[newtrailriders]

Hey - it's me, back again for more training advice. It's going to be a week or two until I can go for another lesson and I think I know what I need to do but just want to run this by you.

Ona does pretty well when I trailer her anywhere, it's when she's being worked or ridden in or near her pasture that she gives me the most problems. My current goal is to safely be able to get on her and ride her the half mile to lessons instead of trailering her there.

There's only one area where she does not give me any problems at home, and that's in the work area. It's a pen between the pasture and our back yard. Every day, I catch the horses and feed them half their feed, groom etc., then ride them or do a little ground work in the work area before giving them the rest of their feed and releasing them back into the pasture. They do everything I ask them to do in their work area and never give me any trouble there. Ona's thinking side shuts down as soon as we go into the pasture or out into the yard. My instructor has shown me how to keep her between my knees and keep her moving forward when she's resisting me, and that works until we get to the road. Once we get near the road she gets unmanageable for me (although I know an experienced rider could probably push her through it) and I've been doing the approach and retreat thing - bringing her out to the road then riding her back near the pasture, and going back and forth like that.

I did a dumb thing about two weeks ago while I was trying to learn to pony Ona behind PJ and got bucked off. I was thinking I might pony her to lessons but I'm going to hold off on trying that again. I thought i was OK at first but I apparently have a broken rib and I am not willing to ride outside either horse's comfort zone again until I get one of those hit air vests. I want to just do daily ground work until I can get the vest.

Since I'm going to have so much time for ground work I decided maybe I'll actually follow someone's method step by step, start to finish. I went ahead and bought one of Clinton Anderson's books and I'm starting at square 1 with the fundamentals on both horses. It's a little different - a different way of asking them to yield their hind quarters etc. but they're getting it.

Ona doesn't give me any trouble at all in the work area but when I bring her out into the yard, even right near the gate, she starts acting up. So I'm thinking I want to just do ground work near the gate and not let her back in until she calms down and just keep doing that every day, further and further from the gate, until she gets over being sour.

If I never stop working her and don't bring her back to her comfort zone until she's quietly behaving and listening, that should do it, right? I'm thinking I'll do all the teaching when she's in the comfort zone and then bring her outside of her comfort zone to practice and once she's acting calm and obeying me, bring her back in. Then next time, take her a little further out and keep doing this until I can calmly lead her all the way to my trainer's house. Then when I get my safety vest I'll do the same thing from her back - just gradually take her further away until I can quietly ride her to my lessons.

Since this was my second horse accident, and the first one was quite severe, I am taking safety very seriously and just want to anticipate and prevent any dangerous reactions. I imagine this all must seem so simple and basic to those of you with a lot of experience. I appreciate any advice or reassurance you can give me, to help me stay safe and get this done.

It seems like such a simple thing - to be able to ride one's horse away from the house and down the road. I never knew how much trouble was going to have to go into making it happen! I keep reminding myself that she's only five and it's normal for her to be resistant and that it takes a while to make a good riding horse. Right?

 

[AtokaGhosthorse]

Fighting the same fight. Subbing to see what's advised.

 

[Smilie]

Staying safe, of course is number one,but unfortunately, all ground work and respect does not just transfer to riding, or training horses would be much simpler!
When i was younger, I rode green horses out that had way less training then in later years, simply because when I was younger,my confidence was much greater, as it was not under mined by what could happen, should my less then young body hit the ground.
Thus, I spent a lot more time getting ahrose truly 'broke' in his comfort zone first, putting 'buttons and ingrained response, building trust, so that I could then ride them out successfully, alone. If you know you can't successfully ride a horse past something, be it beyond a certain point, don't ride there until you can.
Horses are creatures of habit, and we all know the maxium that we train a horse each and every time we ride or handle him, either for the good or the negative
Thus, each time that horse is able to blatantly act up, the minute it is asked to go out of his comfort zone, guess what he learns, plus he will never see you as a leader he can trust, thus always feeling he must look out for himself
When I first ride a horse out, that horse goes where asked No, it is not normal for a horse to resist because he is a certain age-he might test, but given the right 'answer', that test is very mild,short lived, and does not become a repeat default

 

[newtrailriders]

