Marianne Ryan wrote in a message to Vicki Nichols:
MR> Back on topic-can you tell me why some horses are so
MR> spooky??
     No, but in politically-correct Arizona the drive is on to eliminate 
offensive sounding words - last year they renamed a hill that had been called 
Spook Hill for a hundred years after some cattle getting spooked there.  It 
is now known as Red Mountain or some such nonsense.  And Squaw Peak is going 
to be renamed Native American Female Hill or something dumb like that!  ;)  
So we will need to find a less offensive word than spook.
     I am clueless - I know a LOT of what will spook my own horses, like 
horse-eating garbage cans and bottomless water puddles.  And tonight it was 
dark when I was taking my lesson in the arena when a rider cantered by on 
horseback, and Dub spooked and BOLTED across the arena like he'd never seen 
or heard a horse before.  He spooks when he is under-exercised and bored, 
that part is predictable as heck.  I can ride this same horse in the middle 
of Phoenix traffic in a parade if he is getting ridden daily, but he gets 
"high" when he is left alone.
     I have owned a 7/8 Thoroughbred that was fairly excitable and spooky, 
but some of it was the fact that he was from a small town and the big city 
had so many things to be scared of.  And my 1/2 Arab I had in high school was 
a bit spooky, too...but I always figured that was because these horses were 
both hot-blooded.  I think spookiness has a lot to do with their temperament 
and what they are used to being around - eventually, I was able to fire a 
pistol while holding my 1/2 Arab's reins in my hand without him bolting - and 
it just took getting him used to the noise and knowing he wasn't gonna get 
hurt - and that a lot of times that noise meant he was gonna get a couple of 
sugar cubes right afterwards.
MR> about this possibly  spooking the horse?  What else could
MR> cause them to be so spooky?
     I bet there are a lot of people here who are more qualified to answer 
this than I am.
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