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| Okay well I ride this very spooky mare, a 10 yaer old Friesian, dressage style and I'm showing her First Level dressage this year. Problem is, she can't seem to calm down at shows. At my first show, she would shy and bolt in the warm up ring. When it came time to do my test, she would NOT go near the judge's booth. I had to ride two meters from C the whole time. She was very stressed and I could not get her attention whatsoever. Needless to say, I got a very bad mark on that test. The second test was a little better, I was able to make her go past the booth. She was still very stressed.
The second day, she randomly bolted on the middle of the test. I was excused for "dangerous situation".
At my last show, she was very good in the warm-up ring. But when it came time to leave the warm up ring where all her buddies were and to enter the scary, empty ring, she had a panic attack: she started galloping out of control out of the ring and towards the other horses. I was only able to stop her 200 feet later (and I'm an experienced rider).
So the problem is, she gets lonely and extremely stressed in the ring-- and she has panic attacks. What can I do to calm her down? She is not a young horse, and she has shown two years ago with her owner (and she was really good). She's an excellent dressage horse, and I know we could go far if only she would calm down. Any advice?
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| Well first of all, make sure you don't get stressed out, cause she can tell and it will only make things worse. Whenever your just schooling her I would start around horses and then go away and make her work byherself. Make her get used to leaving the other horses. We do that at the end of all the lessons... It actually has worked too!
Katie
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| GingerLover<3 (7/18/2008)
Well first of all, make sure you don't get stressed out, cause she can tell and it will only make things worse. Whenever your just schooling her I would start around horses and then go away and make her work byherself. Make her get used to leaving the other horses. We do that at the end of all the lessons... It actually has worked too! i agree  also, when you go to shows away from her stable, get there early and walk her around so she gets used to her surrondings. i'd be a little freaked out too if i was a horse and i was in a new strange place. good luck with her
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| x3_horses_x3 (7/18/2008)
GingerLover<3 (7/18/2008)
Well first of all, make sure you don't get stressed out, cause she can tell and it will only make things worse. Whenever your just schooling her I would start around horses and then go away and make her work byherself. Make her get used to leaving the other horses. We do that at the end of all the lessons... It actually has worked too! i agree also, when you go to shows away from her stable, get there early and walk her around so she gets used to her surrondings. i'd be a little freaked out too if i was a horse and i was in a new strange place. good luck with her i completely agree. you can also bring her to shows your not in, just to get her used to a new surrounding. even if she is good up to going in the final ring, getting more used to a show situation can help. try to start out on easier tests if you can, just to get her used to the showing. don't get focused on not getting a good mark on the test, focus on her- keeping her attention, and making her do what you want to do, how you want to do it.
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| MyHorseThor<<<333 (7/18/2008)
x3_horses_x3 (7/18/2008)
GingerLover<3 (7/18/2008)
Well first of all, make sure you don't get stressed out, cause she can tell and it will only make things worse. Whenever your just schooling her I would start around horses and then go away and make her work byherself. Make her get used to leaving the other horses. We do that at the end of all the lessons... It actually has worked too! i agree also, when you go to shows away from her stable, get there early and walk her around so she gets used to her surrondings. i'd be a little freaked out too if i was a horse and i was in a new strange place. good luck with her i completely agree. you can also bring her to shows your not in, just to get her used to a new surrounding. even if she is good up to going in the final ring, getting more used to a show situation can help. try to start out on easier tests if you can, just to get her used to the showing. don't get focused on not getting a good mark on the test, focus on her- keeping her attention, and making her do what you want to do, how you want to do it. ^Righto. But also, some horses just aren't made for showing and it sounds like she is one of those horses.
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~Morgan Like A Trick Owned & Loved by ME  I am a Proud Owner of an Appendix Quarter Horse and a Proud Member of the Appendix Quarter Horse Club. (^ This makes me so cool.)  |
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| My advice would be to school her away from other horses, so that she gets used to being ridden in a situation like a show ring. It sounds like you have not fully gained her trust. She needs to rely on you to keep her safe instead of the other horses. Another thing that might help is to take her to a show without entering any classes. This eliminates the stress factor caused by the pressure to do well, and therefore gives you the chance to focus solely on your mare. I hope that this helps, and good luck!
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| Katie_Cinnabun (7/21/2008)
My advice would be to school her away from other horses, so that she gets used to being ridden in a situation like a show ring. It sounds like you have not fully gained her trust. She needs to rely on you to keep her safe instead of the other horses. Another thing that might help is to take her to a show without entering any classes. This eliminates the stress factor caused by the pressure to do well, and therefore gives you the chance to focus solely on your mare. I hope that this helps, and good luck! I agree. And when you do show, if you can have a reader, focus less on you and the test and more on soothing her. My horse is a really good show horse, but my first few shows were just like yours. When I finally realized I just needed to talk to him a little to calm him down, we did a lot better. I hope you do well at the next show! Good luck!
Dressage...Poetry In MotionEVERYTIME I RIDE - I am proud to wear my helmet. If you are proud of yours, put this in your siggy |
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| sounds like everyone else has covered what i was going to say, a bond between you two (mares are very touchy in this way, and need to have confidence in their rider/handler) schooling her at home away from other horses, and taking her to shows that you don't show in
 There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it's the risk, the rush, the gamble. In any event it's a thing I need.
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