Staying safe, of course is number one,but unfortunately, all ground work and respect does not just transfer to riding, or training horses would be much simpler!
When i was younger, I rode green horses out that had way less training then in later years, simply because when I was younger,my confidence was much greater, as it was not under mined by what could happen, should my less then young body hit the ground.
Thus, I spent a lot more time getting ahrose truly 'broke' in his comfort zone first, putting 'buttons and ingrained response, building trust, so that I could then ride them out successfully, alone. If you know you can't successfully ride a horse past something, be it beyond a certain point, don't ride there until you can.
Horses are creatures of habit, and we all know the maxium that we train a horse each and every time we ride or handle him, either for the good or the negative
Thus, each time that horse is able to blatantly act up, the minute it is asked to go out of his comfort zone, guess what he learns, plus he will never see you as a leader he can trust, thus always feeling he must look out for himself
When I first ride a horse out, that horse goes where asked No, it is not normal for a horse to resist because he is a certain age-he might test, but given the right 'answer', that test is very mild,short lived, and does not become a repeat default

Thank you, Smilie. You hit on exactly what I'm worried is going to happen - because it has happened to me before. Ona has been pushed out of her comfort zone, acted out by rearing and got away with it, and we had to go to a trainer before I could make her stop.

You say not to try to ride a horse beyond a certain point until I'm certain I can do it, and that makes 100% sense. It's the getting from not being able to do it, to being able to, that I'm having trouble with.

She's very reactive and I want to figure out how to safely enlarge her comfort zone - to just take her to the edge of it and get her comfortable and thinking there and gradually expand it over time, as she builds trust in me as a leader. Is that how it works?

For example, today all we did was the very first CA exercise - keeping her out of my personal space with two eyes on me. We did it in the center of her comfort zone, no problem. Then I walked her forward 25 feet and did it again, rewarding her with treats when she stood still with her head down and her eyes on me. Moved another 25 feet, did it again, then 25 feet more etc. When we reached the edge of her comfort zone her head and ears went up and she started to act like she was going to walk over me so I cued her to back up. Instead of backing up, she decided to gallop circles around me. I had her in her knotted rope halter attached to a lunge line. She didn't get away from me and I just let her run for a while then said "whoa" and asked her to come in. Instead of coming in, she galloped around me the opposite direction. I just let her go and then when I said "whoa" and asked her to come in, she came in. I asked her to back up, and she did, and when she stood out calmly and quietly of my personal space with her head down and both eyes on me I gave her a treat and brought her back to PJ.

She didn't rear on me so I guess we're past that - and I don't know if I should have got after her for galloping around me but I don't know how I could have got after her for it anyway. I guess I could have brought a lunge whip and made her keep going until she was tired.

I'm thinking of repeating the exercise this evening and that's another thing I'm not sure of - how often to work with her.

I hope she's not going to learn that if she starts galloping circles around me, then the next time she behaves herself I'll bring her back. How many steps ahead can horses think?

 

[newtrailriders]

I'm wondering if, next time, maybe it would be better if we stop just before we get to the point where she started galloping around me today - just hang out there doing ground work. Once I get my safety vest, maybe I'll just stay in her comfort zone while I'm on her.

Maybe the reason she is reactive is because I push it too far?

 

[SteadyOn]

If this were me, this is how I'd approach it.

Have a leading set-up that gives you better pressure than just a flat nylon or leather halter. I like a thin rope halter. Though for horses who are likely to really pull and test, a chain might work better. Have a fairly long lead rope. Have a dressage whip or Parelli stick -- something you can direct with to do a mini lunge session on a tiny circle. Also have some treats, because bribery can help make this experience a lot more pleasant for both of you.

With this set up, you take her for a walk in the direction you'd like to ride her for your lessons. There are several behaviours she's likely to exhibit:

-Turns her head away from you and crowds her shoulder into you.
Response: sharp elbow to her shoulder and needle into her with it until she moves away. Repeat every time this happens, even though it'll get tedious if this is something that's a habit. Do anyhow and don't be nice about it.

-Whinnies to her friends while tuning you out. (This often goes along with the shoulder-crowding behaviour!)
Response: Put her to work! Longe her at a brisk walk on a tight circle around you until you have her attention again. You will probably both get a bit dizzy. :lol: This will a) make her work by having to cross her legs behind and b) be tedious enough that walking on forward will seem like a more pleasant alternative. Once she's gotten the point, walk her forward until the next interruption. Repeat as needed.

-Balks or tries to pull towards home
Response: tiny lunge circle, as above. You can also vary this up with changes of direction, stopping, adding bits of trot, etc. Whatever it takes to keep her mind on you. Again, resume walking in the desired direction when she's put some work in and seems receptive to that alternative.

