What do you do with a spooky horse when you first enter the arena?

[dressager]

In the past my 6 year old has freaked out about judge's boxes! Or rather he freaks out about the people moving around in them, and one time he panicked as the judge leant right out of the box and rang the bell in his face, despite knowing he was a young horse! I nearly fell off!!!

We have a show next week which is our first for nearly a year, and I'm worried he will refuse to go down that end of the arena which he has done in the past. He does have a years extra experience and has been hacked and seen more spooky things. But I keep focusing on the fact he might do his snorting and standing on his back legs lark.

My plan was to (try) and ride confidently around the arena before the bell, maybe some medium trot, lots of leg and reins short. Ride past the judge's box only once he is really between hand and leg, and not too many times, just incase they ring the bell when we're right near it...

Any suggestions???

 

[OliveOyl]

I'd try and ride past the judges box on each rein, with a bit of shoulder in as you go past and don't think about them ringing the bell as you go past as it will cause tension in you, which you'll relay to him. It's unlikely to happen anyway, most judges are very considerate IME.
try and visualise it being a positive experience,if you keep focusing on the bad bits you think might happen then I'm sure your horse will oblige as that's what he thinks you want!
Good luck

 

[palomino_pony]

I try to ask if my time can be at the beginning of the class. It seems that the judge has a break at the end of each class ( well they do round here) so I get extra few minutes to ride round the actual arena and past the box / car while waiting for the judge to return. I understand that this is difficult in some cases to organise but you can but ask! Gets the spooks out before we start

 

[millitiger]

lots of pats and reassurance if he is genuinely scared.

can you hire an arena with a judge's box and get a friend to feed him polos etc from inside it?

 

[diggerbez]

i'd be interested to hear what people think. i took my 4 year old out last week for the first time and he was really tense and spooky when i went in the arena. i'm rubbish and i get really nervous and just sort of sit there doing nothing! next time i'm going to try and get him as forward as possible (difficult when they are gawping at something and trying to turn round and run the other way!) and i like the shoulder in idea to try and distract him....

 

[carthorse]

Take the time you need , try to get in as quickly as you can and make the best of the time. As you are working your horse up that end really get him listening to you and act like there is nothing to worry about . I do feel for you , good luck

 

[Imonone]

I have a terribly spooky horse and embarassingly was eliminated x2 and had to retire x2 on my 1st 4 times out on him. When the judge opened the window, I was virtually bolted out of the arena

and dont mention the very scary photographer

.

Last few times out I have qualified for 2 national finals and been to one. Its because I havent given up on him and have taken the pressure off him and myself. I did some practising in a hired arena and then some walk & trot tests and built up from there.

Hes not perfect but I can get him through a test now without too much tension. Hang in there and take small steps and it will all come right in the end

 

[Bossanova]

I wouldnt ride him too strongly as that can create a worry in the horse and put them on edge.
Personally I'd walk round in a nice relaxed manner and just chill him out before picking him up and going in.

 

[Pasha]

One thing that really works is not to look at the scary thing yourself - weird but it seems to do the trick! Just pretend it isn't there! Focus on something else completely regardless of what horsey has in mind!

Shoulder-in, medium trot or canter are all good ways of avoiding spookiness, but i've also found that really sitting on their backs (sitting trot if you have to) also has a calming effect! I often ride the CL in sitting trot!

EDS: I agree with Bossonova 100%. Ride positively but not too strongly as it will only make them more tense

 

[Saratoga]

I know only too well what it's like sitting on a spooky time bomb in a test, having a dressage horse by Jazz!! Shoulder fore and inside flexion, with lots of inside leg asking the inside hind to step under more will help to focus the horse on what you're asking rather than gawping at things at the side. 10m circles in walk doing the same thing will also help to focus the mind, especially near the object if you can.

Wouldn't say medium would help much, especially on a young horse, as you'll just unbalance them and make them more likely to spook, turn and leg it!!!

 

[BFG]

My horse spooks more in walk and trot so i will go in and trot round then if he is really tense i will pop him into canter.

Again don’t look at the problem yourself and flex the horses head away form the object.

Mt lad doesn’t like the judges box so i always flex him 3/4 down the center line ready for the turn this stops him looking at the judges box head on.

Works for mine (sometimes)....

 

[Lolo]

Well, my horse spooks at whatever he fancies, so I've given up and just laugh at him, but that's because he's old and getting more and more mad every time out!

The two littlies Alice rides are both spooky- one gets a boot in the ribs and a growl when he spooks, and he quickly decides Alice is a far scarier force to be reckoned with that the flowerpot. He's 12, but quite green and prone to taking the piss. The baby one gets circled around scary items so he goes past them lots, and gets to stand and have a sniff and poke because he is genuinely uncertain.

 

[Vicki1986]

mine was scared of judges box, it dragged on for ages and was getting worse - but luckily extremely helpful competition centre let me ride around the edge of the boards whilst the judges were changing over in between classes ( i was first to go in next class) so i got her up to it, she even stuck her head in there much to the judges shock! i think this really helped, she saw them rummaging around and i was able to ride her right around it quite a few times.
dont do much dressage, but did saturday and as i was running behind trotted straight into arena, normally i walk in then start to trot round/do transitions whatever but this made a real difference to her, she didnt spend time looking around.

 

[dressager]

Thank you so much everyone for your advice, I see we're not the only one having issues with the scary judges! It does annoy me when they seem to do the best job they can do to spook the horse! I mean why ring the bell so heartily when you're trotting past?! Unbelievable. I know dressage is a test of obedience and all that but I'm sure it doesn't help my horse's sensitive ears (nor my nerves!)

Well, will let you all know how it goes!