Noise aversion

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nedzy

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Hi,
I have a 6 year old IDX who I am just starting to compete at dressage with. He is a sensible lad and is virtually bombproof except for noise, he can't stand any loud noises. If someone were to cough unexpectedly we could well leave the arena, never mind the car horn to start!. Would it be acceptable to wear 'ear covers' in competition to drown out some noise, or has anyone got any other advice, or overcome a similar problem please?
 
Unfortunately ear covers aren't allowed in dressage.
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I did loads of desensitisation work with Finni which helped a bit. Working at home to music, taking him out to comp centres just to school.

I know a SJ who suggested stuffing ears by I suspect that is illegal also!
 
Shutterfly Meredith micheal-beerbums horse has this and is allowed to not enter the prize giving as he once laid down it was so bad !!

I know thats not helpful but a bit of information s
 
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Exellent! And they are dressage legal? Or no one knows they are there!?

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Well, theres nothing in the rules saying they arent and as you say, no-one knows they're there anyway!
 
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Boss - did you find the horse tolerated them well?

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Yep he's very happy to have them put in and he seems to hardly notice theyre there once in
 
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Brilliant!

Think these could be a great idea. Do they have string so you can get them out?!

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Ha!

Nope, there's a little hole in the middle that we just hook a finger in
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One of my eventers was like this, we stuffed his ears with cotton wool (stained it for dressage to match his coat), but he did need a lot of work with them to get over trying to shake them out. Those ear plugs sound better. Also used Bach Remedy's Valerium and another one, which I can't remember the name of at the moment, but if you look in their book (usually alongside the remedies in health shops) it is listed as being for noise and/or crowded environments. If you give them enough of it it knocks them right out! Best to experiment with dosage...
 
I had this with one of mine, and it was recommended to me that I move him to a yard with loads of road noise and traffic that he could see ( which I was intially reluctant to do ) but he settled really well and when he goes out now nothing upsets him. He is not only good to take to shows but is better than most hacking if we come across heavy/ large traffic ie artics, tractors etc.
 
Our SJ always had ear plugs and my mare did at the big indoor shows, legal for BSJA and FEI.
But i thought you werent allowed them for dressage? She always wore hers wih fly bonnet incase they came a bit loose.
Valerium is illegal for competing also
 
I thought earplugs were illegal too. My ISH (ID X) is a spooky chap, this is my third ID X and I've found them all a bit sensitive to noise. The only thing that works for me is to keep him totally on the aids and teach them to concentrate, so they focus on me, and hopefully, forget the noises outside. Other than that I would suggest you try to school with lots of noises, get your mates around to cough, sneeze, beep horns and see if you can desensitise him.

And remember you have 60" between the signal to start and when you have to start your test.
 
Put some stiffish sponge into the bottom of a pair of tights and leave an end bit. Shove them down as far as they will go and you can easily extract them with the bit of the tights that was loose. You need to push them down hard, and get it right first time. If you don't push them down far enough, they will irritate them. We use them in the show ring for some horses (particularly for evening performances) and they make a lot of difference.
 
Patrick has worn them for showing evening performances and doesn't really seem to notice them - mine are sheepskin. Finn they are kept in the lorry so if you want to have a look remind me on Sat.
 
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