When she IS walking along with you nicely, give her an occasional treat to make heading away from home into a thing she gets rewarded for WHEN she is cooperating.

Important note: you need to be able to lead her on a nice loose lead where she doesn't always need to be held at the chin. If you keep constant pressure on her face, she'll be anxious the whole time and won't feel like she has any way to do the "good" thing by walking willingly to release pressure.

Do this incrementally. Don't try to go the whole distance in one session or you'll just have a fight on your hands and won't progress. When you've pushed her comfort zone a bit and gotten her cooperating and at whatever place you'd like to end on for the day, give her some treats and pats and praise, and take her home. On your walk back, do NOT let her set the pace. Stop her, back her up, move her feet now and then. If she gets fast or starts to barge ahead, time to stop and lunge her on the spot again until she's paying attention. No treats on the walk back -- let her associate the treats with being away from home, not heading towards it.

The "working in tiny annoying circles" method works very well under saddle, too, and is my go-to method for horses that are balking or barn sour. They can't bolt, buck, or rear when you have one rein pulled back towards your hip and their hindquarters disengaged, and it's definitely no fun for them.

I put this program (the groundwork portion -- never made it to the ridden portion before circumstances changed) in place with a horse earlier this year who had intense separation anxiety and very bad leading manners, and the difference was INCREDIBLE. She can now be led anywhere on a loose lead, with no whinnying or anxiety, and is nice and relaxed and a lot braver with potentially spooky things along the way. I suspect it would have made a big difference under saddle, too.

 

[newtrailriders]

Thank you, SteadyOn. Your post reassures me that what I've been doing with her up until now makes sense. She has learned some tricks regarding the little circles, though. She has decided she wants me to make her do circles because 1) when she's running in circles she's not going forward and she can even take a few steps backward when she's facing the right direction 2) she can do her best to end the circle facing the direction she wants to go. She has become a bit of a circle addict...and I've become dizzy LOL

 

[Smilie]

Agree on teaching that leading with respect, having the horse both lead on a loose shank , while staying out of your space, never trying to rush ahead, nor lag behind
I am not much for endless circling, and it drove me nuts when someone did that on a trail ride!
I;m more on getting body control, so you can ride a horse past stuff. No, this does not mean you don't also work on trust, and I always give a horse a chance to move forward, look at something, keep forward and not balk or try to turn around
However, if a horse acts very concerned about something ahead you know is just a sign, or whatever,tries to get head up, neck stiff, attempting to loose forward, I ask for that face and poll, taking contact, while using strong legslto continue to drive that horse foreward, and might also counter flex him, so nose is slightly tipped away from the object of concern, ribs and shoulders flexed in the object's direction
I am not going to play a circling game, either riding,nor in front of a trailer to load a horse.
That is not to say that circling,taking head away, disengaging hips does not have a place, perhaps to gain control of a horse that attempted to bolt, but it is also not my default, each time a horse tries to balk, as there are places you simply can't circle, or loose forward.
Control with on coming traffic, narrow trail, are just two examples

Also never allow a horse to call when you are working with him or riding him. If he is calling, that is also where his leader is-back in that pasture, and not beside him or on his back.

 

[Joel Reiter]

My current goal is to safely be able to get on her and ride her the half mile to lessons instead of trailering her there.

Ona doesn't give me any trouble at all in the work area but when I bring her out into the yard, even right near the gate, she starts acting up. So I'm thinking I want to just do ground work near the gate and not let her back in until she calms down and just keep doing that every day, further and further from the gate, until she gets over being sour.

If I never stop working her and don't bring her back to her comfort zone until she's quietly behaving and listening, that should do it, right?

newtrailriders, I like a lot of what you're doing, but I think you might progress faster if you make one reversal. I would try working your horse in the area she is comfortable and then taking her outside and just letting her graze. Then go back in and work and come back out and graze. The whole idea is staying home is work and leaving is fun.

Also, to get results from Clinton Anderson's method, be very particular. In the beginning you won't be very good at communicating what you want from your horse and your horse might not be very good at guessing what you want. But you want to shape that behavior so that in every session you are getting closer to the ideal.

After using everything from a dowel to a pvc pipe to a dressage whip, I finally bought a handy stick, but in the beginning use whatever you have. The first time I was sure my big guy knew what I wanted and didn't think he needed to do it I whacked him. He was so surprised he jerked the lead rope out of my hand and ran 200 yards away and stared at me with big eyes. At the end of that lesson he had a magical, transformative reduction in spooking. As Clinton says, be as gentle as possible and as firm as necessary and always reward the slightest try.

