safe ideas needed for horse hating other horses when ridden

[katet]

Help please!

My share horse (ex-racer, 6 yr old) hates horses passing near her in the school. I'm very aware of it so its not normally a problem but makes schooling unproductive if I have to share. She is proving to be very talented at dressage but the warm up arena can be a problem and normally ask for very early times to avoid many other competitors. Now we are moving up to the levels this isnt possible and warming up is again not productive as constantly changing course or slowing down to avoid other horses.
She is fine hacking in company next to other horses, it seems to be when they come towards her. she either jumps in the opposite direction or drops a shoulder and spins. I'm writing this from bed very sore, as she finally got me off on wednesday eve. The horse seemed to be giving us enough space but not enough for her, or maybe it was because he was in a faster pace. I'm really thinking of giving her up as I have back problems anyway and just not enjoying feeling i may get hurt every time I ride her. Her owner said while I'm recovering she is going to practice getting her to go past other horses as she really doesnt want me to give up. My question is how could she do this safely? I really dont want her getting hurt either. I thought about long lining but she gets very excited doing that anyway.
any suggestions greatfully appreciated!

Kate

[lucyawild]

Practice not in a competition environment. Practice with horses she knows well then ask horses she knows less well to help out. Ride her out in a group and get them to ride towards her. Build a bond to make her realise that you are the leader & if you say she needs to walk past calmly then she does it!

Try groundwork exercises through tight spaces, over tarpaulins or other alien surfaces - really get her to trust you and respect your commands.

Reward her well for being calm and sensible, make life difficult for her if she's silly. I'm not talking about violence, I'm saying if she drops a shoulder and spins you get her to spin and spin and spin. If she wants to spin she can do it on your terms!

Obviously if this is a fear thing the above isn't going to work and you'll need to stick to being calm and working through it together. If she's just being a rude little so and so about it she'll soon learn it's easier to obey.

It may be worth thinking about what you do when a horse comes past her. You say you are aware of it - do you tense up? Does your breathing change? Do you in any way let her know it's 'okay' to be scared/silly?

The long lining sounds like a whole other issue - she needs to be calm when you're on the ground or you'll get hurt.

I would really suggest getting an RA to come out and spend some time with you to establish whether she's worried or if she's just trying to be the boss.

Another thing to consider is going to competitions and not competing. Spend the whole time in the collecting ring - turn up early, exercise her until she's knackered and then make her walk round with the other horses. Hopefully being tired will dull her reactionary nature and she'll learn nothing bad is going to happen.

If you are desperate to compete have you thought about not using the warm up ring? Some of my best dressage scores have been a result of trailering to the show, tacking up and going for a 30 minute hack to warm up. None of the competition jitters, none of that 'electric' atmosphere and somewhere to focus totally on your horse. Find a nice back roads loop you can do from the show ground where you can just gently trot and walk round without getting muddy and keep her attention totally on you not on the surroundings. Try to time your return to the show ground so you can go straight in for your test without any break in that focus - I used to get my mum to call me for 5minute and 2 minute warnings - plenty of time to take a steady trot back in.

Best of luck getting her to listen and understand! Patience is, as ever, the key.

[portiabuzz]

missed this threasd somehow! I hope you have recovered now, any update?

Brilliant post above

[lucyawild]

Thanks Portia!

Let us know how you get on when your poor creaking joints feel better

[portiabuzz]

lol thought you meant me then

[jen1]

One of mine used to be like that! Among lots of other work on her kick boxing threats , I was able to disengage the hind or fore! A whistle our pre cursor to click treat did take long, were at the stage where im almost side by side , im usualky a head behind until she is ready I wont be advancing further, good luck x

[portiabuzz]

How's if going any updates in this?