HORSE SCARED

Question
QUESTION: My horse is scared of just about everything!Water,weeds,going in the woods,going up hills even if small.Im not talking alittle scared i mean terrified to the point if you try and make her she comes up on her back legs to the point she almost flips over on you. She is a very sweet gentle horse in the pasture,and if you keep her on dirt roads she never acts up,as long as you can go around any water,and don't come up on things in the road, i guess the best way to put it is the only thing that doesn't scare her is grass,dirt,and rocks!! Do you think there is any hope?? Cause i'm about ready to give up and to be honest i'm starting to get scared of her.

ANSWER: Hello Christy,

I need a little more background information.

1. How long have you had her?
2. How old is she?
3. Who had her before you and what were her experiences with them?
4. What is your experience with horses?
5.has she been like this ever since you got her? Was she ever better?
6.Has she been checked out by a vet? Especially her vision?

There are desentization techniques that I think will be useful for your mare, but I need to have more information. Thanks for writing to Experts.

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QUESTION: I'm sorry for not giving more info on her, she is 6 years old, i've had her for about 8 months. I know the place she came from as far as i know they never abuse any of there horses they had her since she was a colt. She has been pasture kept most of her life,so i knew she was gonna have some spooky problems but not as much or how terrified she is of everything.When we tried to load her the day i got her she went NUTS, but after alot of time patience and working with her everyday she loads like a dream,but nothing i seem to do gets her over her fear of every little thing. like i said as long as you stay on a straigt road she rides like a dream.She as not been vet checked but shouldn't her eyes be fine cause she goes nuts before she even gets to water or etc..and she responds fine when you put things around her eyes. I REALLY WANT TO HELP HER, BUT DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO,I am on a very tight budget and can not keep feeding a horse i can't really ride for fear she's gonna hurt me,herself.or someone else!!! DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO TAKE HER TO TRAINER. I've had people tell me to drug her alittle then work with her cause it will calm her nerves,what do you think of this cause i'm not sure of doing that.

ANSWER: Hi Christy,
Do not drug her.
You need to be able to judge all of her reactions on her level.
Do you have an enclosed ring?
You need to do ground work with her. There is a saying that the horse you lead is the horse you ride. She needs to develop trust in you to help her overcome her fears.
I would work with her on the ground for a while before riding her.
The good natural horsemanship work will help her but you have to be really careful.
Sometimes they would advise you to round pen her...chase her around in a round pen.
But right now she needs to develop trust and that will not help her.It would frighten her more.

LInda tellington Jones has a system called T.E.A.M.
I can help you through it as I have done y3ears of work with fearful horses and have been through many of her long courses.
I appreciate you do not have the finances...but you may be able to either get her book at a library or buy it from abebooks.

If you get out Dr. Temple Grandin's book ANIMALS MAKE US HUMAN and read her chapter about horses it will explain a lot to you.It should be in your library.

Do not let anyone tell you that you should hobble her or throw her...you have to be careful. Sometimes people will come up with abusive techniques.

I will give you your first desentisitizing exercise and leading exercise when you let me know if you have an enclosure. We can talk through experts or you can email me at Summersdressage@aol.com

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QUESTION: I know how some people can be,don't worry I'd never hurt her or any other animal for that matter,that is one reason i asked you about drugging her just didn't feel right to me. Yes i do have a round pen,baby {her name) does very well in it you can hold her lead rope and she will do circles around you all day as soon as you tell her to stop she stops. She loves for me to love on her,she loves to be brushed,washed,she even stands perfect to be shoed. As soon as i got her i turned her loose in my pasture and everytime i call she comes running, or if i go to get her she lets me come right up and catch her. so i think she has basic trust in me as long as I'm on the ground and not on her back. She has gotten attached to Judd one of my other horses she does better when i take her out with him but even in the small creek i have in my pasture she will stand and look terrified when me and Judd are playing in it,and if i talk real sweet and try to lead her closer to the water to get in with Judd she starts to pull away from me and if i keep trying to make her she will start to stand up and paw at me.The guy i got her from says she has never had a bad experience with water and it seems odd she is not scared when i wash her with the hose, but i guess she feels safer cause she's not standing in it. I've been laying different things in the round pen to get her used to seeing different things, i even put up an old mailbox and yesterday she actually went beside it without freaking out i was so proud cause used to she would go nutty when she would see one and when i fist put that in the round pen she avoided it like it was gonna eat her. I will try to find that book and i am open to any advice you can give, she has so many good things about her i don't want to have to give up!!! I also would hate someone to end up with her that would hurt her, SHE IS JUST A BIG SCARED BABY.

Answer
Hi again Christy,

I think it sounds as if you are making great progress with her!
It is getting better slowly......that is all you should expect right now.
It can take a very long time to earn a horse's trust, as you know. Do not overface her. She will gain confidence as you ask her to do LITTLE different things and she is successful with them.

Do not get impatient...(you sound great) and push her.Little "problems" that you create for her and that get her "seeking" mechanism goingare what you shoud be doing.. You want her attitude to be "Gee, what is this now?,instead of "oh, no what is she asking me to do now?"

Keep in touch.

Mitzi