Overcoming My Horse's Fear (and Mine!): Part I: Where It All Went Wrong

Over his eleven years of life since I bred him, Cruz Bay has had a lot of accidents. Not all of them have involved me, but a good many of them have!

Here are some examples of what I’m talking about.

Accident One

When I took him to his first show, the four year old panicked and jumped over the breast bar of the trailer. He squashed me onto the floor where moments earlier I’d been standing and trying to calm him down (big mistake!).

He scrambled to his feet, then dived out through the jockey door on the side of the trailer. This exit is designed for humans, not horses, but somehow he survived the narrow squeeze with only a few scratches.

I, on the other hand, needed months before I could use my left shoulder again!

Accident Two

Another time he panicked on tarmac between a stationary truck and a trailer. He slipped and fell, throwing me to the ground with him, then kicked me under the trailer as he scrabbled to get up and flee for home.

A few more scratches for him and several weeks' recuperation for his owner!

Accident Three

This is the accident which scared him and me the most. We were at a huge licensed show in New Jersey and had no business being there. I didn't realize that we would be warming up for First Level together with Grand Prix horses coming at us from all directions and performing 'menacing' half-passes and canter pirouettes.

Cruz freaked and reared vertically. I survived the rear but ricocheted off him on landing. Upshot: he was terrified of other horses in the warm-up and I was terrified of my horse. ( While hobbling with the help of two walking sticks for three weeks!)

The Blame Game

It took me a long, long time to stop blaming Cruz for what happened and take responsibility for having put him in that situation. Oh, how I wish I could take back that day!

Instead of thinking we were ready for the Big Time, I should have swallowed my pride and taken it slowly at more schooling shows. It now takes one small thing to ‘go wrong’ in the warm-up at even local schooling shows for Cruz to go ballistic. Mea culpa, mea culpa!

Next: Where Do We Go From Here?

Anyone else have horse accident stories? Let me know what happened and how you and your horse coped afterwards.