I trail ride almost daily with my horses buddy. If we happen to be on the trail and see other horses my horse gets very nervous. His head goes high, he feels shaky and in turn I get nervous, which I am sure does not help. What can I do to stop this behavior around other horses. I let him approach the horses and sniff them. He whinies, stomps his foot and rears a little. Should I keep my distance or let him smell the other horses.
Posted 2005-08-17 7:36 PM (#29321 - in reply to #29319) Subject: RE: calming when seeing strange horses
Expert
Posts: 1723 Location: michigan
Your horse is losing focus- he is paying attention to the other horses and not to you. I'd try making him do something,side pass, leg yield, do some figure eights around a obsticle. When he starts to listen to you then stop and relax. If he starts up again, then once again do something. I'd avoid a "fight" as you'd probably end up losing.
You also might try doing some stuff in the arena to help get his attention- ask for collection, then extention,back to collection. Riding around asking for different gaits- trot-canter-trot, transions- all of this will get your horse focused on you. This way when you ask for his focus, he'll then be prepared to listen to you.
Posted 2005-08-17 7:44 PM (#29323 - in reply to #29319) Subject: RE: calming when seeing strange horses
i would agree with farmbabe... also try to stay calm and let the other riders know that he's uneasy they may help by going another way, most people are pretty nice, you can also see what he does if you just ask him to walk right passed them, not stoping or anything, just keep his attention on you
Posted 2005-08-18 12:44 PM (#29347 - in reply to #29319) Subject: RE: calming when seeing strange horses
Expert
Posts: 1391 Location: North of Detroit, MI
Don't allow your horse to sniff other horses or get close to them... it's too dangerous. When your horse sees another horse, let him stop, rub his withers/neck, EXHALE to relax and tell him what a good boy he is SO LONG AS HE behaves.
If he doesn't - keep him busy - backing up is a good thing if there isn't enough room to do some circles or turns. Remember to relax and reward your horse when THEY relax (drop head a tiny bit, chewing / mouthing the bit, etc.).
If the trail is narrow, move off the trail BUT be sure your horse is FACING the trail. otherwise, pass "left-shoulder to left-shoulder".
As others have said, the horse needs to listen to you.
Posted 2005-08-18 6:36 PM (#29364 - in reply to #29319) Subject: RE: calming when seeing strange horses
Regular
Posts: 51 Location: Jeddo, MI
Thanks for the input....We met up with a horse on the trail today and I did not let my horse smell or get very close. I used the head cue and patted him letting him know everything was ok. He did great. My mistake was letting him get close and touch noses with the strange horses. I also had him do circles until his head dropped and he behaved. I have learned a lot from this message board and really appreciate others' opinions.
Posted 2005-08-19 8:51 AM (#29384 - in reply to #29319) Subject: RE: calming when seeing strange horses
Expert
Posts: 1989 Location: South Central OK
You've heard some great advice. Your real problem is that your gelding is trying to act dominant. He should ALWAYS see you as the top horse and what you say goes.
I'm going out on the limb by saying your horse is a gelding but this behavior in my experience is more common in geldings that haven't realized they are less of a man...so it's your job to remind him that the "jewels" were stolen!
calming when seeing strange horses
