The air is crisp and clear. your horse has been relaxed and polite. You're admiring the scenery on your ride when suddenly his head whips up and he gives a diving lurch to the side. Grabbing desperately for reins and saddle horn, you may or may not come along for the ride as he reverses direction and bolts down the trail at a dead run.
What caused this particular spook? It may have been an animal in the underbrush, a waving scrap of plastic caught on a fence, or just a weirdly shaped rock. You may never know, and it doesn't really matter. The vital point is that your horse got scared and ran.
While a fit, happy, healthy horse may have some exuberant moments, nervous horses don't tease us or try to "get away with something" by spooking. They don't pretend to be afraid. No matter what's currently hiding in the bushes, what happened to your horse in the past that triggers his fear now, or how intense his reaction may be, his fear is genuine.
It's called "spooking" for good reason. Other creatures have preyed on horses since the dawn of time, so it's understandable that when something scares your horse, his primary survival instinct is to immediately vacate the premises as if hotly pursued by a fire-breathing, sharp-toothed fiend that eagerly popped the lock on Satan's closet just to hunt up fresh horsemeat.
You have to deal with what happens as it happens, but when you get back to the barn-whether on foot or in the saddle-you have some work to do that ultimately will make both you and your nervous horse a lot safer in the future.
You can't prevent your horse from noticing something scary. You can't desensitize him to every scary situation he may encounter. You can't force a horse not to be afraid.
What you can do is teach him how to control his fear.
Why Teach "Spook In Place"?
Just as schoolchildren learn fire drills so they won't panic and will have an action plan in an emergency, you'll train your horse to control his fear and respond in a safe manner if something scares him. You'll teach him to "spook in place."
You'll practice this drill at different times and in different ways, so he has an action plan that he can implement in different scary situations. That way, both of you can stay safe.
You're probably saying, "But wait! I don't want my horse to spook at all! Why on Earth would I want to teach him to 'spook in place'?"
The answer is simple: Although you can't keep your horse from being frightened, you can teach him that even though he may be scared, everything will be okay as long as he doesn't move his feet. When you're riding and something startles him, this buys you time to either give him another cue to respond to or, if necessary, to get off him safely and deal with the situation from the ground.
Is He Ready?
"Spook in place" training is a valuable tool for most horses and can be taught to horses of any age. The earlier you start this training, the longer you get to ride your horse without falling off! It is especially good for teaching nervous horses to become safe partners.
Before you begin this training, your horse should have a solid base of round pen training. He should respond politely if you ask him to go forward, turn toward the left, and turn toward the right, and he should do both inside and outside turns dependably.
