My horse is scared on trail alone he fine behind but scared when in front will stop,turn,backup,not go forward

Question

what can I do to make him not so afaid of everything?

Answer 1

You have to make sure the horse trusts you more than anything else.  But no matter how much he trusts you, there will be a point where the horse's natural fear instincts will overpower your reassurance.  You need to be careful and make sure you know at what point you are taking it too far.

My first suggestion is not to force him to lead.  Some horses are just not cut out to be in the front or alone on the trial.  If you do have to be in the front, don't force your horse to do anything that he doesn't want to do, because this will make him not trust you as much.  Yet you must not let him get his way and chicken out.  Let another horse take the lead, but stay close to the front.

The only good way to get a horse to not be afraid of something is to let the horse inspect the scary object/area by itself.  This activity I'm suggesting would be hard to do in a group, so I suggest trying it when you are on your own.  When your horse tries to stop and go back, don't let him do it.  Make him face forward, but don't hassle him.  Just let him sit there.  Occasionally, give the gently kick to go forward, but don't make him angry.  Give him only two options, go forward or sit there.  When he finally gives some form of forward movement, praise him generously and urge him on.  The first time, this may take a while.  You could bring a book or make a phone call while you wait.  But every time the waiting period should be shorter.  The idea here is to let the horse know he is not in danger by letting the horse go to the scary place by his own curiosity or boredom.  Once the horse finds out that the scary things are not going to hurt him, he will gain confidence.  You must always praise him and reassure him so that he knows you are trustworthy.  

My second suggestion is to have another experienced horse go up to the scary thing and walk around it and treat it as if it is nothing at all.  If your horse sees that the scary thing is not hurting the other horse, he will most likely be less afraid of it himself.  Now familiarize your horse withe the thing, and the next time you come across it, let your horse take the lead and see if he can approach it without fear.  You may have to do this on a few separate rides before your horse gains enough confidence to lead other horses up to it himself.

Remember not to force him to do anything, because this may work for the immediate situation, but in the future it can make a horse spooky and hard to retrain.  If your horse is doing well on the trail, make sure you end the ride on a good note.  If you continue riding and make the horse so scared and angry that it remembers trail rides as being a very bad experience, it will be even harder to give him the confidence he needs to be a leader on the trail.

Also remember that not all horses are cut out to lead.  Some horses are more comfortable following the leader.  If that is the case with your horse, you won't want to ruin a great horse by trying to force him to do something he is not cut out for.  Good Luck!

Answer 2

He is a follower not a leader , do not force him , if you want talk to him it will clam him down.I suggest practice more , and trust is everything.

Answer 3

I've read where a rider was on an obedient horse while trail riding.

They came upon cows and it scared the horse because the horse was not used to cows.

The rider tried to get the horse to go toward the cows to get it to learn that cows are not spooky.

The horse obeyed and went forward but finally became so frightened that it reared up, lost balance, and fell on its rider.

The rider later understood the horse felt trapped.

The horse obediently went forward even though it was frightened.

As it got closer, fear overpowered the horse, so I would walk the horse on the trail back and forth until the horse started to feel more secure.

Answer 4

keep him behind

Answer 5

If you talk to your horse like you write, he's probably confused trying to figure out what language you're speaking.