Good luck, be safe, and please keep us up to date.

 

[newtrailriders]

newtrailriders, I like a lot of what you're doing, but I think you might progress faster if you make one reversal. I would try working your horse in the area she is comfortable and then taking her outside and just letting her graze. Then go back in and work and come back out and graze. The whole idea is staying home is work and leaving is fun.

Also, to get results from Clinton Anderson's method, be very particular. In the beginning you won't be very good at communicating what you want from your horse and your horse might not be very good at guessing what you want. But you want to shape that behavior so that in every session you are getting closer to the ideal.

After using everything from a dowel to a pvc pipe to a dressage whip, I finally bought a handy stick, but in the beginning use whatever you have. The first time I was sure my big guy knew what I wanted and didn't think he needed to do it I whacked him. He was so surprised he jerked the lead rope out of my hand and ran 200 yards away and stared at me with big eyes. At the end of that lesson he had a magical, transformative reduction in spooking. As Clinton says, be as gentle as possible and as firm as necessary and always reward the slightest try.

Good luck, be safe, and please keep us up to date.

Well that certainly sounds easier and she'd give me a lot less objection to it. I'm all for easy - and my instincts tell me that, the less often she acts up, the less often she will act up in the future. Everything she does 3 times or more becomes a habit and I certainly do not want her to get in the habit of running around like an insane horse every time I work her out of her comfort zone.

I also feel like I must show her that she has to pay attention to me and do what I say whether she's in her comfort zone or not. I'm not asking much of her right now - just to stay out of my space and pay attention to me. This horse has had my number. A few months ago my husband and I were able to ride her and her buddy out from home and then she started challenging me. She got in the habit of rearing and it took some work with a trainer to get her over that.

I want to establish leadership in the safest, easiest, most peaceful way possible. I don't want to have to argue with her over every little thing. I'm afraid I wouldn't win the arguments.

It feels like there's a fine line that has to be tread - to show her that being outside her comfort zone isn't as scary as she thinks it is and she still has to listen to me there.

 

[newtrailriders]

I did a web search for "expand horse comfort zone" and found this article. I still need to find parts 1 and 3, but part 2 suggests I've been trying to push her a little too far, too fast. That, plus what Joel Reiter said, is kind of a relief to me because I was a little uncomfortable pushing her.

https://www.equinebehaviorist.ca/single-post/2017/04/15/Expanding-you-Horses-Comfort-Zone-Part-Two

 

[Joel Reiter]

Which book are you using? Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship; Establishing Respect and Control for English and Western Riders is the main one. As you work through the lessons it will help to go to his web site or YouTube to make sure you understand what it's supposed to look like.

You definitely want to push her, and if you do the lessons right you will be pushing her. One of the main points of Clinton's method is to take your number back from a horse that has your number. So you have plenty of opportunity for excitement without contaminating it with taking her outside the work area. I would suggest you advance beyond at least the backing and disengaging the hindquarters lessons before you try to take her outside her comfortable area again.

Try to work on consecutive days if possible so each day can build on the last, and aim for 30-45 minutes of well planned training each day. You will advance quicker if you video record your sessions and then compare what you actually did with what you're supposed to be doing. If you are like me what you think you're trying to do won't look very much like what you actually do, and you need to get that cleaned up to make progress.

 

[newtrailriders]

Thank you! That's the kind of specific advice I'm looking for. Yes the book I have is Down Under Horsemanship . I have his DVDs and have watched a lot of his videos but this is my first time totally committing to starting at the beginning and working all the way through one method. The person who trained her is not a fan of CA. She's been taught backing and yielding but not his way.

I was encouraged by her attention to me yesterday. She does appear to want to learn and I feel like I'm making more progress with her and understand her better than before.

 

[SilverMaple]

Lots of groundwork to establish respect, and control of her feet. Lots of desensitizing to scary things--- start small, and don't stop doing what you're doing until she stops moving. Then let her think a few seconds, and begin again. After a few tries, she won't move, then start stopping only when she offers some sign of relaxation-- lowering her head a big, a slow blink, yawning, licking, etc. The idea is to teach the horse that they can control their fear, and how to get 'up' and them come right back down.

