taking smaller steps toward desensitization, using approach and retreat, rather than avoiding the issue altogether. Or, try hand-walking him through the trail section a few times until he settles down and it feels routine.
Your horse is a herd animal: He feels safest with other horses around him. He spends his days outside, moving with the herd. He relies on his herd mates to help him know when he can relax and when there is danger. He learns to trust the herd leaders, so he doesn't have to be on high alert all the time. He likes open spaces and quiet days, so he can see and hear threats before they're close to him.
These characteristics lead to a few simple suggestions that apply for most skittish horses. You probably already know what they are:
1) If he's nervous or herd bound, ride with another quiet horse, preferably a buddy he gets along with. The calm attitude of his buddy will influence him to be calm. As you spend more time trail riding, and improve your relationship, he will want to listen to you and not the other horses. In time, he will be the experienced horse on the trail that can set a calm example for more flighty horses. And, he may feel that going out alone with you is OK after all.
2) Windy days and wooded trails may be challenging for him until he has more experience. All that noise and motion, especially when he feels confined in a wooded area, make it awfully hard to feel safe. Gradually introduce him to these conditions, as a de-sensitizing exercise.
3) If he's stall-boarded, make sure he gets regular exercise and turnout with the herd. This will help keep him in a positive frame of mind, and make it easier for him to be calm on the trail.
4) Practice good pace control, and calm transitions. Then on the trail, if the other horses bolt into a gallop, he will be more likely to listen to you and respond to soft cues. He must come back to the trot willingly. He should know that a faster pace doesn't mean his emotions should escalate. He may be fine most of the time, but rising emotions make him more likely to revert to his old spooky ways, even if there's nothing specific to scare him.
Your horse is a creature of habit: much of his behavior develops through repetition and familiarity with people, places, things, and routines. He develops habits that help him get through life with a level of stress he can tolerate.
He doesn't want to be spooky and tense, but it's natural for him and he doesn't know how to respond differently. So, often he settles for behavior that is not ideal, because he's not rewarded for other responses, or because he doesn't know there's a better way. One of your jobs is to show him that better way - help him replace his old habits: he can listen to you, you know what to do, you can help him settle down.
Because habit, repetition, and familiarity are so important for your horse, time spent working with him makes a big difference. If he's tense on the trail, and you can only ride him once every 2 weeks, he probably won't improve. But if you ride him 3 times every week, and start with familiar trails, and ride with another calm horse, and take care to make sure his experiences are positive, he's likely to settle in to that routine. He knows what to expect; the process and the trail are familiar.
The concepts and techniques I mention above are important, but to be honest, time is about half the formula. If you can only ride once a week, find someone else who can apply the concepts in this article to ride your horse a couple more times each week on the trail. The repetition and routine will help him develop good habits. Then, when you have time for him, you'll both have a much better ride because it will all be familiar and comfortable. He will not only settle down, but will probably begin to look forward to getting out on the trail with you.