Horse anxious when competing

[Megs11]

Hi I’m looking for advice for my warmblood.
He is due to be returned to me after being on lease and the girl whose had him has said she can take him out training and schooling and he’s full of confidence and jumping a decent height but as soon as he goes to a show he goes quite flat and goes in the ring like he doesn’t want to be there, he’s also not very confident in the ring but is out schooling, like he has stage fright/ is anxious. He’s been out to shows a lot lately so it’s not like he’s had a break? Has anyone else experienced this? And how did they overcome this? Thank you

 

[CMcC]

Could it be the rider rather than the horse? She is transmitting her nerves and anxiety about competing .
I discovered this about myself - pony will school nicely at home, at my instructors and at clinics. Enter a dressage test and it is a disaster. Watched a video of myself (I hate videos of myself) and I looked like a plank of wood. Funnily enough I used to be nervous competing but thought I had got better, for some reason although mentally I was better physically when in competition I went automatically to being very tense. Entered a couple of competitions with the express intention of being more relaxed, got a couple of low scores as I think I was a bit too relaxed. Last test I rode I seemed to get the balance right and got best ever score.

 

[paddi22]

it could easily be the rider. you can see some riders totally change as soon as they get to a show. Their breathing and heart rates rocket and it can really stress some horses out.