Stupid stuff your horse is scared of?

[Ellybellyboo]

What weird stuff is your horse scared of?

DD’s horse - 15hh, 18 year old cob. Usually pretty bombproof and gentle.

DD was riding her in the indoor school last night. Did a few laps absolutely fine, then DD changed the rein. Got 3/4s of the way round when she stopped dead, snorting and poncing about. DD got her going again, but was trotting sideways and wouldn’t go near the corner. I peer over the fence to see what the problem is - a bright pink poo picker. Exactly the same bright pink poo picker that we own and use in her stable pretty much every day.

The yard tractor - but only when it’s been driven into its parking space. Yard owner drives it around, it beeps when being reversed, he drives it pretty much into the barn when moving straw and hay around and not a murmur. Drive it into its parking space and it’s out to kill her.

DD was out hacking a couple of weeks ago - we go along a bridle way for a bit then come to a road which you have to cross before rejoining the bridleway. We’ve done this hack a million times before. She’s mooching along, DD stops at the road, all clear so sets off again, except horse won’t move, snorts and ponces about and tries to turn back. DD gets her going again only for horse to execute a perfect jump - over a set of double yellow lines. Not fussed about the double yellow lines on the other side of the road, just these ones.

And our yard owner when he’s not wearing his woolly hat - he has one of those hats with ear flaps and strings and looks like a penguin. Loves him when he’s wearing his hat, thinks he’s some kind of horse murderer when he’s not

This all reminds me of my favourite short story

ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/s/saki/beasts/chapter4.html

He describes the horse
‘was not really road-shy, but there were one or two objects of dislike that brought on sudden attacks of what Toby called the swerving sickness. Motors and cycles he treated with tolerant disregard, but pigs, wheelbarrows, piles of stones by the roadside, perambulators in a village street, gates painted too aggressively white, and sometimes, but not always, the newer kind of beehives, turned him aside from his tracks in vivid imitation of the zigzag course of forked lightning’

Written over 100 years ago, and so true. My old pony hated piles of bricks by the roadside. Had a right dance to get him past. Totally bombproof otherwise, but the maddest hack i ever had was a mates showjumper who was pretty solid but wouldn’t tolerate ‘the wind up his bum’ as his owner put it, so once you turned so the wind was blowing on your back he would go nuts. No issue with a force 9 blowing wheelie bins up the street, till you turned for home.

Snow. Loads of it on the ground for a couple of weeks, and that was fine. Didn't bat an eyelid. But small patches of it still lying about in shady places after most of it had melted?

Oooooh no!!!! What's the white thing???

DD gets her going again only for horse to execute a perfect jump - over a set of double yellow lines. Not fussed about the double yellow lines on the other side of the road, just these ones.

I don’t have a horse but this just cracked me up! 😂😂😂 I love it.

I suppose you can’t be too careful when you’re a horse?!

😂 I can’t cope!

but had a meltdown over a butterfly.

I’m totally with her on that one. I’d be a puddle on the ground if a butterfly flew in my face. Terrified of them.

Don't have a horse but those are funny and remind me of not being to careless when riding.

. These are making me laugh!

I'm with them on the butterfly hatred to be honest. I'm terrified of the bloody things.

Treated my boy to a Lickit for Xmas year. Hung it over a beam in his stable. He walked in, snorted at it and hasn’t gone near it since.

My beautiful huge Breton draft is scared of nothing except chickens ... we can't go past chickens ever ( or wooden carved mushrooms ) when we are out Hacking she checks up driveways and looks inside gates for chickens or wooden mushrooms ... photo of my gorgeous girl for posterity, she is my first horse and I love her soooo much!

Saabs - absolutely nothing else...

She’s beautiful mortified

Mine lives on the farm. During harvest time she will stand like a rock whilst huge tractors with wheels bigger than her pass a few inches by.

