Spooking is a common occurrence among horses because they are prey animals wired to flee from danger and this can vary in intensity depending on the reason for the spook and your horses fear levels. But a horse that suddenly becomes spooky can stem from sudden environmental changes, stress, pain, vision problems, a change in diet, or even just excess energy.
Firstly, you must consider the cause, checking for new stressors, ruling out medical conditions with a vet, and ensuring their environment and diet are appropriate.
Possible Causes
- Stress and anxiety: Moving to a new yard, travelling, or being separated from stable or field mates can induce stress, leading to spookiness.
- Changes in weather: Cold or windy weather can sometimes make horses feel "sharper" and over reactive.
- Pain: This is a common cause of sudden spooking. A veterinary check-up could rule out issues like hind gut ulcers, which can be difficult to diagnose.
- Vision problems: Older horses often have a decrease in eyesight, making them suddenly afraid of things that might not have previously bothered them.
- Diet changes: Often when horses change ownership or yard, a different feed can sometimes lead to increased energy and reactivity. Even a change in hay can have a big impact on horse behaviour.
- Nervousness: A sudden increase in spookiness can be a sign of a horse lacking confidence or a good relationship with the rider.
So, having addressed causes and giving your horse the best possible environment to thrive, we need to think about how we can deal with the actual spook. We know that all horses are individual and can react in a variety of ways when they are spooked. This will usually depend on how much of a threat the horse feels they are up against in a particular moment.
But what can we do?
- Focus: Spooking is often a lack of focus. So, when you find that your horse is spooking, try to get his focus on you. By providing focus and an opportunity to do a job, you take his attention away from whatever he’s afraid of.
- Control his initial response: Your horse will always look to move away from any perceived threat, and your job is to manage this initial response. If he tries to go left for instance, simply turn him back to the right. In essence you are diffusing the spook using changes of direction.
- Don’t look at the spooky object: If you stare at something you think your horse may spook at, you are drawing his attention to it and then he probably will spook. Some riders are always on the lookout for the next thing to cause a problem, the chances are if you ignore it, your horse will too.
- Keep your leg on: If you’re feeling a bit nervous that your horse will spook, it’s very easy to take your leg off and rely entirely on the reins for control. This actually makes things much worse. If your horse is sharp and spooky, be firm, close your calves at the girth, sit tall and send your horse forward. A horse that is moving forward and focussed on you will be much less likely to have spooky behaviour.
- Release with your hands: If your horse tries to go backwards, push your hands forward so you’re not restricting him and use your legs. When he stops, release the leg pressure. By doing this you’re allowing him to make a decision: if he goes in the wrong direction (backwards), you’re not letting him off the hook because your leg is on. If he does the right thing (goes forward), you’re releasing your leg pressure.
- Bring down the adrenalin: If the situation is escalating, take your legs off and give your horse a break for 30 seconds or so before asking him to go forward again. This will bring down his adrenalin levels and can be enough to get him ‘unstuck’, so that his attention returns to you.
- Prepare at home: Dealing with spooking is a process, and the techniques you use should all be practised at home. Train around objects you think he’ll find scary. Balloons, cones, flags – anything to help him desensitise. Groundwork is also useful as it encourages your horse to see you as a leader and take confidence from following you.
Sometimes you will find horses are genuinely scared of a certain object or situation which can often be an ongoing issue. This is something you and your horse will need to work through together by adapting and flexing to the situation. As an example, there may be a spooky part of the arena that your horse has taken a dislike to. In this instance, always start your session away from the scary part of the arena, and progressively get closer to it, one metre at a time if necessary.
Finally. Don’t forget that praise and reward go a long way when your horse has displayed a good response. A pat on the neck, verbal praise or release in pressure on the reins can all be ways in which we can show our horse they have done a good job. It’s very easy to get and stay frustrated or cross if your horse is spooky, so find opportunities to reward your horse.
