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Regular
Posts: 62
| How do you deal with your horse's pre-run/show anxiety? What is your routine once at a show for your nervous/anxious horse? |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 695
 
Location: Missouri | Sent you a PM |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
  
Location: Texas | I get off and hand walk or try to keep them still on the ground. I try to get on when they are dragging for my set of 5. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 324
| My anxiety starts 3-5 runners before mine. I like to talk to a friend in the holding pen or if there's nobody to talk to, I take lots of deep breaths and make all of my muscles relax. I know a guy who always says to laugh going into the alley... even if nothing is funny... I'm not brave enough to try that lol, I'd look like a crazy person.  |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | I try to stay in the back forty as much as possible until it's my drag. Try staying one handed as much as possible.. That makes a big difference for me! |
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 Lived to tell about it and will never do it again
Posts: 5409
| Most of the horses pre run anxiety and caused by the riders anxiety therefore do what ever works best to calm yourself down. You might even try some anxiety medicine for yourself. |
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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | euchee - 2015-06-17 7:55 PM Most of the horses pre run anxiety and caused by the riders anxiety therefore do what ever works best to calm yourself down. You might even try some anxiety medicine for yourself.
I agree -- horses feed off of us. If our horses are nervous, we need to look at ourselves first. They communicate by body language and if we have any tenseness in our body they'll definitely pick up on that and be a mirror of it, especially horses that tend to be more timid.
Food has a huge impact on mental state before a run. Eating plenty of protein & fat prior to see run helps level out my nerves more than anything and helps me focus. Peanuts and Turkey are my go-to foods on show days. |
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You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I agree partly with that and disagree partly. I have a good handle on my nerves and one of my horses just gets hot in the holding pen. I don't make my other ones nervous. For example, with Lucy- I can kiss at her in the holding area, give her a couple pats on the rump, pick up my over and under, and get her a little jazzed up to go in the pen. Bunny- absolutely not. My goal is to keep Bunny calm because she can get too worked up. |
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 Big Gun
Posts: 2216
Location: Texas | I used to get very nervous before a run which in turn made my horse a wreck. When I realized it wasn't nerves but adrenaline, I calmed down and so did my horse. It's actually fun now. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 232
Location: Wisconsin | I channel a lot of my anxiousness into my horse, so i do my best to stay out of the warm up pen until necessary, and walk my horse by foot until i need to get on. Im not all about "drugging" horses if at all necessary, but i have a really hot and anxious off the track horse that will not walk flat footed and is a constant teeth grinder. I like to use L Tryptophan and believe it is a really effective product that does a great job by just taking the edge off. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| euchee - 2015-06-17 7:55 PM
Most of the horses pre run anxiety and caused by the riders anxiety therefore do what ever works best to calm yourself down. You might even try some anxiety medicine for yourself.
I agree. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| I do like the others and try to take deep breaths, close my eyes and focus on my horse.
This weekend I decided because of the heat, I wasn't going to get on my horse until they were on my drag. I hand walked her around to keep her moving. I don't like to stand still and wait, so I usually stay out of the holding pens. I found this to be beneficial to her and me. She didn't have to hold me up for too many horses in the heat, I didn't sit on her worrying about the run. I just walked and by me walking, I wasn't focusing on my nerves, I was paying attention to where we were walking, staying out of everyone's way and not getting run over. It was a nice distraction. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | In the Zone by Animal Element is excellent to keep one calm. You just give it about an hour to 2 hours before a run. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 814
Location: California | I hardly ever take my hot horse into the "warm-up pen". I find my own little areas to long trot and lope some circles. Then I will get off and hand walk her around until the drag before mine. I try to time everything perfectly so there is no down time and standing around by the alley/gate. I start heading towards the alley when I can tell that the person before me is almost done with their run. Keeping forward momentum is key for my mare. |
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 A very grounded girl
Posts: 5052
Location: Moving soon..... | Bob @ THE made up a mixture just for my gelding. I have been using for several years (if not longer) and it is the only thing that works. He still will prance a little but he listens to me. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 164
Location: Oregon | I read about essential oils a while back (although havent tried yet) and how they work.
