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is your horse afraid of anything on the trail?

8K views 38 replies 22 participants last post by  Nine 
#1 ·
so far, my guy is really only afraid of the cyclists that sneak up behind him.

I used to have a horse that was afraid of mailboxes and garbage cans. Also Baby carriages and bikes. He was a mess...
 
#3 ·
Lexi doesn't really like deer. Even if she sees them far away in the distance, she gets spooky. She's been better at it lately, thankfully. :D She used to be afraid of the bicycles but now she's fine with them.
 
#4 ·
shad doesn't like:
cattle (particularly one cow on its own)
bushes (clumps of them...could be scary animals inside :roll: )
other horses (not scared of them.. just excited)
lines on roads (paint)
dead animals e.g. road kill
windy days

i think thats it. if i think of more i will add them
 
#6 ·
Oddie is afraid of nothing. Good old steady needy, he is :lol:

We used to have a young pony that had some kind of pathological fear of wheelbarrows, which made no sense because she saw them every day and I'm sure none of them ever attacked her. We just got her over that and then she met a PUSHCHAIR, which is like a wheelbarrow WITH A ROOF. Sent her little mind in a loop, that did.
 
#9 ·
From my experience horses are only afraid of 2 things....


Those that move and those that don't :roll:

My horses don't "spook" they really just stop and stare for a while. I haven't run across anything like deer popping up right in front of us either tho... Guess we are too noisy for that.
 
#10 ·
deer, ruffed grouse, chainsaws, signs (sometimes), logs (one trail we ride on has a small log pile, like firewood, we must move as far away as possible while staring at logs with big eyes), wooden benches, water last year, not so much this year, I'm sure there's more. It really depends on the day.
 
#12 ·
My girl is BAD gunshy!... and I just found out the other day that Thunder scares ger too, if it's right overhead... Otherwise, she's the perfect trail horse.
 
#13 ·
Mine isnt afraid of much either. She does like Dumas said, stops and stares, rarely any major sideways spooks. We were in a parade last year and got behind some antique cars that were backfiring. That made her a little nervous but I was nervous too so it could have been me :lol:
Only one time in all the miles we have gone has she refused to go through something. We were crossing a creek and she was standing on a rock ledge in the water but to cross she had to step down into deeper water we couldn't see the bottom of. She wouldn't step down and I gave up trying to make her. I guess I trusted her judgement on it. She normally has no problems with water. Who knows maybe there was a snake down there :shock: Just had to find a better place to cross.
 
#14 ·
oops thought of another I may have already posted. last week we went out by ourselves she barely spooked at a deer jumping out about 10' from us but jumped hard at a red cardinal in the tree :lol: go figure :?
 
#15 ·
Deer! The husband's horse saw a deer when we were loping and he came to a dead stop. It happened so fast that I saw a flash of deer, looked away to pay attention to my horse, and looked up to see hubby climbing off ground. He did a total flip over horse's head and landed on his back with reins still in his hands. I usually ride behind so I can see all the good stuff they pull.
 
#17 ·
We used to have a little rat terrier that did trails with us. Hoovey is alright with big dogs, but little ones unsettle him. He doesn't spook, but does keep a really close eye on them.

His major spooking problem is when he trips, if he has no idea what he's tripped on. He'll do it sometimes when I'm leading him, as he likes to walk somewhat behind one of my legs. His leg will sometimes knock mine, and he comes up scared, does a little head toss and hop. If I'm firm with him and tell him what he tripped on, he's alright.

He also hates the porch swing in the front yard, and pieces of cloth on the tack rail (like rugs, shirts, etc.) They're sure to be horse-eaters!
 
#19 ·
ColleenT said:
oops, i already posted in this thread. Duh.
:lol:



I found something that spooks my horses! My 4yo son fell over a garbage bag that had some empty boxes in it waiting to get put into the burn pile. ( he gets his grace form his momma) The horses were grazing in the yard about 30feet from us. They FREAKED out and took off across the yard!!! :shock: Once they got away they both turned around and stared and snorted at Eli like to say, dang it boy! stay on your feet! :lol:
 
#21 ·
Mines afraid of an invisible monster. I cant figure out what it is, but I know where it lives... same spot every time, rain or shine... have no idea what or where it is... It has to be invisible....
 
#22 ·
HOW ABOUTarmadillos?

This thread is very helpful as we are learning about horses and getting ready to get more serious for our 10 year old who loves them but does not KNOW them.

My cousin has a black mare Princess... in Alabama... who is Scared out of her mind by ARMADILLOS. It doesn't matter if they are dead or alive. So, now it has gone to white plastic bags that LOOK like armadillos to her. She stops and does the big eyes stare.

I can't say I blame her. I don't like to be surprised by them either... the armadillos.. not the plastic bags. :D
 
#23 ·
The horse I owned before wasn't really afraid of anything special. The only thing she really jumped for once was when we rode along a golf-field. I just had to laugh when she started looking at them like they were something that was going to kill her.

And the horse I leased wasn't afraid of anything either. But he used to decide to get scared by something, just to check how I would react :)
 
#25 ·
Back in the day when I used to ride Cocoa, we would have to cross a road to get to the other side of the trails.
She was afraid of the yellow and white lines in the roads. She would JUMP over them. haha
 
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