How long to unwind your tense ones?

[FlyingCircus]

My mare is a complete darling...until she has her knickers in a twist! She has lots of tension, which she seems to create herself and then cause herself to get into a bit of a flap!

Everyone who handles her or rides her (me and my instructor) do so in a calm and consistent manner. Mostly raising a brow at her antics.

So how long has it taken you to unwind a horse like this? She has moments of genius where she lets go and feels lovely, but these are currently fleeting.

Btw, to add, she is not spooky at all.

 

[paddi22]

when you say tense - what kind of tense is it? does she suck in or rush? and is she the type that is mentally sharp and like to be tested with technical stuff? or does she prefer to know what she's doing and gain confidence from easy stuff?

 

[FlyingCircus]

when you say tense - what kind of tense is it? does she suck in or rush? and is she the type that is mentally sharp and like to be tested with technical stuff? or does she prefer to know what she's doing and gain confidence from easy stuff?

Where to even begin explaining her ?

She is mentally sharp and likes to be kept busy, but worries if she thinks she has got something wrong. She sucks in and back at you when she is anxious but then rushes to try and get away from the situation. A good example is when she is hacking, if she is asked to go somewhere she doesn't want to, she sucks right back and goes abit mentally backwards. With gentle coaxing, she will attempt but then needs to go as fast as possible to leave the situation.

She just seems to have a lot of anxiety about life that manifests as tension. She can be nappy, but when ridden with consistency does come out the other side reasonably quickly.

Think she is just built like this! Have had her since Aug 2019 straight from her breeder as an unbacked 4 Yr old bred for in hand showing (she's welsh!!).

We have various techniques that work to get her through it, but I just wonder if this is a weeks, months, years or never thing!? It can't be nice to carry the weight of the world on your pony shoulders