No one likes getting scared, whether you’re a person or a horse. But when horses get spooked, they can be harmful to themselves and the people around them. Not only can your horse lacking self confidence limit your riding abilities for races or for pleasure, but it will be difficult for you to fully trust your equestrian friend. If you’re uncertain about your horse’s actions, you will never be able to enjoy your ride, and your horse will be able to tell, too.

Thankfully, there are ways to develop your ability to communicate with your horse in hopes of building more trust. As a result, hopefully your horse will have less skittish tendencies. Here are some of the ways you can help ensure that your horse gets spooked less often:

Building trust 
One of the easiest ways to build a horse’s self confidence is through the rider. Riding a horse can be scary regardless of your skill set. Because of that, safety should always be your No. 1 concern. The best way to ensure safety and build your horse’s confidence is to remain calm and consistent throughout your ride. Then, the horse will borrow from the rider’s actions. That means if you are timid, you horse will be timid also. The mutual bond between the horse and rider can make all the difference. Building trust is essential to helping your horse mature, but it doesn’t always come quickly or easily.

Another way to build a connection with your hose is by grooming it. This can be a very powerful technique you can incorporate into your daily routine.

Exposing them to new experiences
If you’ve built trust between you and your horse and its still getting spooked, you should try introducing it to new experiences. This can be anything from a different trail to new food or sounds. Horses become accustomed to routine, and although this in many ways is a good thing, it also can also make them scare easy when something new comes about. Be sure to introduce your horse to to other people and horses. The more comfortable it gets with new places, things and people, the less chance it’ll get spooked easily.

Establish leadership
One of the most important aspects of building your horse’s confidence is by establishing your leadership. Use specific tools designed for communication between you and your horse regularly. Practicing communication is vital when it comes to building a relationship between anyone – human or horse!