Competing Spooky/Green Horses

[iknowmyvalue]

Hi, just looking for advice on the best way forwards here. I've had my new boy about 4 months now, he's 6yo but hadn't done very much at all before I got him.

He can be a little sharp/spooky when ridden at home but usually he's pretty laid back, and very laid back in the stable and on the yard. Shows are another thing entirely, he's been okay in the warm up, a bit looky/spooky to start with but then mostly settles down and do some nice work. But going into the main arena to do our test/round he's a little bit of a nightmare, he's looking at absolutely everything, eyes on stalks, spooking left right and centre and really backward. So far we've done a hunter trial, some intro dressage and some baby SJ, those 3 competitions pretty much equal all the show experience he's had in his life. SJ couldnt even get him round he was so spooky, could barely get him to walk from one end of the arena to the other because he didn't want to walk past certain jumps. At home he's jumped things I'd consider a lot scarier, doesn't pay a lot of attention to the fillers and even if he's looking a bit will still go over with some encouragement.

Since he's done so little and not seen much of the world I'm assuming its mostly a case of getting him out and about as much as possible to different places, doing different things etc. Hopefully at some point he'll get used to it or things will click and he'll start concentrating on me/his job rather than everything else! Is that right? I've brought on young and green horses before but they haven't been especially spooky types. Is there anything else I can do to help him gain confidence? Or just stories that remind me there's hope for us yet, lol

 

[Queenbee]

Hi, just looking for advice on the best way forwards here. I've had my new boy about 4 months now, he's 6yo but hadn't done very much at all before I got him.

He can be a little sharp/spooky when ridden at home but usually he's pretty laid back, and very laid back in the stable and on the yard. Shows are another thing entirely, he's been okay in the warm up, a bit looky/spooky to start with but then mostly settles down and do some nice work. But going into the main arena to do our test/round he's a little bit of a nightmare, he's looking at absolutely everything, eyes on stalks, spooking left right and centre and really backward. So far we've done a hunter trial, some intro dressage and some baby SJ, those 3 competitions pretty much equal all the show experience he's had in his life. SJ couldnt even get him round he was so spooky, could barely get him to walk from one end of the arena to the other because he didn't want to walk past certain jumps. At home he's jumped things I'd consider a lot scarier, doesn't pay a lot of attention to the fillers and even if he's looking a bit will still go over with some encouragement.

Since he's done so little and not seen much of the world I'm assuming its mostly a case of getting him out and about as much as possible to different places, doing different things etc. Hopefully at some point he'll get used to it or things will click and he'll start concentrating on me/his job rather than everything else! Is that right? I've brought on young and green horses before but they haven't been especially spooky types. Is there anything else I can do to help him gain confidence? Or just stories that remind me there's hope for us yet, lol

personally, I would find a nice little RC and predominantly go to their events for a while, let your boy get used to getting in the lorry, going to the event, competing and coming home... no need to go to lots of different places to begin with, just the one - so the process becomes as familiar as the place. I used a place where I could hire a stable for ben...

Top tip number two... stay away from the warm up arenas, they are busy spooky places and no one seems to remember the riding etiquette/rules anymore... if you can, just take your horse out for a warm up on the road away from other horses, or, if not possible and you have to use the arena.. then turn up early, its always quieter earlier on.

We always take babies early anyway... it lets the event build up around them instead of unloading them into a busy atmosphere.

Go for the easy classes to begin... it may seem beneath you and your horse to go into a 2ft class, but it really takes the pressure off both of you... go into an easy class then, if everything goes fine, build from this.

To begin with do not worry about jump offs or clears... treat them as a schooling session and not a competition... dont be afraid to circle away, or come back to trot/stay in trot or comeback to walk... if your horse is really worried by a jump... stop, breathe and ask someone to take the rail down or make it a x pole... take him over it, give him a huge pat and bow out...

find a riding club that is friendly, and that will support you and your horse like this. Im sure in no time you will see a huge jump in confidence.

Its worth contacting some of your local clubs and explaining what you need, we are really lucky down here, we have a number of riding clubs and organisers that put on regular events like this.

 

[Micropony]

The way I thought about it with my youngster was that I have plenty of time and patience to prevent problems arising but wouldn't necessarily have the skills to sort out a problem if I created one.

So our first outings were to use a friend's school, school hire at a nice quiet yard, a few gentle hacks with his best friend etc. I picked a really low key intro dressage for his first competition and made sure we'd been for school hire there the previous week. I am still trying to mix up outings to shows with less full on things so he doesn't assume he's going to a show every time he sees the travel boots come out. Also want to get him out to some clinics.

