Please help me understand my horse's behavior at show this weekend?

Question

My daughter took her horse to an "away" schooling show Saturday. The horse was extraordinarily hyper. She had so much trouble controlling him in her flat classes she scratched from her jumping classes out of fear of injury to herself and/or the horse. While I fully support her decision to scratch under the circumstances, I want to try to avoid this situation in the future, if possible. This is only the second show she has taken him to (only owned him a few months). He did very well at first show, although showed some apprehension at audience people near the ring. This past weekend circumstances were as follows: He travelled without another horse (previous show he travelled with 3 others). Wind was blowing quite briskly (Noel was offshore around the same time. Not close, but could that have factored?) The show "ring" was makeshift. They had turned over the base of their regular ring and so had simply cordoned off an area of grass. One side was on a downward grade (or upward depending).

Would these factors have made that much difference? He was like he was on speed or something. After two flat classes, he was drenched in sweat and it took everything my daughter had to maintain control of him. Her trainer took him in the ring in place of her in one jumping class and even he struggled to control him. What can we do differently or to prepare him better next time??

Sorry, this was an English Hunter show.

Answer 1

You know, I like how you put your question. I go to shows frequently and see people with horses that are acting much the same was as yours did, but they are angrily blaming the horse, and usually there's some involvement with smacking the horse around with a whip or leadrope.

It's refreshing to see that someone is a capable-enough horse person to know it's not outright the "damned" horses fault, and to realize that there were factors that could have affected his behaviour.

I commend you for that. And, this experience, instead of aggrivating your, or anyone else, should only stand to show there are still certain aspects of the horse's training that need tobe addressed.

Trailering to the show alone could by far, be the first one. He didn't have his buddies, so was more nervous and more spooky & flighty because of his nerves. Doing some stronger, respect-building ground work, both at home and away, will help to keep the horses attention focused on you, instead of on how mad he is that he's away from friends or needing to look for new ones. It will help "quell his panic" if he can look to you for guidance and direction and leadership from the ground up.

Wind can almost always set a horse off. Some horses don't mind, but I've seen wind make even the calmest horses go bucking away like rodeo broncs. Again, giving the horse's feet a job to do will keep him focused on you and not so concerned with the wind blowing by.

I doubt that the downward slopes or grassy area you described had much to do with setting him off, but you can always try schooling him over "unusual" terrains at home - ride in the grass at your farm, find a hill and do some hill work, go on trail rides - even just short ones - to get him exposed to and confident on different footings.

Definetly a good call to scratch out of jumping. It would be a good idea to school, if you can, going away. Once a month, even, if you can just load him up alone into the trailer, and take him to a different location to ride, this will help him - and if it is a quiet atmosphere at first, without the to-do of a show going on, it will give both horse & rider a chance to learn to work together in an away situation and have a better chance to focus their minds together on doing a job.

At home, exposing your horse to as much "crap" as possible is a good idea. Even if you can't ride him through or around it, righ away, turn him loose in an arena cluttered with balls, pool noodles, flags, cones, barrels, tarps... and leave him in there for a while to see these things - it will help get him used to seeing different things and realize that they're not going to eat him.


I've learned a lot over the last few months of natural horsemanship - building ground respect, desenitizing, etc..- and I cannot believe the impact it has on everything you do with horses, and the confidence and trust you can achieve doing things properly, and positively.

This was a massive transition for me, who coming from a show-environment, was also once one of those people who blamed the horse for everything and often resorted to smacking to "make" him better.

Several years ago, I used to own a beautiful, jetblack Canadian TB jumper horse. He was amazing, a big built, lovely horse easily mistaken for a warmblood. While he was mostly OK at home (trustworthy enough even with the smallest of children to safely ride), he did occaisionally pull some stunts I didn't appreciate jumping. But, he was a terrible monster at shows - uncontrollable to say the least. I used to longe the holy crap out of him before shows, but still ended up having to scratch many classes, and I NEVER got the courage to jump him, because I knew that would have been a suicide mission.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. If I knew then, what I knew now, about ground respect, leadership, building the horse's confidence in you, keeping them focused on you, densensitizing, etc... I know 100% for a fact I could have solved every "problem" I had with that great horse. Instead, out of frustration, and a narrow view on horse training, I sold him for less than 1/2 what I paid for him, and to this day, I'm still trying to find him to buy him back and fix those problems I know how to fix now.

Good luck with yours, and remember, ground work and ground respect in a positive fashion go a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to changing ALL habits and behaviours of a horse - on the ground, in the pasture, in the stall, and in tack.

