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Veteran
Posts: 103
| I have a gelding who has all the ability in the world and has made some smoking runs - he has actually run with the big boys on occasion.
However, I struggle every day with him as he does not have much confidence and can get fearful. Some days he is totally grounded and fine, and other days he is full of anxiety and fearful. I wouldn't call him a "nervous" horse as he is not that way all the time. I never know which horse he is going to be when I head down to the barn. Even on his worst days he would never hurt me and is not dangerous - but he gets unfocused and fearful. I actually feel bad for him when he is like that. I know he doesn't want to be that way as he is a very sweet and kind horse.
When he runs at barrel races, no matter how anxious he is he always works and makes a decent run. I don't mean to be ungrateful for how good he does, but I know if he had more confidence he would be happier and run way tougher.
Does anyone have any experience with a horse like this?
Any suggestions on what I can do to help him? Products? Training techniques?
HELP! I love this horse and I want to help him (and me!)
Edited by BrightEyes 2017-02-05 1:58 PM
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| I am going to sing the same old song and dance to the same old tune ....
You and your horse are making each other nervous and take turns
nagging each other ...
Your horse apparently knows his business so it is up to the rider
to get out of the arena and start taking 1-2-3-4 hour rides just
messing around .. or trail rides with other horses.
One day per week work arena at easy gaits and then take a 30
minute pasture ride before unsaddling ... pattern, sidepasses.
two tracking, large and down to small circles, figure 8 for
flying lead change, one rein lift to go left or right while
moving forward ... you can also do these on your pasture/
trail rides ..
Number one item ... let him know you will protect him from other
horses or animals and as his confidence in you grow so will
your confidence in him ....
This does not mean you do the dumb things of making him go look
at spooky things or rub noses with other horses and catch a disease ...
it means you rattle your reins a little to get his attention and move
right on by as if he OR YOU never gave it an eye .... and stay a safe distance
from strange horses. Horses can read your mood and emotions
so you have to be the pilot and let your confidence flow into your horse!!
I have found that this simple advice that works is one of the hardest
things for riders to do in order for horse and rider to gain confidence
in each other ...
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| BARRELHORSE USA - 2017-02-04 11:50 PM
I am going to sing the same old song and dance to the same old tune ....
You and your horse are making each other nervous and take turns
nagging each other ...
Your horse apparently knows his business so it is up to the rider
to get out of the arena and start taking 1-2-3-4 hour rides just
messing around .. or trail rides with other horses.
One day per week work arena at easy gaits and then take a 30
minute pasture ride before unsaddling ... pattern, sidepasses.
two tracking, large and down to small circles, figure 8 for
flying lead change, one rein lift to go left or right while
moving forward ... you can also do these on your pasture/
trail rides ..
Number one item ... let him know you will protect him from other
horses or animals and as his confidence in you grow so will
your confidence in him ....
This does not mean you do the dumb things of making him go look
at spooky things or rub noses with other horses and catch a disease ...
it means you rattle your reins a little to get his attention and move
right on by as if he OR YOU never gave it an eye .... and stay a safe distance
from strange horses. Horses can read your mood and emotions
so you have to be the pilot and let your confidence flow into your horse!!
I have found that this simple advice that works is one of the hardest
things for riders to do in order for horse and rider to gain confidence
in each other ...
I am the OP and I appreciate your response and take responsibility for contributing to the situation, however this horse is this way even when he is not around me. There have been several times when I have let friends (who are respected trainers in the barrel horse world) take him for 3-4 months and he is the same way with them. At home or at races - it doesn't matter.
That's why I need suggestions - I am out of answers. LOL |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Have you tried any supplements that act on their stress hormones or adrenals? Cur Ost Adapt and Equisure has helped my horse. Nouvelleresearch.com has several articles about stress and its effect on horses that might be helpful. |
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| What's his feeding program look like? I know several folks who have made feeding adjustments and seen great results in attitude.