He is exceptionally relaxed about life in general so tbh he would probably have been fine whatever way I had approached it, but so far so good...

 

[maree t]

Can you hire the venues ? we did that quite a few times and sometimes taking someone else so he could stop being so silly and gradually he is settling down . Can you take an instructor with you ?

 

[Queenbee]

some more tips that I have thought about that helped me... if you are turning up to do the first few classes... ask if you can take him into the arena before hand to walk him around, or be the first in so while they are building the class you can just ride around...

Many venues do hire out, or they also have trainers in doing clinics... this gives a nice balance - your horse goes somewhere new, sees the sights, you have someone on the ground to give you pointers etc, they also see a few horses there and there will always be some horses who can give a bit of a calming influence and show how its done lol.

One of my venues does summer camp... this is awesome for confidence building, helped no end with my boy especially with xc...3 days at summer camp training in sj and xc... over a year later storming around the xc course and seriously attacking it and loving it... I even tried to be mature and bring him back to walk for the water but no... he charged it so confidently. He had not been xc since he went to camp!

 

[paddi22]

Its really useful to break it into a 3 stage technique. Green horses are never going to do well at shows until they get a solid education underlying it. i do three three things before i do a 'proper' show or even any show thats a challenge even in the slightest to them..

1. Solve the environment stress
take them to inhand shows to get them used to crowds, rings, loudspeakers. I dont care how they do i just want them to get to a stage where they aren't phased by outside stuff, and new environments, and accept the loading, travel and change of scene. Start with super tiny shows and build up to agri shows. You don't want to ask them any questions at it, you just want them to acclimatise to the environment. if you can get a horse to relax at an agri show you have the sorted for life! I like inhand as they don't have the pressure to perform. I dont care what class they are in or how they do I just want them to get to a stage where they can go into a ring and relax.

2. get the education solid
-at the same time i'd do as many clinics as possible. Over fillers, in new venues. crack any technical issues you have with someone criting you. work on the issues you hav e, filler, relaxation, keeping a rhythm, keeping focus, doing every single jump you will find in a show so theres nothing unexpected that the horse wont understand

- and at the same time i'd do any tiny local shows. and do starter stakes, so you know you can walk the horse over the poles if need be. it has to learn that forward is the only option. starter stakes are the best for this as regardless of how many wobbles or shying occurs, you know yourself you can get it over. I look like a maniac going up against 6 year olds, but it works. It gets them to understand they have to go into a ring and go over everything. keep it so tiny that they come out knowing they did well and they did their job. get them to enjoy it and to a stage where they are pleased with themselves and know they have been good. i don;t leave starter stakes until i know the horse is pulling towards a few, keen to go over it and is relaxed and in a rhythm.

once they are solid in all three areas, id stay at tiny shows. until the horse is almost bored at a level, and then move up. That way you keep them confident, keen and relaxed.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Thanks all for the helpful advice! We are taking it super slowly at the moment, any jumping will be max 60cm, and not going out to be competitive, simply for experience.

We can hire the venues, and I am very keen to do that and may be able to take my instructor with me if she has time, otherwise will just go and school (potentially with a friend). I am slightly limited in that I am relying on my dad for transport currently (but hopefully not for too much longer) and he works full time and isn't always available at weekends, so it's not feasible to get out as much as I would ideally like. Although I will be trying to get out whenever he's around until I have my own transport sorted.

I am getting there much earlier than needed at the moment as some of you have suggested, to give him time to look around and have a walk and just absorb everything. He's very chilled and happy just tied up to the trailer eating and after a few minutes looking around will happily wander about on a loose rein. I've been very lucky with the shows I've been to they've all been very small and calm, even in the warmup ring it's been a maximum of 3 people in there including me at any time which was very manageable.

It sounds like it's just a case of keeping going until he gets used to it? I'm more than happy to take my time and keep everything very low-key and relaxed until he gets more confident. I'm in no rush to push him up the levels before he's ready, I knew when I bought him that he'd take time to produce. We've made a huge amount of progress at home, both in terms of his way of going and in his attitude to life, and now it's just a case of teaching him to transfer that over into new places and teaching him that new doesn't necessarily mean it's going to bite!

 

[Queenbee]

Op, you sound like you are doing everything right - he just sounds like your totally normal green baby, just keep doing what you are doing. The only thing that I would add at the moment is focus on one discipline - Sj or stressage and contact the organisers - explain how green he is and ask if you can be first in class and walk around the arena a bit before you do your class - try to nail one discipline first then move on to the others when he has some more confidence