Napping at competition?

[CPordage]

Hi,

I had some issues with my horse at the competition yesterday and I wanted to see what other people thought of the situation.

Background:
My horse is an 11 year old ex-racer who I've been riding for the last 3 years. His history is a little hazy but he competed in about 15 races and has had two owners before me. He's always been quite a sharp horse to ride and the anxious/spooky type. I discovered from his previous owner that he'd had little reschooling since his racing days and she sold him because he was too difficult to ride. For the first 6 months I had him he was awful- completely one-sided and unable to bend, no concept of rhythm or straightness, when asked to trot would run and get faster and faster before breaking into canter and would try to bolt off when asked to canter.
He's now completely different and usually really good to ride. He is much more supple and balanced and much softer and more obedient to ride. He can still get strong in canter but has more more respect for my seat. leg and rein aids. He has learnt some basic lateral movements (leg-yield, shoulder-in and rein-back) and I've been training him to jump. He had never jumped with his previous owners and is handling 70cm with ease.
I've taken him to two competitions previously, both combined training where you perform a dressage test followed by a showjumping round. As I don't have a float/trailer, I've always led him there as the venue is just down the road from us. He is usually quite stressed and excitable for the first half hour to an hour and then settles down. At the last competition, he was very tense in dressage warm-up but was able to cope with a decent amount of horses and ponies walking, trotting and cantering close by to him. He was very calm during the actual dressage test and it was like he suddenly understood what he was there to do. He had a break before the jumping and I dismounted to walk the course etc. I did my jumping warm-up and he was a little excitable again but was mr cool, calm and collected during the showjumping round. The jumps very small and we just trotted round but he was soft and relaxed the whole way round, even with fillers which he'd never seen before.


Yesterday I took him to a showjumping competition and it was a completely different story. I rode him down rather than leading him, taking a slightly longer but quieter route and doing a mixture of walk and trot. He has always been a bit nappy going out on his own and he tried to turn round a few times but I used firm seat and leg aids and we made it down to the Pony Club ground. This is the third time he's been to this venue and he seemed very stressed/excitable as soon as we arrived. As soon as I got on he started doing half-rears and spins. I went into the warm-up ring and let him walk round, then asked him to trot. As soon as I put my leg on, he tried to bolt off and kick out at the other horses near him. I got off because I didn't want to put other people in danger. I took him for a walk and let him graze near the jumping rings, in the hope that he would start to relax. After this break, I got back on with the intention of simply doing a small warm-up without competing. We walked round and he seemed less stressed but as soon as I tried to put my leg on he would either rear or buck. I ended up leading him home because he was so wound up and wouldn't listen to me.

I'm unsure what could have caused this behaviour, whether he could have been in pain or napping because he'd decided he already done his ride for the day and didn't want to do any more work? He had been scouring several days before the show so I don't know if ulcers could be a factor? If it is a behavioural issue then I made need someone more experienced to help me to rectify the napping. At the last two shows, another horse from our yard was there (we'd gone down separately though) and this time it was just him.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[squidsin]

It's really hard to say as I think most horse owners have taken their horse to THAT show where, for some reason, they go nuts. Nine times out of 10, Roxy was great when I took her out, but on one occasion I had to abandon a dressage test (!) because she kept broncing. In fairness, that was because a loose horse galloped through the arena during our test and I just couldn't calm her down after that.

Plus the spring grass has kicked in, and that's a factor with some horses at the moment.

Of course, it could be pain, and you could get back/teeth/tack checked. I feel from what you say, it's more likely to be him feeling very full of himself right now though.

 

[Jessey]

If I were to guess, if he is stressed hacking alone that could have wound him up before you even got there, where the previous times you led him and he had you to follow there so he arrived at a lower stress level better enabling him to deal with everything. I'd try again leading him there and work on his solo hacking separately, if he's better being led there I wouldn't try riding him there (solo) until he's really good to hack alone on a day to day basis.

 

[eml]

Persevere!!
Most ex racehorses go into panic mode on the first few outings but get better with practice! Our five year old is saintly in all ways but for his first season last year refused to stand on the lorry when stationary and frequently refused to move from the lorry park without a foot escort. This season he is saintly everywhere!! Another spent his first eventing season having hystrionics in the XC warm up but now stands like statue in the start box until the starter says go!!

 

[Hailz22]

I agree with @eml , perserverance. Rule out pain first to be safe but from what you said I'd say he let himself get worked up and it all became too much excitement. TB brains are bred to run, so they do generally (i hate stereotypes but even my semi-retired sweet old mare still gets rarked up at silly things!) get worked up and instincts say energy goes out and then schooling goes a bit out the window!
I'd lead him down instead of riding, even if you go down when no comps are on just to lead down ride around then reward and go home, make it no big deal to be going there. He just needs to learn its nothing exciting and lots of time will help with that. And stay calm, show him its no big deal, if you get worked up or nervous he will pick up on it!

 

[Mary Poppins]

I own the safest horse in the world, but when I first started taking him out to shows even he would get stressed and excited at times. I wouldn't worry too much about it, as others have said just keep going and hopefully he will soon settle down. I think that horse owners generally do have a tendency to over analyse things when they go wrong. He just had a bad day that's all. It sounds like you have made huge progress in the time you have had him. Just keep calm and keep going.