Very tense horse - any ideas?

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DirectorFury

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First off, horse has recently had back, tack, and teeth checked so I'm 99% sure there is no underlying medical problem. She's a 5yo Sec D.

Tenseness has been a problem since the horse was broken, her default evasion is to raise her head, set her neck, and drop her back with the hindquarters a few miles behind. She's gotten a lot better recently but it's still taking 20-30 minutes (on a good day, up to 1 hour on a bad day) of work for her to begin to relax. There's also a lot of bit chomping/mouth fussiness even when she seems relaxed which is indicating she's not happy.

The first 10 minutes of any ride involves FWLR with a few 20m circles and walk-halt transitions focusing on seat. I'll then slowly pick her up and do another 10 minutes of walk with a contact, more simple shapes and transitions. Up into trot and she'll immediately drop her back and shorten her neck, taking teeny tiny steps and miles from tracking up. I usually drop reins completely at this point in an attempt to get her to (1) stretch down in trot and (2) take bigger steps. This sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. It has taken over an hour before to get her to track up properly in trot. More work (lots of circles and transitions, some leg yielding, shoulder-in) generally gets to lengthen her neck and soften through the back, though this can take absolutely ages. Up into canter and she'll do the same, canter is very big (covers the same stride as a 16.2 TB) and fast.

Back to trot and she'll be tense all of sudden and it'll take ages for her to relax again - particularly if she thinks you're about to ask for canter. She's ridden in a loose cavesson noseband with an eggbutt snaffle (NS Tranz Angled Losenge), if she's in a loose ring you can't even take a contact. Never used harsh bits or gadgets on her and she's never been ridden by someone with harsh hands (i.e. no sawing on the reins).

Are there any particular exercises to get her to chill out more quickly, or is it just a case of persevering how we are? She gets lots of pats and wither scratches when she does something even half correct (which helps) and I talk to her a lot while riding.
 
Maybe some lunging/long-lining from time to time but I think you are on track... Some horses just take longer than others to relax and you sound like you're going about it the right way. Taking her out on hacks with other calm horses or even riding in with another calm horse in front might also help her. Particularly if you do very easy things in walk/trot on a loose rein and give her a chance to 'switch off' and just follow the horse ahead. I would also stop cantering her every time and focus on the walk and trot for now as you said she tenses if she thinks you're going to ask for canter. Try modulating her trot on the lunge and then take that to the saddle. I actually use different voice commands for different trots to help with that from the ground. It makes you focus on getting the right thing out of them as much as it's a help to them to know what you want. You can keep her cantering on the lunge while you focus on the slower gaits ridden so that she is still improving her rhythm and balance but the two stay separate in her mind for the time being.
 
I would forget going in the school for the time being, have her turned out at night if she isn't already and do lots and lots of hacking to get her going forwards into a contact with asking too much. at 5 she is still young and may just need a bit of time to understand what you want. sometimes if they are given a complete break they seem to somehow progress in their understanding...I sat on mine at 3 as she was getting quite big..then left her till 4 when I started a little schooling during the summer. gave her the winter off and when I restarted her in the following summer she had improved even though she wasn't being ridden so I think she just had time to relax and understand what was being asked...good luck
 
Is she tense out hacking as well as in the school? have you tried giving her a break from schooling? going for a hack then coming back to just do 10mins quiet work in walk? doing a few weeks working on walk and trot without cantering? is she the same on the lunge or long reins?
Have you tried trotting on a long rein before picking up a full contact in walk so she can learn to stretch through, not by dropping the reins as that gives her no guidance or you any way of controlling the rhythm, you still have to pick the reins up and the tension will come as you do so, by keeping a contact at all times so she is properly on a long rein not a loose one, I would be working her this way until she relaxes, it may take many weeks, before asking for any more, even then it would only be a tiny amount with the rider being ready to take the pressure off and stretch her back down if she starts to tense up.

It sounds as if you are sticking to a schooling plan that is not working and needs a completely new approach, if you have an instructor and they are not giving you new ideas think of looking for someone that has a different approach, every horse is so different if something is not working you need to come at it from a new direction not continue when there is clearly no real improvement, taking up to an hour to get just a basic trot suggests she needs to go back a stage or two in order to become more established and confident.
 
