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 The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
  
Location: Oklahoma | I have a horse that is scared of everything new. I am talking if you hook up the truck and it wasn't that way when he left the area he will shy from it. I have never dealt with one this weirded out by change. If you let him see it, then he is fine and it doesn't bother him. He literally was scared of a line of poop in the arena. I won't always have the time to show him everything.
You can swing a rope, track calves, pony other horses off him and he is fine with that.
Are there any opinion on causes, remedies, supplements, ect? Maybe Calming cookies or other supplement? |
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 Party Girl
Posts: 12293
Location: Buffalo, Wyoming | How old is he?
I have one that sounds very similar but has slowly started growing out of it in the last year. He is 13 this year though and I have only owned him for 3 years. He does have a cataract on one eye that I am sure doesn't help at all.
I would have his eyes checked out if you haven't already.
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Expert
Posts: 1611
 
| Have you tried eliminating as much sugar and starch from his diet as possible? We had a seasoned horse that had always been this way with previous owners. We took as much starch and sugar as possible out of the diet. Also, after researching more we tried to manage the Magnesium and Calcium levels as best we could. There is a lot of research about if magnesium supplementation helps calm a spooky horses....we didn't really have any luck with it but we just tried to keep conscious about what he was getting.
After about a month he calmed down noticeably to where his old owners were shocked he was behaving so well at shows and asked us how much ace we were giving him LOL |
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | Brandy, I have had a few like this.. the thing that I noticed that helped the most was -- don't ever act like anything is wrong. Don't hesitate when you know its coming, and when they react.. you don't, don't even acknowledge it happened. If you have confidence around them, they will pick up on that have have their own confidence. I got a horse in from a girl to ride while she was busy. She told me he was a puller and would pull back at the trailer and what not. I noticed the more I babied him (walking around patting and saying "easy" or "whoa") the more he pulled back.. Got fed up one day and just went at him like he was 20, I even tried to scare him to make him pull back.. and nothing. The more confident I was in and around him, the more confident he was.. I never had another issue with him pulling back.
Edited by ACEINTHEHOLE 2014-08-08 11:55 AM
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | have you checked him for ulcers?
someone brought it up here and I started treating my horse that is scared of the wind blowing the wrong way. He wen't from being kind of borderline nutcasey to being fine. Of course he's still scared of some things, but it's not to the point of being dangerous anymore.
EX: we were scared of a door (that we ride by every day, we are turned out near, and deal with regularly enough for this not to be a problem) we would run away from it every time we passed it, then panic walking near it. I eventually had to give up, after 2 1/2 hrs of being completely terrified, it got dark. Now things like this aren't really happening anymore. and he has access to hay/grass 24 hrs a day, and is in a low stress environment with a pretty strict schedule. I would have never known to check for it without someone saying something about it and my vet agreeing with the choice.
ETA: obviously consistent training is a huge key here too. but just suggesting there might be something bothering him to make him act silly.
Edited by Crowned Image 2014-08-08 12:00 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 596
Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere | My guy acts this way too and I have been suspecting ulcers.... |
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Expert
Posts: 1611
| ACEINTHEHOLE - 2014-08-08 12:54 PM
Brandy, I have had a few like this.. the thing that I noticed that helped the most was -- don't ever act like anything is wrong. Don't hesitate when you know its coming, and when they react.. you don't, don't even acknowledge it happened. If you have confidence around them, they will pick up on that have have their own confidence. I got a horse in from a girl to ride while she was busy. She told me he was a puller and would pull back at the trailer and what not. I noticed the more I babied him (walking around patting and saying "easy" or "whoa") the more he pulled back.. Got fed up one day and just went at him like he was 20, I even tried to scare him to make him pull back.. and nothing. The more confident I was in and around him, the more confident he was.. I never had another issue with him pulling back.
Awesome info right here too  |
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The Worst Seller Ever
Posts: 4138
Location: Oklahoma | ACEINTHEHOLE - 2014-08-08 11:54 AM Brandy, I have had a few like this.. the thing that I noticed that helped the most was -- don't ever act like anything is wrong. Don't hesitate when you know its coming, and when they react.. you don't, don't even acknowledge it happened. If you have confidence around them, they will pick up on that have have their own confidence. I got a horse in from a girl to ride while she was busy. She told me he was a puller and would pull back at the trailer and what not. I noticed the more I babied him (walking around patting and saying "easy" or "whoa") the more he pulled back.. Got fed up one day and just went at him like he was 20, I even tried to scare him to make him pull back.. and nothing. The more confident I was in and around him, the more confident he was.. I never had another issue with him pulling back.
You know mine aren't babied. :) I will run some ulcer stuff through him and see if it helps. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | ACEINTHEHOLE - 2014-08-08 11:54 AM
Brandy, I have had a few like this.. the thing that I noticed that helped the most was -- don't ever act like anything is wrong. Don't hesitate when you know its coming, and when they react.. you don't, don't even acknowledge it happened. If you have confidence around them, they will pick up on that have have their own confidence. I got a horse in from a girl to ride while she was busy. She told me he was a puller and would pull back at the trailer and what not. I noticed the more I babied him (walking around patting and saying "easy" or "whoa") the more he pulled back.. Got fed up one day and just went at him like he was 20, I even tried to scare him to make him pull back.. and nothing. The more confident I was in and around him, the more confident he was.. I never had another issue with him pulling back.
This is the best way in my opinion. I've got one that gets ALL his confidence from his rider. If you act like it is no big deal, so will he. If you anticipate something that MIGHT be scary, he will spook. Even just walking around, if he does spook or do something silly, I don't even react. We just keep on trucking like nothing ever happened and then he kinda checks himself like "oh, guess that wasn't scary after all." It is definitely irritating sometimes, but oh well. |
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  Sweet Tea
Posts: 3496
Location: Home of the World Famous "Silver Bullet" | we have one like this. he would kill himself if you tied him. i believe they just don't see well. |
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