What are some of your methods to teach a horse that is extremely reactive (bolting blind- in hand or under saddle) to use the thinking side of his brain? We're working on respecting a leader, as he's been on his own for 12 years with no idea what a leader is. Examples of his reactivity: hearing someone kiss from 20 feet away on a lead, flying into a blind panic and nearly flipping himself over. Becoming so nervous about a pot hole he starts to sweat. Seeing a bag stuck in a tree and running over three people to escape. Hearing a dog bark at the neighbours while on pasture and running half a mile to the opposite side of the pen before looking.
I need some new ideas to help him become a good citizen. He's very soft, and will try very hard but the reactive side of his brain just takes over. We've done so far: lunging with voice cues instead of cantering wide open like he was taught, desensitizing to bags and cans, long in hand walks to relax, and when he spooks on this walks ignoring the spooky object until he's over it. I will not ride this horse yet, as he's way too reactive on the ground to handle in the saddle. Ground work only for now, and he's learned that when he spooks he can NOT run over people like he used to, so we are getting somewhere.
I need some new ideas to help him become a good citizen. He's very soft, and will try very hard but the reactive side of his brain just takes over. We've done so far: lunging with voice cues instead of cantering wide open like he was taught, desensitizing to bags and cans, long in hand walks to relax, and when he spooks on this walks ignoring the spooky object until he's over it. I will not ride this horse yet, as he's way too reactive on the ground to handle in the saddle. Ground work only for now, and he's learned that when he spooks he can NOT run over people like he used to, so we are getting somewhere.