Horse Camp! Advice on handling an excitable horse

[emmanash]

I'm hopefully taking my horse to a TREC horse camp in a couple of weeks time. I'm really looking forwards to it but also apprehensive about how she will behave in new surroundings! She tends to get very excited/tense and bouncy with her head in the air and generally not listening to me at all. I've never taken her away for this long before so not sure what to expect. Any advice appreciated.
I'm thinking of putting a running martingale on her just to help keep her head down. When she gets all jiggy and silly is it best to push her on do you think? I tend to freeze and don't push her on as I think this will make her explode. I really want us to have a good time together

 

[Narnia]

Hi there,

It depends on what she does if you push her.

If she wants to move her feet, stay on the ground and encourage her before you get on - making sure she doesn't run you over of course. Then go to a corner of the field or wherever you both feel safe and trot figure of 8s, big circles, small circles etc, round and round (whilst singing is good!). The ideal is to go to a few events but not compete - or enter just for fun or hors concours. After a few outings she should realise there's nothing to get excited about (as long as you don't get tense!).

If she is the sort of horse who braces then explodes if you push her then you are right to sit tight and let her look and take everything in. If you push her when she's thinking and rooted to the spot, you could prompt an explosion. Again, the ideal would be to take her and let her get used to the sights before you get on. On your first outing, you might just sit/stand there there and watch!

Take heart. My last youngster was beside himself for the first 3 outings - (to my internal despair!) calling, tanking off, bucking. When he realised I was not getting uptight about anything (the singing helps me!), he really started to enjoy himself and turned into quite an old pro! That was quite a lesson for me as I thought it was going to take years for him to settle at shows.

I've just re-read your post and see it's a camp you're going to. I took a friends pony to camp last year for the first time. On the first day he was REALLY excited. Luckily, I do ground work with him so I was able to move him around, getting him to go here, there and everywhere, as fast as he liked before getting on. He did calm down - it took about 3 hours. The next two camps, it was quicker and quicker to get the same result.

I would definitely say go and enjoy it but tell the instructors you will need a few hours for your mare to settle so may not be able to join in group activities on the first day. If you go with the expectation that you're going to need to spend time getting your mare's confidence and allowing her to let off steam, you will be a lot calmer for her. If she trusts you, she will take her lead from you. Personally, I would not rely on a martingale to help me in this situation but others might have a different view.
Good Luck!

 

[emmanash]

Thank you for the advice, I think taking her somewhere quiet and doing lots of circles etc with her is an excellent idea. I'v enoticed before that circles seem to have a calming affect on her, but hadn't thought about it again until you mentioned it. I'm hoping that I can stay calm and relaxed and settle her so that we can have a fun filled weekend!

 

[Narnia]

Aha. If she gets quiet doing circles then that is definitely your answer. Really ride her forward in a strong trot. Keep the circles flowing and changing direction and size but maintaining a good rhythm. You will probably be very pleasantly surprised how quickly she settles if you remain calm and focussed. Le Trec is a nice environment for you both too.

 

[fitzaud2]

I think you should go and have a ball!! She'll settle in a few hours, and if you need to take her somewhere quiet and do circles, then do that. My friend teaches trec, and it's so much fun, you'll have a great time, and she'll be fine. I wouldn't bother with the martingale unless you have used it before, most likely to upset her. hope you get on very well, let us know how it goes!!!!