Lavender oil infused with something else i have read is great for the calming affect and nerves.
Has any one tried that before? |
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 Three in a Bikini
Posts: 2035
| I stay off until it is my drag and only hand walk.
My horse is a fire breathing dragon.
If he refuses to listen the whip comes out and he is reminded what we came there to do.  |
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I have an anxious one too and I get on early, warm him up, and then if possible, tie him back up at the trailer for a few minutes. In this heat, his muscles will still be warm after 5 minutes of standing still, so I usually will hop on him and band my feet in at the trailer, then ****slowly****** start heading for the arena when they're close to me. If I can stand next to a calm horse until I'm up, that usually helps. I'm also riding him in the gate (side gates) one-handed to keep him calm a little longer.
In The Zone by Animal Element is good stuff too. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | THE Calming Cookies and Calming Powder worked wonders for me. You can call them up and ask for a sample if you want to try it out first.  |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| Thank you for all the replies! His anxiety has been starting as soon as he is in the trailer and just snowballs from there. Each time we haul it gets worse. Last show I had to scratch because he was a complete nervous wreck at the trailer, reared, bucked, pulled, and kicked for a good half hr after I pulled him out of the stall (I usually do not stall but a storm came through). In the stall he seemed pretty calm and collected like he wasn't bothered by the storm at all. I couldn't even saddle him up, talk about feeling defeated! At home we rides and works fine, not much funny business other than the occasional monster in the weeds. We have an appointment with the vet next week, he does not move sore in my eyes but I have to be missing something! There's just something about a show that he can't keep all his rocks in the same box with. Hopefully we can get a starting point as no calming supplements I have tried have helped once we leave the barn. Must add that he has not been shown extensively and has his legs ran off of him. He's been shown at most 6 times a year, no fault of his own my schooling and planning a wedding got in the way. This was supposed to be our summer to get it together! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| How does he do if you take him to places other than a barrel race? Does he get tore up if you take him to a friend's house or to a roping? What if you took him to a show and just rode around and didn't compete? What would he do then? |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| If we go to a show and don't run he will still act anxious and nervous. We have "rode around the block" in the trailer but once he realizes he is just back at home he is fine and its no big deal. I am trying to make plans this weekend to haul for a trail ride and see how that goes. He enjoy's running, and has never acted like this prior to this year. I hope nothing comes up at the vet, but again I hope we get some type of starting point! |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 589
| euchee - 2015-06-17 8:55 PM Most of the horses pre run anxiety and caused by the riders anxiety therefore do what ever works best to calm yourself down. You might even try some anxiety medicine for yourself.
I have recently found Hyland's Nerve Tonic pills.... They are AMAZING!!!!!! My anxiety got really bad and my horse started working like crap!!! Nothing that I tried worked until I found these... They're not expensive either!! |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| If this horse is that nervous, I would treat with omeprazole for 30 days, then get something for the show day, milk of magnesia I have heard best results are 20 min before hauling and 20 min before running, I haven't tried this yet.
A worked up horse such as yours, I would bet money he has ulcers.
Also are you hauling alone or with another horse?
If you are hauling alone, I would take a buddy with him just to stayed tied up to the trailer with him, if you don't have one, it may be worth getting a mini
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | My guy is very hot by nature, it doesn't necessarily get worse when we travel; I've learned a few things about him though that have really helped relieve any anxiety that he might have.
I can't rush him. With anything. I have to be at a race at least an hour before start time because he needs to be unloaded, tied, and then left completely alone for at least 20 minutes so that he can look around and do his weird things that he does. After he's sat for 20 minutes, then I brush, saddle, etc. but NOT BEFORE!
He hates warm up pens, so I keep him away from them and go find somewhere to warm up alone.
I hang a flake of alfalfa in the trailer on the way to the race because it's good for the tummy, and he's ulcer prone.
