Q & A With Renee
Q: My horse is calm and well behaved at home. Why does he become nervous and act up when we are at shows? What can I do to help?
A: Horses are creatures of habit. They are also very sensitive to their surroundings. Most horses are ridden in the same arena or riding area, and have a similar pattern of schooling exercises done each training session. They learn the calm, collected and fluid gates of pleasure, and the exact correct movements of trail patterns.
However, everything changes on show day! What an exciting place the show grounds are! They are full of people and excited children! There are many other strange horses there! There is a new ring to perform in, full of other horses and riders. There is spectators, and a judge and a ring steward around the working area. The announcers voice booms over the loud speakers. These are only of the few of the distractions a horse needs to learn to endure at a horse show!
Another thing that could very well affect him is your energy level. Even the most experienced of riders feels the excitement of competition. It doesn�t have to be fear and nervousness, even eagerness can be conveyed to your horse! If he is especially in tune to you he may pick up on this energy, and become excited and nervous. And if you are a nervous competitor (don�t worry, lots of us are!) then it could affect him even more! Your horse sees you as the leader. If he picks up you are scared or nervous, he feels he has something to fear.
What You Can DO:
A great start to helping yourself, and your horse be calm at shows is to expose him to new things, and teach him to accept distractions while working. The best place to begin doing this is right at home. Start by slightly breaking out of your routine, and see how he handles it. The exercises you choose will depend on what he is currently used to. If you just do rail work you could begin by adding some trot poles. Trail type obstacles like a bridge (even a sheet of plywood on the ground) are great new things to introduce him to. If he is comfortable with all of the above, you can add water, plastic bags, or tarps! Be creative, just make sure the objects and/or obstacles are safe for you and your horse, and always start slowly! The trick is to approach the new obstacle until he starts to become nervous. Praise and pat him for standing at a slightly uncomfortable distance. When he becomes calm and relaxed, urge him forward. Even a small step should be rewarded. This can be done on the ground or from the saddle, which ever you are more comfortable with! If you can get some friends to ride with, or clap, or make noise outside the ring to add distraction for you to work through, all the better. The idea is to accustom him to new things, and teach him that he can trust you. Soon even unfamiliar sights and sounds will be no big deal once your bond strengthens!
It may help to develop a subtle cue for him when he gets nervous to calm him, such as a shushing sound, or a word like "easy" . He should begin to recognize this as a command to settle , think and be calm. It should be something that can be easily transferred to show ring use.
Once you have done this at home, you will have to start introducing him to situations away from home. Attending clinics is a great way to learn, and accustom your horse to different arenas, other horses, and situations without the pressure of the show. If you can, just hauling and schooling at other arenas may be very helpful! Attending small schooling shows is another great way to advance his training.
I would suggest attending a show with your horse, but don�t intend to show heavily. Plan to enter one or two classes, and use it as a schooling experience. Try and discern at what exact point your horse becomes nervous. Is it when you unload? When you tack up? When you start to ride? When you are in the ring? Make your first show an effort strictly to train him, not to compete. Approach his comfort threshold just as you did when introducing the new things to him. Use your comfort command to calm him and boost his confidence. The MAIN thing is to keep the experience positive! If you get frustrated, or angry with him, it will likely only make things worse! Even if all you do is lead or ride him around the fairgrounds and activity without competing at all, it could be a very beneficial experience!
The next thing you need to do is make sure that your nerves and excitement are not impacting your horse negatively! If you find you are nervous about showing, seeking a coach to help you build your confidence, and attend the show with you can help a lot. The exercises I suggested earlier for you horse�s benefit will also do wonders for rider confidence as well! You will find that by conquering difficult or �scary� obstacles with him, you will feel like a stronger rider!
The other trick is to put showing in perspective. If you pay your money, you have just as much right to ride around in the dirt as every one else! Remember everyone starts at the same place, and it�s a long road to the top, so enjoy the ride along the way! When you compete, you cannot control who you compete against. There could be extremely experienced professional riders that are difficult to place against, or you could place first against riders just getting a taste of competition. Your placing in the show ring is not an accurate way to gauge your progress with your horse. The idea is to compete against yourself. If your horse gives you 80% of what he does at home, then he has done great! Do not under any circumstances expect more from your horse at a show than you do at home!
One final thing to consider is that some horses react poorly at a show because they feel the pressure. Just as nervousness can affect the horse, so can your stress and drive to win. If you are a very competitive rider and are pushing your horse to quickly, or becoming agitated with him about his performance, it could very easily shatter his confidence. Horses have fragile egos, and need frequent reward to know they are doing what you want. They have a drive to please, and need to be kept willing. If this is a possibility, take the above paragraphs about competition into perspective, and try and take things down a notch and have fun!
This has been a rather long winded answer, but without many details I am just trying to cover all the bases! I hope this helps anyone who has had show ring jitters with their horses, or with themselves!!