Others can probably chime in better than me once we know what he's being fed. I do know folks who have had luck with some of the daily feed through "calmers" but also knowing what they were feeding I think similar results could have been achieved by adjustments to the whole feeding program instead of basically feeding and upper and supplementing with a downer... |
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
Location: OH. IO | If he is anxious ALOT the first thing I would do is treat for ulcers. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Some horses are just anxious horses, sometimes you need to figure out how to deal with it.
As someone else said, any anxious horse I have ever had, I put onto an ulcer prevention program, you will probably have to treat.
One other possibility is PSSM.
My cousin had a stud who was a gem when he wasn't stalled, and when he didn't receive grain. If he was stalled or grained he was a complete opposite horse. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I would like to know what your feeding also, and is he stalled up or does he have a pasture that hes turned out in? How offten is he worked, how offten do you make runs at home and how offten is he just trailed rode. Lots of relaxed trail riding is good for anybodys soul.
Check your tack to make sure it fits good, a bad fitting saddle or a bad pad can make a horse nervous too. |
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| Here's more info:
He gets a small flake of alfalfa grass hay morning and night, with free choice grass hay the rest of the time. No grain, just a good fat source (with omegas), a vitamin/mineral supplement, some buffered Vitamin C, MSM, a probiotic and a feed through calming supplement. He has been treated for ulcers and gets a maintenance dose.
He is out during the day and stalled at night. He is never worked on barrels and is ridden leisurely. He looks awesome.
He never ties up or has any other symptoms that would indicate PSSM. No tight muscles, etc.
The weird thing that I cannot figure out is that he is not always like this. 85% of the time he is as calm as can be (whether at home or a race), and then all of a sudden something will trip his trigger - like a stray dog running in the pasture next door or something, and he will react. Head up, eyes big, snorting, etc.
And he will not let down. It's like once he gets triggered into that fear mode it takes him sometimes hours to come down. I have to distract/defuse him to get him to come back to Earth. That's why I say it's not anxiety - more fearful than anything. He has run at some weird races with lots of distractions, etc. and that doesn't bother him at all.
I have had a few horses through the years with anxiety, chargy, high, or out of their minds all the time but never one who is quiet most of the time until triggered by something out of the ordinary.
Edited by BrightEyes 2017-02-05 4:13 PM
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| BrightEyes - 2017-02-05 2:14 PM
Here's more info:
He gets a small flake of alfalfa grass hay morning and night, with free choice grass hay the rest of the time. No grain, just a good fat source (with omegas), a vitamin/mineral supplement, some buffered Vitamin C, MSM, a probiotic and a feed through calming supplement. He has been treated for ulcers and gets a maintenance dose.
He is out during the day and stalled at night. He is never worked on barrels and is ridden leisurely. He looks awesome.
He never ties up or has any other symptoms that would indicate PSSM. No tight muscles, etc.
The weird thing that I cannot figure out is that he is not always like this. 85% of the time he is as calm as can be (whether at home or a race), and then all of a sudden something will trip his trigger - like a stray dog running in the pasture next door or something, and he will react. Head up, eyes big, snorting, etc.
And he will not let down. It's like once he gets triggered into that fear mode it takes him sometimes hours to come down. I have to distract/defuse him to get him to come back to Earth. That's why I say it's not anxiety - more fearful than anything. He has run at some weird races with lots of distractions, etc. and that doesn't bother him at all.
I have had lots of horses with anxiety, chargy, high, or out of their minds all the time but never one who is quiet most of the time until triggered by something out of the ordinary.
Your last statement said a lot.
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | How often do you do groundwork? What about sensitizing and desensitizing? |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 415
| Why are you supplementing with Vit C? Horses don't need it and research shows it does more harm than good to both the horse and your pocket book...if fed too long they stop producing it themselves. Magnesium is cheap, I would start with that. I know you mentioned PSSM but how you describe this horse is exactly like my Type 2 Pssm mare and she has never tied up either. Something dumb like a fencer she's walked by everyday will set her off and it's like trying to calm down someone on drugs (you're not on fire Rickybobby!) lol but other times she's good, even relaxed. But she's just an anxious horse that I struggle to call nervous but comes across that way.
