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by Ditte Young
Updated on February 6, 2024
Estimated reading time: 10 minutesย
Working with a nervous horse can be frustrating. As horse lovers, we want to give our horses the best life possible. Having a horse that spooks easily can not only make you worry for your safety โ it can also make you question your relationship with your horse.
However, horses don’t misbehave to annoy or defy you, unlike children. It likely isn’t about you; it’s about your horse and how your horse is experiencing the world. The same holds for a scared or nervous horse. Your horse isnโt trying to manipulate you or irritate you. Itโs simply the horseโs fight-or-flight mode kicking in. Your horse wants to be safe and comfortable; if it is nervous, it will respond accordingly.
There is, however, a difference between a horse with nervous behavioral patterns due to health issues and fear-based or hard-wired nervousness. Of course, you must determine what kind of nervous horse you are dealing with before assessing how to handle your horseโs issue.
In this article, I will cover some of the most common reasons your horse may be nervous or spooky and what you can do to calm a nervous horse.
Spookiness in horses can be triggered for a variety of different reasons. Often, we are dealing with a horse that has a sensitive personality. You can read more about horse personality profiles here.
Scared horses may have experienced shock or trauma, making them even more alert to dangerous situations. When they have experienced trauma or shock, the experience seems locked in their nervous system, and they will never forget it.
The more you know about your horse’s past or figure out about it yourself, the more well-equipped you will be to handle your horseโs nervousness โ and this can help you prevent accidents caused by horse spooking.
Horses are herbivores, and in the wild they are herd animals. When a predator threatens the herd, there is safety in numbers. Being herbivores, however, also makes horses more prone to flight than fight when they get scared.
Unlike humans, horseโs havenโt developed the part of the brain that makes us capable of rethinking, analyzing, and having an overview of a dangerous situation. For that reason, their most common response to fear is to flee.
You can read more about horse anxiety in this article: โHow to calm an anxious horse.โ
Horses get stimulated all the time. They sense the wind in their manes, the shaking of the ground beneath their feet. They sense each other, and they only exist in the now. Focused on the moment as they are, loud noises can easily shock them.
Sensitive horses can also be spooked by sudden changes in their surroundings if they don’t know what caused them. It could be the wind blowing in the trees, or a sudden rumble of thunder.
Suppose the scared horse has experienced a shock or a trauma with a veterinarian from its past. In that case, you must take this seriously and remember that even though you have a new veterinarian, your horse thinks the situation is the same as before.
Either way, you must create a safe and calm environment for your horse and work with the things your horse is scared of little by little. For example, if your horse gets spooked by the wind in the trees, you can’t train your horse in dressage and expect your horse to manage that regardless of the weather conditions. Take it step by step and one training at a time.
You might also be interested in: โHow to stop a horse from bucking.โ
Many scared horses fear unfamiliar objects such as buckets, rakes, vehicles, cutting machines, etc. The horses often don’t know what these objects are and seem skeptical towards them. They might have experienced a shock or trauma with some objects, and they assume that those objects will forever be hazardous if they have been previously.
You can help your horse understand these objects little by little by speaking out loud to your horse and talking to it calmly about them. You send out calming vibrations when you talk to your horse this way. Your horse will take in your energy and eventually be calmer when you introduce the objects.
You might also be interested in: โHow to stop a horse from rearing.โ
Your nervous system functions the same whether you are human or animal. It locks terrible memories in the system and tells us if we experience any danger, like the previous situation or anything that reminds us of the earlier situation that once put us in harm’s way.
This means the nervous system is intelligent but not intelligent enough to differ between two experiences. When a horse has negative experiences in the nervous system, it causes a shock or trauma. Creating a spooky horse can take only a second โ but it can take you several years to undo that same thing.
Spookiness in a scared horse is typically provoked by fear. The horse will flee from the situation or try to fight it in some rare cases. So, when youโre in a situation that can trigger a nervous reaction in your horse, you must act patiently and calmly. Don’t give up! You must understand that one bad situation takes 100 good ones to balance again.
You might also be interested in: โHow to stop a horse from biting.โ
When we take in horses and socialize them, they are “in our power,” and they know it. They no longer have the freedom to run freely but only a limited fold to play in or run around. When we manage them at the stable, we often trap them in briddles, put saddles on them, or use other equipment that makes them incapable of running away from us. We even put them in paddocks or boxes, limiting their free space. This is a natural part of having to do with horses, but it is unnatural for most horses by nature.
Horses are simple creatures. They want to cooperate with their human beings and constantly seek a leader to make them feel safer. They focus on one thing at a time. We tend to forget that we require much from the horses when we want to be with them. We ask them to do more than one thing at a time.
When the horse has experienced feeling anxious or spooked, it only takes one second or a fragment of a moment similar to its past for it to be a spooked horse again. The environmental factors that spooked horses have one thing in common: they are unpredictable to the horse.
The horses focus on being balanced both mentally as well as physically. With a rider on top, the task becomes more difficult. They sense what is on them, what is around them, and what is underneath them. They can’t see 90 degrees down, so they are unaware of what they are stepping on. That makes horses who refuse to jump over water one of the most common and well-known behavioral problems most showjumpers have.
Since the horses focus on being mentally and physically balanced, it doesn’t take great changes in their health to change their behavior patterns. The sensitive horses quickly become nervous in those cases. They become hypersensitive towards things such as unfamiliar objects or oncoming traffic โ sometimes even more than they already were.
