horse gets tense and wont relax, PLEASE HELP

[Maz&Baz]

Please can I have some advice.
My 6 year old Section D had his first bigger show yesterday and did very well!

in some of my classes, during his trot if something distracts him or something changes, maybe the way were facing or changing the rein, his head will go up and short nd his trot goes all choppy. instead of him extending his legs, he will be putting his legs up in the air really high and barely go anyway.
i can try stroking him to settle him but doesnt make much of a difference, holding him back makes him worse and pushing him on he is still very tense and not relaxed
He does do it in our first trot but it becomes worse after weve had a canter.
thank you

he is not in any pain whatsoever

 

[NZJenny]

Most horses (other than the rocking variety) get a bit tense when faced with a new experience and at six he is still a bit young. If you stay calm and just ride him quietly through it without making a big scene of it, he will get the message that it is all ok pretty quickly. They learn by experience -keep making it a good one and he will be fine.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

He just needs to practise. He can only do that by going out and about. The more experience he gets, the more he wi take it in his stride.

 

[Maz&Baz]

Thank you both, we are hoping to start getting hi out each week over winter anyways Hopefully he will improve, he is always better at the shows hes been to before so yous must be right that he just needs experience

 

[mrsh2010]

My mum's section D does exactly the same.

Like the others say experience will help, but maybe if you're concerned you could try the NAF Magic. I use it on my TB to help him whilst we get over our accident and it's definitely helping.