Spooky horses

From Mugwump
http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2008/09/qs-and-as-and-laura-crum.html

i know nothing said...My mare randomly decides to 'spook' at places she's been many, many times. I know she's not afraid, she just needs any excuse to screech to a halt and start crowhopping. I've tried working her extra hard in those places, and I've tried ignoring it and just keeping going. I don't know what to do to deter her from suddenly taking off on me. She's six and has been ridden for 3 years. I haven't come off yet (guess she doesn't buck THAT hard), but I'm annoyed that she continues to to it. I ride her at least 4 times a week, in the arena and on the trail.I have been approaching my horse's spooking from a fairly new (for me) angle. I have also done the ignore it, or work harder, or kick her through, or.....In the old days I used to just ride through it. I thought spooking was kind of fun and part of riding. As Spookerrific was exposed to more and had to negotiate different situations, things just faded away.This time around, (being older, slower, and fatter) I have been taking on spooking with a "Trailer loading" mentality. I am really, really, good at loading horses in the trailer. I have helped lots of people load their horses, and have had to go pick up some rank S.O.B.s and load them myself. They always get in. I'm not always nice, but if anybody ends up bloody and sore, it's usually me, the horse is always fine. And in the trailer.I ride the same way through the mountains as I do on a busy showgrounds or in a strange arena. Anyway, as I ride along I try to stay relaxed and focused, with a loose rein. I want my horse to know by my actions there is nothing to fear.Inevitably, Spookerrific will do his thing. AAAAAGH!! Horse Eating Beast Ahead!!!!My priority becomes to keep the horse looking where he's supposed to, nothing more. If I am walking on a trail and Spookerrific stops dead, that's OK, as long as he stays facing the direction we are heading. So if he's afraid of a log off to the right, he can look at it, but he has to keep his feet pointing the right way on the trail.If Spookerrific tries to spin away, or buck, or whatever, I'll handle that behavior, get him looking the direction we'll be going and relax my rein. I'll do this over and over until he understands that the release comes from facing the right direction, that's all I'm asking.If you keep it that simple, he'll eventually stop and stand there. Let him look. The biggest mistake we make is not letting them see what's worrying them. After we've analyzed the situation I'll ask for some forward. Most of the time they'll sigh and go on. I don't make them approach the scary thing unless we have to go through it to stay on task.I have found that grabbing hold of their face gives me the biggest leaps through space. If I can gut up and let them spook on a loose rein, it's usually a pretty small event. It's when I go fetal and drag Spookerrific's nose into my bellybutton that we have trouble.If the horse is spooking at the same place over and over again I find it comes from anticipation of my reaction.Believe me, he doesn't think "When we go by here I get scared and then we fight."He's thinking, "When I go by here my dumbass rider always goes freakazoid on me, I just knew this was a scary place!"If I'm loping circles in an arena we've shown in two hundred times, and we're still spooking at the same flappy tarp, I get a little cranky. I will lope small enough circles far enough away from the bad place that Spookerrific feels safe, but we will lope until he is so eager to stop that he'd rest inside Yogi Bears picnic basket if I'd only say whoa.I also monkey with my reins, jiggle my legs around, i.e. be really annoying, except when we go by the scary place, then I ride quiet and loosen my rein. I gradually enlarge my circle so we're passing pretty close to the bad spot.I don't force him to stop, but once he's really hunting a rest, I'll offer a whoa at the scary place. If he's worried enough to try to spook away from that spot, we'll keep on loping. Eventually he'll be airing up with his spooky little butt backed into that tarp.