Horses

» Zenhorseman - My horse is a loon

Hi Donna, Your horse is not a loon, nor is she naughty. Those are human ideas and concepts you need to rid yourself of. As long as you perceive your horse through those misconceptions there will be little hope for change. In fact, 99.9 per cent of the time it is the human that needs to change, not the horse.
"Spooking at everything" is an indicator that she does not feel safe with you - in other words she does not perceive you as a leader she can trust with her life.
Horses have simple needs, food, shelter, companionship and THE NEED TO FEEL SAFE. Instead of getting her "schooled up" and figuring that getting rosettes in dressage tests is some sort of accomplishment, start looking at things from the horse's point of view and train yourself to become the leader your horse deserves.
ABOVE ALL - GIVE YOUR HORSE A SAFE PLACE TO BE. I don't mean a physical place, but an emotional place. She should feel that the safest place in the world is right next to you. Until you can provide her with that you are doing her a disservice by calling her names.
Good Luck,
Duane

-- posted by Zenhorseman