Quick Tips: Get Your Horse Moving Forward Again After they Start Spooking/Napping

When Coco gets into a bad way with spooking she starts napping and walking backwards and hopping around the place – all so she can get as far away as possible from whatever she’s looking at. During our last spook-a-thon during a schooling session however, I was taught a new method to get her moving forward again..

Dealing with a Spooky Horse

Horses spook for any number of reasons – a dog jumped out at them, a bird rustled in the bush, a rock looked a bit funny, the grass was a different shade of green…you get the picture. The hardest part about a spooking horse is finding out what the actual cause is.

One Step Forward, 10 Steps Back ~ Coco at Coilóg

Spooking. Napping. Bucking. Refusing. You name it, Coco did it! Our first trip to Coilóg definitely didn’t go as planned…

Sustaining My Confidence ~ Coco Edition

In the last year that I’ve had Coco, I’ve really found my confidence to be tested. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had plenty of experience riding young, green or difficult horses but that was long before my 2 year break from horse riding while I was in college. I knew once I got back into the swing of things I’d find my confidence again but when I started working with Coco, it definitely got knocked from time to time.

A Young Horse in a New Environment ~ Lessons with Coco

For my third lesson with Sue Byrne I decided to mix it up a little bit…I brought Coco to Darielle’s yard. It was our first time doing a schooling session outside of home and it was definitely an experience…