Will this behaviour ever change? Ex racer experts please!

R

ReadyTeddyGo

Member
Joined
24 March 2010
Messages
14
Location
Emerald City
Visit site
So I have a 6 year old ex racer, had him 18 months now. We start BE in a little over 6 weeks after a year of xc schooling, unaff sj/dr etc. A lovely boy who is bold jumping and a generally nice person to be around. We have a major problem at comps though (or anywhere where there are alot of other horses) and have done since I first bought him. He is totally scatty when others are around him, and if one gets near him in the warm up he literally turns himself inside out. Just warming up for dr is a nightmare and he is in a total state by the time we get in, he wont listen, has his back up and is a general menace :(. I have kept him going out consistently to things to try and get him used to it but it never improves. I lunge him before I get on at events and he is always v.calm until we get to the others. Does anyone else experience this? Is it a youngster phase? Have you any tips on surviving it? Any comments gladly received :D
 
ReadyTeddyGo said:
So I have a 6 year old ex racer, had him 18 months now. We start BE in a little over 6 weeks after a year of xc schooling, unaff sj/dr etc. A lovely boy who is bold jumping and a generally nice person to be around. We have a major problem at comps though (or anywhere where there are alot of other horses) and have done since I first bought him. He is totally scatty when others are around him, and if one gets near him in the warm up he literally turns himself inside out. Just warming up for dr is a nightmare and he is in a total state by the time we get in, he wont listen, has his back up and is a general menace :(. I have kept him going out consistently to things to try and get him used to it but it never improves. I lunge him before I get on at events and he is always v.calm until we get to the others. Does anyone else experience this? Is it a youngster phase? Have you any tips on surviving it? Any comments gladly received :D
Click to expand...

He sounds a bit worried - have you tried giving him a calmer or rescue remedy - try stuffing his ears with cotton wool or something similar ?
What about taking him to little shows where it is very laid back and not stressfull ?

Good Luck


Sharonx
 
Have you tried going to a few local shows with no intention of competing (Enter but withdraw). Turn up, walk and trot for 10 -15 mins till you get that little bit of improvement. then go home. You could also walk him in hand if appropriate for the venue to let him no nothing to stress about. pick a time when there are minimal horses in warm up and becuase you have no time for the class starting you have to stick to you are in no hurry to warm up in time. just an idea.

My old ex racer was always excitied at shows, had an effect on her dressage they always said things like nice paces but tense, but nothing detrimental to SJ or XC.
 
Millie can be like this- if it is too busy to get a quiet spot in the warm up she is walked in hand around the lorry park and then we go in.

i also don't warm up for sj in the practice area- i go back to the dressage warm up and get the canter i want and then straight in to jump.

hoping she will get better with experience and age but if not, you just have to try and find a system that works.
 
A Tb mare I had, used to get very tense at shows though I did think this was partly me to as I used to jump before I had my mare and the mare could and would jump anything you faced her she needed loads of work on the flat so we attempted some prelim dressage just to get her out and I was really nervous. We started to take her to fairly quiet and laid back shows and as she gradually settled took her to a few bigger ones though I did not enter so I would have no pressure on myself. She soon settled and became an absolute star while out competing. :)
I do think it was a combination of her being young raced and myself becoming tensed up :(
 
We had the same problem with our ex racer. We solved it by putting him on a walker for about 40min (he was very fit at the time!) before taking him to a very small show. We only had to do it the once. Now he stands like an old donkey outside the ring, and will warm up anywhere. Goodluck with yours.
 
He should get better with time, we have an ex racehorse very similar to yours he was so stressed at his first event he jumped out of the lorry when we were walking the course! That was a year ago and I can safely say he is a pleasure to take out now. We put him on a calmer and oxyshot, we would arrive at an event in plenty of time to take him out for a good look round, then lunge him for 10 mins, back on the lorry to settle for a bit then out again, this seems to work for us and he solidly improved through the season. It has been a long process but worth it.
Wishing you the best of luck x
 
With my old exracer (11yo ran 41 times) I would lunge him at home before we went and kept him out as near to 24/7 as we could. He was on minimal food - hi fi cubes, and as much hay as he could eat. We used an equine America calmer - the paste one you give 2 hours before and we also tried/used it with some herbal remidies like rescue remedy.

Some days he was good and others not but more than not he was good!

Good luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top