Answer 2

Just making sure that I understand correctly. You own the horse, and are partially leasing him to the 4H barn? You are getting a break in the cost of the board in exchange for allowing them the use of the horse in lessons? If that is the case, then you could certainly cancel the lease agreement. Your horse will lack exercise during the week, but may be more tractable (have less energy) for your daughter when she is riding. I can see that there may be more than one issue. The first would be that your daughter is not able to ride as often as a horse needs to be exercised, so if other people are riding him, his training is (potentially) progressing faster than hers is. So when she tries to ride, he is reacting to cues that she is unaware that she is giving, or alternatively, he is not reacting to cues that she believes she is giving. it is possible that her level of ability as a rider is less than the horse's level of sensitivity, and he is reacting honestly. The interpretation by people is almost always that the horse is at fault and is misbehaving, when the reality is that the horse is doing what it is being asked to do. (Whether you mean it or not!) The second would be that the horse is being over-used and is turning sour. It is not necessarily true that 'the more he is ridden, the better he will be'. Horses need time off every week, just like people do. They need to be used for a certain amount of time in a day, and not longer, and they need work that does not just irritate them. Not all horses have the disposition to be lesson horses. So if your horse is being ridden five or six days a week, one or two times, that would be ideal. Sometimes, three times is fine. I don't mean going three hours in a row, either, I mean a morning, afternoon and/or evening training of between 20 minutes to 60 minutes per time. Having said that, it is rare to never that a very experienced rider cannot convince a 'sour' or overworked horse to do what it is asked. The solution for the sour horse is to determine what its current workload is, and then make a more reasonable schedule. Thirdly, there is the possibility that the 4H barn instructors are not very good, and the riders are not being taught properly, and they are damaging his training or attitude. They may be riding too hard, using wrong bits, spurs, who knows? There is the possibility that they are 'ruining' your horse. In which case, you will have to insist that they do not use him for lessons. It would be a good idea to find a rider who you are happy with to ride him during the week when you cannot come out. Has he changed for the worse since you brought him to that barn? Was he different before, and how was he different?

Answer 3

I've had a past horse do this to my twice. He almost killed my husband trying to jump from his show stall amongst other panic attacks. We had a storm with high winds and nasty speakers, and show knows what else. It's terrifying!!

First, your horse likely scared you, your daughter, the trainer, and quite a few spectators. He then picked up on all this fear and everything just snowballed! Not much you could do at this point. Wind and being alone could be factors in his behavior, if he was a bit funky before she ever got on to ride.

As for reasons, I am very suspicious of the speakers used at some shows. since I'm a musician, these things usually hurt my ears and irritate me. The quality, the placement, the settings on the sounds board (if there is one), and the mike and mike placement make a HUGE difference. Horses hear in many frequencies that we don't. Those high tinny overtones and sound like fingers on a chalk board to me can drive the sanest horse out of his mind. Add to this poor recording that are chosen for entertainment, background music, or worse of all homemade freestyle kurs just make the sound system sound worse. Add to that, they turn the volume waaay up! When i say horse ear plugs for sale somewhere, I realized I didn't have the only horse with speaker issues. Also, the irritation caused by these can be not just in the ring, but anywhere within hearing distance. Obviously worse the closer you get.

Now, was he nervous from the moment he got off the trailer/ How about tacking up, warm up? Only the show ring?

Horses are also very sensitive to weather and what weather is on its way. The wind could also blow strange smells, even of other frightened horses.

Do you know the history of your horse, who owned him, etc? It's possible he could have had a really bad experience at a show or elsewhere. maybe there is a trigger that he remembers that set him off in pure panic. This is the case with my current horse. Smells, sounds, objects, people, clothing.... so many things! I'm on my second horse with a fear of dark skinned men. Another, a broom, a whip or harsh sound used on another horse, Am long blue coat, the smell of pigs, and so many other odd thong trigger I've found on my horses and others over the years. There's plenty more I never found and was lucky to find any.

Just another thought... If he's still a bit different at home, look into pain as a possibility.

You might want to give him some herbs (and yourself too!) for calming at your next show... just because you'll be all tense expecting as repeat. I use three bags of hot chamomile tea mixed in with mash and apple sauce. Give them 1/2 to 1 hr before the first stressful situation. There are herbs you can buy too. This at least gives you the chance to start the even calmly.

hope this helped a little GL and be careful

Answer 4

horse get very excited over strange things. Like i now a ranch horse that winnies at cows when ever he'z working them. Hey give your daughter credit its very good that she felt that couldn't do it and scratched. Last thing you need is a child on a horse thats very excited and could get more excited, get my drift. Now one thing I do at shows is I lunge the horse at the show, both in the arena so the horse can blow some steam and outside. This will help in 2 ways.
1. it'll help your horse get used to the smells and sights and sound of the show. You don't have to worry as much about safety in a sense.
2. It'll put a "dent" in the energy level. The horse should be more settled down to work better.
How old is this horse? If these solutions don't help I'd suggest going to a trainer, they can ride the horse possibly give their input on the deal insuring that both the horse and more importantly that your daughter is safe

Answer 5

You definitely want a green horse to be comfortable and not have a bad experience at shows. My daughter has a 3 year old TB (never been raced) and she took him to his first show a couple of weeks ago. All they did the first day was walk the grounds getting used to the sites and sounds of the show area. He grazed, spooked at a few things (tents, loud speaker etc) but she just rubbed his neck and told him everything was fine. Later that afternoon, she rode him in the schooling arena (when everyone was gone) and he was perfect.

