When a horse notices something unfamiliar, their reaction is often to show fear by spooking. It may just be a little spook, but being fearful can quickly turn into the big “F” word—FEAR— and now the horse is fearing for his life.
How you address this fear is important. It can impact your connection and ability to control your horse not only in that moment, but for many rides after.
Horses are going to get scared. I don’t need my horse not to be scared, but I do need my horse to listen to me and put his feet where I guide them, especially when he’s scared.
Fear to Focus
People usually choose to use or focus on the wrong “F words” when a horse is afraid. I believe the most effective way we can address a horse’s fear is to remember some other F words—feet and figure of 8.
Let me explain. Most riders, when they get timid, try to just get through the scary situation, rather than having a strategy to reduce the level of worry coming from their horse. Or even better, a strategy to raise the level of confidence in their horse. If you just get through the scary situation, rather than working to improve your horse’s response, it just makes him more fearful of the next thing and the next thing. He figures you’re just as scared as he is, and neither one of you is going to help the other one out.
On the trail, for example, people do one of two things when a horse shows fear or hesitation. First, they stand still and let the horse look at it, which usually means the next thing the horse does is leave. Or they try to make the horse go up and smell it. Riding the figure of 8 is a great way to get your horse to turn his attention to you. And in turn, be less fearful and more confident.
Stay in an Athletic Position
Being prey animals, it’s not a matter of if, but when, a horse gets scared. The approach of standing still isn’t an effective or athletic maneuver for a fearful horse or rider. As riders, we fall victim to the next maneuver of the horse; we don’t put ourselves in an athletic position if we ask the horse to stand still. Instead, riders are almost bracing for the horse’s next move.
Try This Instead
Instead, ride a figure of 8. When your horse sees something spooky, think of a string attached from your belly button to the same object. Now, ride your horse in a figure of 8 in the location you are, but keep your eyes on the scary situation. If you don’t lose sight of the object and help your horse always keep one eye on the situation, too, you’ll be making your figure of 8 turns in a confidence-building direction. And your “string” won’t get wrapped around you. If you turn the wrong way, you and your horse will lose sight of the object, and you’ll get all tangled up in that imaginary string. Plus, your horse will probably use the opportunity with that object in the rear-view mirror to make a break for it, which unfortunately leads to gaining confidence by fleeing the situation.
[Why Does Rider Body Position Matter?]
As a rider, I’m in an athletic position, asking my horse to move and controlling his direction. I keep trying to approach the scary object a little more with each turn, until my horse is less scared. The more confident rider tends to send their horse directly to a scary object; the less confident riders tend to stand still. If you can trot that figure 8 until your horse feels more focused on you, then the horse can be redirected closer to the scary object.
Circle for Confidence
The reason I stay on a figure of 8 is that when I show horses, one of the events I show is reined cow horse; in the rein work patterns, I’m required to do circles at different speeds and sizes. I can gauge how afraid my horse is by the shape of the figure 8s.
When your horse is listening to you, you will have more symmetry. When you feel him be more responsive, your pattern gets better.
I want my horse to tell me when he’s scared so we can work through it. I don’t try to take the fear away from him, but teach him that when he’s scared, he can listen to me, and I can help him through the situation.
