12/11/2020
Ever wonder why your horse is scared of a small puddle or ditch? Horses have monocular vision. Which gives them poor depth perception.
It is hard for a horse to tell how far away an object is from him or how deep an object is, particularly when it is close to him. When horses bob their heads up and down when they’re looking at objects that are up close and down low to them, they’re trying to get a grasp of them. Many horses will stop tilt their heads and snort at an object. That’s the horse trying to see the object from a better angle. Because of his vision, it’s hard for him to tell whether the ditch is 3 feet deep or 100 feet deep.
One of my training horses got to look at the “scary” ditch today. As you see he snorts at it but still gives his best effort to go over. Once he made it to the other side without it “swallowing” him, he then quickly relaxed and went over it with more confidence each time. Get them outside any chance you can! A little outside groundwork to keep them from getting board in the arena and getting practice crossing basic obstacles you might come across on a trail!
