Out of the blue big spooks

Wilfred said:
Ok- I May get them all?!

weve done tons of groundwork (he’s very clever!) and actually doing our first in hand show with Wilfred this weekend entering unregistered mountain and moorland and best turned out (we don’t care where we come!) also my daughter doing some of the fun most handsome gelding, fancy dress (non spooky outfit) etc
We have the same straight onto road issue which is probably why my nerves are shot- large open fields with scary monster in trees or roads with tractors and lots going on.
We are actually moving him down the road on Sunday day to a yard with an arena and hoping this may also help.
Brilliant that you backed her yourself, hope you get your full confidence back, you certainly sound like you know what your doing.
I think it’s going to take me a while x
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Suze is very smart, and very bonded with me, when i did an awful lot of work with her before, she was brilliant at liberty work. We are straight out onto a lane with tractors etc, We can ride in the field etc and once I get confident that she will always load away from home will box her to places where we are off road


https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=3834821719968319
 
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Liberty with Hogan would be a circus, regret not doing it with Ramsey, he was very compliant to voice commands, and didn't need a headcollar to come in or out.
 
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@Wilfred don't you join him in looking for dragons! If you start anticipating problems you will scare him and what started out as a bit of a giggle for him will have him convinced the monsters really do exist - they must because you're scared of them, it wont cross his mind that it's him that's worrying you.

While I'm not a huge fan of them I wonder if it would help you to get him a good calmer and something like Rescue Remedy for you? Cut any hard feed back and offer him a haynet when you bring him in to ride - a full tummy can make pratting around far less appealing.
 
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@Wilfred your pony is just gorgeous, what a chunk.

I’ve had two horses of my own now. My first pony Ziggy hardly ever spooked, but he did run if something scared him. I got into bad defensive habits with him. My current horse Sid, who is 15hh high and the same wide, doesn’t tend to run from th8ngs, but he will jump sideways and he will whip round. He is generally a very safe horse so I feel it’s up to me to deal with the spooks.

Ziggy responded well to being allowed to look at something that bothered him. I tried this with Sid, and it’s not a success - the more he looks, the scareder he gets. You could find out whether Wilfred gets better for looking just by walking him out in hand, or even creating a scary thing in the arena with, I don’t know, an umbrella or something. With Sid, who winds himself up, I just have to be really firm and really calm.

This means I have to sit deep, not perching - I tend to perch when I am anxious. Back straight, hipbones really connected to Sid’s back, good rein contact keeping him straight, and ask him to go forward or (if he’s spinning) stop. The stronger my seat, the more confident he feels.

it’ll be so good when you have an arena, you can work on this with Wilfred and your RI. In the meantime, I hope you clean up at your in hand show!
 
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