Question:
“I have a 10-year-old QH gelding who is quite frustrating on the trails, as he so lacks confidence. He is super amazing at home– responsive, light, willing, etc., but, as soon as I go somewhere, even with a horse in tow, he becomes this “scared of everything” horse that I cannot seem to get to relax. He has had exposure to trailering, trail riding, small clinics and lessons, vehicles, ground work, obstacles, cows, bison, water, tarps…and the list goes on.
But, as soon as I go away, he becomes scared. What I would really like is some advice. Should I do more at home to “tire him out”? Should I just keep riding him out and riding him through all the scary spots? He has been by the same scary objects numerous times, including across a large concrete bridge and yet is still scared to go past them and over them. My other gelding doesn’t even bat an eye in the same areas. Should I ride with contact? This seems to worry him. Should I ride on a loose rein? This kind of worries me. Generally I do ride with a loose rein, but when he gets worried, it seems I cannot get any focus on me. I have changed bits, I have changed saddle pads, I have changed riding styles as I learn new things from people and yet I cannot get him to relax away from home. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.”
Answer:
Martin: “I’m thinking the scary thing that you worked with him at home probably went something like this– he gets bothered from whatever you exposed him to, then eventually becomes relaxed with it. He finds relief and relaxation eventually while still in the presence of the scary thing.
On the trail, he gets bothered by something, keeps his distance or gains distance away from it, then finds relief and relaxation after getting away from it.
If you can stand on the concrete bridge without getting run over by a truck until he relaxes, then wait a little bit longer before you leave. Do that a few times, then he might start thinking about the concrete bridge as a place to go relax.
Some other factors that might play into it would come from how alert he is. The busier their feet out on the trail, generally the more alert they are– as opposed to being in the arena, where things might be more quiet and boring and his feet aren’t as busy and he’s not as alert and spooky.
Some factors that may affect the alertness and busy feet are consuming too much high energy feed, and higher energy/nervous riders. We can’t just look at the horse and say “how do I fix the horse,” we have to look at the horse and say why is the horse this way.
If we can identify the cause accurately and eliminate the cause, the problem go will away. We cannot compare the bad traits of one horse to the good traits of another horse, just like we cannot compare our spouse or children to the good traits of another spouse or children– it doesn’t help the matter, they are who they are. To blame them for that it is only shifting the responsibility and making excuses for our weaknesses and lack of understanding.
Thanks for your question,
Martin Black
