Napping?

Question
I have owned a 16.2 HHS ISP for the last year. He is a complete school master and is a dream to handle around the yard. We have had some issues with hacking, basically he was a dream on the bridle path but wasn't so keen on the roads. We decided to move him to a yard with off road hacking as he was getting more and more stressed on the road. Since being at the new yard we have had a couple of wonderful hacks where he has been a complete dream. Then one Sunday this changed, we had a wonderful hack and when we turned for home a dog came running at him and stood more or less under his front legs barking. He froze and became very agitated, eventually the dg was called off and  we walked on, he was very worked up and was leaping and rearing, eventually he got me off. I allowed for this as I knew the dog had scared him! Now every time we turn down the same hill ( which is the hill that we have to walk down to get home) he is spinning, shaking his head and leaping. Is there anything you can advise me to do? We have tried circling and that just seems to work him up even more!
Thanks in advance
Kelly

Answer
I don't know if this may answer your question or not, but I will give it a shot. Because of that dog, the horse is either thinking that dog will come back again or he just wants to trick you since he got you off the first time. Since he is just acting up on that hill and spinning him is making him even hotter I recommend calmly getting out of the saddle and walking him up and down that hill a few times and when he calms down himself, then trying again on horse back. Bring a whip or a crop and give him a good whack if he starts acting up and keep trying.

I had a horse that was incredibly afraid of water and started acting up just like your horse when he didn't want to go through a river or a puddle, in fact he actually manage to throw me off once so after that every other day I would take him to the same river and I would lead him through it. I eventually got on his back and tried to walk him through it and on the first sign of denial I gave him a good whack,a few more times I repeated this whacking and he finally gave up. After that I would ride him through the river every other day giving him a good whack every once in a while and he eventually started going through the river without hesitation.

I wont say that this will work but I would still give it a try. I hope I helped and good luck!