Nappy clingy horses..help please *Endurance*

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little_legs

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ok we went to endurance for the riding club yesterday, this is our 3rd ride this year. We had a lovely day, great ride, lots of canters, and my 14.1 boy was well up for keeping up with and trying to over take his 16.2 friends all 3 of them !

Im doing the RC pairs to music with one of them and since practicing this my boy is beside himself with his new friend, as soon as he went to be vetting and left William, William became beside himself, so when we got vetted out normal heart rate would be around 36 it had shot up to 52, on the way back the same thing happend, and he got a heart rate of 51.

Its so dissapointing when last year we finished on heart rates between 36 and 44 so all grade 1s, and this year we have been rate 3 and 4.

So Im looking for help...............any suggestions for a calmer? and would that work, I really don't know what to do...................

Thanks in advance

Jane
 
Can you arrange to vet at the same time so he is still near his friend?

Other people sometimes use massage to try and relax them for vetting and reduce their heartrate, could that help?
 
Thanks for the idea, but Im not sure it would work as he is fine after the finish and fine for the 30 minutes before the vet, its as we get split for vetting and if he trots off without us, which is something we have no control of. Yesterday he started wild and there was nothing that would change him.



Jane
 
I used to have this problem with my horse William but he was even worse. If his friend trotted off without him his heart rate would have been in the 70's! The only way I got round it was to ask the vets if we could both have our heart rates taken at the same time and then we both trotted together. Most vets were only to happy to do this but it did depend on whether it was busy in the vetting area.
 
Mitchyden said:
I used to have this problem with my horse William but he was even worse. If his friend trotted off without him his heart rate would have been in the 70's! The only way I got round it was to ask the vets if we could both have our heart rates taken at the same time and then we both trotted together. Most vets were only to happy to do this but it did depend on whether it was busy in the vetting area.
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Thank you, we did try that, but the vets were very snotty and not helpful at all, and its very risky, think Im just stuck with it now :-(

Jane
 
I don't know enough about endurance to know if it would be practical, but could you practice with his friend elsewhere? Taking yours away for a minute for a treat or feed before returning to his friend, building up to longer periods of keeping him away before returning? You could give his itchy spots a good rub too while he's away from his mate, or hand graze so that in time he associates leaving his friend results in something pleasant & relaxing before being reunited with him soon after. And fantastic name you have too!
 
You can ask for them to be vetted beside each other, but at a busy ride be prepared to be told it's not possible. Don't mean to sound harsh but it's not the vets problem. If you know your horse has an issue, then sort it or accept he will have a high HR. The vets have loads of horses to see (as they invairably come to return vettings in groups) & not got the time to deal with problems.

Try things like riding him in front sometimes, so he isn't just following his buddy but leading him. You can do training rides (which don't take HR), & practise vetting apart. Would it help not having your transport close together, so they are apart when being readied for vettings? Can you practise with his buddy trotting off when you get together to train? Start with him walking off a few paces, then returning, build up the distance to about 40m (given that trot ups are roughly 30m), then when he accepts him walking off start trotting buddy off. It should be worth the effort to keep him from getting so stressed.


You aren't meant to touch the horse when the HR is being taken, as things such as massage could artificially lower the HR. Like why some plant derivatives, such as lavender & valerian are banned. IMHO if he is very upset about his buddy trotting off over the counter calmers (FEI legal) are unlikely to have much affect on him.
 
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If you practice then it will get better, but in the meantime most vets are OK if you ask if you can hang on to do your trot till the horse's mate has had its pulse taken. The vets want you to have a good result and certainly I've never had an issue doing that when we've had H and Spud together at a ride. You don't have to trot together, so it's not like you're asking to wait while the whole examination takes place, you just want to hang fire on the trot until the other has had its pulse taken. I've even had vets ask me to hang fire on the trot if the horse at the next vet is a bit wired even when my horse didn't know them.

Alternatively what some people do is vet one horse first with the other loitering just outside the vetting area, and then the other one vets and the first one loiters.
 
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