In need of some tips

What are you feeding him and have his eyes been checked?  Vision problems can make a horse very timid.  Also, if one is overfeeding, that is to say giving too hot of feed, the horse can be also very flighty.  How much time does he get out of his stall?  Should be several hours at least three days a week.  Give him a good longing before taking the fellow out.  It might take some of the edge off.  In longing, I'm not suggesting running him madly around in circles, no... schooling him.  Make him behave and sharpen his queues and commands before going out.  Lastly, how old is this horse?  Some horses aren't any good for trail till they're ten years old.  Some never are.

I am feeding him 1/2 (coffee can size)&nbsplain oats and 1/4 sweet feed and 1/4 alfalfa pellets once a day. He gets turned out to pasture to run and eat grass 3-4 hours 5 days a week and gets about 3-4 flakes of prarie hay at night. Yes he has had everything checked, my vet did that as soon as Gunner and Cozmo came home from the sell. He is 8 years old. I don't think I am over feeding him, and I do not stall any of my horses, I have a run for each of them, no need for cooped up, fancy stalls, not my thing. I loung him for a good 10-15 minutes before I do any sort of ground work on him or riding. My question was not why he is high strung, because unless he is spooked by something, he is very laid back, besides when you ride him, he loves to go which I really like about him; because I plan to do barrels on him in the future once he is ready in all aspects of his training. I just think he hasn't been introduced to alot of new sights, smells and sounds and needs to understand that not everything that he comes across is going to eat him!

Your horse sounds just like my Arabian when he was younger, all ways freaking out over the smallest thing. What is happening is your horse is using his reactive side of his brain and not using his thinking side of his brain.  If you are riding him, right when he spooks at something get his attention back on you. Such as doing circles, bends, side pass. Any thing to get his mind of the item that he is scared of. Then come back to what ever he thinks is scary. You can also work on things on the ground. Clinton Anderson has a great book on working on scary things, with horses. Try looking up some of his things he does, it may work for you. Also when working on the ground, when you show him something scary and he runs. Keep the item near him till he stops his feet, once he does reward him. Once he knows that thing is going to keep following him, he will start using his thinking side of his brain.

One of the coolest things I've ever read about (haven't tried it) was a John Lyon's article on 'spooking in place'.  The theory is you can't make him not be afraid but you can teach him a more desirable reaction.  So, in the round pen you have him in the center and praise him.  then you take one step away and calmly say "boo" and he looks at you like you've lost your mind and you come back and&nbspraise him.  Then you step back away and do something more dramatic like raise your voice or hands or jump... just escalate it gradually.  Lyons is a big fan of doing things hundreds of times so take it really slow.  His article ends up with a box being in the round pen when you enter and once you're in the center have someone jump out of the box (at which time my horse would climb the fence). [] But you get the idea.  You want him to keep his feet in one place and not spook to any one side or run away, etc.  
sounds fun to me! []

Prarie hay?  Well that's a new one on me.  Then again, I'm from the West Coast, so what can you expect?  Sounds like you've got him on a good diet.  You're the judge as to weather it's high-spirits, high-strung, or just plain fear.  Hunter, LOL (I can just picture someone jumping out of the box!  My Arabs would have never trusted boxes again, LOL!), has a very good idea (or John Lyon does anyway) on de-sensitising, and teaching him to, 'spook in place.'   In my own case, I'd have just sold him off.  Runaways are something a Driver can never tolerate. [:-]
 
In your situation I'd try Hunter's suggestion and look up Lyon's stuff (videos, books...).  Sounds like just the ticket to me.[][]

don't overlook the helpfulness of an older well trained horse when going out on those first trail rides.  Sometimes what is mistaken for fear or spookiness is simply the product of what I call "rider reaction."  For example, I have an 8yr old gelding in for a tune up right now that the owner team sorts and does team penning competitions.  The horses regular ride consists of brush where the saddle goes, saddle, get on and go, go go.  So he is always tense once the saddle is on and always overly aware of pressure either from seat or legs.  That's his routine and bringing him down a level is challenging.  What I'm trying to show is that the horse may not know how to act without that constant rider demand almost like a race horse without a race.  He has to learn to enjoy being out and relaxed.  If you can find someone who has a very calm gelding who has been there done that and understands what your trying to acomplish with this horse, then use the buddy horse to build confidence for your horse.  Chances are when he sees something that he thinks might get him he will look first to the other horse to see if he is nervous and THEN he will feel how relaxed you are as well.  Before long he will be less in tune with the other horse and moreso with you.  Keep it low key someplace where you won't run into any other horses and if he does spook, bend him to a stop and then only when you feel him relaxe let him out of it and praise him.  Have the owner of the buddy horse come and ride with you in the arena a few times so that you know how they will react to one another and whether or not your horse will "lock on" to the new horses reactions.  Yep, pretty old school but I've had some horses that were so "rider reactive" that they focused so much on what I was doing on their back that when something beyond them did come up they nearly had a heart attack but when coupled with an older seasoned horse, their center of focus changed and the next time I rode alone the change was dramatic and for the better.  Good luck and keep us posted!

First- I would not feed him the oats or corn. Those are both hot foods and when you mix them- well, it's not so pretty :/

We are into Natural Horsemanship, so what we do for starting a horse or helping a "flighty" horse is sack them out. This may sound weird but it is not cruel and will not hurt the horse in any shape or form. You are basically already doing this. What you need to do is find anything and everything that might make him nervous or jumpy if he comes across it, put it in a round pen and start from his legs up. I usually start with balls. Bounce them around him, roll them underneath him, then put them on his body. Roll it down one side of his neck and then the other, his back, his face etc. 
Then we like to use pool noodles. Lol yes that might sound weird but it is a great way to have some big tall "Scary" thing around him without either of you getting hurt. Rub it all over him, underneath his belly, on his back, his tail, up his neck, face etc. Then go to plastic bags and tarps. Spread a tarp around the outside and make it so he has no choice but to go on top of it. By the end, you can have all of this stuff draped and tied on him and he won't care. Do this every day or every other day until he stops flipping out about it. 

Hope this helps!

Hello, I am no expert just giving some suggestions. When I ride and my horse spooks I always tell her it's ok and she's a good girl. Try to make your horse a little more comfortable with you so they trust you and feel safe with you. Always praise him when he does a good job. That may build a bond. Which will build trust. Again I am no expert just a fellow horse rider. Good luck!