When you ride, work on the things she's difficult with incrementally. If you can get ten feet down the driveway before she starts trying to head home, only go 8 feet. Work her hard in her 'safe zone' then let her rest 8 feet out. If she heads back home, she goes back to work there. After you ride, get off, loosen the cinch, and offer a rest away from the barn. When you get back to her barn, tighten the cinch up, lope circles for awhile, then leave her tied for an hour or so. T

How is she tied away from her safety net? Find different, safe places to tie her and leave her there (keep an eye on her, of course) until she's standing relaxed with her head down and one foot cocked before you let her go. Might take 20 minutes, might take all day, but it WILL come. The horse will learn that being somewhere new is not always scary.

The horse I'm currently training is so bad he'd rather work near his buddies until he drops than go ten feet away, so we're doing a lot of groundwork. I was very frustrated that I didn't think he was making much progress, but yesterday I had him tied to the outside of the roundpen while I worked a mare, and when I took the mare back to the barn, he didn't freak out about being alone. He waited patiently for me to come get him, so that is a HUGE step for him. It'll come. Two months ago, he would have gone over the round pen panels to get back to her. I'm using my beat-up beast of a horse trailer to work on the tying with him. I move it around. At first, it was right outside the pasture fence so he could still see his buddies. Now it's behind the barn near the grove. He's getting pretty good there, so then I'll move it down to the end of the pasture near the road next-- it's about 1000 feet from where the other horses are, so that's the plan. Yes, you need to push the comfort zone, but you need to be able to read just how far to push it. CA tends to overdo some things-- on a horse that is truly fearful, you can't push that hard. A horse that's afraid isn't thinking, so you need to take them only as far as to get the anxiety there, but still let them think.

Another thing that tends to work well-- hobbles. You have to know when your horse is ready for this and knows how to control panic so he doesn't hurt himself, but I teach all my horses to hobble as a matter of course, both for their own safety and because it really seems to help them learn to override 'panic' with 'think'. When they are comfortable with the hobbles and realize they can't take off and I know they're not going to blow up, I start introducing some things they were anxious about before. It's amazing how quickly they realize nothing is going to hurt them when the option to 'run home to mama' is taken away.

Good luck! I'm working on this with a very anxious horse. Remember that in most cases, barn sour/buddy sour is due to anxiety. Take away the anxiety, and you'll see an improvement in your horse. I highly recommend Warwick Schiller's video subscription series. The groundwork alone will make a huge difference in your horse. It's well worth the cost. I've trained and worked with horses for 30 years, and was not making much headway with this horse. I liked Warwick's approach to teaching a horse how to control his own response to fear and anxiety while working to take it away, and it's really made a big difference in not only this horse, but in how I approach all my horses. It's not fast, but it does work. I'm training a friend's mare, and it's amazing how much nicer this horse is already to work around than she was a month ago when she got here. She is certainly progressing much faster than my project horse, but for him, I have to undo the fear. She doesn't have fear, but she is a pushy mare and my friend is not an assertive person, hence the reason I have her. I don't anticipate any problems whatsoever when I get on her.

 

[Smilie]

Can't re call as to how this horse is, tied up solid and alone. If she is not good with that, then get her good with that fundamental basics.
It sure helps have the hrose thinking, being in an accepting mode, versus reactive, so that you can build on this very basic required fundamental that I insist all my horses learn
To take an old gem from a former member, whose experience in training horses, including problem horses was very extensive.
"horses are only as good as you expect them to be'.
Be a strong firm , but fair leader, and the horse in turn learns to have confidence in you, trust your judgement, knowing that you are 'looking out for the lions', so he does not have to.
Definitely push her out of her confidence zone, stop 'pussy footing' around her, expect her to lead and go where asked, and she will become a less reactive horse, one that trusts in your leadership, versus continually needing to test
Yes, not trying to ride past where you know you can, thus having the horse realize it is you who decides when to return, making home work, and riding away relaxing, all have their place, but ultimately, you need to have that body control, that ingrained response, that softness, created by riding in the comfort zone, so that the horse is 'broke', enough to be ridden through stuff.
It works and I don't think all the leading in the World, the never really pushing ahorse through stuff, hoping you are just going to de -sensitize them to everything possible, replaces that leadership
There is no way you are going to be able to de sensitize a horse to everything they might ever encounter. You can, however, get that softness in the body, that ingrained response, to be able to ride them through those things

 

[beau159]

I think you are on the right track OP. It's just a matter of figuring out and/or knowing just how far to push your horse.

Yes, you DO need to push her or you are never going to advance. We don't learn unless we are pushed out of our comfort zone.

However on the same token, you don't want to push too far that she completely falls apart and her mind is not in a state where it can learn.

