How to stop a horse from spooking, or how do I settle him down quickly without getting thrown?

Question

At the riding school where I ride we go out on trail rides every so often (I think we are trying to do it once a month in the new year) and it is a heap of fun, except when my horse gets a fright and spooks...
I usually ride a big bay, and he is an absolute gem in the arena, and every time we go out he listens and he is good. But the last time we went out a big kangaroo (I rekon he was just under 5 foot) jumped out of the bushes just infront of me. My horse flipped and kept jumping sideways to get away, and the kangaroo was freaking out and basically had no where to go until he jumped over a fence. I stayed on, but after that my horse spooked at everything (including the wind through the leaves...) I ended up leading him for a little bit and took him away from the group to calm down cos he was making the other horses nervous and some of them are quite young and the riders were haveing a bit of trouble...
How can I help this horse when we are out on trails?

Most of the other horses don't spook at kangaroos, but this big guy does (even out in the paddock).
But I can't take him out more than I do because he is a school horse and there is lots of issues with insurance... legal crap that shouldn't come into riding. I ride cos I love it - I'm not about to sue if I get hurt...

Thanks for the answers - keep em coming!

I dont have to teach him how to be bombproof - he is (apart from with kangaroos) because he is a school horse and is REALLY quiet he gets lots of young kids doing anything to him, and he never worrys bout anything. My instructor just emailed me at lunch today and told me that there was a kangaroo in the paddock today and the only horse that had a problem was this one... he nearly jumped the fence into the preparation area. he couldn't get far enough away from it. but he has no problems with cars or trucks, or cats or even the dog up the road that chases the horses. he is a huge teddy that just has a problem with the scarry things that jump up and down in front of him (the roos).
I tried talking to him and being calm (which is y i think i did stay on...) but am deffinately going to look into the one rein stop.
Thanks!

Answer 1

I'm not sure I would have still been aboard if a Kangaroo jumped out of the bushes by my horse and/or me. I think that you must have done a pretty good job of keeping him under control and under you. You can always use one rein and pull him one way around in a circle until he settles down, that way, at least you always have control and he won't bolt down the path. If I were you, I would also see if I couldn't ride him more often on the trail, maybe with just another rider, to get him used to trusting you more and it will also get you better able to anticipate when your horse is going to spook, and get him more used to Kangaroos...gosh, that sounds exciting!

Answer 2

Sounds like you do not stand much chance of properly dealing with this problem, unless you can stable a roo next to this horse.
Some "Bombproof" horses still have one big fear for some reason or another. That sounds like the case here. Once the adrenaline rush is on, you have a spooky horse for a while.
The first thing to do with a spooking horse is to get them to look at the thing setting them off. I do not think that will help this problem, it is more to teach them to stop and look at the problem.
Next is remember the one rein stop. Drop one rein, and pull the horses head around "to your seat". Do not release till the horse stops all four feet, then immediate release is called for. Repeat as often as needed. This can stop a runaway horse, and should be part of beginning teaching for every rider. This should also be practiced every time you mount a horse, in both directions. In addition to control, and reinforcement, it is a good warm-up for suppleness.
It is great that you were able to stay on top through it all, and you showed great judgment by separating your horse from the group. I learned the hard way a few years ago that there is nothing wrong with avoiding getting thrown by getting off, (a great training technique if you can buy that). Not every situation is avoidable, so being prepared is as important as anything. Someday when you are out alone, and a roo spooks up your horse you will look back and understand how this experience is good for you.
Great idea- cardboard cutouts! Ask if you can make a couple and place them around the arenia while you ride! Be sure to take them down when you are done.Put them in diferent places every time, or just put them out sometimes. Do not ride all the way to them, just try to get the horse to ignore them while you ride like normal.

Answer 3

First of all, I just have to say that it's pretty darn sweet that you can just see a kangaroo hopping around. The only time I've ever seen one was in the zoo, but I'll get to answering your question.

I ride on my barn's drill team and we do parades, but before we are allowed to ride in a parade both the horse and the rider must pass parade training. This involves fire trucks, umbrellas, and throwing fire crackers at the horses feet. This works for some horses and just gives them the "I've been through it all so now I can handle anything" attitude, but for some it traumatizes them. The advice I would give you (I read about this in a 150 year old horse encyclopedia) is to think of things that would spook you horse and introduce him to them. One day bring in a plastic bag and put it on the ground, let him walk up to it and sniff it, when he's done so slowly bring it up to him and rub it along his back until he isn't afraid of it any more. Next time bring in an umbrella, then bells, and then other things. While you may never run into these things on the trail it will slowly teach him that things he isn't used to aren't really anything to be afraid of.

It also helps to think like a horse. When your on the trail be alert, be ready, and if you're coming up to something that you think would scare him talk to him and pet him. Be prepared for him to spook and if he takes off remember to keep a deep seat, lean back, and see saw on the reins a little. If he rears you should lean forward and if he rears extremely high kick your feet out of the stirrups and do an emergency dismount, by pushing off the horses back. (you would be getting off over his rear end rather than his side.) I've had to do this at a parade before and the whole crowd gasped, it was actually pretty funny.

Good luck

Answer 4

Most horses hate to be called an idiot- I have a very sarcastic tone in my voice and my horse knows that I think she is spooking over something stupid (such as a rope on the ground 10 feet away- I rope off of her btw, lol).
That will stop her most of the time.

If not, work on calming yourself down, and speak calming words. A couple pats on the shoulder seen to help as well. My horse will sometimes take the bit in her teeth and run (short neck, can't turn her ), and the only thing that stops her is the calming words- telling them to trot, lean back in the saddle, saying "it's ok", etc.

