I have a half arabian/half thoroughbred. He spooks at almost anything. The other day i even tried to drink water on his back and he trew me off, and right onto the fence. Weve tried to get him used to many things, such as fly spray and water bottles, plastic bags, but he gets used to it, then the next day he forgets and is scared of it again... Does he really forget, or is he just trying to get out of it? Any advice on how to bombproof him?

The only advice I can give after dealing with my mom's arab is just to repeat each lesson until it sinks in. Good luck though. I know how frustrating that must be.

I feel your pain. Boy do I feel your pain. I have a half Arab, half Pinto and she can be pretty spooky as well. Here's the thing: after having a lot of my barn's trainers observe her they have told me that she is NOT afraid of what she makes me think she is afraid of. She just acts up and spooks because she knows it freaks me out and that not too long after I will off of her and then she can go eat or rest. She will not act up if the BO or another man that works there gets on her. After her taking me on the trail ride from hell I decided to sell her. She proved to be too much for me and I wasn't willing to deal with that.

However, in your case, first I would see if there are any trainers that might be willing to get on him and have a "Come to Jesus Talk" with him a few times. I had a guy at my barn really work her and it helped for a while. He worked at a huge Arabian farm here in town so he knows a lot about the breed and how to work with them. I don't have the stomach to get thrown repeatedly in order to train a horse. I wanted to leave it to the professionals. Repetition seems to be the key and if he really is genuinely scared then it will help him get over his fears. But if he is just acting scared because he knows you'll give up it will still help to teach him that you aren't going to take it and in fact he'll work harder when he does act up.

One other suggestion, possibly try to get hold of someone in charge of training the mounted patrol in your area and ask them if they have any classes or at least for some tips on de-spooking your horse. Those horses are the essence of bombproof! I was going to look into that before I decided to sell. Good luck with him! I know it can be very frustrating.

OK, this is not an Arab problem, it is a training issue. Arabs are not any spookier than any other horse, maybe just a little quicker. Check out this trainer's response to someone with a similar problem:

Spook-Proofing a Horse
WRITTEN BY: Cheryl Sutor [October 21, 2000]


Training Question:

I have a 15yr old QH. Wonderful to work with on the ground, generally quiet under saddle. There are times though when under saddle he becomes extremely nervous at not only new things/places, but familiar things as well. It's as if once he gets nervous/excited, he can't get out of his own way. He does this in hand as well, but I'm going to try your Q&A dated 8/9. In new environments, such as a new field, he might be a little tentative, but a twig breaks in the woods and he's off like a rocket. In familar enviroment, such as a quiet indoor in his own barn, we can be working well with no obvious fears and both relaxed, another horse may "knock" at his bucket and my QH freaks out. Once this type of thing happens, getting him to relax is next to impossible. I attempt to deal with the shying, snorting, skittish behavior, but any attention I had with him is lost....his fear/flight takes over. What can I do to help him get over his fears and keep myself in check?
From: Barbara


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Trainer's Response:

In my experience with working with "spooky" horses, I have found that sacking out doesn't always work. The reason sacking out doesn't always work is because you can only introduce him to so many objects while sacking out. There are many, many objects that the horse will encounter in his life that you have not sacked him out with.

So, my first suggestion would be to sack him out with as many objects as possible. For details on sacking out, read ground manners. When done properly, the horse will begin to see frightening objects in a whole different light.

When the horse becomes spooky of any object, what you have to do is keep him busy. Try to anticipate when your horse might become spooky. When you think he might become spooky, give him a series of cues. Keep him busy. As long as you keep him busy, he will not have enough time to really think about that scary object that could have frightened him.

For example, if I know my horse will most likely spook as we are walking past the chicken coop, before we even get there, I will begin asking him for a series of many different cues to keep his mind busy. The cues you decide to use at this point must be ones that your horse has learned to obey consistently 100% of the time.

I will ask the horse to stop, back up, turn left, turn right, lower his head, back up, walk forward, turn right, stop, lower his head, turn left, stop, walk forward, etc... you get the point.

If the horse has been conditioned to respond to these cues properly 100% consistently, you will be able to walk right past the scary object without the horse even flinching. The reason for this is because you will have the horse's attention. By giving him a series of cues such as the ones above, you will be demanding the horse's attention, therefore, taking his attention off of the scary object.

A very important point to make right here is that you should not wait until you are introduced to a scary or distracting situation to begin this exercise. Practice it many times in a calm stall, arena, paddock...wherever your horse feels safe -- before hand. Then, work your way slowly to potentially more distracting areas like next to the pasture that other horses are in, down the road, etc. By working up from a calm area to the more distracting areas, you are conditioning your horse to listen to you no matter where you are, and no matter what object is trying to distract him.

He will be focusing on you. He will begin to get into a pattern of focusing on you and waiting for the next cue or your next request. He will not have time to be looking around for things to be scared of, because you will be keeping him busy enough where his attention is focused on you.

If you do not keep him busy with your cues or requests, he will begin searching for other things to focus on and to respond to. It might help to develop a pattern of cues to use such as: 1. turn right 2. turn left 3. stop 4. back up 5. walk forward 6. lower your head 7. yield to the left 8. yeild to the right 9. repeat.

By defining a pattern such as the one above, you will be ready to respond immediately when needed by following the cues in your specified order. If, at any time, the horse ignores a cue, it means that he has never learned it thoroughly. You must take him to a quieter place to work on that cue until he responds 100% consistently.

Hope this helps!