My horse is scared of everything

Question
Hi i have 10 year old pasofino who is gelded. I know pasos are naturally skiddish but my horse is scared of everything. When i go riding hes scared of little things like trash on the side of the road, stumps or just like brushes of stumps or concrete on the side of the road. I make him go and sniff it out and then hes fine but if i go again the next day he does it all over again. When i try to run him the whole time hes zigzaging and stopping and looking at things along the road. I dont know what to do i cant have anice run with him without worrying what hell be scared of and then jerking the other way. Please help me i just dont know what to do to make him not scared of anything and just run like a normal horse.

Answer
Hi there, Just firstly I know nothing about Pasofinos as a breed so I can't comment on breed characteristics. For a horse that looks for things to shy at like yours does 9 times out of 10 it is a confidence issue. Just try for a week or two when you take him for a ride and he spooks just completely ignore him and ride him like you have not a care in the world. Even to the point that if you see something coming up and you know he will shy get him to go past it with his head facing away from it a bit, if he wants to go and have a look let him but don't make him. I find quite often with horses that do this it is a lack of confidence but if I ride them with all the confidence in the world they soon realize that everything is ok. If this does not help you at all try feeding him a bit of Magesium in his feed, it often helps to settle spooky horses. I hope I have been of some help and good luck.