One thing however- I probably would have not gotten off the horse. Some are ok with that, others will take advantage of it- he may pretend spook now (though the last time seemed real enough) just to get you to get off of him. Plus, it is a lot harder to get on a horse the second time around once you get off.


If something 5 ft jumped out in front of me, I would be scared as well, and it must have scared him a lot to be spooking at everything else during the ride. Any way you can him closer to some captive kangaroos to let him see they aren't as scary?
I would also try some fast movements around him- get him used to it. I sometimes will run up to my horse or pop out around corners. She used to freak, but now, if she moves at all, it is a slight jump up, and then she is fine. The more they are used to a variety of things, the better.

That being said, my mare always spooks at large rock outcroppings, yet we have had a turkey fall 2 inches in front of her face, flushed from a tree, without even batting an eye.
Horses naturally spook being prey animals, and even the quietest ones will spook sometimes, the more trail work, however, the better he will be.

Answer 5

I would think a KANGAROO jumping out would spook ANY horse!

When your horse spooks, the fastest way to get him under control is to be calm yourself. Sounds like you did a pretty good job of this.

There really is no way to prevent a horse from spooking -- it's survival instinct. But you can get him used to things so that he won't WANT to spook as often. If there's any way he can be ridden on more trails, that would be ideal -- experience is the best teacher! If he looks sideways at something -- a rock or road sign -- ride him up to it and show it to him. If there is a loud noise, such as someone using a chain saw, ride him TOWARDS the noise. Remain calm and show him there's nothing to be afraid of. But only do this if you can SAFELY do it...

As he gains confidence in himself and YOU, he'll spook less and less.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Well, I am a horse owner and have tried to tame some horses from being so spooky. This method always worked with my horses. If you have an arena, then you need to get or find the folowing things:
1. Paper Bags
2. Beach Balls
3. Soda Cans
4. Water Bottles
5. Squeky dog toys
After you have those things, you need to set them up in the arena so that they are in a very big circle in the middle of the arena. If you are ok with it you can saddle him up, or you can just take him by a lead rope. Take the horse into the arena. Then take him to the middle of circle that you set up. Make sure there is a big enough opening between each thing so that if he spooks, he can back out easily. Then once he is in the circle, go to one of the things and pick it up. Let him sniff it, rub it on him, whatever makes him calm. Then, lets say you picked up a water bottle which needs to be empty, you move it around slowly until he is calm. Then you take that thing, the water bottle, and make noise with it. Anything you can. Stepping on it, bouncing it, squeeze it anything. After that, praise him, give him a treat, and move on to the next item. Just make sure that its ok with your trainer first. It is her horse. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year

Answer 7

don't train your horse to be a pointer. don't try to make a horse approach something and smell it otherwise you go down the trail and the horse learns to point out every rock and creek or kangaroo, the best way to deal with kangaroos is to ride near them if you can and ride a reverse half pass, making the horse go forward looking slightly away from the scary object.

go a wide berth at first (can you get a pet kangaroo or a statue or cut out of one? and gradually get the horse used to that and get closer (always keeping the horse in reverse half past where the horse looks slightly away) over time. do only like five minutes at a time. next time you get a scare like that and the horse starts going side ways turn the horse half pass head pointed away from the kangaroo where it went when it passed the in front of you, and if it gets really out of control stop ro dismount and do not pet the horse, but as soon as things calm down get on immediatly don't want to teach the horse that every time it spooks you will get off, what a great way to get out of work.

and you have to be aware of your own apprehensions too, you must stay as relaxed as possible and act liek this is the most uninteresting thing in the world.

I would have to say don't ride with young unseasoned horses for awhile on trail if you think you might meet other kangaroos, (wow I can't imagine riding a horse on a trail and meeting up with kangaroos what an experience) we only have rabbits hopping out, and maybe a stray dog or two.

if you can find one other rider to go with you out that can ride a seasoned horse who doesn't spook at kangaroos that would help alot. hope this helps.

RRRR

Answer 8

Some really good suggestions here....one of mine (horse) has a problem if deer come bounding out of the bushes and he had not seen them previously.

To bad you cannot stall that horse with a kangaroo and just have him live with it....one of my horses was scared to death of cattle and guess what, that's what we did with him...he had to live with about a dozen yearlings for a month...got him over it right away.

Good luck. Try to keep your own reactions to a minimum the next time you're in a similar situation. i.e., try really hard not to tense up, check to see that you are still breathing (no joke) don't let your diaphram tighten up. If you do, the tenseness will go through the rest of your body and your horse will tighten up immediately and spook.

Answer 9

You can't really prevent him from spooking, you can only keep him from overreacting. My mare used to be a hard core bolter, and we've pretty much gotten over this. The most important thing is to stay calm yourself. If you get scared the horse is just going to think 'oh crap, well she's scared too! now it's really time to freak out.' What I did for my mare is keep her looking at/ faced in the direction of what was spooking her. That way she can't really bolt, because she's not going to run at something she thinks might eat her. Usually that works, and she just stops dead in her tracks. Once in a while she'll take me by surprise, and I make her circle, in the direction of that object. If you let them spin around away from it and run it'll teach them that it's ok to run away from things. I can't say I'd ever had a kangaroo jump out in front of me, and I'm pretty sure if we did my mare would drop down dead from fright. But when deer jump out on us I just make her look at them, face them and not let her run away. Make circles etc.

Answer 10

With kangaroos hopping out of the bush, I'm assuming you're in AU. I don't know if you can get Horse Illustrated magazine over there, but the February 2007 issue has a great article on "desensitizing", or getting your horse to be less sensitive about certain things he might come across (plastic shopping bags in the wind, balloons, bicycles, for example). I actually used some of their tips when training a fiesty little pony at my barn, and it actually helps. He isn't saddle-broken yet, but he does not freak when he sees a balloon or bag anymore! =)