Ask her to walk past one parked in a field and she can't cope 😂

I'm pretty wary of carved wooden mushrooms too - sinister things

Mine is scared of the weigh tape. No problem with anything much else. But take a weigh tape into the stable and it's the end of the world.

Actually the other day I was standing still with my dog because about 4 people were bringing their horses in, and one of them had a complete meltdown. 'What's the matter with you?' Said its owner. 'You're fine with ALL THE OTHER DOGS.'

I did a trekking holiday once where we rode from the Welsh-English border to the coast. My pony was absolutely bombproof - bogs, wild ponies, river up to his belly, crossing railway lines, being tied up in pub car parks, steam trains, busses. Except for one highly dangerous manhole cover, a lady with a pushchair, and the actual sea. We did not like that unnatural innie-and-outie water at all

Squirrel did you do
It with Freerein?

17hh Dutch Warmblood, 19 years old. Should know better.
He is scared of:

• his new lead rope: it is stripy
• his Newmarket exercise rug: it is stripy
• hacking out around the farm he lives on (the forest down the road filled with loads of people, cars, buggies etc is fine)
• his rug if on the floor
• actually any of his stuff if on the floor
• trees if they blow at him funny
• actually, just pretty much anything.

However, I’ve also ridden him through the middle of a herd of Cows, where they were so close they were touching him? To get through a gate, and he didn’t bat an eyelid. Clearly patchy colours are ok, just not stripes (good job no zebras locally!)

Chickens. Even though he goes past our chickens twice a day, every day, for 10 years without batting an eye, chickens met on a hack terrify him.
Our village is over run with ducks, every where you look there's ducks. Duck families teach their chicks to swim on the puddles in our school. Out for a hack on Saturday, a duck quacked and neurotic horse sat down.
Dogs. If a dog gets in his field, horse charges at it, ears pinned back, if dog doesn't move he will attempt to stamp on it. If he sees a dog out hacking he spins and fucks off.
Hay bales. In the field he hogs them, pees on them, CLIMBS on top of them FFS, but if he spots one fifty feet away when hacking we need to change direction. Fast.
Road sweepers. Despite seeing me shovel his shit and sweep up every day.
Stopped for a pee in a busy warm up (horse, not me!), resumes professional and calm collected canter amongst a herd of wild hyper competition horses bucking and plunging. Me sitting with smug face. Until he spots his own pee spot. We instantly join the wild hyoer bucking and plunging brigade.
Raspberry blowing. I'm often to be seen pulling some very strange faces in my effort not to break wind in the saddle (IBS) in case it frightens him.
Never ever ever blow up his nose. Ever. But feel free to aim your leaf blower at his face and watch him pose, Black Beauty style as his mane ripples in the breeze.

Yes, IamLucyBarton. It was brilliant! Have you been?

I love these

I committed the sin of moving her lick-it last night. I couldn’t reach to hang it over a beam so hung it with her haynets. That meant she could take bites out of it and it only lasted about 25 minutes.

I got the ladders out last night and hung it up so now it’s more dangly.

Walked into her stable last night and she gave it a very wide berth. Wouldn’t go near it this morning.

Put her in the field this morning and the dreaded tractor of doom had been driven into its parking space so we had to have a hissy fit as we went past. Tractor had been reversed in yesterday and we went by without a murmur

(Squirrel I have. Twice!! But only on the short three days self guided ones. It was absolutely fab! One of the bestt hol and def the best ever riding one. Will do the coat one once. Was it the week one? The one you have to carry your stuff with you? It must have been amazing when you reached the beach and saw the ocean! Need to go again!)

*coast, not coat!

Yep, LucyBarton, it's amazing how much stuff you can fit in those saddlebags, and how little you actually need!

I've never done self-guided. I'd love too but am terrified of the idea at the same time!

Totally gratuitous photo of 'my' pony on the beach in Aberystwyth at the end of 6 days riding

Do it! I am not a super experience rider at all. And not the bravest. Nor were my companions. We absolutely loved it and easier than it sounds. You must! I'll come with you !