Fear of Horses

by Laurie
(Unitied States)

I have 4 horses and I love all four but I am scared of two of them. Spirit is a 4 year old gelding who is scared of his own shadow and has some separation anxiety about leaving his mother Black Diamond. Beauty is a loving horse she is also 4 years old. I can do just about anything with her from the ground but I have been bucked off from her twice and she is about 17 hands tall. I am not sure what to do with these two because they both are a bit much for me to handle on my own and I am afraid of them. Can you help me?

Hi Laurie,

Fear, by itself is just uncertainty of the unknown stemming from what we haven’t learned yet. When we feel uncertain about our current knowledge, fear can over ride us. So being afraid of these two horses tells me that you’re feeling uncertain &/or unconfident and your inner self wants to guide you to the information/knowledge that you seek. Fear is also the “safety mechanism” that helps to keep us safe in many uncomfortable situations. Always listen to this fear from within. It’s the same thing as saying “listen to your gut”. Never risk your personal safety no matter what others say to you.

Good for you for acknowledging that these two horses are a bit much for your comfort level and therefore challenging your knowledge. That is a great place to move forward from. We all come across new experiences and challenging horses that make us question our knowledge and the need to research for more information. Just because a method has worked with one horse doesn’t mean it will work with another. Creativity and adjusting to the individual horse or horses is necessary.

It would be very difficult for me to personally coach you through your specific circumstances without seeing you and your horses interacting so I could interpret the language and see what’s happening with all parties. So I thought in this instant I would list some options for you to pursue. Pick what feels right for you.

Option 1

Find an experienced trainer in your area that is well versed in Clicker Training and Natural Horsemanship methods. If there is a trainer, please ask to watch them play with a horse and put their knowledge to task first.

Option 2

Knowledge is power! Arm yourself! :0)
Resources abound for you to learn from. We have two ebooks to help you discover horse psychology and how horses interpret their lives with “The Secret Lives of Horses” to our “Clicker Training Guide”.
Plus I would recommend Alexander Kurland’s books on Clicker Training to Pat Parelli’s Natural Horsemanship programs.

Further considerations:

Since talking to you on the phone and thankfully you do not want to just sell them, since too many horses are just being passed around from home to home I am pleased you are willing to do what these horses are asking which is, “Let’s try something different!”.

I always go back to the basics. Meaning, go back to the steps my horses can do, and willing do, and thus understand. It may be that I can only brush, lead and tack up, but not get on successfully without the confusion setting in. Ha, ah, that’s where I know the threshold for the horses understanding ends and my skill level needs to begin.

Remove all tack of objection that cause pain, often these are things like bits (which cause tremendous pain and confusion) see our page on Bitless Bridles, Treeless saddles is all I will consider now and never any other gadgets like martingales, tie downs, metal shoes etc. The entire health of the horse must be in the forefront of all considerations.

The better we can understand how to utilize “pressure and the release of pressure” correctly, the better our results with be. As well as respecting the horses instinctual needs and how they interpret information.
You will find that stuff all over this site. :0)

Stay safe,
Elaine Polny
Horses by Nature