Edited by cheeka77 2017-02-06 12:53 AM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 585
Location: Texas | I agree with the ground work! Also, if you have access to cattle sometimes just walking them to water everyday will help. The cattle move away from him and he finds dominance over something that scared him in the beginning. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1165
Location: California | I agree with magnesium. I had an arabian mare that was exactly like your horse. Magnesium did her a world of good! I used MagRestore, very affordable and it comes in a powder or pellet. She is a VERY picky eater and ate the pellets fine. |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | BrightEyes - 2017-02-05 2:14 PM Here's more info: He gets a small flake of alfalfa grass hay morning and night, with free choice grass hay the rest of the time. No grain, just a good fat source (with omegas), a vitamin/mineral supplement, some buffered Vitamin C, MSM, a probiotic and a feed through calming supplement. He has been treated for ulcers and gets a maintenance dose. He is out during the day and stalled at night. He is never worked on barrels and is ridden leisurely. He looks awesome. He never ties up or has any other symptoms that would indicate PSSM. No tight muscles, etc. The weird thing that I cannot figure out is that he is not always like this. 85% of the time he is as calm as can be (whether at home or a race), and then all of a sudden something will trip his trigger - like a stray dog running in the pasture next door or something, and he will react. Head up, eyes big, snorting, etc. And he will not let down. It's like once he gets triggered into that fear mode it takes him sometimes hours to come down. I have to distract/defuse him to get him to come back to Earth. That's why I say it's not anxiety - more fearful than anything. He has run at some weird races with lots of distractions, etc. and that doesn't bother him at all. I have had a few horses through the years with anxiety, chargy, high, or out of their minds all the time but never one who is quiet most of the time until triggered by something out of the ordinary.
Why don't you work him on the barrels? |
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| WYOTurn-n-Burn - 2017-02-06 12:45 PM
BrightEyes - 2017-02-05 2:14 PM Here's more info: He gets a small flake of alfalfa grass hay morning and night, with free choice grass hay the rest of the time. No grain, just a good fat source (with omegas), a vitamin/mineral supplement, some buffered Vitamin C, MSM, a probiotic and a feed through calming supplement. He has been treated for ulcers and gets a maintenance dose. He is out during the day and stalled at night. He is never worked on barrels and is ridden leisurely. He looks awesome. He never ties up or has any other symptoms that would indicate PSSM. No tight muscles, etc. The weird thing that I cannot figure out is that he is not always like this. 85% of the time he is as calm as can be (whether at home or a race), and then all of a sudden something will trip his trigger - like a stray dog running in the pasture next door or something, and he will react. Head up, eyes big, snorting, etc. And he will not let down. It's like once he gets triggered into that fear mode it takes him sometimes hours to come down. I have to distract/defuse him to get him to come back to Earth. That's why I say it's not anxiety - more fearful than anything. He has run at some weird races with lots of distractions, etc. and that doesn't bother him at all. I have had a few horses through the years with anxiety, chargy, high, or out of their minds all the time but never one who is quiet most of the time until triggered by something out of the ordinary.
Why don't you work him on the barrels?
He doesn't need to be worked on the barrels. He is very turny and if I work him on the barrels he anticipates. So we turn other things on the trail. LOL
Plus he runs good at the races so no need to drill him. |
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Veteran
Posts: 103
| workerbee - 2017-02-06 10:03 AM
I agree with the ground work! Also, if you have access to cattle sometimes just walking them to water everyday will help. The cattle move away from him and he finds dominance over something that scared him in the beginning.
This is a great idea! Thank you. |
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Barrel Horse With No Confidence - What To Do?