How to punnish for spooking

H

happydaze

happydaze
Oct 20, 2007
64
0
0
Scotland
Hi folks,

If you have seen my previous threads you will know my mare is going through some behavioural issues and no settling at her new yard of 4 months. I have her in full schooling livery and although she spooks with me in the school, she did it with the girl who schools her today. I found out she beat her with a whip for spooking because she fell off. How and what do you do to punnish a horse for that???? Is whipping harsh????:confused::mad:
 
If alex spooked id reasure him and ask him to face his fear. I wouldnt whip him, and if i fall off its my fault if hes genuinely scared his instinct is to run, me loosing my balance during this process issnt really his fault.
 
Ok well firstly, if the girl fell off and then proceeded to whip her.. then she has terrified your horse for absolutely no reason. If you are going to use physical punishment to reprimand your horse, your timing has to be spot on. 5 minutes after you have picked yourself up off the floor and caught your horse is NOT an acceptable time period!

However, i really dont think the horse had done anything to warrant a beating. It can take some horses up to 6 months to settle into a new yard. The horse may be spooking because she is scared of something. She probably doesn't trust the rider. If she is on full livery and being exercised by different people then she isn't going to learn to trust any of them anytime soon. I think some groundwork in the school would be beneficial. Show her there's nothing to be scared of. Leave her loose, if she wants to run.. she can run. If this girl continues to beat your horse for no apparent reason your mae is going to resent being ridden. And who can blame her? It sounds like you already know that whipping your horse was NOT the correct way of sorting out her spooks, next time... say something! Otherwise this will continue.

Whips should be a schooling aid, they are not carried for punishment. Hope this gives some food for thought :)
 
i would never whip for spooking. its like telling her of for spooking, it will scare her even more. you need to not react ignor it as if its not happening. if you fall of get back on as if it never happened. thats what i do anyway..
 
That's how I see it too. My girl is 17hh, she is only 7yrs old and gets bullied to bits at this yard. I think she only spooked today because there was jumping lessons in the school at the same time and the two other horses were cantering around like mad and it was opposite the jump she spooked when the girl riding faced her at the jump. Ive been looking for another yard but they are full up.:(
 
Rhi is a spooker and spooks at anything from a blade of grass to a man bending down to tie his shoe lace. What the point in punishing her. Its like you being nervous of something. You would want reassurance. I always reassure her even if i do tell her she is being silly. Never smack her though
 
have you told them never to hit your horses no matter what they do? i would go mad if i found out someone was hitting my pony.
 
Echo wildponies about the time interval - all the girl has done is frighten and hurt your horse and releived her temper:mad:

My response to spooking depends on why they are doing it.

Usually they spook because they are frightened by something. Punishing them for it just make them more stressed and confirms that whatever it was WAS scary - it resulted in a smack. Smacking them for spooking only makes them worse.

Having said that some horses will spook occasionally out of naughtiness, because they're bored. It's less common and you have to be sure it is just naughtiness. In those cases a tap down the shoulder and driving them on works well.

Sounds like your mare was spooking because she was stressed and frightened. Smacking her for that just make it's worse.
 
id of taken a whip to the girl! blimming nerve! horses spook for a number of reasons, mainley because thay are a flight animal, the best thing you can do to help yr ned is ground work, build confidence, and desencitise, people make horses, theres never been a truer saying.
 
I love watching pat and linda Perelli with horses and understanding horsenality. It's amazing stuff. I wish I had the time to do what they do and teach her to feel safe and trust without unnecessary punnishment. I will have to stop the schooling till I find another yard I think.
 
i don,t punish or praise for spooking, i had a very spooky horse and i was told (and it works) that just carry on as normal do not adjust your reins or your leg aids and do not pat, or praise for going past a spooky object or else you are just confirming the horse was right to be worried in the first place
 
spookydo said:
i don,t punish or praise for spooking, i had a very spooky horse and i was told (and it works) that just carry on as normal do not adjust your reins or your leg aids and do not pat, or praise for going past a spooky object or else you are just confirming the horse was right to be worried in the first place
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i agree.
 
When my horse spooks, I face him towards what he's spooking at and stay with it untill he relaxes. I always try to avoid him spinning around 180 degrees as this would probably result him running off into the sunset.

A horse spooks through fright and should never be punished for it, especially with a whip!!! :mad:
 
I love the name Spookydo...it's fab:D That should be my new name for Rosie. I never had these probs at my old yard. Its just all the dogs running around kids jumping about like ideots, quad bikes and diggers that she aint used to and it seems to be making her very spooky there. Will she get used to it:confused:
 
happydaze said:
Hi folks,

If you have seen my previous threads you will know my mare is going through some behavioural issues and no settling at her new yard of 4 months. I have her in full schooling livery and although she spooks with me in the school, she did it with the girl who schools her today. I found out she beat her with a whip for spooking because she fell off. How and what do you do to punnish a horse for that???? Is whipping harsh????:confused::mad:
Click to expand...
Its outrageous :mad: If that was my horse, she would never ride her again and I'd be tempted to beat her with the whip :mad:

The answer to your other question is, I would not punish a horse for spooking - it would only serve to confirm that there was something to be scared of! There are ocassions when some horses will look for things to distract themselves and not listen to the aids much. In doing this they may put in little spooks as part of that. It might then be appropriate to back up the leg with a schooling whip, just to get it to listen to the leg - but not whilst its spooking! And a horse still settling somewhere new is entitled to be destracted, just repeatedly asking for what is required should be enough.

It sounds to me as if the rider of your horse just lost control in an imature manner! If you continue to let her rider her, be aware that she could spoil her confidence, not improve her.
 
That's interesting to know and worrying too. She is 24yrs old and has all the letters after her name but Im not sure now she has the experience she needs if that's how she reacts to a spook. She gets her friend to ride my horse once a week too, she is the one that wears the spurs to make her go forward to save her leg. Im paying 400.00/month for this trauma:mad:
 
im sorry but having a read again through your previous threads its time to move or stop other people riding your horse, can you not see that the chances are these people are ruining your horse?
maybe you need to look for a sharer?
 
Get rid of her - No horse should be punished for spooking, it's akin to telling a crying child off because they think there are monsters in the closet. Save yourself the money!

Spend the extra you save on a nice, new livery yard when you can.
 
happydaze said:
That's interesting to know and worrying too. She is 24yrs old and has all the letters after her name but Im not sure now she has the experience she needs if that's how she reacts to a spook. She gets her friend to ride my horse once a week too, she is the one that wears the spurs to make her go forward to save her leg. Im paying 400.00/month for this trauma:mad:
Click to expand...

She might have letters after her name but that doesn't mean she's got much hands on experience of handling different types of horses and temperements.

I think her behaviour showed exactly what little experience she has actually got. If I where you I'd seriously consider looking for another livery yard.
 
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