It is essential to know that minor health issues such as a rotation in their neck, saddle problems, or an ulcer can cause nervousness in horses. Those are specific problems the rider can’t necessarily see with the physical eye.
If your horse is suddenly nervous, you must seek help from the veterinarian. If they clear it and can’t find anything specific explaining the nervous behavior, seeking help elsewhere is also a great idea. That could be asking the trainer, a horse whisperer, or even a professional animal communicator.
You can read more about health issues in my article: โHow to tell if your horse is in pain.โ
It is possible to calm down a nervous horse. I recommend you practice calming a nervous horse on the ground first. You can try from the saddle when you know the basics there, and you trust your signals, and your horse can read them and respond to them.
Horses react to our energies. They read our body language, spoken language, voice tone, and energetical language and signals. For example, you may have experienced this when you think, Canter, and your horse changes the pace from trot to canter without you giving it a physical signal or leg yield.
Those tools are essential to calm down your nervous horse in any situation.
When you approach a horse, your body language sets the tone for the encounter. An aggressive approach raises the defense mechanisms of the horse. If you back up while your horse is hard-wired, it can be interpreted as a reward for nervous behavior.
When approaching a horse, you must ensure you gain their trust. To do this, make sure to:
Your horse also reacts to the tone of your voice, and a nervous horse will also be very alert to any signal you might be sending out subconsciously, making it essential to stay calm when your horse doesn’t.
Before entering the stable, leave the stress of everyday life behind you. Breathe it out by taking 10 deep breaths through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. You should also try to empty your mind before you go to your horse. The calmer you are, the calmer your horse will get because it also adapts to your energy field.
Be the eyes and ears of your horse. Be mindful of your surroundings, and if you know your horse will react to oncoming horses in the arena, I recommend waiting until they leave. If you know your horse is afraid of a bucket, remove it before taking it to the stable. Speak up and tell your horse what surface you are walking on while strolling your horse.
Be the predictable leader who is always ahead of your horse. Your nervous horse can’t simply stop being anxious or nervous about things that trigger it. You have to train this over time.
Often, people need to remember to take the time to train themselves in new situations. Once the nervous system has locked a lousy experience, it takes many months to undo this again. Similarly, horses need to be acclimated to new objects, things, or situations.
The essential tool to calm a nervous horse and its nervous system is never triggering it again. You can gently access the things your horse is afraid of or situations your horse is scared of, but one step at a time. If you sense your horse is nervous, I recommend you pull your horse out of the situation and try again the following day.
Giving the horse time to access things is always better than taking it for granted that they know what to do in various situations. They don’t, but you do. You lead the way.
You might also be interested in: โHow to stop a horse from cribbing.โ
Your recognition and acknowledgment motivate you to try new things or repeat things that can provoke a scared horse. Remember, your horse is a herd animal: it wants to be with you because you are connected in your little herd. Your horse wants to find a safe zone, which should be you.
This also explains why punishment wonโt stop a scared horse from repeating the same behavior or being nervous again. Punishment will only make the situation worse. Usually, people punish their horses by slapping them with their hands or fists and whipping or kicking them. This doesn’t make them less nervous. On the contrary, this behavior will re-traumatize the horse and make it worse than any prior event.
Horses can’t understand what they shouldn’t do. They only understand what you would want them to do in specific situations. You can train your horse with positive reinforcement, clicker training, or by using your words in a praising tone.
Calming a nervous horse down is easier if it is not trapped or constrained. If the horse is trapped or constrained, it will only focus on getting away and will be less open to your calming signals.
Because horses are flight animals, running away from things or objects they find scary is natural.
I prefer you move the things that scare your horse or simply let your horse walk away from them and train your horse over time instead. When they realize they can walk away from the things that scare them, and they notice that you accept it; they have the capacity and resources to be curious instead of frightened in the future.
You might also be interested in: โWhy do horses kick โ and how do you stop it?โ
You can read the body language of your scared and nervous horse. However, it is also an option to read their minds and energy. Animal communication is a nonverbal communication form. Sensitive people know how to practice this already because they sense and feel everything in their surroundings. However, being that sensitive can also be difficult, so many people avoid using their sensitivity as a strength or even a job occupation.
The method of practicing animal communication is called telepathy. It works by one soul โ in this case, a horse โ sending pictures, emotions, or thoughts in front of its inner eyes to another soul who can receive them.
Anyone can learn to do this. All it requires is a strong sense of empathy and the proper training.
You might also be interested in: โHow to calm an anxious horse.โ
I, Ditte young, have worked with solving animal behavioral issues domestically and internationally for more than 25 years with great results. By using animal communication combined with my therapeutic and coaching skills, the results speak for themselves.ย I have taught my telepathic methods to more than 550 people worldwide. Many of my students practice animal communication professionally and can also make a living doing it.
I’ve made various online animal communicator courses for those interested in learning more. In my online course, โHorse Personality Types,โ I will help you get to know your horseโs personality profile and gain a new, more profound understanding of how your horse understands you, responds to you, and reads your signals. All my online animal communicator courses about horses will help you know precisely what your horse is trying to tell you and what you can do to calm a nervous horse.ย
You can also meet me live in my Animal Telepathy Mastery Class, where I will pass on all my methods and tools to the participants.ย Every student learns how to master animal telepathy, and you don’t have to be acquainted with telepathy before you start the class.
I hope to meet you in my classroom one day.
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