Hi you sound like you are doing the right things. Your pony sound like the horse I ride. It has taken me months to get any decent work out of him and for him to relax. We still have moments where he tenses and shrinks back to me and seems to get stuck and can't go forward. He then puts in really short steps. He is worse after a transition. I just spent ages working him on a long rein with no pressure and doing a lot on the lunge letting him find his own balance and he has improved greatly.
Good luck with your girl x
 
Hmmm sounds just like my 5 yr old Dales whom I am now treating for ulcers and have had an osteopath out to. He is on week 2 of the omeprazole and session 2 of cranial sacral therapy and I lunged him today and could see a vast improvement. He was moving forward, more relaxed and was not reactive to the whip at all and on previous occasions the whip resulted in exaggerated kicking out. He did also wood chew prolifically. He had an accident at 3 years old which I now believe affected his poll and possibly resulted in ulcers and of course being a native living out 24/7 these were unlikely to me. The improvement is speaking for itself,
 
Henry02 said:
Are you riding for up to an hour in the school or out hacking?
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Both. She's currently in the school 1-2x a week, lunged once, and hacked for up to two hours 2-3x a week. I'm usually only in the school for 30-45 mins and finish off with a hack round the block to cool down.

Barnacle said:
Maybe some lunging/long-lining from time to time but I think you are on track... Some horses just take longer than others to relax and you sound like you're going about it the right way. Taking her out on hacks with other calm horses or even riding in with another calm horse in front might also help her. Particularly if you do very easy things in walk/trot on a loose rein and give her a chance to 'switch off' and just follow the horse ahead. I would also stop cantering her every time and focus on the walk and trot for now as you said she tenses if she thinks you're going to ask for canter. Try modulating her trot on the lunge and then take that to the saddle. I actually use different voice commands for different trots to help with that from the ground. It makes you focus on getting the right thing out of them as much as it's a help to them to know what you want. You can keep her cantering on the lunge while you focus on the slower gaits ridden so that she is still improving her rhythm and balance but the two stay separate in her mind for the time being.
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She's fine on the lunge in all gaits, with or without tack. It's odd! We do lots of hacking but mainly alone as other horses on the yard aren't reliable to hack out with. It takes her about the same amount of time to relax on a hack as in the school, even if we're just plodding along.

I'm going to take a step back from canter for a few months as you've suggested, it all seems to fall apart after a canter! Different voices for different trots is a good idea, thank you :).

splashgirl45 said:
I would forget going in the school for the time being, have her turned out at night if she isn't already and do lots and lots of hacking to get her going forwards into a contact with asking too much. at 5 she is still young and may just need a bit of time to understand what you want. sometimes if they are given a complete break they seem to somehow progress in their understanding...I sat on mine at 3 as she was getting quite big..then left her till 4 when I started a little schooling during the summer. gave her the winter off and when I restarted her in the following summer she had improved even though she wasn't being ridden so I think she just had time to relax and understand what was being asked...good luck
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She's currently out 24/7 in a stable herd and it's made a massive difference from when she was stabled at night. This horse has had lots of little breaks rather than a big one - broken in Sept of her 3rd year, ridden until the November and turned away until the next March. Turned away again at the end of the June of her 4th year and just hacked October and November the same year and then turned away again until the start of this March. I've just worked it out and she's actually had roughly 12 months under saddle (in total), with of those just hacking as we had no school or field to ride in.

I think upping the hacking and forgetting the school for the rest of the summer might be the way to go.

be positive said:
Is she tense out hacking as well as in the school? have you tried giving her a break from schooling? going for a hack then coming back to just do 10mins quiet work in walk? doing a few weeks working on walk and trot without cantering? is she the same on the lunge or long reins?
Have you tried trotting on a long rein before picking up a full contact in walk so she can learn to stretch through, not by dropping the reins as that gives her no guidance or you any way of controlling the rhythm, you still have to pick the reins up and the tension will come as you do so, by keeping a contact at all times so she is properly on a long rein not a loose one, I would be working her this way until she relaxes, it may take many weeks, before asking for any more, even then it would only be a tiny amount with the rider being ready to take the pressure off and stretch her back down if she starts to tense up.

It sounds as if you are sticking to a schooling plan that is not working and needs a completely new approach, if you have an instructor and they are not giving you new ideas think of looking for someone that has a different approach, every horse is so different if something is not working you need to come at it from a new direction not continue when there is clearly no real improvement, taking up to an hour to get just a basic trot suggests she needs to go back a stage or two in order to become more established and confident.
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I'm actually looking for a new instructor at the moment :). My current one is very 'fixed' in what exercises we should be doing and I'm finding it increasingly frustrating - if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got! Hence the post.

She's tense out hacking for the first 20-30 minutes, worse if it's windy or raining (can't blame her!) or she's been stabled overnight. We've only recently (3 months) had access to a school and I've been careful to stick to once or twice a week so I don't make her sour. I've been ending schooling sessions with a hack but starting with one and then just walking round might be a better idea :). She's fine on the lunge and so relaxed she's practically horizontal, I've not long reined her but might give it a try. Forgetting canter seems to be a popular suggestion so I'm going to forget it for a few months and see if it's better when she's stronger.