Keep on doing what you are doing each day. Push her a little bit past her comfort zone and when you get her focus and good responses, quit and put her away. While her issues will still be there when you finally mount up again, you can use those same principles under saddle that you did on the ground. Keep her focus on YOU and let her learn to look to you for guidance.

 

[4horses]

I had one horse that I would ride to the next power line pole, then back, then the post after that and back, and so on. The first session took 2 hours but she improved after that.

I had one horse for training that never improved in his separation anxiety. Probably was the reason he was free on Craigslist!

Taking them for grass walks- where you lead them down the street and let them graze, sometimes helps.

Once you get to the point where the horse is upset and calling for his buddy, or acting up you have gone too far. If they are that upset, they aren't going to learn.

 

[newtrailriders]

I appreciate all of the advice and encouragement. I must confess that I did not expect for things to continue to require so much patience and dedication. I had it in my head that once a horse was "broke," then it was "broke," and life would be a series of pleasurable trail rides. I had pictured us spending every weekend this summer horse camping and exploring all the trails. It's kind of a two steps forward, one step back, two steps back, two more steps back, 3 steps forward kind of thing.

I don't know if I can say we made any progress today or not. We started out with Ona tied and I did the CA stuff with PJ - just the personal space thing, backing, and yielding his hindquarters. Then I led PJ away, hand grazing him out of her sight etc. He was pretty relaxed and I enjoyed him. I don't think it will be long before I feel safe riding him away from the house - maye I'll ride him to lessons, instead of her. I got him as a husband horse but he's a little more my speed than Ona, I think. I was surprised when we got back to find my husband standing with Ona looking concerned. Apparently while we were gone she got herself so worked up that she got both front feet stuck through the gate. She got them out on her own. She's normally not like that, or I wouldn't have tied her near the gate. Usually she paws or snorts but she doesn't freak out when she's tied alone. It seems like she's getting more anxious instead of less anxious

So then we switched them out. I did the CA stuff with Ona in the work area then brought her away from PJ. PJ always goes ape whenever I take Ona away from him. I let him run the fence line while I hand grazed her in the yard. He never quits running when he's in the pasture without her. He'll literally run for hours without stopping, if she's gone for hours. I guess he's been less frantic about it lately since I've been taking her for lessons. He's not calling for her so loudly that he's bringing the entire neighborhood over to check and see if he's OK anymore, at least, and he's cantering rather than galloping. Tonight I kept her within his sight and just a few feet outside of her comfort zone. He trotted the fenceline and actually stopped to drink some water a couple of times. My husband and my dad had a little bonfire so I brought her over near the bonfire and let her graze and get used to the popping noises while we visited, until it got dark, then brought her back to PJ.

So I don't know if we made any progress today or not.

 

[AtokaGhosthorse]

If it makes you feel any better, Trigger was a complete jackwagon this evening. This was the kind of evening that makes me want to give up. Bad thing is, he went further than usual and didn't rush back. He just got to the This Far and No Further Shall I Go place and that was it.

Told my husband when he got home that Trigger had been a complete jerk tonight.

Husband countered with: Maybe you were the complete jerk tonight?

Didn't make me feel better but I can be honest: He may be on to something.

 

[horseylover1_1]

I didn't read through all the replies in detail, so I apologize if I am repeating something that's already been said.

My filly and I dealt with this. She didn't really throw an absolute fit when she got away from a certain area but once we got over the hill from the barn, she started acting stupid. Spooking, rushing ahead of me, etc.

At first I thought she needed more time out. But she wasn't getting better. I tried comforting her because ultimately, horses act out like that because they're fearful. Let her eat in hopes that would calm her nerves. NOTHING worked. I finally got fed up with her being an idiot and started making it very uncomfortable for her to act like an idiot. She got to move her feet every time she did anything stupid. Sure enough, she got really calm after about 2 trips out. Now we can go anywhere and she acts like a model citizen - vet, shows, trails, etc. Perfect little angel.

Ultimately I think what happened was I showed her I was in control. And she finally snapped out of it. Horses do not benefit from us coddling them after they get to a certain "point" - and I think anyone who has worked with an anxious horse knows what I mean. I compared it to a kid who had an unnatural fear with something. To a point you try to comfort and desensitize a kid, but you finally get to a point where you have to figuratively shake them and tell them to snap out of it because they're being absolutely ridiculous.

I've worked with numerous buddy/barn sour horses and they all react differently to different "solutions." I've done CA and it has worked. Find a method that your horse progresses with and work on it.