Ok so I think I’ve touched on this before, Buddy is fine about traffic coming up behind him or crossing right in front of him but if they are coming AT him he FREAKS!! Nothing that had me too worried until last night, after all he’s been getting better about it. Well, last night, we were met by a car on that part of the road by the pump-house that always makes me nervous anyway. I was calm, just patted him and told him he was fine but the woman never slowed her noisy car down and when she hit gravel he spazed. Just tried to spin but we were right on the edge of that stupid steep incline and it scared me. We went on about our business and he was ok – although we didn’t meet anymore traffic until we were headed back towards home. We were next to a ditch and a truck came along. The gentleman slowed right down but despite that and my reassuring pats, Buddy LEAPT into the ditch and up onto the lawn of the house right there – THAT scared me even more! We went back down to the road and continued on, only to be met by another truck. This one also slowed down but had a barking dog in the back, Buddy started backing and spun but not as bad as he’d done the other 2 times. When we got down to the end of the road, 2 cars turned into the road RIGHT BEHIND him, we weren’t even totally out of their lane of traffic having just crossed the road and he NEVER BLINKED!! I just don’t get it! When we got back across the field, there were several cars so we stopped in the field and I had him just stand and watch them go by – he didn’t care.
I don’t know what to do to get him over this issue – but I have to admit it’s scaring me – I don’t want anyone to get hurt but other than exposure to traffic, I just don’t know how else to get him used to it, and at the same time – I’m not sure that exposure is even working!!!
Anyone have any suggestions????
Monday, August 17, 2009
Traffic Woes
Posted by ~*~Lysh~*~ at 11:52 AM
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4 comments:
Just a question... are you absolutely certain that he can see as well in front of him as he can behind him?
Not absolutely certain about anything. He doesn't appear to have an issue with his sight any other time but anythings possible I guess.
Much of the riding I do alone is road riding. Most of my neighbors are pretty considerate. There is a 1/2 ton silver dodge that NEVER slows, though. Thankfully I can hear him a mile away and have time to get horse & dog off the road!
When a car is coming and you start patting him, are you tense, nervous? The only reason I ask is at our Expo, Van Hargis was talking about a horse he had in for training that was scared of motorcycles. So he said he took it out on the highway and several bikes passed him by, no reaction. So horse owner comes out & Van said "lets go for a ride". He is on his horse, Owner on hers." They are riding the ditch when she sees a motorcycle. Immediately, she picks up her reins, starts to squeeze with her legs, steading her horse by saying "easy, easy" and the horse starts to dance, gets tense, misbahaves. Unlike how he reacted with Van. The next bike that came into sight, Van told her to do nothing. Look ahead, keep riding, don't change your game & the horse was fine. Although the horse at one time may have been nervous about motorcycles, the Owner's own nerves about Nervous Horse contributed to his nervousness.
Now with that said, I AM NOT saying that is your situation. It was just a Van story that stuck with me and when my friends and I ride & see something we think will make our horse nervous, we laugh and say WWVD (what would Van do).
My mare is scared of mules. At least I think she is. She gets all high headed when we see one & acts like she hates to turn her back on it for fear it will get her tail. I'm going to have to practice what I just said. Maybe it is ME and the mules, not my mare! LOL!
Good luck and be careful! It is good to be cautious around traffic because I have seen a LOT of idiot drivers around horses!
Tammy you have very valuable points - and given the anxiety issues that I'm dealing with it very well could be me and not so much him!!
In all honesty, if I sit and think about how I react when a car is coming at us, I don't pat him and try to calm him - I DO tense up, put my legs on him and try to "hold" him with my hands as well. I know that my body tenses up - I'm not sure how to get myself (and him) thru this, or where this comes from as I have NEVER luckily had a bad experience with a horse on the road (except the one fall by the bridge YEARS ago and that didn't involve any vehicles just a beaver and a spaz of a horse)!! Thank you for your input, it definitely gives me some things to think about and try to work on!! :)As much as I hate admitting it, I do think that it is mainly a ME issue! *sigh*
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