Horse That Is Suddenly Spooky

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Horse Training – Spooky Horses on the Trail": "My horse has suddenly become afraid of leaving the turn out. She is really dangerous as she totally loses it and runs into you. What can I do. She is really spooky lately."

It would be good to know how and where you are keeping your horse; how much training she has had and how much are you are riding her. Horses are herd animals, relying on the group to be safe, and keeping them by themselves can contribute to spookiness. Sometimes a younger horse can get nervous and spooky, if she is the lowest horse on the totem pole in a herd that is kept together, if she is getting bullied by another horse(es). This can carry over into your interaction with her. Sometimes changes in how you keep her and her environment may help.  

What you can do, when you are with her, either on the ground or riding her, is to work towards her looking to you as the leader at all times. You have to get good at correcting all the behavior which empowers her to exhibit that behavior which can be dangerous to you.  The only reason she is doing that is that she thinks she needs to. 

The frequency in which you work with her also has much to do with her's and your progress. I think the majority of horse owners are 'once a week people' who may provide care for their horse seven days a week, but only work with the horse or ride once a week. I think it's hard to keep a well trained horse tuned up with a once a week schedule, let along trying to correct bad habits.  There is a lot of truth in the old saying that 'wet saddle blankets make good horses'. 

Ground work is often neglected or thought to be largely unnecessary once a horse is being ridden. I beg to differ. Ground work establishes and builds that relationship, needs to be done often, done well and is useful at any stage of the horse's training.

Ground work does not have to be only a formal event in the round pen. Everytime you interact with your horse, asking her to drop her head for the halter, leading her, asking her to move her front end or back end over, and even not to crowd you when you throw feed - are all things some people won't be careful at. So when the horse throws or shakes his head when putting the halter on, invades your space or doesn't lead up correctly,....or, when while leading you stop and your horse is still moving or paying attention to everything but you,....or, when she is feed aggressive or otherwise not respecting your space when you throw feed,.......are behaviors that degrade the leader position you should hold with her, and make it increasingly harder to correct in some cases.

I would work her, both on the ground and, when you feel safe, in the saddle. Start with things she can do well, When she does well, stop and give her a release before moving on, but be ready to re-direct her focus back to you if she becomes spooky or lost. This means moving her feet. Lunge her. Work on backing. Work on turns on the fore end and hind end. Sack her out with a flag. Introduce other obstacles to her such as tarps. Give her time to make it her idea to approach the new obstacle.  You want to be building in her a chance to think instead of just react.

Again, be ready when her focus on you is diverted. If I can see some anxiety building a horse, I'll re-direct that focus onto something I am asking, like lunging or riding in a circle. Work on collection. Practice leg yields.   Doubling on a fence line.  Things like that. I don't make it a federal case if they spook, I just re-direct and concentrate on something positive.

The last thing I'd like to give you to think about is to not be waiting on your horse to spook. Horses are pretty perceptive. I think they can pretty much sense our moods. If you are waiting on them to spook or run you over, they just may feed off of you and prove you right.