Post by mrbsmum on Sept 11, 2016 21:04:38 GMT 1
Does anyone else's horse have an issue with changes in the colour of the ground they are walking on?
It's something I've noticed with my mare recently - she's not a spooky horse - and usually takes everything in her stride despite being very young and not having seen much at all, but she boggle eyes at the red rumble tarmac strips you sometimes get on the road, and once she actually stopped dead because there had been some water on the road which made that bit of tarmac blacker than the rest. She's getting better with bits of road she knows and will now happily splash through puddles on 'safe' roads, but today we went out for a beach ride. She will not touch the water (leapt sideways because it was 'coming to get her' at one point) and had a full out tantrum about crossing a tiny trickling stream (which was less water, more glassy wet sand). The first time we went to a beach she also refused to cross from the dry sand to the wet sand for ages (despite the dry being hugely deep and the wet being much easier to walk on). There is also a slope down to said beach which moves from gravel track to sand, and which has a wooden 'step' you must cross to get down which she will not go down ridden. The more I think of it, the more I realise that most of her quirks involve ground that 'looks' different from what she is used to. ( Yet she will happily ride over tarpaulins with me!)
It seems like quite a sensible fear to me (any of this could be horse eating quicksand), but I'm not sure how to get her over it. We've done in hand walking through the scary bits (she always follows, even if there is a little hesitation at first) and we've done follow a friend (mixed results, most things fine, but one or two things - nope, nope nope!). Sometimes it just takes a stop, long look and then it's ok for her to go through, but other times it is obviously a big 'no!' moment for her. We had huge tantrums over the watery bit today - which we eventually overcame (my friend dismounted, led (ok, half led, half dragged initially) her over, and then we went back over about five times so she got the point that it wouldn't kill her) - but she still crossed in an rushed 'quick get it over with' way and hesitated each time before making the first step (sometimes accompanied by reversing, or trying to shy away first). I've still not got her down the slope to the beach ridden - I've had to dismount and lead each time (we had the same issue with going down the grass verge back to the drive once upon a time, but that has gone now) - it may be a combination of slope and terrain change is an even bigger fear than just funny ground to her.
I know it's a confidence thing, and that will improve over time as she comes to trust I'd never ask her to walk into anything dangerous - but it's hard to figure a way of working it when she leads through these things fine - how to I help increase her confidence in me as a leader when I'm in the saddle as opposed to on the ground?