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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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