| Total Views: 300 - Total Replies: 10 |
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| POSTED BY: sunrize on 02/17/2008 16:06:52 |
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Hello, bit of information needed. If your horse spooks and pounces around a bit, what's the best thing to do with the reins? One person has told me firm contact, another to give the horse a bit longer rein...I'm confused? 
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Sunrize, a firm contact is different to 'hanging on' to your horse. If you have your horse gathered up tight, chances are, your horse will feel tense and is therefore more likely to spook at silly things.
The best thing that you can do is to have a contact, but not hold your horse tight. A contact can be relaxed, but still firm. If you are relaxed, and your hands are relaxed, you will be telling your horse that everything is ok, and he will therefore be relaxed.
Hope that makes sense!!
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A horse is worth more than riches.
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| POSTED BY: angel121 on 02/17/2008 16:09:33 |
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I would say in between a loose and a tight contact. Just enough so they know that you are there and so if they did something stupid you would still have control; but long enough that they can try and relax.
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| POSTED BY: kags on 03/21/2008 15:40:52 |
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 hi if you ask me bout spooking it depends what kind of spooking it is. if there is genuine something for the horse to be scared of then i think its best to just keep your leg on firmly talk to them and give them a scratch on the neck and plenty praise when they have passed the scary object. however, if its a spook that is really a nap then u have to be quite firm and again keep leg on and i would do a 10 metre circle and spiral it in until you are passing the object on a 10 metre circle then spooking will no longer be an issue. Good Luck!!
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Why is he spooking so much in the first place....? With my old horse he spooked more as his eye sight got worse with old age.  |
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It is very important to have a firm contact with your horse but this does not mean to say that when your horse spooks to gather up your reins and sit there in a panic! Never apply your leg and then pull back on the reins because the only way the horse can go is upwards. If your horse is spooking at something stop any passing traffic, sit tall, apply your leg but don't pull back on the reins, talk to your horse and ride forward. If you can see what your horse is spooking at (for example a plastic bag) turn your horses head away from it so he/she isn't looking at it. Once successfully past give your horse a scratch or a patt on the withers and tell them well done. And don't forget to thank any drivers that stopped and waited for you!
Happy hacking!!
Sarah
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Hi,
I agree with the others, you need to have a safe contact of your horse but not a tense hard one cos you have got to remember if you gather your reins if your coming to something scary it can make your horse worse. I always keep contact with the bit the whole ride as you dont know whats round the courner. Main thing to remember not too much contact just so you can feel the contact between your hands and the bit.
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i have had many spooky horses in the past.
the best way to ride a spooky horse i find is to keep a firm contact and use plenty of leg to keep to horse moving forwards and away from you.
giving a lose rein tends to give the horse an option to move away from the object, contact keeps the horse where you want him and the leg encorages forward movement past the object.
i also find that if you carry on ridding strongly and ignore the spook (rather than punnish the horse for being silly) then the spooks become less frequent as he realises that no reaction comes from his behaviour.
if spooking continues try putting various objects in your school and ridding round them everyday until he is calm around them. i find this useful with young horses that become spooky at water trays and fillers, keep ridding around them and over them everyday as part of your schooling and you will find that the horse will become much more relaxed and less spooky about his work.
i hope this has helped you x
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| POSTED BY: sunrize on 09/27/2008 17:38:10 |
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Thanks a million for all the info... you've all been really helpful. Things have got a lot better and I think its a mixture of technique, experience and just getting to know your horse. 
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| POSTED BY: x-Tink-x on 09/28/2008 14:59:05 |
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Hi there, might be a little bit of a late reply but I think it depends on the horse itself and the type/severity of the spooking. Usually I ride with quite a loose rein, and if the horse I ride spooks at something with just a little 'jump' then I keep the rein loose, as he is the type to get wound up if I keep a contact, thinking I'm expecting him to spook at something! (If that makes sense).
The other horse I ride will simply spin round and run home if I keep a loose rein, therefore I have to keep a slight contact just so he knows he can't do this at every ghost in the hedge!
I'd just do what you feel is right, you probably know your horse better than anyone else, and you can usually develop a feel for these kind of situations.
xXx
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xXx Hey guys! xXx
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