Trash Cans

I am pretty sure the people who run my barn are retarded. I was help out at my barn during the summer and we work in the beginner covered arena. And while i was teaching a kid how to trot a huge big rig trash truck flies by the arena and spooks a horse. i men seriously it was the busiest time of day and there racing trucks through the barn. And also they have a area to drop all the soiled bedding into and it is right next to the beginner jumper arena, They emptied it at 3'oclok in in the afternoon. 3 is the busiest time because all the schools get out at 3 and every one has a lesson then!! I mean serous the beginner arenas!!
AHH I wish I could switch barns but i love my trainer,(my trainer is located in a bigger barn it aint her fault she hates this too)

So, the trash truck comes every day at three? It so, wouldn't the horses be use to it by now?

Also, I may not even be the BO fault. The city/county regulates public trash pickup, so you can't control the time.

Maybe you should ask the kid to dismount for a few when you see the truck coming. The horses will get use to it soon.

Indeed, unless theres a new horse in the arena, or an especially spooky one, if the trash collection is like clockwork, the horses should be used to it.

At my barn we are thisclose (<-- intentional) to train tracks and have a train that comes by every day at 1 and 5 pm. One day I was riding in the arena at five and thought that my horse would spook as it blew its horn, and he acted like it wasn't even there.

But if you are that concerned, mention something to the BO and see if they can move the pit somewhere closer to the road/away from the beginner arena? If it doesn't spook the horses, it may spook the riders, and that's not good either.

I don't really have any advice, but I know how annoying that is. I ride a lot of young/green horses and they find it nessesary to take apart round pens and burn leaves (both things are located directly beside the riding arena) while I am riding them. In my opinion, if you are going to be charging people money to ride and keep horses on your property, you could make an effort to make riding comfortable for all the people paying!

All of the activities described above are great desensitizing moments for the both the horse and rider. My only concern is that a novice rider should not be on a horse that would spook at a simple truck passing by the arena, especially if it is a daily occurrence.

I find that I actively seek out those moments that I can present to my horses to various activities so that they know that nothing is going to hurt them. For instance, walking next to the snow plow, big rigs and tractors, watching helicopters land and perform maneuvers above us, forestation equipment, emergency lights and sirens, 20 kids running from the play park to come and say hello to us as we pass by, etc. These are just a few of the things we have encountered pretty regularly on our rides. Just use your imagination, plenty of patience and let your horse place his trust in you.

Hmmm We have a train track like five feet from the barn but I understand it can be frustrating..

If the truck comes bye all the time like you say then I would guess the horses are used to it.


How do you expect the trash and soiled bedding to get picked up?

Don't think of it as an annoyance, think of it as desensitizing training for your green beans.

Horses need to learn to accept things that happen around them without acting like idjits. People should not be required to tip-toe around a horse, especially if they're just doing their jobs.

Seems to me the horses and riders need more training, not that the trucks need to stop coming by at that particular time.