I have an Arabian Horse..any suggestions?

They are spirited creatures and he spooks quite often. If there is anyone out there who can help me manage him a little better...Thanks.

I know nothing at all about horses, except that one of my cousins was trampeled by an Arabian as a teenager...she's fine now, no permanent damage. But I do believe they ridded themselves of the horse. Wish I could help you...

Is this a common Arabian trait, I wonder?

How old is he? Horses are frisky when they are younger. Also, what are you feeding him? To reduce on energy, stick to feeding him chaff instead of oats as oats are high on energy. Arabs are known to be highly strung, but they are beautiful looking horses; that is why a lot of people end up buying Arabs cross bred with something else, such as a Thoroughbred.

Yeah, I have a suggestion...and it doesn't cost much...about $ 1. Ahem...anyway...lol.

My advice, if you are at a loss and don't know enough to fix this problem then sell the horse and get a better breed which will be more consistent and safer.

Arabs can be completely unpredictable and you may find that you fix a problem one day only to have it surface next week. They are highly intellegent, and can work things out very quickly...mainly aviodance.

If you want to persist with this horse then place him in a yard, tie plastic bags to the fence, chaff sacks thrown on the ground, old plastic bottles etc...so he can familiarise himself with noises and colours. When you are out riding, don't forget that if YOU are a nervous rider, then the horse will pick this up and react accordingly. If you are not a nervous rider and this behaviour continues (and usually the more you ride him the better he should become by natural association to outside objects, traffic etc), then you need to do some serious work in the arena with him first. In a word..dressage. He must respect your leg and move forward before you will have complete control. Lunging him will begin the process of obedience. He must be listening to you at all times, and when this occurs, his listening skills will continue anywhere you choose to ride him, including road work, show ring, etc.

Also, (and there's more..lol) when riding out and something ahead begins to spook him, you never never EVER face the horse up to it. Walk by with his head flexed in the OPPOSITE direction, with your outside leg on the horse to keep him straight. Horses are flight animals and if cornered will automatically turn and put their rump towards you...same goes for anything. He will feel more comfortable and less stressed NOT facing towards something scary...so USE his natural genetic response to danger when riding past those meany trees and letterboxes.

Hope this helps. I have been working professionally with horses for over 20 yrs. I can break them, re-educate them and I also teach riding. I have previously held instructor certificates and have competed successfully for many years. Just wanted to let you know that I am not full of it, and that what I have written is 'some' correct methods of dealing with this kind of problem.

P.S. Oats are the lowest energy source of any of the grain foods. Oats will never pump a horse up. A misconception that alot of ppl have I am afraid (sorry LG, not attacking you personally)

There are still many ppl in the horse world that ascribe to that view. I feed my horses a mix of oats, corn, barley, sunflower, bran and chaff twice a day. I barely ride at the moment due to studies, but I can pull any of my horses out of the paddock that hasn't been ridden in over 6 mths and they are quiet enough that my 3 yr old can ride them. The ONLY time you will have problems feeding grain foods is when the horse is in a confined space and is rarely worked.

Regardless, unless you ARE doing a lot of hard riding, there is no need to feed grain food and chaff based should be sufficient. (I feed grains to keep condition on and also it is cheaper in the long run)

Arabs, however, should never be fed corn b/c they may react to that (some horses can react badly to corn which is terrible hot). The highest protein based grain is tickbean but doesn't have the same effect as corn does.

hmm. things u never knew about horses....

ask lawgodness who is coming out with her new book what i know about horses and what u don't.

buy it today.

I love horses. I always wanted a horse I can run away with.