This is incredibly helpful for me as a newer rider. Thank you for sharing your wisdom so freely. Here on New Hampshire, USA wooded trails there are many reasons for a horse to spook and I will be using your tips!! I've subscribed and will check out your website next. Looking forward to learning more from you, thanks again!
Hi Lia, I'm holding a masterclass tomorrow 20th May 7 pm EST. It's all about how to become confident and get awesome results. I'd lov to see you there. Hi there, You are invited to a Zoom webinar. When: May 20, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: How to build confidence and dominate competitions. Register in advance for this webinar: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OlgwmWyQQ5iEhz3GM_FCVw After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian i totally agree and love your method and look forward to Future videos any advice on a horse that gets incredibly forward after canter she takes everything as a forward aide and wants to pop right back into canter I try half halting transitions circles but most the time it doesn't work she can only think about wanting to keep cantering and she gets herself frustrated I'm kinda stuck at the moment on what to try
Kirstin Kelly Equestrian he's being really lazy in just stopping and walking over the 45 cm xbars and I do come into it in forward trot has last time I jumped he took me by surprise and took leap over which I was a bit far forward and when we landed he started to buck and me coming off I have now lost my confidence in jumping him again has I booked myself to see Mark Wells at Abderry for lesson. I was about to do a training jumping show at ridesmart doing 35 and 45 if all was good I would do 55 cm which last year he was cantering like old school pony popping over them
Thank you for this. I stay on a farm and have a horse that likes to go into the dam and eat the grass growing in the dam. He then seems to become a different horse spooking at everything when you go on outrides. I have started thinking that he has eye problems. Staying calm is not always that easy when you get off the ground after you fall off as he will seem to spook at nothing while you are cantering or in a trot. Where can I find more information about this grass problem you refer to near the end. I am pretty sure the problem has something to do with his diet. When I discuss this with my vet he looks at me as if I am nuts.
Wow, what country are you in? Here in New Zealand, it is so common for horses to react to the toxins in the grass. Even when you do a pre-purchase exam for the vet, there is a specific question " Does your horse suffer from being grass affected". We have several different products made to help but to be honest, if the horse is grazing grass, he is eating toxins. You can limit the effects but some horses are more sensitive than others. You need to feed a good quality toxin binder twice a day ( often the main ingredient is yeast so you need one that has a top quality , batch tested yeast) I use Duwell Toxin binder. But if your horse is already showing signs of spookiness and you think his vision is impaired, ( all signs of being grass affected. ), then the best option is keep the horse off the short grass as the rocket fuel is in the tip and keep him on longer, old grass or have a dry yard where he can eat hay for 6-12 hours before you go jumping, hacking. If I have a spooky horse I always start with a week completely off the grass and eating hay on a toxin binder, see how he feels on a different diet and then slowly introduce fresh grass again. I did loads of tests on my farm and the potassium was very high which makes horses behave very extreme, tight muscles, staring at nothing in the distance, spooky at grass moving, super sensitive to noises and all my competition horses would stay off the grass 12 hours before jumping . Then you have to ensure you keep them on lots of hay so they don't end up with ulcers ... another issue.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian Kirstin I am from the country you people hate...where the Springboks come from. Thanks for your update. Any further papers I can read will be nice. My problem is that I am getting old so I don't compete anymore. My horses run on the farm and on Sat/Sun I catch them and go for outrides. I have ended up on the ground a few times now as the one gelding seems to spook at a bird flying past on the next farm. I will try your suggestions and I believe they will work. Most of my problems occur when he grazes in the marsh areas or where the dam is which is full of water grass.
Hi Dawn, Here in NZ we have lush green pasture that can make a horse grass affected or in scientific terms gut acidosis. The symptoms are the horse get tight in their back and hind quarters, then become sharp and sensitive to noise, touch and surroundings. They then become very stilted in the canter and can buck in canter and after jumping and become very spooky like they have trouble seeing esp rails on the ground.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian very informative, thank you. I was in your country staying in youth hostels and hitchhiking on the north and south islands in 1974. I had the time of my life. Of course, before you were born. Beautiful people and country.
I know that horses tend to get high and sometimes silly in the spring but I never thought of it this way about grass affected in acidosis in the gut. Thank you!
