Preparing your horse for the warm-up ring (and other adventures)

[piedmontfields]

So, I got my horse after she had way too many years living alone and without preparation for living and working with other horses. We still struggle to do good work when other horses are nearby--yet, my barn of the last 3 years (busy eventing barn with lots of competent pairs) has helped a lot with exposure. I would say she is now somewhat okay near "known" horses but very suspicious and worried of new pairs (and we have lots of visiting students/horses).

Thinking ahead (*maybe* another horse will be in my future)---what has helped you most for making your horse confident enough to handle warm-up rings and work near other horses? My horse is not disobedient in these settings---just very, very tight and reluctant to let go and flow.

[Moutaineer]

This, I think, is repetition, and starting them working with others early--and monitoring other activity in the ring carefully at that early stage to avoid situations where the horse could get its confidence damaged by the activities of some other fool--that, in my experience, can be almost irreparable.

[piedmontfields]

Thank you the repetition and good experience affirmation. My mare was in a lot of pro dressage barns before the age of 7 (and flunked out---probably pssm related), and I don't know what specifcally happened. Do you (all) think it is different for geldings vs. mares or stallions?

[Chisamba]

I have found that even though Kimba is very normal, using regumate during the show season really helps during the show season, specifically with strange horses, competitive and tense warm up.

[Ponichiwa]

A riding partner can help, too. Follow-the-leader can work wonders for the tenser/more anxious horse. When the tension ebbs, you can start working separately on your own things. If the tension ratchets up again, follow-the-leader until things settle. Rinse, repeat.

The tensest moments are usually when horses are passing by, typically. So you can practice that by overtaking and swapping order during the follow-the-leader bits. The next tension point is when horses pass in opposite directions, which you can practice by doing nested circles. It's more comforting for the more nervous horse to be on the outside/larger circle, usually.

My mare is very comfortable in her spot as alpha in her herd (any herd), so she's not typically bothered by horses in the warmup. My geldings have been a mixed bag; the recently-ex-stallions typically are more aware/in tune to crowds than the gelded-at-a-younger-age boys. But as everything, there's a spectrum.

[piedmontfields]

The riding partner patterns are good ideas. We actually do well with these kinds of exercises and I can feel her confidence blooming. It's just that most of our arena work is with people who don't have an interest in that.

Chisamba, I can believe that the hormones play a role. I do most of my intensive, crowded arena riding in winter--and miss mare is much more accepting of it then.