Strange horse behaviour

[ally112038]

George my welsh section D has began to have some behaviour issues when hacking out. (Trail riding for my Friends across the pond!). Due to my work schedule my BO and trainer has taken him out for me and he has behaved very strangely. Jogging, spooking, crabbing and generally behaving in a very erratic manner. Now, he has always been fiesty and

Comments

[glenatron]

It sounds to me like a question of trust. He trusts you to get through stuff with him, he doesn't trust Jo in the same way so he starts getting very anxious when she rides him out. The way he sees it, she's not really in charge so he needs to be making all the difficult decisions about what is going on, what is safe and so on when she rides out on him. That's a lot of responsibility for a horse to have and it's making him a bit jumpy.

When you ride out he knows you're in charge and so he trusts you to make all those decisions to be sure he survives.

I wouldn't be surprised if Jo allowed him to push her around a little the rest of the time - Section Ds can be quite pushy in my experience - maybe she is just a little bit less assertive than he needs on the ground and in the saddle and so he feels he can take over. It may even show when he is leading up or doing other regular day to day stuff with him.

Either way if it's happening with her and not with you a good starting point might be for you to spend some time with them both while she is working with him and to pick up things that she is doing differently to how you do them. If she was handling and riding him the same way you do, he would feel as comfortable with her pretty quickly.

[ally112038]

I read your comment and a lightbulb went on! You have described him to a t. When I first had him he was horrendous to hack out. He took the weight of decision making on his shoulders and if he decided something was scary, he would spin and bolt. He was particularly bad with anything plastic - bags, bottles, cartons - and nothing I would do would get him past them. He is an opinionated welsh who wasn't cut until he was three and I have to be firm with him in regards to who is in control whilst still being gentle enough not to freak him out. I spent a huge amount of time doing ground work with him and particularly using my voice as a clamer. I can free-school him using voice alone and even get him to vary his extension through the paces. The more I did this the less spooky he became with me and the more he looked to me to decide if something was ok to go past or to pass us. He is an anxious horse with a complex character who can worry himself stupid sometimes and is sensative to the moods of his rider. I think this comes down to a trust issue and he trusts me to such an extent now that no one else can be trusted to keep him safe! I have decided that if I need him exerising I will ask Jo to school him because he is wondeful when she does this. Hacking I will keep for us and us alone. It's just not worth putting him through any more trauma. I hacked him today and he was great. Striding out, accepting the contact, ears pricked. Nothing phased him (although he had a look at a giant snowman!) And he is a happy horse once again. Happy horse equals happy human!
Thanks for your insight. I really think you are right.

[blitzen_]

yup. exactomundo.

i had the opposite effect on my *then* new horse & as a result we have barely ridden out in the 3 going on 4 yrs i've owned him. needed to be more of a leader & wasn't. ah well, it's starting to happen now, but i've missed out on quite a lot of awesome trails!