Every rider knows what it feels like to ride a spooky horse. Or perhaps you have a “bomb proof” horse, except when it spots its bête noire, perhaps a pile of leaves that weren’t there yesterday or a particularly terrifying orange tractor.

Horses spook for myriad known and expected, as well as equally unknown and unexpected. reasons. They are, after all, prey animals with a strong flight response.

But if you’re an Olympic show jumping equestrian you might reasonably expect that if you’ve reached the top of the sport, your mount should be, shall we say, immune to spooky jumps?

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