Why horses get spooked

Their laterally placed eyes give them an almost degree perspective providing the advantage of detecting predators easily, but at the expense of visual clarity. And, designed for almost continual grazing, their vision is best when their heads are on the ground, putting them at a distinct visual disadvantage when under saddle. Their large, funnel shaped and upright ears that can tilt, turn and twist independently, are infinitely more adept at hearing sounds than our small, flat, immovable ones.

However, their ability to localize brief, high-frequency, sounds, such as the snap of a branch or the snort of another horse, is limited. Their large olfactory bulbs with a huge number of receptor cells give them a highly sensitive sense of smell.

Horses can detect sights, sounds and smells that far exceed our scope, making them well attuned to potential dangers; they are less skilled at pinpointing where and what those dangers might be.

Although spooky horses have been accused of being chicken-hearted, gutless or drama queens, it is unlikely that horses are inventing or embellishing the very real threat that they perceive.

Researchers have demonstrated that fearful behaviours e. Horses that act afraid, undoubtedly are afraid Dai et al. Flight in the face of potential danger can become habitual due to negative reinforcement where the removal of something unpleasant rewards the behaviour preceding it, increasing the likelihood that we will see that behaviour in the future.

When your horse encounters a novel object, steps sideways or backward, or, worse, spins and exits, he lessens his anxiety by creating more distance between himself and the feared object, and is thus rewarded for this behaviour. Your horse soon learns that evasive behaviours get rid of scary things, and explosive behaviour gets rid of them even faster. A lack of exposure to scary things can leave our horses extraordinarily sensitive to what they perceive to be frightening. Show horses that are exposed to high activity stables, noisy machinery, whizzing golf carts, umbrellas, trailering, air travel and no end of constantly changing stimuli, become quite ho-hum about new and scary experiences because of this constant exposure.

Horses are skittish because they are prey animals, and they pay attention to anything unfamiliar. Horses have many predators in the wild, so to survive, they learned to quickly react to something near they believe may hurt them and stay away from strange things.

Many horse owners think that a skittish horse is not good for riding. Horses are incredibly skittish animals. They have many natural instincts that can cause them to react without thinking, and they also have a fear of the unknown. It seems that, even in the safety of their own pastures, horses can be easily spooked. Though domesticated and bred to be docile animals around humans for centuries now, they still have a wild side which surfaces whenever one is not paying attention; this means it only takes something as small as an unexpected noise coming from behind you to scare your horse into taking off like lightning through some open field!

Horses are prey animals, so they will naturally run away from anything that could be threatening their safety. Almost all medium-to-large carnivores hunt horses. They include bears, big cats, wolves, hyenas, crocodiles, and some species of snakes. Prey animals, such as horses, have excellent senses. They have to remain very alert and vigilant in their natural environments. Any little noise that might seem insignificant to us can be a matter of life and death to a horse.

And this sense of danger causes them to flee the area quickly. Though domesticated horses are pretty docile, their wild counterparts like zebras or Przewalski wild horses can be spooked easily and have an instinctive wariness around humans.

We used to have a quarter horse that was scared of the most innocent thing — butterflies! He used to become fidgety and distracted every time he saw one.

It made me wonder, what are horses scared of the most? Horses are naturally wild animals. Though the first domesticated horses came a few thousand years ago, most of their wild instincts and behaviors are still present. In the wild, horses are most scared of natural predators like lions, wolves, and alligators. They are also afraid of being left alone for a long time. A single kick from a horse can carry a force of 2, pounds per square inch, but they rarely have the opportunity to use this weapon, they would rather run.

A well-trained horse is essential. And if they try to walk through, they run the risk of getting stuck or entering some kind of super scary vortex. There's something about seeing miniature versions of themselves that some horses seriously don't like. Maybe they think they're being mocked? Or it could be a trick from one of those scary fun house mirrors. Either way, mini horses can pose problems. To make it even weirder, some horses are perfectly okay with solid-colored minis, but paints are completely different.

Do you know of any things that horses are afraid of to add to the list? Let us know in the comments! Many times working with a few horses together on scary things works better than alone. Example: Chickens, walk horse near chickens, after 3 days move closer or walk through the chickens the horse will see them move out of way 3 days. This week we ride horses together through the chickens. Here is the basis to this model. Identify the scare problem. What do you want as a Target behavior. Use successive approximation or shaping procedure, meaning go near, go nearer, go through and go through with group of horses.

Return to step 1 if necessary. If don't you work with your horse what do expect? Walk and ride is a good approach as it will build the connection. I know tons of horses that are afraid of donkeys or mules. The "bray" sets them off, and if they are on a trail ride with these strange looking horses, they remain frightened constantly, and you'd better be prepared if one happens to bray at any point in the ride.

You missed mud. Late bloomer. And I can trust him not to freak out if I slip and need his help. I thought this article was entertaining, but I don't agree with the chickens. Maybe this is unique, but my horse hangs out work my chickens and stands next to their coop during the night. Some horses that I am working with, plus mine got really spooked and still are when a wounded horse he got his leg caught in a wild pig snare trap was brought in.

I must admit that the hurt horse looked pretty bad. Anyway, to cut a long story short, since then, the other horses, are spooked to the point of not wanting to go back to the stables and are even very reluctant in going to the exercise pen. I just wanted to know why a wounded horse would have this much effect on them and what to do, to bring them back to normal again Thanks. Horses can get used to anything, but the first time they see it, oh my.

You should see horses the first time they see a camel, or, God forbid, an elephant. A friend of mine had a Morgan gelding who loved chickens. Loved to squish chickens. Loved to leap in the air and come down with all four feet on a chicken. He was so bummed when they ran out of chickens for him to squish. Your email address will not be published.