She's so scared - what can I do???

[anandi]

Hi guys

I always get such good insights on this forum I thought I'd try my luck again :-)

My saddler mare (12yrs old) is a very bomb proof girl. She just gives a shudder when she spooks and if she is in a scary situation she will try her best whether it be a new route out hacking or a scary jump or object. Without TOO much drama we can pretty much do anything!

NOW: a week ago we rode out on a new property where we don't go very often. She is always nervous but we walk along ok. There is a new bridge (for the train to go over) you have to go under and we were busy taking on this obstacle when the train passed overhead. Needless to say we both nearly had a heart attack! She was physically shaking! We finished our ride though and went back to the yard.

Since then, I cannot even get her to leave the yard in the direction of the bridge. She stops just short of the farm gate (about 100m from the stables) and starts shaking and having a runny tummy! I have gotten off and tried to lead her. She walks but with MUCH protest and shivering.

So what do I do. Must I continue the walks despite her fear and hope she settles? Must I try to work her close to the bridge or make that side a good place to be? At the moment I can't even reward her for walking a little way as she is so tense she won't even eat a carrot.

Any advice and experience will be much appreciated. I'm all for desensitizing a horse to something new or pushing them a little when they are unsure but she is genuinely frightened now. Should I maybe just drop it?

Thanks a mill!

Anandi

[alonerawnut]

I think you need to find the point where she starts to get a little bit worried and work on getting her to be happy to get that far. Ask her to walk to that point, just to where she might get a little bit tense / put her head up a tiny bit. Just stand there calmly for a moment or two, then turn back home again. Next time, ask her to stand for a little bit longer, or take just one step forward. Tell her she's the bravest horse in the world and turn back for home again.
I think once she sees that you're not going to force her to go somewhere that terrified her, she'll gradually get braver and braver.

Separately, you could work on some desensitisation to weird noises or things overhead: whatever you use, ask her to stand still and when she does, make the noise or the scary thing go away. Hopefully then in future you'll be able to repeat that behaviour: there's a scary thing, but if you stand still it'll go away.

[anandi]

Thanks so much! I like the idea of not forcing her - I'm going to stick to that :-D

[marychick]

The thing that's unique about this situation if the fact that you cannot control when the train comes across. You could gradually teach her to cope with going back there but you need to be careful that she doesn't learn to cope without the train and then the train comes over again and terrifies her. Sounds like she is pretty worried.

Is there a way you can gradually introduce her to the trains without her having to stand underneath the bridge where I imagine it is much scarier? Is she used to trains normally?

[anandi]

She is not used to trains but I can introduce her gradually I think. There is an open field next to the track a little ways before the bridge. I'm thinking we could spend a few sessions there - grazing, doing some in hand work...with the trains whizzing by every now and again.

I agree - I don't want her to catch such a big fright AGAIN!

On a positive note - I have started the baby steps approach and we can now almost get to the yard's gate in a nice, calm manner.
Getting there!

Thanks for the great ideas

[clipclop]

I would focus on rebuilding her trust first - get her riding out happily in whatever direction she is happy to go in.

Working her in the field near the railway line will also help - initially start as far away as possible and only go nearer as and when she is happy to do so.

When you get to the stage of going back towards the bridge, consult the train timetables and only go that way if you can be sure a train is not going to come over and negate your progress.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using proboards

[kafee]

Feb 18, 2016 12:45:46 GMT 1 clipclop said:

I would focus on rebuilding her trust first - get her riding out happily in whatever direction she is happy to go in.

Working her in the field near the railway line will also help - initially start as far away as possible and only go nearer as and when she is happy to do so.

When you get to the stage of going back towards the bridge, consult the train timetables and only go that way if you can be sure a train is not going to come over and negate your progress.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using proboards

Just another thought to add to the above, when you are ready to tackle the bridge, do it on the way home rather than the way out.

[VeronicaF]

all great advice above, just putting my two pence worth, do you know anyone who has a horse who isn't scared of trains? so when you eventually go to the open field near the trains she will get the confidence from the other horse too.

[Caroline]

Lots of good advice here I think. If you are going to tackle the issue, then baby steps and lots of standing still, quiet praise and encouragement and treats is the best way to go. Keeping her in a field near trains is also effective - assuming the field is large enough for her to run away and safely fenced so she doesn't hurt herself when fleeing. I have a helicopter pad just 50-100m from my horses field. All of them were horrified by landing helicopters at first, got very scared and ran off. But it took less than a week and a few exposures to helicopters before they stopped being worried. now they barely notice them. That doesn't mean they will be relaxed about helicopters when outside their field of course. Horses often consider things to be different things when they are in different places.

Is it absolutely necessary that you do tackle her train fear though? Just because a fear exists, it doesn't mean you have to desensitise to it. When the response is this strong and if it can be avoided, I would probably leave the issue alone and just go other places instead. There's no shame in that and sometimes horsemanship is about weighing the costs, risks and benefits of something and deciding whether it is worth it.

The fact that you rode home in safety after her encounter with the train speaks to what an amazing horse you have there! The poor girl was that upset by the experience yet still carried you home safely. She's wonderful!

[VeronicaF]

Feb 19, 2016 2:28:39 GMT 1 Caroline said:

The fact that you rode home in safety after her encounter with the train speaks to what an amazing horse you have there! The poor girl was that upset by the experience yet still carried you home safely. She's wonderful!

Here, here, I second that

and also she has a very good owner too, a owner who is understanding her and doing everything to help her, well done!

sorry, re reading things-you said she is always nervous at this new place? or is she nervous when she goes somewhere new?

or was it about a new bridge?

was she already in a hightened state about that?

if it was about this new bridge, you could get her used to going under things at home,and playing sounds of trains,then put them together at home, don't take her anywhere do these things at home,when I would play sounds of trains,I do it with food,so the sound of the train comes with nice things.

you could get a RA out too to help you , I would do that if it was me

check her eyes too

[kafee]

Practice head lowering............I'm taking a young pony out for walks at the moment and he's really quite unsure of the outside world, but he will lower his head when asked. So when his adrenalin, and head go up, I stop and ask him to lower his head before carrying on.

The sound of a train going over a bridge that you're under is pretty frightening even for a human, so for a horse that can't understand what's happening, it's a big ask to expect her to go anywhere near it again, never mind to go under it. However, as Caroline says, she's clearly a very brave horse to have experienced that and brought you home safely.

[sned]

I haven't read all the comments but is there some sensible horses u can go with so she can see that she doesn't have to be afraid? Then once she can cope in company do it in hand

[Beth&Rosie]

I would agree with getting her used to trains from a distance to start with, because then she might be less scared once she's used to the noise. My old yard was right by a train line (as in, the embankment, with a fence at the bottom obviously, was the border of a lot of the fields, the school and the jumping paddock) All the horses got used to the trains pretty quickly, and they didn't tend to be too bothered by them after that. We also had a railway bridge which you had to go under to get to any hacking at all, you could usually hear the trains coming long enough before to either wait or get through the bridge, but I did get caught with the train going over a couple of times. Just be aware, that if/when you go back to working on going under the bridge, the echoes of their feet can also spook them because it does make weird sounds off the walls. Good luck! Sounds like she's a lucky horse to have such an understanding owner!

[jen1]

also try looking on the equi feast website ,