What should I do in a lesson tho? I want to try this out, but when I keep my horse stimulated, I think my instructor will be confused about what I'm doing instead of doing what I'm supposed to do 😅
Talk to your instructor when your horse spooks and ask if it’s ok to take your horses mind off the spooky thing by riding transitions past the spot . If you discuss it with your instructor I’m sure they will agree
Kristin, do you have any tips on a super spooky horse(not grass affected) just a thoroughbred lol, he always spooks at the same bit on a hack, its when we are going on a straight line the hedge is quite high. He always gets tense. He bronks and spins and pirouettes sometimes altogether 😂 eventually after around 20 minutes he gets stressed and I end up getting off as its the safest thing to do, this only happens occasionally and mostly if he is on his own
I was wondering do you have any tips on how to keep your horse straight. My horse keeps drifting into the middle of the arena rather than staying near the wall and while riding a circle she keeps turning her head in and side stepping till she’s near at the wall and has to turn.
Hi Kathy, sorry i missed your comment. How is your horse going, are you still having the same trouble. Here is the link for a video to teach her to leg yield so you can push her out to the outside trackua-cam.com/video/kk1f-agQfBI/v-deo.html and this will help also ua-cam.com/video/ya7tXhbV6ic/v-deo.html Let me know how you get on. Kirstin.
Hi Keri, I have a video on that, check it out and let me know in the comments if it helps. ua-cam.com/video/k0-PAvaUpDU/v-deo.html Don't forget to check out my website, there are over 60 videos to watch. www.kirstinkellyequestrian.com Happy Riding Kirstin
Sure, if you fed horses too much protein it can make them spooky, also different times of year the grass can affect horses . If you go onto my Facebook page “ Kirstin Kelly Equestrian “ I loaded an article last week about the affects of spring grass. In New Zealand we have two terrible seasons , spring the grass is toxic and late autumn staggers. Where do you live ?
@@claramb2 in spring in NZ the high rain and flushing grass means the grass is low in sodium and magnesium so it makes the horses really spooky. In autumn there is a fungus on the grass which causes staggers so we have to watch how much grass the horses eat at different times .
Let’s not always suggest horses are naturally spooky - some cunning older mares know exactly what they are doing. But I do like the suggestions re leg yielding and use of inside rein.
That must be frustrating, you’ll need to build his confidence over some small filler so even when it’s new to him , you can get him to jump it even from the walk
Oh Heck, sounds like he is not happy. Have the vet check him over, pain causes the horse to be really sensitive and can also cause stomach ulcers which make the horse sore, re-active and spooky.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian He has been checked by a vet and had a physio session and nothing is wrong with him its just the "spring". My trainer also doesnt know why he does it, so i dont think I am doing something wrong. I mean, she is an international dressage judge and he bolted with her multiple times, too. She even said that he was uncontrollable for a few seconds and she couldnt slow him down. He really just gets scared of anything he can and idk if he is doing it to avoid work or if its really scaring him, but he bolts at thing that never bothered him before.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian I am riding the same as always, but it can be goin well, like last week's training, where he's amazing and then another horse jumped, wich never bothered him before, and he bolted, twice, the first time he just ran and slowed down after a few seconds, but the second time we were doing a circle and he bolted towards a fence and then turned sharply, so I had a little flying practice. And then he ran towards the paddocks, luckily he didn't run away, even though someone left the gate open. It always feels weird, because he never runs away from something, like the direction doesn't matter to him, he just runs fast. He even ran towards the other horse that "scared" him.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian he will spook at his own fart or a butterfly or walking past a log that has been there for 3 years that he has walked past 78 times!
My boy is great at spooking at high speed. Lucky I know his triggers. Thanks for the tips, I'll be trying this.
It sure makes for an interesting ride but great that you've started to understand the triggers.
This is incredibly helpful for me as a newer rider. Thank you for sharing your wisdom so freely. Here on New Hampshire, USA wooded trails there are many reasons for a horse to spook and I will be using your tips!!
I've subscribed and will check out your website next. Looking forward to learning more from you, thanks again!
Hi Lia, I'm holding a masterclass tomorrow 20th May 7 pm EST. It's all about how to become confident and get awesome results. I'd lov to see you there.
Hi there,
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: May 20, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: How to build confidence and dominate competitions.
Register in advance for this webinar:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OlgwmWyQQ5iEhz3GM_FCVw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Makes sense to me. Very easy explained.
Excellent advice, well explained with great examples!
Thank you!
Thanks for the lovely feedback!
