Dislike to a venue?? Or negative thinking?? Really fed up...

showjump

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My horse seems to hate one of our local venues, to the point that in we have always got eliminated there. Now is it possible to get him over this? Or is it a mental issue in his/ mine/ both of our heads?

We took him again yesterday, (1.00m) and yet again got eliminated. He refuses to go into the ring, reversing round the collecting ring!!
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When he goes into the ring he is looking at everything, and just wont go forward.
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He jumped number 1, stopped at 2 jumped it second time, then stopped 2 strides out at number 3 the double. I really am at my wits end with him, he is amazing at other places just not at this one. I do not know what it is he dislikes.

So any advice would be fab, i know we should hire it out but it is so hard as would have to be a mon (so course of jumps are up) but hard to fit in with trainer. As she used to own him, i would like her to be there.

Really fed up with it now.
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I agree with FinnMcCoul, a lesson is the way forward, or do they do unaffiliated clear round there? this way you can keep going til you get him round, then go in again to try and get him round clear. May help to break the cycle?
 
The 1.00m is below usual. He is nearly grade B, usually jumping 1.10- 1.25m. He likes to be and has to be rode on a forward stride, and i just cant get him up on his usual rhythm.
 
Id hire it out with or without your trainer and just keep going untill he decides to be good !!!

Or just not go there anymore - i had a venue one of my horses hated nothing worked so i never went there which was a pain when there was a qualifier there or soething !!
 
Yes will have to try and arrange something and hire it. Till then i wont go there, as its no worth the upset and agrow (sp?)
Like you said its a pain, its also the closest venus to us, and has bsja nearly every weekend! - Typical!!
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Yes will have to try and arrange something and hire it. Till then i wont go there, as its no worth the upset and agrow (sp?)
Like you said its a pain, its also the closest venus to us, and has bsja nearly every weekend! - Typical!!
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it is such a pain - which venue is it if you dont mind me asking !!!
 
when i take my horse to a certain venue (luckily nothing interesting is ever on there) she panics, is hard to control, tries to roll, sweats up etc, when anywhere else she is a dream so i don't want to put her through the stress and it set us back a lot the first time we went there as it was my first show and thats what i thought she might be like all the time!
 
Not had that problem since I was on ponies, one of ours loved Barton, but not Ross's, another hated Southview (to the point we actually stopped taking her!) so there could be something in the fact that react to the different atmosphere at different venues, but try hiring to see if that helps?
 
What's the light like? Is it different to other venues? The surface?

We have two local indoors- one very large, modern with a soft track surface, very light. The other is much smaller, lower roof, deeper surface and has lights which light up in strips so there are dark patches and light patches. Things like that make a lot of difference to the horse so you're probably not imaging it, more than likley there will be a reason which, to your horse, is perfectly valid!
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Hope you work something out.
 
One of mine used to become totally manic in certain parts of a showground. It tied into where electricity cables were put underground. As soon as he was away from this "Line" he was totally sane. When you took him back he went ballistic. He has reacted to electricity cables in similar ways before and since so I am pretty sure that was the cause. So it could be that your horse can hear the buzz of cables that is not audible to the human ear. And for whatever reason he dislikes it.

A way to find out would be to find somewhere where you could walk/stand under pylon wires.

Just a possibility!
 
I thought i was the only one that had this problem!!

My mare hates Keysoe...every time i have been there i have either fallen off, or been eliminated. She either stops at fences, or goes hell for leather and i cant stop. I think it is because she was at livery there once, and from what i can gather, it wasn't the best time for her.

I have considered just keeping at it, but with so many other venues to choose from i simply dont bother. I would either try and train there with your horse, or if it really isn't that important - go else where!
 
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I thought i was the only one that had this problem!!

My mare hates Keysoe...every time i have been there i have either fallen off, or been eliminated. She either stops at fences, or goes hell for leather and i cant stop. I think it is because she was at livery there once, and from what i can gather, it wasn't the best time for her.

I have considered just keeping at it, but with so many other venues to choose from i simply dont bother. I would either try and train there with your horse, or if it really isn't that important - go else where!

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i can vouch for this!!!! i witnessed the naughtyness of miss feta!!!!
 
How does your horse behave in the warm up? I took my horse there last month as his first competition after 18 months off and he was great in the warm up until jumping began and he didn't like the sound of horses in the main arena that he couldn't see. When I went in to jump he froze and wouldn't listen to me so sent jumps flying. So I hired it the next week with my trainer (also horse's owner) and it took him a good 15-20 minutes to settle. Looking back, I went tense once he did so I made matters worse. But it's much easier said than done to relax on a horse who feels like he's going to explode.

I don't remember it being too dark. I'm thinking of going to the unaffiliated tomorrow night when it will be dark but I don't know if I'll have the motivation after a long day at work and a horse who lives in a muddy field 24/7!

Good luck. Hope you manage to conquer your horse's phobia.
 
Thank you for all your posts. Freshman- he has only been in southviews outdoor once just after he came back from injury. So prob wasnt at his best then, but yes he didnt jump well at all.
He doesnt like the warm up, as somebody else said he doesnt like hearing the horses jumping but not seeing them. Also there were loads in there on sun.
His eyes just seem to be looking at anything, and everything. I am going to hire it and see if he goes any better, if not we will just have to give up on going there in winter, and hope he likes the big outdoor in summer!
It might be something to do with the lighting, as compared to myerscough or aintree it is darker, and the dark coloured surface makes if feel darker still. Oh i dont know horses eh?
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Will give it a go at hiring it and see how we get on!
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I went to Southview for the first time on Sunday (to watch, friend was competing) & it was packed. All seemed a bit crazy, busy to me so is it possible that your horse just decided there was too much going on? My friends two jumped v.well in the second class but were both a bit spooky in the first. She said it's not usually that busy but hers are usually spooky there anyway. She also said she finds they don't like the blue & yellow double they have there & they have the same one at Aintree & one of the horses spooks at it there too. Maybe some horses just don't like certain colours/fences?
 
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