Anxious horse - how can I teach him to relax?

[Dumbo]

I took my horse to a sponsored ride yesterday. He had an instant calmer in his feed that morning which I think took the edge off a little bit. He came off the lorry calmly and stood happily. However, once other horses and jumps in sight he starts jogging and sweating. He jogged nearly the entire 8 miles and my poor friend had to stick to walk/trot with me.
He brings his head right in despite me not touching his mouth at all,jogs, grunts occasionally, breathes very heavily and completely sweats up within 10 minutes. I felt in control (only had one rearing episode when 2 horses came galloping past) but I'm just concerned about how he copes.
Does anyone have any tips on how to prevent him getting so excited/anxious?
He is an ex racehorse but 16 and off the track 11 years and he's been like this at previous outings. I want to be able to have fun but can't really when he's having a melt down.

 

[Mrs C]

Was it his first time out with crowds? If so id say keep at it. It'll be exciting the first few times then the excitement will wear off

 

[Shay]

He'll relax if you relax - and as these things become more commonplace for him. My daughter's ISH will jog most the way around a sponsored ride - and a hunt for that matter. As long as you are in control let him jog. Sometimes it helps to let them run too. But repetition is the key - keep doing it and you'll both get calmer.

 

[meesha]

First fun ride mine went sideways, tucked head in and wanted to jog, I am not a fan of jogging horse so instead cracked on and mostly trotted, cantered (had to leave companions behind as they wanted a slower pace) he soon realised that the idea wasn't to catch and stay with any horse ahead of him but that we were passing them. Also leg on to push them up into bridle and get head off chest so you have contact.

Other option is get there an hour early and be first out for next couple ! Very brave of you though, having been there it is quite nerve wracking!

 

[kc100]

More and more practice will help - if you can get a group of people from the yard to go on a hack with you try and do that as often as you can, so he starts to understand that just because there are other horses around doesnt mean he has to go fast and be in front of them (as he will remember from racing).

It may also help when you are out on the sponsored rides/hacks etc to let him blow off some steam first; he is excited to be there and racing (despite being 16!) will still be in his brain as that was what he was trained to do from a young age, so if he wants to trot let him trot, give him a little canter at the start and then hopefully some of that extra energy will go and he wont be so excitable the rest of the way round.

What tack are you using when you go out on the fun rides? Sounds like he might be used to having his head tucked in by some sort of gadget maybe? Keep it simple tack wise, if you can go with a snaffle and avoid any other gadgets, if you feel really unsafe with that then just a running martingale just in case he decides to leg it with you on board. But if you can, keep the tack and gadgets to a minimum, try not to worry where he is putting his head or neck as that's his choice and let him find his own balance, where he is most comfortable. It might not be where you'd want his neck for schooling, but if he puts his neck in a funny position out on a fun ride dont get too concerned by it otherwise you'll end up in a big argument with him.

Finally make sure you relax and are not passing any tension onto him. If you are constantly thinking 'when is he going to misbehave', looking at everything around you thinking 'he's going to react to that' he will prove you right. I've seen it time and time again even in dressage, someone will say to me 'I cant get him to canter on the left rein' and sure enough the horse doesnt canter on the left rein. Put another rider onto the horse, ask for left canter and it canters perfectly first time. A lot of it, even when you think its not you, is actually the rider passing their fears and tension onto the horse. If the horse has done something wrong once, the rider automatically presumes that is an ongoing problem and the horse will repeat time and time again.

So rather than waiting for something to spook him or wind him up further, forget about him being a tense horse and just ride. Dont worry about where the next scary thing is coming from, dont think about what he might do next - simply focus on moving forwards. If he wants to trot or canter, let him - going forwards is not a bad thing. He'll soon tire out if he's cantering everywhere, whereas holding him in a jog is only winding him up further. You'd have bigger issues if he was going backwards, spinning, bucking, cat leaping....wanting to go forwards is what a horse should want to do and you should never punish a horse for going forwards, especially one that was trained to race. Give him some rein, sit softly and quietly and let him do his own thing. If he wants to trot or canter, let him. When he wants to walk, let him. Keep on going out to fun rides, doing this, and eventually he'll get used to the atmosphere and it wont be so exciting for him.

 

[meesha]

More and more practice will help - if you can get a group of people from the yard to go on a hack with you try and do that as often as you can, so he starts to understand that just because there are other horses around doesnt mean he has to go fast and be in front of them (as he will remember from racing).

It may also help when you are out on the sponsored rides/hacks etc to let him blow off some steam first; he is excited to be there and racing (despite being 16!) will still be in his brain as that was what he was trained to do from a young age, so if he wants to trot let him trot, give him a little canter at the start and then hopefully some of that extra energy will go and he wont be so excitable the rest of the way round.

What tack are you using when you go out on the fun rides? Sounds like he might be used to having his head tucked in by some sort of gadget maybe? Keep it simple tack wise, if you can go with a snaffle and avoid any other gadgets, if you feel really unsafe with that then just a running martingale just in case he decides to leg it with you on board. But if you can, keep the tack and gadgets to a minimum, try not to worry where he is putting his head or neck as that's his choice and let him find his own balance, where he is most comfortable. It might not be where you'd want his neck for schooling, but if he puts his neck in a funny position out on a fun ride dont get too concerned by it otherwise you'll end up in a big argument with him.

Finally make sure you relax and are not passing any tension onto him. If you are constantly thinking 'when is he going to misbehave', looking at everything around you thinking 'he's going to react to that' he will prove you right. I've seen it time and time again even in dressage, someone will say to me 'I cant get him to canter on the left rein' and sure enough the horse doesnt canter on the left rein. Put another rider onto the horse, ask for left canter and it canters perfectly first time. A lot of it, even when you think its not you, is actually the rider passing their fears and tension onto the horse. If the horse has done something wrong once, the rider automatically presumes that is an ongoing problem and the horse will repeat time and time again.

So rather than waiting for something to spook him or wind him up further, forget about him being a tense horse and just ride. Dont worry about where the next scary thing is coming from, dont think about what he might do next - simply focus on moving forwards. If he wants to trot or canter, let him - going forwards is not a bad thing. He'll soon tire out if he's cantering everywhere, whereas holding him in a jog is only winding him up further. You'd have bigger issues if he was going backwards, spinning, bucking, cat leaping....wanting to go forwards is what a horse should want to do and you should never punish a horse for going forwards, especially one that was trained to race. Give him some rein, sit softly and quietly and let him do his own thing. If he wants to trot or canter, let him. When he wants to walk, let him. Keep on going out to fun rides, doing this, and eventually he'll get used to the atmosphere and it wont be so exciting for him.

Great post

 

[Mister Ted]

Poor thing.It will be ingrained in his memory of his past racing days where it was all about stress and excitement.Hope you find a resolution.

 

[Enfys]

As someone who has a mare that will not walk a step in company I know how you feel, that's just how she is, I go to the front when I can and stay there where she can move out at a speed more acceptable to her.

Some great advice about just riding and not trying to hold him back, will he be better at the front?

Another thing that I find works is if you teach him to lower his head. A lowered head is a relaxed head. It can be taught from the ground to begin with, using a hand on the neck just in front of the wither as a cue, which works well when in the saddle.

 

[Dumbo]

Thank you everyone, some great advice.
I felt very confident this time so was able to relax and didn't get the feeling he was going to do anything stupid. I was just concerned about how he coped. Dripping in sweat after 10 mins was a little worrying. I plan to get him out more and more (trailer test next week!) so hope he should get better with more experience. Thanks again!