Oh I definitely needed this video thank you so much great information
Loads of good horses are spooky so it's so important to understand them. Glad you enjoyed the vid Amanda
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian i totally agree and love your method and look forward to Future videos any advice on a horse that gets incredibly forward after canter she takes everything as a forward aide and wants to pop right back into canter I try half halting transitions circles but most the time it doesn't work she can only think about wanting to keep cantering and she gets herself frustrated I'm kinda stuck at the moment on what to try
Thank you this helped me and my mare. Question though,what is grass effect?
Awesome vid Dale has really improved lately except for his jumping
Karina Pearce great to hear he has improved but what’s been going wrong with his jumping 😢
Kirstin Kelly Equestrian he's being really lazy in just stopping and walking over the 45 cm xbars and I do come into it in forward trot has last time I jumped he took me by surprise and took leap over which I was a bit far forward and when we landed he started to buck and me coming off I have now lost my confidence in jumping him again has I booked myself to see Mark Wells at Abderry for lesson. I was about to do a training jumping show at ridesmart doing 35 and 45 if all was good I would do 55 cm which last year he was cantering like old school pony popping over them
Karina Pearce aw what a shame , sorry to hear that. Hope the lesson goes well
Thank you for this. I stay on a farm and have a horse that likes to go into the dam and eat the grass growing in the dam. He then seems to become a different horse spooking at everything when you go on outrides. I have started thinking that he has eye problems. Staying calm is not always that easy when you get off the ground after you fall off as he will seem to spook at nothing while you are cantering or in a trot. Where can I find more information about this grass problem you refer to near the end. I am pretty sure the problem has something to do with his diet. When I discuss this with my vet he looks at me as if I am nuts.
Wow, what country are you in? Here in New Zealand, it is so common for horses to react to the toxins in the grass. Even when you do a pre-purchase exam for the vet, there is a specific question " Does your horse suffer from being grass affected". We have several different products made to help but to be honest, if the horse is grazing grass, he is eating toxins. You can limit the effects but some horses are more sensitive than others. You need to feed a good quality toxin binder twice a day ( often the main ingredient is yeast so you need one that has a top quality , batch tested yeast) I use Duwell Toxin binder. But if your horse is already showing signs of spookiness and you think his vision is impaired, ( all signs of being grass affected. ), then the best option is keep the horse off the short grass as the rocket fuel is in the tip and keep him on longer, old grass or have a dry yard where he can eat hay for 6-12 hours before you go jumping, hacking. If I have a spooky horse I always start with a week completely off the grass and eating hay on a toxin binder, see how he feels on a different diet and then slowly introduce fresh grass again. I did loads of tests on my farm and the potassium was very high which makes horses behave very extreme, tight muscles, staring at nothing in the distance, spooky at grass moving, super sensitive to noises and all my competition horses would stay off the grass 12 hours before jumping . Then you have to ensure you keep them on lots of hay so they don't end up with ulcers ... another issue.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian Kirstin I am from the country you people hate...where the Springboks come from. Thanks for your update. Any further papers I can read will be nice. My problem is that I am getting old so I don't compete anymore. My horses run on the farm and on Sat/Sun I catch them and go for outrides. I have ended up on the ground a few times now as the one gelding seems to spook at a bird flying past on the next farm. I will try your suggestions and I believe they will work. Most of my problems occur when he grazes in the marsh areas or where the dam is which is full of water grass.
@@user-mkru lol I'm not into rugby so your all good. Andrew has a really good article too www.andrewscottequestrian.co.nz/grass-staggers.html
Can you please elaborate on grass affected?
Hi Dawn, Here in NZ we have lush green pasture that can make a horse grass affected or in scientific terms gut acidosis. The symptoms are the horse get tight in their back and hind quarters, then become sharp and sensitive to noise, touch and surroundings. They then become very stilted in the canter and can buck in canter and after jumping and become very spooky like they have trouble seeing esp rails on the ground.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian very informative, thank you.
I was in your country staying in youth hostels and hitchhiking on the north and south islands in 1974. I had the time of my life. Of course, before you were born.
Beautiful people and country.
I know that horses tend to get high and sometimes silly in the spring but I never thought of it this way about grass affected in acidosis in the gut. Thank you!