The second day, she did the exact same thing with him and her trainer said he was so good that weekend. He ended on a good note with no problem.

Just take her horse to as many shows as possible but don't ride yet, just let the horse walk around and get used to the surroundings and once they are able to handle the sites and sounds, more on the next step. There's no rush. You want them to have a positive experience not a scary one and the above experience was scary for your horse.

Most definitely, this guy needs to be trailered with other horses until he's comfortable. They need the company of other horses.

Answer 6

Yes, all the factors combined would have contributed. I had a wonderful show horse that I showed coast to coast...he was an absolute nightmare to handle for an hour or two his whole life. It did not matter if we showed every weekend or once a month or once a year. He was a nut each and every time.

Some horses react to stimuli more than others. Some horses are calm in the midst of activity while others use it as an excuse to go nuts. This horse may be a reactor...in this case, and what I did with mine, I had to arrive at least 2 hours early and get to the warm up ring and lunge him for an hour to take the edge off. Then I was in the saddle an hour to 1.5 hours prior to the first class. Eventually he would wear down to normal and his showing was top notch.

You may have to plan early outings like this...but in your case, the weather may be a huge contributor of his bad acts. So, next show, plan on taking him early and seeing what happens. If the weather is nice and he is calm, you have your answer. If the weather is nice and he is excited, then you have a reactor on your hands and have to plan accordingly.

Answer 7

Agree with people who say that this is about a young horse being stressed by being travelled alone, the noise, the wind etc.

Horses live naturally in smallish herds; they sometimes form intense pair bonds; being pushed out from the herd is a punishment - that's the basis of all natural training methods. Taking an inexperienced horse away from his home environment - especially travelling him alone (that in itself is a huge ask of a young horse) - will make him think he's been pushed out from his herd.

So he arrives already stressed. He then has to cope with being thrust into a disparate group of other horses - none of which he knows. A horse always seeks to establish rank - young horses especially. The stress of leaving home and travelling alone is now compounded by the stress of being with strange horses (in windy, noisy conditions) and not knowing where he fits in. If he's a dominant type horse he'll want to establish that fact - if he's a subordinate one he'll be panicking about where he fits in the pecking order. Your daughter's understandable anxiety will just have confirmed his belief that it was a really dangerous (or exciting) place to be.

Stress causes the adrenal gland to secrete adrenalin to power the flight or fight instinct - and cortisol to sustain it. He will have been in the grip of stress hormones - he couldn't help himself.

So, best advice - never travel a young horse alone; don't expect a young horse to do much more than just get used to the atmosphere of shows, preferably in the company of a calm, experienced horse that he can take his lead from.

Never forget that horses are herd animals - youngsters take their lead from older horses - or, if they respect them enough, their human handlers. Remove both those security blankets and you have a seriously stressed animal - who will remember that fear the next time he is taken out.

So - always travel with a calm companion; do nothing at the next few outings except show him the sights - always with the calm horse by his side. He'll learn from the other horse better and faster than he'll learn from even the most experienced human.

Answer 8

No matter what was different now vs. the last show, he just needs to get out more. My best advice, would be to truck him to shows that you arent competiting in along with others and without others for sheer experience in exposure. This type of behavior is quite normal and I might also suggest really working with him at home on the ground and always trying to introduce new 'big scarey' obstacles and objects. You would be amazed that ground work with different objects such as tarps and bags and different things that might appear spooky to a horse will do when you're off your own home turf. Many of the differences you mentioned above could have very well been factors to his behavior, but just keep working with him and taking him to shows even when youre not competing. (be sure to get permission from the farm / show first, most allow this for experience purposes, especially schooling shows). Soon enough, with a little time and effort for the small extras, you'll have a nice quiet boy to tag along with you anywhere. Just be patient and give him time!

Good Luck! : 0)

Answer 9

Horses all react differently in new and unfamiliar surroundings and this sounds like what you're describing. They may not have specific factors to his behaviourm ore he was just reacting to the change of place.
The fact that he travelled alone was probably a cause. If he dislikes travelling alone you need to teach him to be able to. There is plenty of advice available on the internet and in books and magazines on how to train a horse to travel alone.
Was there any change in his feed before the show? For instance did you give him a different type of food in order to prepare him for a competition? This can also change how a horse behaves.
What I would suggest is to familiarise your horse with strange situations. Take him to shows without entering classes. Ride him around the ground and just get him used to the sights and sounds. If things go well, you can enter some clear round jumping where your daughter won't feel pressured to do well.
Good luck with him

Answer 10

You answered some of your own questions when you listed some of the new conditions. I guess without knowing more I am asking if this is a seasoned show horse or a starter. But if the trainer had problems you might have bought a problem.A lot of seasoned show horses sour and blow up at the mear site of an arena.Not knowing what your trainer may have suggested. I would start riding in a more relaxed setting .Your daughter and the horse are very new to each other. He is now learning a whole new list of Q's that she may be giving him. Have another rider try it . If he continues with this behavior I would be leery about keeping him. I. It may prevent your daughter from continuing with horses. or she may be hurt.If I knew more about this situation I might be able to advise .