What should i do about my horses outdoor- spooks?

My horse absolutely dreads going outside to ride in an outdoor ring. he does fine halfway of the arena, but when he gets near the other half near the road, he turns around and takes off in the other direction. I haev been riding fro a long time, but i havent been able to cure him of this. what should i do to help him stop spooking whenever he goes outside?

he really just dosent go to the other side. you cant make him, for any reason. (note, he is 17hh, and i am 5 foot) i havent ridden in there overly much, i would just like to be able to ride him there, when the owner is working the show horses inside.

Is he a good follower? I would try riding behind someone for a few minutes on the side of the arena he likes and eventually working your way little by little towards the side he doesn't like. He may just follow along behind the other horse. You may have to do this a bunch until he gets more comfortable going over there.

After he seems comfortable start keeping your horse on the rail and letting the horse in front of you turn across the arena.. maybe go down the rail a few more steps then turn yourself (just so he doesn't get all freaked out by being along again). Gradually wean him further and further away from the other horse. This probably will not be a quick fix.. you will have to do this daily (or every time you are there if you can't make it daily) until he seems comfortable.

My horse didn't like to go outside the arena alone. He would get only so far and stops because he was getting out of his comfort zone. One day I had him out and he stopped, I could not get him to take another step and he was NOT going to go any further!! I ended up turning around and heading back to the barn. The next time I went out I followed someone else and he followed like he did it all the time!! We ended up riding all over the property.

I want to note that I had taken him down there by hand lots of times. If I was on the ground leading him he goes just fine and will follow me, but when I was on him he just didn't have the confidence. But put him behind another horse (not even a pasture buddy) and he was just fine.

I would lounge him in the area of the ring where he is bad. He needs to know that you are the leader of your herd of two and everything else comes second.

Real horses are not carousel horses! They need miles of interesting trails and experiences to season them so they don't over react to things that normally occur outdoors.

Maybe try leading him around the arena before riding him there. This might help soothe him. Maybe he is afraid of the traffic near the road. It's really hard to tell. Try getting him used to all kinds of sounds. Good luck!

Instead of riding him out there, try leading him. If you are able to get him to the other side of the arena, just walk him back and forth and sooth him, talk to him, give him treats. If he seems too jumpy, back him and work your way slowly up the other side. The reason the horse is spooking is probably because he's not used to being around cars and the movement and noise of the cars is scaring him. Keep leading him to the other side day by day until he seems to be comfortable with it. Then try riding him.

You have let this go on for a bit, it seems, so it is going to be harder to fix. When I have a horse that does not like one part of the arena, I work in that part and we are not allowed out until he is calm.

Since it has gone on for a while, you might want to lead and/or lunge in the area first - do a circle in the corner or half the ring where he is afraid.

Next comes riding. Walk first, once he is good - put him back for the day. Another thing you can try is leaving him in the arena, possibly with a less spooky horse, and put his feed, hay and water in the scary part. A friend bought a horse that was a great horse, but scared of the jumps in the arena. They left him in the arena overnight and he was fine after that.

Since your horse is scared of one section, this is why I suggest putting feed, hay, water in that part - otherwise he has no incentive to go to that part. A lot of his fear is probably the traffic and he just needs to learn to get over it. I have found the best ways to get horses used to things like this is to essentially let them free to spook until they get bored of spooking at it.

like donna s said keep working in that aren. Dont make him look at the road or the cars just do some ground work with him if he spooks just keep him moving.keep him bizzy so he is not thinking of the road.he will get better.

What I would do is just lead him out there. Walk him in the ring and walk him around the ring. Has he really ran in the other direction? Have you let go of him when he decides to run? I don't know if you would be scared of this but if I were you I would not let go of him. It sounds really weird and stupid but, I would holed on to him to a certain point then if he got to dangerous I would let him go. Every time you go to take him out there he thinks it's OK to run off that's why I would holed on to him. I would not tell you to do this because it can be very dangerous. Best of Luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If he has a friend (horse/pony) you could turn him and his friend outside together then he might feel a little more comfortable.

Start putting his food in the part where he's sketchy. I had to do it with my friends 4 year old lead mare, paint and it worked.

Start by hand walking him in there every day. Take it slow, let him hang out, look around, and sniff anything that he thinks is scary. After he is comfortable with that, put him on a lunge on that end of this ring.

You should also consider that he is using his "fear" of that part of the arena as a way to avoid work (especially if it only scares him while you are on him)