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How do I make my horse lose this habit?
Hi all!
I recently got my first horse, he is incredibly sweet and great on trails as he used to be an endurance horse.
BUT, seeing as he is so used to going in the same direction as all the other horses, he spooks during lessons when crossing other horses! I've managed to get him used to crossing them in walk, but we're still a total disaster when crossing horses in trot or canter - he jumps to the side and tries to turn around, which once resulted in me toppling right off.
Any tips on desensitising him?
He's quite young (6 years old), which I'm hoping will make it easier to teach him not to react this way, but at the moment its a pretty big setback when it comes to schooling him.
Thank you for your input!
2 Answers
- SnezzyLv 78 years agoFavorite Answer
We had a similar problem when driving our mother and daughter Saddlebreds separately. They would go fine when hitched as a pair, but didn't like to be hitched to separate carts going in different directions. We solved it by playing leapfrog.
One horse goes ahead and stops. The other passes on by, and stops, and the exercise repeats until a degree of perfection is attained. The lesson ends on success, and is then done again the next day, and the next. "Lather, rinse, repeat." Eventually the fussing and misbehaviour ends, and the horses and riders (or drivers) work correctly.
- SherryLv 48 years ago
Good morning Adriana ,
Yes there is a way to break him of this. Beings how you just got the horse not to long ago, I do not know your age, but the best think you can do his go buy him a pair of blinder,s to put on his halter. That way you can work with you horse and not have to fight with him to go the way that he wants to go.
Never buy a trail horse, I use to raise Q horses. And I had a female that was scared to death of a little patch of water to cross over. She stopped,,,,,, and she was not going an wheres . So I had to come up with a plan and it worked.
She is use to following other horses. That is the only way I can thin of breaking her. Or you need to be the first one out the gate. And let her lead.
