help needed to calm down in an evening performance

[Madz123]

Hey everyone, Ive recently got into an evening performance with our little LR pony in the day shes the sweetest pony and you can do anything with her when i tried to walk her on into the evening performance she was bucking and rearing and her eyes were popping out of her head, i could tell she was petrified as it was totally out of character, Is there anything i can do to stop this? There was generators going and flood lights and quite a busy show, we took her in on two nights as we got in on both with someone leading her and took the child in on foot just for experience for her and the second night the pony did really calm down but not enough for the little one to get back on? If anyone has any suggestions id be really gratefull.

 

[LinzyD]

Have you tried ear plugs? Honestly, they make a massive difference. I've done masses of EPs over the years and use ear plugs as a matter of routine. You'll find many seasoned competitors do. I'd only not use them if I especially wanted a pony to get livened up by the atmosphere.

I'm not a particular fan of using calmers, but I did once use Instamagic or something like that for a LR pony in his first evening performance and I know many that do. Possibly worth a try.

Lavender oil on a handkerchief for the pony to sniff while waiting and while standing in the ring can work. In fact you can buy concoctions specifically for evening performances from one of the herbal horse companies. Sorry, the name escapes me.

Standing in the middle of all the hubbub with the pony for literally hours before you are due in, so that by the time you go in the pony is more used to the atmosphere.

Attending some clinics that are specifically designed to simulate the EP atmosphere. There are quite a few of these on at the moment as people prepare for HOYS.

When you are out and about if you see things that contributed to the pony's fear in the EP instead of avoiding them, expose her to them in a non-threatening way, e.g. generators, floodlights, clapping, etc. So I would stand our LR pony next to a generator and feed him polos until he's not got an issue. Then another time I'd do floodlights somewhere. Then another time clapping. Just more and more exposure.

All of the above.

The fact that the pony did calm down a bit on the second night suggests that a combination of the above plus more exposure will work for you. It's hard because there aren't many opportunities to practise for this sort of thing. The NPS has a juniors only evening performance on the first day of their summer champs and it's a lot calmer than most, and there is space to stand right next to the ring with the pony so that the pony can get used to it. Highly recommended.

 

[Madz123]

Thank you for replying, Ill defiantly look into ear plugs and ill look for some clinics too as that is a fab idea, its all about experience the pony is only 6 and is proving very good in everything else we do. Practice makes perfect as they say

Thanks for all the useful tips x