Spooks

I have a theory that you can’t teach a horse HOW they spook, you can only get them to spook less often and less dramatic.

As I see it, there’s a couple types of spook types: 1. Freezers, 2. Tap Dancers, 3. Teleporters, 4. Spinners, 5. Jumpers, 6. Bolters.

There’s no such thing as a horse that doesn’t ever spook. Even that horse that hasn’t spooked in 10 years will still spook eventually in one of these categories.

The goal is to work with the natural reaction they have, and get it to go from an “OMG WTF” to a “Ah! Whoops. Did you see that? Over it. Sorry.” That takes time, mileage, an NO EMOTIONAL INPUTS FROM THE HUMAN!

Freezers, Tap Dancers and even minimal teleports are the most desirable natural reactions. I would rather have a horse that tap dances every ride than jumps and bolts once a year!

The hardest to work with are the jumpers and spinners mainly because these are the hardest spooks to stick the saddle. Bolters can be scary, but it’s usually pretty easy to stay in the saddle running in a straight line. Spinning and Jumping is when you get launched.

NOTE: I’ve also noticed that bad saddle fit can often turn a tap dance or teleport norm into a spin, jump and bolt with some bucks added in. So make sure you always have a saddle that is properly fit and evaluated by professionals.