Anxiety when leaving others

[Miss.Fish97]

Hello. First post so please be nice ?

I have an 8 y/o gelding who mentally is still young and is very green. When training or competing he gets quite anxious.

This isn’t in a naughty way at all but more as a separation anxiety type thing and all he does is poop EVERYWHERE and neigh his head off.
The pooping I can cope with but the neighing is constant and it does get to the point he doesn’t concentrate while jumping/dressage.

He travels in the trailer on his own but always goes to parties with 1-2 others. This can’t be helped or stopped and he has been to outings on his own and reacts the same way.

Just looking for some advice on things to try to help take the edge off my stress head boy. Been suggested ear veil but looking for a plan B if that doesn’t work.

Many Thanks x

 

[MummyEms]

Calming cookies.
Ground work to develop your and his bond.
A calming supplement.
Xx

 

[Red-1]

I would go out hacking with another, to somewhere with an open area, box there if necessary.

Start together, schooling in a set area. Have the other horse stay working within that area whilst you school hard, moving around so you can increase the diameter of the area you are in, away from the other horse. You will always return before you horse's anxiety gets too great.

After a few sessions, the comfort area will become you, and your schooling area can get so large that the other horse can be out of sight. I am talking that you need to be so focused on your horse that you correct any lack of attention. So, you are not looking at the other horse, ou are attending to the nuance of pressure, bend, balance et al, so your horse has to be focused on you, always working back to your safe area before your horse becomes upset.

Once you can safely go out of sight, you can switch it up so the other horse also leaves the small area. Thus, your horse becomes independent.

Back at home, I would hack alone whenever possible, then hack alone but meet up with another whilst hacking. Then, hack with another, split up and hack home alone. I would start that by only splitting up when home is in sight, so the stables provide a slight draw. Then gradually increase the distance at which you can split up. Again, pay attention to the nuance of where the horse is, bend, balance, pressure. Insist on attention and yielding.

The idea is to have the impossible become possible by chipping away at it, without doing so much at once that the horse goes into overwhelm.

Once competing again, make sure that you don't ask for more than is possible. So, if the other horse is competing first, you may need to initially offload first, work in with them, gradually splitting up, then go back to the box to load up alone. This seems less scary to a horse then being left locked in a box by their pal.

 

[Miss.Fish97]

Calming cookies.
Ground work to develop your and his bond.
A calming supplement.
Xx

We have a very good bond as I've had him since he was a 3 Y/O just lightly backed, we also do ground work regularly to strengthen his back end due to being slightly cow hocked. But I will give the calming cookies a try. Thank you.

 

[Miss.Fish97]

I would go out hacking with another, to somewhere with an open area, box there if necessary.

Start together, schooling in a set area. Have the other horse stay working within that area whilst you school hard, moving around so you can increase the diameter of the area you are in, away from the other horse. You will always return before you horse's anxiety gets too great.

After a few sessions, the comfort area will become you, and your schooling area can get so large that the other horse can be out of sight. I am talking that you need to be so focused on your horse that you correct any lack of attention. So, you are not looking at the other horse, ou are attending to the nuance of pressure, bend, balance et al, so your horse has to be focused on you, always working back to your safe area before your horse becomes upset.

Once you can safely go out of sight, you can switch it up so the other horse also leaves the small area. Thus, your horse becomes independent.

Back at home, I would hack alone whenever possible, then hack alone but meet up with another whilst hacking. Then, hack with another, split up and hack home alone. I would start that by only splitting up when home is in sight, so the stables provide a slight draw. Then gradually increase the distance at which you can split up. Again, pay attention to the nuance of where the horse is, bend, balance, pressure. Insist on attention and yielding.

The idea is to have the impossible become possible by chipping away at it, without doing so much at once that the horse goes into overwhelm.

Once competing again, make sure that you don't ask for more than is possible. So, if the other horse is competing first, you may need to initially offload first, work in with them, gradually splitting up, then go back to the box to load up alone. This seems less scary to a horse then being left locked in a box by their pal.

Some great advice. Thank you.

He hacks alone absolutely fine and will leave others (never naps) He will also leave them when training, or hacking and is always at the front (hates being at the back) He will also load on his own when the others are out of sight but will still neigh his head off. He lives in a heard of 5 and it's just us really in the village so you either go on your own or with a family member.

He trusts me completely and will follow/ do as I ask. Just neighs at the top of his voice which when he's working hinders his concentration. This is a why I was asking for ideas to 'take the edge off' as it's such a minor but irritating issue