How much do horses remember venues/locations? A WWYD?

[RachelFerd]

How much do you think horses identify and remember the places we go to to train and compete?

I'm facing a minor conundrum with my event season planning - I'd love to take part in the INROR class for retrained racehorses. It runs at intermediate novice level with a £6,000 prize fund, which is pretty cool.

For the last couple of seasons it ran or was scheduled to run at Gatcombe - which was fine with me. It now looks like it is back at its original location of Barbury Castle for 2021.

Here's the spanner in the works - my horse was in training and raced from Alan King's yard at Barbury Castle and therefore he spent a lot of time on the downs there. He also had a pretty bad time, hated being in training and used to jib/nap and refuse to go onto the gallops.

Do you think i'm asking for trouble by returning to a location that I suspect might carry lots of negative baggage?

Until a few years ago I'd have dismissed this as nonsense, but I had an experience where I took another ex-racehorse of mine back to a racecourse that he had run at many years in the past, and he pretty much had a meltdown when he saw the parade ring (even with no-one there, it wasn't a raceday) and lost the plot. He was fine to take to a bustling BE event normally!

How much do you think they remember? Do you ever write off a location as a 'bad one' for your horse?

 

[Roxylola]

If I couldn't go and ride in that area first to check I probably wouldn't chance it. I've definitely seen in the short term when they recognise where they are visiting and have associations with the venue. With something like that where there has been long held associations it would put me off.

 

[milliepops]

How much do you think they remember? Do you ever write off a location as a 'bad one' for your horse?

my closest show venue is a write off, my horse just never relaxes there even after a couple of stay away shows. so yes, i think they can just get bad vibes in a place that don't go away.

Dunno what I'd do in your shoes, a BE event is hopefully different enough to what he did in the area before.

 

[RachelFerd]

my closest show venue is a write off, my horse just never relaxes there even after a couple of stay away shows. so yes, i think they can just get bad vibes in a place that don't go away.

I have to say, I don't tend to go back to places where we haven't had a great time. I don't like to run at Kelsall with this horse (even though its very local) because the layout makes him a bit homeward bound. And I don't jump at South View any more, even though it is very local, because I've never had any luck there on any of my horses!

 

[RachelFerd]

If I couldn't go and ride in that area first to check I probably wouldn't chance it

As it is a good 4.5 hours in the lorry each way, I don't think an exploratory ride is really an option!! I'm leaning towards a no as I really suspect that horses remember more than we give them credit for - and I don't like creating opportunities for things to go wrong. So frustrating as it is otherwise the perfect competition for him though

 

[deb_l222]

I would have to ask myself how much it would cost to get there (entry fees, preparation etc) and could I afford to lose the money if I had to turn around and come straight back home?

The thing is, if you don't try, you will never know but (trust me) I am not a world expert on these things

 

[deb_l222]

Aaahhhhh sorry, just seen your other post about it being a 4.5 hour trip. That might be a deal breaker for me if the outcome at the other end was unsure. That's a long way to go.

 

[Roxylola]

Too far and too expensive imo to bother tbh if there's a doubt before you even start

 

[daffy44]

Given the distance I'm afraid I wouldnt bother, if it was more local and you could have a trial run first, then I'd do that, but as thats not possible I'd give it a miss, sorry.

 

[RachelFerd]

Yes, you can't 'trial run' at Barbury! It is a championship, so the sad thing is that there isn't an alternative (other than 'don't go')... just wish they were running at Gatcombe again like they had most recently

 

[LEC]

I think we underestimate the horses ability to use all its senses - hearing, smell and eyesight are far sharper than we give them credit for. The Enzo the blind horse completely changed the way I think about horses ability to react/sense.

But your horse is also pretty experienced now and has had a high level of training. I am pretty convinced on the riders ability to also communicate positive/negative vibes to horses but at bogey venues we look for excuses. BTW my disaster venue is Monmouth. I haven't been back for years since a blown trailer tyre on the Severn Bridge. The time before I was E for missing a fence.

You know your horse better than anyone so I guess you outweigh risk vs reward.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Is the xc/competition set up near where he actually used to gallop/be worked or is it on another part of the estate? Does your horse react negatively to any other places you have been on more than one occasion? Will you yourself make a mountain out of a molehill just because you have it in your head he won't like it and thus he will then think like that? If yes to most of that, given that it is stupidly expensive and 4.5hours away I would spend your money elsewhere.

Most will remember. I can't take GrayMo to a certain indoor school as he positively hates it but the one connected to it, the outdoor and the grass at the same venue are absolutely fine by him! Weirdo!

 

[teapot]

Have a look at google maps - you can see where the all weather surfaces are in relation to the event site. Farley Henge on the map is the Stonehenge fence, you can see the main arena water and the course water. Is he generally good at BE events? So if it looks like an event, smells like an event, and means doing fun stuff, would that tick his brain into work mode?