If it is a long haul, especially hot, or I know it's going to be an extra stressful day for any reason, I will give him In The Zone the night before, and then again in the morning. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| so it's the hauling and the atmosphere of the show that is getting him wound up, and not the actual competition. I'd be thinking ulcers also. Maybe a little ACE to take the edge off? Help him figure out things aren't going to kill him if he is by himself away from home. A buddy could help, but it aggravates me to have one that needs it - and once it is started, it is hard to stop it. It is up to you what you want to handle.
Once I knew he didn't have a medical problem, he would go a lot. Probably be hobbled and tied to a tree if possible. A lot of riding and quiet work. probably going to have to camp out on him and expose him to a bunch. I don't rope or sort, but I show up at a lot of practices. I'll haul to rodeos close by just to ride colts around. Anything I can do to get them out where I'm not worried about getting ready for a barrel race, and just ride. Good luck! |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| He has been treated for ulcers and I have him on GUT for maintence. He shows no signs of ulcers with any pressure points, eats fine, has a nice coat and good condition. I have debated treating him again, but I don't think that is our issue and would rather spend my money elsewhere. I don't have another horse to haul with, but I have thought about a buddy. But I would rather him learn to deal with it on his own, he has been exposed to shows since he was 4 and this is the first year we have had this type of issue. It is like someone flipped a switch in his brain this year. I know I have lost some confidence in him through this process of trying to figure it all out, which I know does not help. I get nervous hauling him now just because of how he will act once we get there. I don't like making a big scene at places, expecially as soon as you unload off the trailer. I always try to find quite places to park away from everything, and we never go into the warm up pen (he has never handled those types of crowds very well). I know he will still most likely need a special routine, but I would like him to be sane enough to haul by myself to figure it out! The vet has drew me up a few doses of ACE to try, hopefully it will take enough of the edge off and give him a good experience. But I don't think I will be hauling to a show until he gets checked out, if he is sore somewhere it's too slight for me to notice. But that doesn't mean soreness is not there, I don't always have the best eye for small stuff. Thank you everyone for the positive responses and encouragement! He runs a really nice pattern and does it so effortlessly I really hope we can get this figured out! |
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Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Two suggestions. You might try crushed raspberry leaves. These are usually given to mares but I used to give them go a high anxiety gelding. It did work pretty well with him. The other thing is guanabenz. I use this on a mare that is really over responsive. It sure levels her out but she will still run.
Need to add that I took my xpurs off which helped both of theses horses
Edited by streakysox 2015-07-06 10:10 PM
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada | We just had a paper presented at Equine Science Society Meeting in May that shows horses supplemented with about 10 grams a day of magnesium had about a 1/3 rd lower fear response simply due to the calming effect of magnesium. We also feel it has an antacid effect so you may wish to try that and see if it helps. Make sure the diet is balanced, and I would suggest you try about 20 grams a day of magnesium oxide as it is very cost effective, gradually working up to about 30 grams a day. The trial was done with magnesium aspartate a water soluble highly available source to provide the ten grams . I use a lower availability number for the oxide form and while it has more mag per gram it is not as available but a heck of a lot cheaper .
I think that is where the milk of magnesia thing comes in. Use the magoxide all the time, make sure calcium is adequate. Feeding lots of alfalfa may add so much calcium your diet may be a bit low in magnesium availbility so if you feed alfalfa you probably need the extra mag any how. We feel a horse can use about a 2.5 to 3.0 ratio of calcium to mag or even lower down to 1 to one when you add the extar magnesium .
O would feed the alfalf hay at one small 2 lb flake or scoop of cubes about 1-1.5 hours before you ride to ensure there is a mat to take up and buffer acid splashed up during exercise. This should not blow his mind nor sandbag him with a lot of feed and water intake and the extar weight that involves and the way it changes blood flow to muscles etc.
FYI
Coastal Rider
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 695
Location: Missouri | Have you tried In the Zone paste by Animal Element? If not I would try that also I would start him on the Detox by Animal Element. It will help clean the gut. Which will help some with ulcer issues. |
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Pre-run anxiety