What should I do in a lesson tho? I want to try this out, but when I keep my horse stimulated, I think my instructor will be confused about what I'm doing instead of doing what I'm supposed to do 😅
Talk to your instructor when your horse spooks and ask if it’s ok to take your horses mind off the spooky thing by riding transitions past the spot . If you discuss it with your instructor I’m sure they will agree
Kristin, do you have any tips on a super spooky horse(not grass affected) just a thoroughbred lol, he always spooks at the same bit on a hack, its when we are going on a straight line the hedge is quite high. He always gets tense. He bronks and spins and pirouettes sometimes altogether 😂 eventually after around 20 minutes he gets stressed and I end up getting off as its the safest thing to do, this only happens occasionally and mostly if he is on his own
I was wondering do you have any tips on how to keep your horse straight. My horse keeps drifting into the middle of the arena rather than staying near the wall and while riding a circle she keeps turning her head in and side stepping till she’s near at the wall and has to turn.
lots of inside leg and outside rein if you need
Hi Kathy, sorry i missed your comment. How is your horse going, are you still having the same trouble. Here is the link for a video to teach her to leg yield so you can push her out to the outside trackua-cam.com/video/kk1f-agQfBI/v-deo.html
and this will help also ua-cam.com/video/ya7tXhbV6ic/v-deo.html
Let me know how you get on.
Kirstin.
I ride this horse at my stable, and whenever I ask her into trot, she might buck and her ears go back. Any idea why?
It could be pain, have the fitting of your saddle checked or a vet exam to check
It helped alot but any tips for an extremely spooky horse that spooks at a tree and is half blind? Xx
Hi Keri, I have a video on that, check it out and let me know in the comments if it helps. ua-cam.com/video/k0-PAvaUpDU/v-deo.html
Don't forget to check out my website, there are over 60 videos to watch. www.kirstinkellyequestrian.com
Happy Riding
Kirstin
I couldnt understand the part of the food! Could you explain it again?
Sure, if you fed horses too much protein it can make them spooky, also different times of year the grass can affect horses . If you go onto my Facebook page “ Kirstin Kelly Equestrian “ I loaded an article last week about the affects of spring grass. In New Zealand we have two terrible seasons , spring the grass is toxic and late autumn staggers. Where do you live ?
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian i’m from Argentina!
@@claramb2 fabulous, do your horses graze or live indoors mainly ?
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian they mainly graze, but never heard about toxic grass!
@@claramb2 in spring in NZ the high rain and flushing grass means the grass is low in sodium and magnesium so it makes the horses really spooky. In autumn there is a fungus on the grass which causes staggers so we have to watch how much grass the horses eat at different times .
Let’s not always suggest horses are naturally spooky - some cunning older mares know exactly what they are doing. But I do like the suggestions re leg yielding and use of inside rein.
My horse doesn't spook but whenever there is a filler that he is about to jump he stops at it a refuses to go over it
That must be frustrating, you’ll need to build his confidence over some small filler so even when it’s new to him , you can get him to jump it even from the walk
If I do that we boltin man. He literally hears wind blow onto grass and spooks aout of nowhere just bolts. XD
Oh Heck, sounds like he is not happy. Have the vet check him over, pain causes the horse to be really sensitive and can also cause stomach ulcers which make the horse sore, re-active and spooky.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian He has been checked by a vet and had a physio session and nothing is wrong with him its just the "spring". My trainer also doesnt know why he does it, so i dont think I am doing something wrong. I mean, she is an international dressage judge and he bolted with her multiple times, too. She even said that he was uncontrollable for a few seconds and she couldnt slow him down. He really just gets scared of anything he can and idk if he is doing it to avoid work or if its really scaring him, but he bolts at thing that never bothered him before.
@@blebleble9624 Cripes that doesn't sound fun , well sounds like you are coping ok and keeping your heels down and your head up
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian I am riding the same as always, but it can be goin well, like last week's training, where he's amazing and then another horse jumped, wich never bothered him before, and he bolted, twice, the first time he just ran and slowed down after a few seconds, but the second time we were doing a circle and he bolted towards a fence and then turned sharply, so I had a little flying practice. And then he ran towards the paddocks, luckily he didn't run away, even though someone left the gate open. It always feels weird, because he never runs away from something, like the direction doesn't matter to him, he just runs fast. He even ran towards the other horse that "scared" him.
My horse will spook at a leaf
Oh dear, some horses can be a nightmare, keep his mind busy so he listens to you instead of looking for things to spook at.
@@KirstinKellyEquestrian he will spook at his own fart or a butterfly or walking past a log that has been there for 3 years that he has walked past 78 times!
@@karenbultman6995 lol classic!!!