Mare shutsdown with nerves

S

silverbreeze

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I dont really know what else to call it, i have a beautiful full RID mare who is very green when it comes to competition. She is 7 this year, we bred her and I have done everything with her.

The problem i have is that she gets to a competition and totally shuts down, she wouldnt even walk off for the judge at the weekend. She isn't the livliest of horses at the best of times but this is terrible.

Someone has suggester NAF EnerG for her but I cant decided what to give her as it is clearly a nervous thing. Her brother was exactly the same but unfortunately i lost him before i found a solution to the problem.

My concerns are that if i give her an energy supplement then this may highten her anxiety so do i give her a calmer?!

Has anyone any experience of this? Obviously getting her out and about a lot more is going to help her get used to competing and the environment but how do i help her in the meantime?

Thanks in advance

S
 
If she's nervous I'd be more inclined to give her a calmer. More energy may make her completely unmanageable. Hopefully someone on here will have experience with this as I don't so please feel free to ignore me :o
 
Thanks for the response, this is what concerns me. However, she isn't in the least bit lively and i really have to use a tonne of leg to get her going when she is competing and it kills me!! you have to use a fair bit when she is at home as she isn't the most motivated creature on the planet, I have been making an effort in the last couple of months to try and excite her and jumping her has a bit of an effect but i stress the bit part of that sentence!

The only way she would become unhandleable would be in a negative way for her nerves rather than me being unable to sit on her i should imagine.

She was trembling when we first arrived in the wagon but after that you would just think that she is lazy!
 
Missparis: this is one of the things i was considering. I just dont want her to totally switch off at home.. however, i am starting to wonder if she isnt as laid back at home as i assume!! she is the underdog in our little herd of mares and i am sure this doesn't do her any favours
 
Interesting post. I have a mare that is a bit like this. She goes very spooky and backwards at shows and needs so much leg. However, she is quite energetic at home. I can't say i have found a perfect solution for her yet. I have been giving her WInning Edge by Equifeast which has really helped with her spooking and calmness going into the ring but not with the energy levels.

I tried a Naf EnerG shot once last year and she actually jumped really really well, so i have been wondering whether to try that again.

Sorry not much help, but i think trying both EnerG and a calmer (on different occasions of course!) might be worth a go.
 
My mare is a little like this, used to be very spooky at home and was a nervous wreck at comps.

Naf magic worked as a syringe at comps, Nupafeed worked at home on day to day basis but did make her very sluggish so in the end I took her off them and decided to work through the spooks and nervousness.

Couple of years later she rarely spooks at home, still a bit of a coward and guess always will be, but fine when ridden.

At comps she is so much better, it has just taken lots of parties and literally throwing many different activities at her to keep her mind occupied.

We are now doing more dressage and she suits this, jumping comps she still gsts tense and needs loads of leg, and even then will still become very wary of everything happening.

I wouldn't take her to a big show as just too much for her still, and I do plan where I go as carparks are our downfall! Warm up's are fine as other horses about.

You mentioned you took her showing, dont these tend to be bigger, busier shows? Could it be worth taking her to something very low key, either that or clinics?

Also to add, I've given mine EnerG and it didn't make her daft just gave her more stamina, although she isn't keen on the taste. For energy I now feed Alpha a oil and Power & Performance
 
Can you take her to a local RC show, enter HC, and just do whatever she's up to? So if she's not happy to walk off for the judge, you just walk her round a bit yourself and then take her home again? RCs tend to be pretty understanding, in the past I've asked to go last in HTs with my nappy horse and they've happily let me bypass fences, have multiple attempts etc, half the time the stewards come over afterwards and go 'oooooh how did you do?!'
 
Could you just take her and not compete so she takes in the atmosphere or go with a calm friend? How is she in hand, you could try showing her in hand if she is calmer or would be reassured by someone on the ground. Just a few suggestions if you didn't want to do the calmer or energy stuff.
 
Maybe try to create an atmosphere at home, like playing music, bunting in the arena etc or maybe go to a local show and try to do some gymkhana classes or prettiest mare, just to completely take the stress off and make it enjoyable... I know I feel terrible with nerves, so sick that I make up excuses not to compete (I always do, but for some reason it makes me feel better!!)
Good luck and keep us posted!!
 
