Horses with Stage Fright

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Always_late

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I know there are many products on the market which claim to help horses with stage fright but can anyone suggest one which actually works! Our horse hates dressage! She is fine schooling and turns out good results when when just competing in this discipline alone but just goes to pieces when entering the arena for the dressage phase for BE!! Was really naughty on Saturday. I keep accusing rider but she says she doesn't suffer with nerves and certainly doesn't ride like she does. You can see the horse tensing up. It'll be fine warming up but then senses its their turn and thats it. Any suggestions?
 
My old loan horse was like this - the minute you entered the arena he just went rigid. Got horrific marks time after time. I tried herbal calmers, magnesium calmers, rescue remedy etc etc but with limited success. Found lots and lots of repetition and structured working in helped. Found it very helpful to have someone on the ground to call me into the dressage arena and not having to stop and ask all the time as this made him worse. I would trot straight to the arena from the warm up and avoided straight lines where at all possible - this meant circling whenever I could - sure people thought I was mad. Eventually got our marks down to a 33 at an unaff event but it took time. Never really cracked the anxiety though as he was the same for SJ - so it was fairer all round to let him have a quieter life in the end. Funny little horse - absolutely thrived on work - but not pressure
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Thanks for that - yes, trainer said lots of circles etc so she's doing that - problem is during comp, straight lines are a necessity! I've been reading about valerian but we dont want to inhibit performance for SJ and XC as that is spot on and also valerian is a no no with jockey club?
 
Hello
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I have a horse who is very similar and its soo frustrating after he works in so well to enter the arena and the test is tense, tense, tense. My instructor says its me but I am calm and normal when I ride him in a test so have said to him that he has to ride him in test to see how he is!

The horse is getting better as I try and get him to as many unaff dressage comps as possible as I would like him more relaxed for our BE tests.

If anyone else has any good advice I would be keen to hear any ideas!
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I believe Valerian is banned for cmpetitions. We have an ex racehorse who we are aiming to do large hacks with. We took him to dressage to give him some experience this year at keysoe. His first two visits were a disaster. He worked in well, then as soon as he entered the arena everything went to pot (with very experienced rider). No brakes, no steering - just panicy. The third visit I arranged with them to allow her to ride him in the arena that wasn't being used, so he was in the arena by himself, so for him it was like he was competing. She stayed in there for 45 minutes until he was settled and happy. Then went out and into the other arena to do his test which was 100 times better than before. The final time he went to Keysoe for dressage she worked him in the indoor school as usual, went out to the arena and again, the improvement was evident.

Anyway - after all that waffle, I wonder whether you can take the horse into a "competition" environment, but not compete. Perhaps wait until the classes are finished and then use the arena for working in - most organisers are pretty helpful unless they are desperate to go home. Worth a shot, anyway.

Otherwise, the Top Spec calmer is pretty good!
Good luck.
 
We had a horse who was like that - turned out to be absolutely fantastic. He would freeze in his dressage test and couldn't hold himself together for the jumping. He just had to go out and out and out and out and out. They showed him a lot too - its amazing the classes he could do...won the WH at the Royal too and went to HOYS!

Sold to USA in the end and he's now advanced!

Its a case of mileage and being v sensitive with them
 
I agree with sw123. Mine is exactly the same, 15 going on 4 and yet he is a perfect gent, never naughty just rigid.

I registered him with BD so that I would have to do more having spent all that money and he has got better, only really rigid at certain venues. I feel bad dragging him out 3 times a month, does that sound a lot?
 
no 3 times a month is nothing!! Trust me the one i'm talking about above was going out 3 times a week!!!
 
thanks for starting this thread. if nothing else, it's made me realise it's not just me suffering with this problem!

i too have a gorgeous horse with all the ability and scope in the world but he freezes the second he gets in the ring - be it dressage or sj - having warmed up like a complete superstar.

i am continuing to plug away as he clearly enjoys his work and i am working on the basis that he was originally a nightmare to work at home but is now a pleasure, was originally a nightmare to warm up but is now a pleasure but he is STILL a nightmare to actually compete!

i have recently had a professional rider jump him for me and confess i was relieved to see him be given exactly the same treatment by my little darling! it has made me start to believe trainers when they tell me it's not me but it's hard not to have that self-doubt.

i will be watching this thread with interest and have taken your comments to heart sw123!!
 
Agree with SW123
A horse i rode for my trainer last year suffered terrible with stage fright.
Lovely little horse, and highly talented, competing 1.10s out in France as a 4 year old. He came over but William Funnell felt he wouldnt make a top class SJer so he was sent to my trainer to ride.
My trainer didnt have a lot of time and did a couple of pNs on him but the horse just froze and paniced in the dressage/SJing phase.
I rode him a few times last year, SJing and xc schooling, he was a lovely horse just paniced with an audiance.
He is now with Pippa Funnell aiming for his first Novice at Portman.

Practise and getting them out 3 times a week is the only way im affraid.
 
Its not just to shows - can be going to lots of different people's schools and jumping there/working there then going home again. Making it so the whole "going somewhere" isn't an issue.

This horse i'm talking about spent the winter going dr, sj and somewhere - ie friends/lesson/schooling every week. Was a nightmare logistically but when he came to event, BYEH and show he went so much better. The way he went in the ring at the Royal when he won was a different horse and down to all the time and hard work put in - easy when you don't work full time or have any committments!
 
Entirely agree sw123 and everyone else for that matter. Lots of exposure - but what if we've tried that already - "Little Angel" does BSJA and having just moved to an area where we're spoilt for choice, she's been going out and doing her stuff to great effect. Also did alot of winter dressage this year so because we thought it was under exposure to dressage comps she was lacking. But she's fine - will score an equivelant to mid 30's. Admittedly, Saturday was the first event of the season and all very exciting but she likes Gatcombe and always turns out a pretty good performance. FMM is right though, so we'll plug on and do summer dressage as well. Winter dressage is indoors and only one arena - not at all like BE with several all lined up. funnily enough, little angel is okay if her arena is near a hedge??? Its that feeling of security isn't it. We'll try and find summer dressage where the conditions are similar to BE. And I've also gone and got some Top Spec feed balancer (she's already n Oestress!) as I read in another thread someone swears by this and has been agreed by several others.
 
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