My 3rd ‘rehab’ horse - but my first ex-racehorse!

EngageDressage

EngageDressage

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I’ve been lucky enough to buy a five year old mare just off the track only seven weeks ago. The journey from Ireland didn’t do her much good and she dropped a lot of weight and has very little muscle BUT the sweetest nature.
she’s so laid back she’s horizontal.
So far we’ve done:
- teeth check
- saddle fitter
- two physio sessions
- 1 water treadmill session
- some in-hand work over poles
- lots of hacking
- three sessions in the school

Only places she gets a bit stressy are in the school and on the road so working on building her confidence in both areas.
Can’t seem to upload a photo it’s saying it’s too big, but you can see her here:
https://www.facebook.com/2211178712502320/posts/3333532723600241
Anyone else had youngsters that find the school a bit anxiety-inducing? What made them more confident?
 
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stangs

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Bless, she's a pretty little thing, isn't she?

Re anxiety in the school, it's best addressed by trying to figure out what's causing it. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, and, of course, these guesses may not apply to her, but:

- Could it be the surface that she struggles with?
- Is that she's just never been in an arena before, and has gotten anxious by you accidentally pushing her too much in it?
- Is it the work that you only do in the arena that upsets her, so she's getting conditioned to associate the arena with stress?
- Could it be that she's had a bad experience in the past in an arena?
- Is it something in/near the arena that she's upset by?

Knowing the reason will then help you find the best solution to the issue. As general advice, I'd recommend some small R+ sessions, especially asking her to bring her head down for a treat (just make sure you have a cue for starting/ending a session, or that she knows when there will/won't be a session, so she doesn't get confused and nippy). Alternately, in-hand work focusing on turns on the forehand, lateral, to reduce bracing in the body. Again, focusing on a low head as much as you can. Or combine the two methods for the best of both worlds!

Also worth making sure she's comfortable with gates, or getting someone to do gates for you, just so you've not starting the session on a bad foot. The name of the game is minimising potential triggers.
.
 
AmyMay

AmyMay

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Just had a gander at your fb page. She’s such a lo little thing. I hope you have years of fun with her, and really look forward to your updates.
 
EngageDressage

EngageDressage

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stangs said:
Bless, she's a pretty little thing, isn't she?

Re anxiety in the school, it's best addressed by trying to figure out what's causing it. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, and, of course, these guesses may not apply to her, but:

- Could it be the surface that she struggles with?
- Is that she's just never been in an arena before, and has gotten anxious by you accidentally pushing her too much in it?
- Is it the work that you only do in the arena that upsets her, so she's getting conditioned to associate the arena with stress?
- Could it be that she's had a bad experience in the past in an arena?
- Is it something in/near the arena that she's upset by?

Knowing the reason will then help you find the best solution to the issue. As general advice, I'd recommend some small R+ sessions, especially asking her to bring her head down for a treat (just make sure you have a cue for starting/ending a session, or that she knows when there will/won't be a session, so she doesn't get confused and nippy). Alternately, in-hand work focusing on turns on the forehand, lateral, to reduce bracing in the body. Again, focusing on a low head as much as you can. Or combine the two methods for the best of both worlds!

Also worth making sure she's comfortable with gates, or getting someone to do gates for you, just so you've not starting the session on a bad foot. The name of the game is minimising potential triggers.
.
Click to expand...
Thanks @stangs for all the suggestions. I don’t believe it’s stress caused by anything I’ve done as a): she was like it from the first second she stepped foot in there and b) I’ve only done very short, relaxed ridden sessions literally walk and halt transitions, easy changes of direction, that’s it.
No gate issues, we have a mounting block in the school so I walk in her in, get on in there and walk her out in-hand afterwards too.
She’s also not stressed by mounting blocks, she parks willing next to them.
I think it’s just a new space that feels a bit wide open and she’s not sure what to do.
I’m trying to do little and often, very simple, lots of praise until the excitement/anxiety level goes down a bit and she can start to relax. I’ve been teaching her to head lower in-hand by saying ‘streeetcchhhinggg’ and then using that when I’m in saddle as well.
Will keep quietly plodding on and see how she is after another few sessions (and she’s not going in there every day either, twice a week max)
 
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