Hi

thanks all for the feedback, its very useful to hear other cases. We have a local show at the yard which she does all the time and she is fine, i think it was being combined with the journey when shre hasn't travelled for such a long time.

I am taking her to Somerford to do the farm ride on Sunday with a friend so that should be good fun for her and no pressure and then i have a local show the week after so far less busy than the one last week.

i think i am going to try the daily EnerG supplement and then a calmer shot at shows and see how she goes with that. I am restricted as to the feed i can giver her for energy as she isn't the slimmest of creatures in the world.

I will let you all know how we get on!

Thanks again

S
 
As with all these things one thing will work for you that doesn't necessarily work for others but I would echo the Equifeast recommendation. My chap also used to shutdown/freeze when put under stress, as this was often at the beginning of a race as the stalls opened you can see why I inherited him ;)

He has been on the Equifeast Cool, Calm and Collected (which is also in the WinningEdge range) for the last year and it appears to have helped him assimilate information and deal with it in a more reasoned manner! Attention span is better, rideability is vastly improved and I haven't had a shutdown moment for a very long time now.

If current plan doesn't work I would suggest giving the CC&C a go, it isn't an immediate fix though, it does take a while to work through the sysytem.
 
Jules 14 how long did it take until you saw results at shows with CC&C? Ive had my horse on it for 4 weeks now and it seemed to have an effect after the first week but then this week he has been really spooky at competitons and also at home (he isnt usually spooky at home)! I put him on it because at competitons he was spooky and very backwards jumping and seemed to 'freeze', hoping it will have some effect soon!
 
Quite a hard question to answer horsey4, it has been more of an overall attitude change over a period of months, probably about 6 months before he has actually got to the point of being truly rideable in all situations, which is probably not what you want to hear ;)

It is more like he has mentally matured and grown in confidence, more like a positive feedback loop if you like. You could suggest that he has just grown up, but at age 10 I think he was fairly set in his ways! He has basically followed the pattern the blurb on the product suggests, so I am inclined to believe it is the product that has made the difference. Not an overnight miracle though!
 
Firstly sort the travelling problem by adding a mirror to the box, that should help a lot.
Try putting her on Equijewel from Saracen, it worked wonders for a horse needing more oomph but no fizz for us.
I would take her places in the box where there is nothing more than a fun ride at the end of it, the beach or woods would be ideal, so she associates going in it with something enjoyable.
At home get some longer spurs and ensure she goes off your leg , I don't mean kick her, but look at the specialist types some are sharper than others.
I think if you give her a little more energy from the feed plus do not tolerate her ignoring your leg she will be fine.
 
Thanks Jules 12, my horse also is exactly as described on the information for CC&C, I will keep persavering, he does seem a little better in some situations. I think I thought it was going to be a quicker fix that it is! But it sounds like small improvements eventually make a big difference :D
 
Just also wondered how many other people ride your mare - you say she wouldn't move for the judge but if she is only used to you riding her, then she might well have just not understood what the judge was asking

Anything that is in my yard that going out to "do" serious showing had a vast range of riders stuck on board to ensure that the horse would not object to a change of jockey.

My previous ISH (who looked more ID than TB) was also very stuffy but increasing his feed didn't help. It just seemed to make him more opiniated. Schooling and fitness work did. His natural tendency would be to shuffle along quietly, preferably with his nose on the floor so I did have my work cut out but we did get there!
 
Hi.

Just thought i would update you all. I took her to Somerford a couple of weeks ago to do the farm ride with a friend and she loved it, she has also had a couple of canters in the week and got very excited... so it can happen!!

I took her to a smaller local show at the weekend and did the working hunter and she won! She was considerably better but i have the feeling that if there hadn't been jumps involved she would've still been very off! I took one of my other mare with her for moral support so that may have also helped.

She started on her Energ supplement on Saturday so hopefully this will help a little more too.

thanks to everyone for you input, it is very helpful.

P.S. Dora, we have competitions at the yard and she does them all the time without being bothered so I am guessing it is when she travels away adding to the stress!
 
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