I do a lot of trotting on a long rein (not totally loose), particularly out hacking. She's happy to do this after a while but if I try it for the first trot she just stays tense with a short neck. Another problem is that I can't keep a consistent contact on a long rein - she'll stretch right down and then her head will shoot up and then go back down etc. I'm reasonably sure it's because she's struggling with balance so more hacking and doing this in straight lines should help.

mudmonkey17 said:
Hi you sound like you are doing the right things. Your pony sound like the horse I ride. It has taken me months to get any decent work out of him and for him to relax. We still have moments where he tenses and shrinks back to me and seems to get stuck and can't go forward. He then puts in really short steps. He is worse after a transition. I just spent ages working him on a long rein with no pressure and doing a lot on the lunge letting him find his own balance and he has improved greatly.
Good luck with your girl x
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That's exactly what mine does! It gives me some hope that she'll get better :).
 
YasandCrystal said:
Hmmm sounds just like my 5 yr old Dales whom I am now treating for ulcers and have had an osteopath out to. He is on week 2 of the omeprazole and session 2 of cranial sacral therapy and I lunged him today and could see a vast improvement. He was moving forward, more relaxed and was not reactive to the whip at all and on previous occasions the whip resulted in exaggerated kicking out. He did also wood chew prolifically. He had an accident at 3 years old which I now believe affected his poll and possibly resulted in ulcers and of course being a native living out 24/7 these were unlikely to me. The improvement is speaking for itself,
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Oh dear, I hope he's 100% soon! You've just described my horse to a T. I've asked the vet about ulcers before (wood chewing after hard feed) but was told it was unlikely due to her lifestyle. She has recently coliced though I was wondering if they were connected. Osteopath would be a good shout, there's one who visits my yard every month so I'll try and book him for the next time.
 
Assuming there is no physical issues, which you seem to be following up very consistently, I can suggest a completely different approach that I have used successfully on ex-racehorses and other horses needing rehabilitation (which I used to do for a living).
I teach contact and relaxation from the moment i get on, and i don't do anything else until I can ride the horse at walk in a longer lowered long frame (working toward stretch) , with a contact, and longer strides. I never give away the reins to stretch, as i don't feel this is asking the horse to stretch, but just giving it the opportunity, so if it doesn't stretch then you are not achieving any relaxation.
The horse stays on a small circle on one rein until this happens, then I do the other rein. Once I can consistently do this in walk, I will teach the same in trot. This can take several weeks (and a lot of patience), but I would expect the horse to be working in a relaxed manner within minutes of getting on, i.e. it is always on a small circle when tense, and doesn't really get the chance to tense up at any time that it is not on that circle. It works like magic on tense horses (without physical problems).
It is very very important that you reward the right things and keep a contact with the outside rein at all times! (A light contact, like holding someone's hand to guide them). Control is maintained by the circle and not by pulling.
I have pm'd you with more details on the actual method, and you may need a trainer to help you carry it out as it is impossible to cover all circumstances when just writing down a method, but if done correctly then I would expect improvement within days and I would expect a TB off the racetrack to be 'mentally' ready for its first competition in about 12 weeks (although many more things involved than just teaching it to relax of course and depends on temperament/how quick they are to learn).
 
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Had exactly the same issue with my sec d when he was younger. We used Transitions mainly...loads and loads and loads of them. Lots of spirals, figures of 8 and serpentines with mini gives on inside rein when you feel her soften. I didn't ask for stretching until the end of sessions where he was more tired and willing to follow the contact down. Gradually over time I was able to ask for more stretching earlier in sessions but I don't make longitudinal stretching the focus or do it for long periods as it encouraged him to stay on forehand and you need the hocks underneath you. Introducing and developing lateral work has improved the quality of the contact even further, presumably because it strengthens and supples hind end. Once she is stronger behind and better balanced she won't need to balance by bracing her lower neck muscles and draw her neck back towards her withers and centre of gravity.

I actually got better results with a plain old single jointed full cheek than lozenges but obviously that is personal preference.

If she hollows and braces as an active evasion rather than just lack of strength you might try following her head up with your hands without changing quality of contact so she learns raising her head will not enable her to escape the contact. Keep her moving forward And as soon as she lowers her head follow the contact back down and reward her. It may take a few sessions but it was a breakthrough for my gelding.

I have found as our balance has improved we get less tension and of course age and experience has probably helped too!
 
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nice to hear you are open to all ideas, im sure you will get her sorted out, just may take a little time...good luck and let us know how you get on..
 
Loads of good suggestions here, just to add, if she's generally tense, an Equilibrium massage pad on before work might help, worked wonders on a very tense horse I used to have, good luck.
 
Hi there, I was hoping you have sorted tension in your horse, as what you describe is what my horse is doing. I have had all checks done and all passed although wondering if I need to go back to vet for ultrasound and xrays. paying you can give me some hope.
 
