>>> Thankyou for your input; Banjo is a purebred Tennessee Walker, 6 years old. He's always overreacted the three years we've had him, even when he's not spooky. What makes me think a CorrecTor pad might help him is that he doesn't normally spook at all when being driven (but could be the blinkers) or when being ridden bareback.
Rachel, I have an Icelandic rehab (ex-rehab I guess) who was known to bolt before we got him. When he came here, I could tell he wasn't exactly a spooky horse, but he would sometimes just jump for no apparent reason, like he was spooking. I had his back checked, in fact, I had him checked all over. The poor horse was in pain everywhere. Finally, after significant massage and acupressure, we isolated the main sources of his pain as an old soft-tissue injury at his withers, and an old castration scar. The body work helped a lot, but once they realized that the withers injury didn't involve any broken bones, they injected his withers with steroids. He hasn't been the same horse since. He has stopped doing those odd jumps - honestly, I think now he was just having spasms of pain. Also, before the steroid injection, he would act a little nervous about a horse coming up behind him, and he stopped that behavior too. I can only imagine it would be like having a constant "catch" in your neck, such that you feel like you can't turn around and see what's behind you. Whatever, the horse turned out not to be very spooky, once we addressed his significant pain. I've never used a Corrector pad, but I've read some not-so-great reviews of it. At our farm, we've switched almost completely to treeless saddles and the horses are going well in them. You might want to consider one. My favorite of all times is the Sensation, made by Nicker's Saddlery. (I've dealt with Kaaren Jordan, www.kaarenjordan.com) Some brands that other people like are Barefoots, Trekkers, Freeforms. Bob Marshalls and Torsions. Karen Thomas, NC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.7/710 - Release Date: 3/4/2007 1:58 PM
