My mare Bambi Blaze

Question
QUESTION: Hi Christine,
Thank you for answering my other question. Things have been moving along, but I received a call from the barn manager this morning telling me that my mare spooked twice today when they were turning her out. So bad in fact that she pulled the lead out of her hands and knocked her down. They caught her, but this concerns me. She has never done this before. It has been a couple of days since she was turned out (weather has been REALLY bad) and I wonder if that had something to do with it. My trainer rode her last week and she said that it's hard to keep her attention. She is busy trying to look at other things. Could this behavior be a result of a new barn?

ANSWER: Hi Susan

So glad to hear that things have been moving along, but theres bound to be 'teething troubles' along the way.

From what you say it sounds like she has just spooked, it may be for a number of reasons.  How does the barn manager handle her, do they shout, do they rush about, or do they do things quietly and slowly.Pulling the lead out of the hands is something my horses do when something has scared them, the first instinct in any creature is 'flight or fight' mine tend to run off in the direction of the nearest patch of grass, leaving me to follow on and catch them again.

It could be that she wanted to get out after being in for 2 days, even in  bad weather she can have a rug on and be turned out for a short time, unless its really howling a gale and raining like nothing else on earth, but normally wet weather won;t harm her if she is rugged up, even my old lady is let out to play in the paddock for a while in winter everyday, and she is 22 years old,  even in snowy weather, as long as they are rugged it will be ok and they get dried off when they come in.  She is young and she loads of energy.

Also the barn and her surroundings are relatively new thats why she wants to stop and look at everything.   My idea would (if possible) to take her on a walk round the barn and her new area and et her look and sniff at everything she wants to, as she settles her attention span will become longer adn longer.  Don;t try to overload her with too much new information  little lessons are better than big ones!

Sounds like your on the right track with her, you understand her and you are doing all the right things.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again Christine,
I think they are in a big hurry to get all the horses moved out of the stalls and into the pasture. My horse is VERY reactive to your body language and if you are in a hurry, she gets nervous and spooks. She has never done this to me (not yet anyway,,,,:) and I always take my time with her. As long as I am calm & quiet she is calm & quiet.  I guess only time will tell.

Answer
Theres the problem, you are just going to have to tell the barn staff to take their time and do it slowly............ nothing is gained by hurrying............... horses co-operate more when  people take their time and show patience.  You are on the right track,  just go with your instincts now, and tell the barn staff to slow it down a little.  Patience is after all a virtue!

Hope things continue to go well for you both.  Please keep me updated with progress.

Christine