I love getting project rescues in to restrain and the main issue is tension with most of them, they have have had bad experience being ridden and my main joy in life in helping them to relax and enjoy being ridden. It sounds like you are on the right track but i'd be wary of worrying about a horse tracking up and schooling for an hour plus, its just too much mentally and physically i think. To be honest i wouldn't work a tense horse in a school for an hour, i'd take it out on a hack if it was having a particularly bad day.

I had an exracer and we did months of just walking and circles (similar to wkiwis technique) of just flexing and rewarding the give. No pressure. they tell you when they are ready to go forward. I wouldn't ask the horse to do a single thing schooling wise until i knew it was relaxed and blowing out. if it means keeping a horse at walk for a month, then fine. I'd also do more hacking that schooling as i think horses link up with you quicker and a better relationship develops away from the pressure of schooling. If a horse is tense i'd prefer to get it out on a hack with a small group of horses having fun, where it canters just following the others, without realising its cantering almost, if that makes sense.

I think its jumping a bit ahead to be doing shoulder ina nd leg yield on a horse who hasn't mentally relaxed with you on board. You need to get it to click in it's head that you are ok and to trust you. The tracking up and stuff will come as part of that. But if i was in your boat, i'd really just bring it back to basics and let the horse dictate where its mentally comfortable with. But i think taking it out of the arena will improve a lot of the issues you are having.
 
This thread is over 18 months old now so I'm not sure how it's ended up at the top of C&T again but I may as well update! Wkiwi very kindly gave me a lot of guidance over PM with dealing with this issue which was really helpful. She'd gone from working nicely at Prelim/Novice level to barely being able to cope with trotting a circle - which is what prompted this post! With the benefit of hindsight I was struggling and overhorsed when I made this post and should've recognised what was going on. I also should have linked the change in her behaviour to the move to the yard at the time - she'd been moved there about 2-3 months prior to this post.

The yard that I was on at the time of the original post had great facilities etc. but the turnout herds weren't very stable and there were horses coming and going on almost a weekly basis the whole time we were there - as a result my horse became more and more unsettled and difficult to handle and ride. She did eventually relax in the school and I hacked probably twice a week (hacking was poor - main road from a village to the M4, national speed limit, high hedges, blind corners; just dangerous!) but she never seemed happy or at home on the yard.

We moved in May to a small yard (11 horses) that only offers full livery and probably the best hacking in S Wales. There's There's no livery turnover; people only leave if they sell up or lose their horse. There's also no school there at the moment. As a result we've not schooled in a traditional sense since April, though she had July-Sept off with a kick injury. The horse is now relaxed all of the time and has lost the tense 'worried' look that she always used to have. We went out to mid-week dressage last week and managed 72% at Prelim with praise for how relaxed she is over her topline. That's not to say she doesn't have her moments but it's almost like she's now able to take a second to think things through rather than just reacting with blind panic. She's also no longer whip shy (i.e. she no longer rears on just seeing a whip), which I couldn't get her over at the other yard regardless of how much desensitising I did, which has got me wondering what was going on when I wasn't around at the other yard.

To anyone who is reading thinking that this sounds like their horse: a yard move might be the right thing for you. I was on the verge of selling up due to her behaviour and now I have a sane-ish, quite talented, animal to work with :).
 
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What a lovely update. It did surprise me last night when it popped up, until I read the date of your OP - there was a reference to the summer which gave it away a bit!

DirectorFury said:
To anyone who is reading thinking that this sounds like their horse: a yard move might be the right thing for you. I was on the verge of selling up due to her behaviour and now I have a sane-ish, quite talented, animal to work with :).
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Yes, I have seen for my own eyes how much the wrong environment can change a horse. My confident, self assured happy mare turned into a twitchy nervous wreck when I made a misjudged yard move. Poor beggars, if only they could talk...
 
Thank you for reply, my fault it had popped up again, i just wanted to know there was light at the end of the tunnel, as our horse displaying the same symptoms of tension. so pleased you sorted and thanks for the hope that we will get sorted.
 
shugmx said:
Thank you for reply, my fault it had popped up again, i just wanted to know there was light at the end of the tunnel, as our horse displaying the same symptoms of tension. so pleased you sorted and thanks for the hope that we will get sorted.
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Ah, I didn't see your comment! :o I'll PM you what I did now :).
 
DirectorFury said:
Both. She's currently in the school 1-2x a week, lunged once, and hacked for up to two hours 2-3x a week. I'm usually only in the school for 30-45 mins and finish off with a hack round the block to cool down.



She's fine on the lunge in all gaits, with or without tack. It's odd! We do lots of hacking but mainly alone as other horses on the yard aren't reliable to hack out with. It takes her about the same amount of time to relax on a hack as in the school.
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In that case, you need to look at what changes between when she is working on the lunge and when she is ridden. The obvious things are tack, rider, tack and rider combination. Have you tried riding bareback to see if that makes a difference?
I think a change of RI should be a priority, tbh.
 
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