When going some place (clinic, show, lesson) with a horse that turns into a chatty cathy, is it considered better to ignore the talking, or to get after them for the excessive talking since it means the horse is paying more attention to everybody else than to you?
Neither really? 
I try to give them something else to think about by putting them to work, and once they settle, they get to stop and enjoy the scenery. Not addressing the issue doesn’t go very far towards fixing it, but I find getting after them usually just amps them up more. Refocusing the horse and giving them an outlet for their worries aside from screaming seems to be best for the ones I’ve ridden.
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Give horse more trips and more experiences. If the horse is nervous, it will neigh for its buddies so to lower that, especially if you are in a class, give the horse more trips to local shows and after each class put it back in a stall by its buddies. I love horses that “talk” a lot, as long as it’s not in a class. At one show at our bar, a very nervous horse whinnied constantly because she was so nervous at being at her first show. We all ignored her and her owner would take her out and walk her around, with horse neighing constantly.
One of my horses is always hitting on mares outside of the ring. Inside the ring, he’s all business.
I am actually currently dealing with it at a barn that I just moved to. My horse that is normally very quiet has turned into a non-stop neigher. I’ve been doing a lot of ground work with her the past couple of days to help re-establish myself as the “herd leader” and to get her focused on me and not thinking about all her new buddies as much. However, I wasn’t really sure what to do about her non-stop talking, or if I should do anything at all. This is my first time dealing with all this talking.
I find ignoring it best. If the horse is walking all over you WHILE screaming, correct the “walking all over you” part, ignore the screaming. If the horse is otherwise fine but talkative, just continue doing whatever.
Getting after them for yelling in the absence of other problem behaviors just doesn’t get you anywhere, IME. It doesn’t stop the yelling and just makes them more anxious.
Treating for ulcers might be prudent, considering the move and the anxiety.
I agree, ignore it.
When I was a YR I had a horse that would SCREAM once we unloaded him from the trailer. I used to joke it was his royal announcement that he had arrived… Everyone could hear it - Narnia, Sri Lanka, just about every corner of the earth would be rung… it used to drive my trainer insane - to the point she would get mad at me… We thought it was just a “needs more experience” thing but it never got better - any time he was trailered with one of the horses from home, he would bellow if that horse went out of his vision. He would try to scream while tacking up, leading, even U/S though once he was really put to work he did tend to call less… I’ll never forget the time we were working on grid-work and we’re going through a 5-grid line that was one-stride, bounce, bounce, bounce and he let loose a scream mid-air over the third fence :lol: .
Trailering alone, he did not have that problem… and once he left the property for good (we moved down south) he didn’t have that problem… I think he just fed off of the other horse, who was also a caller but not as loud.
Also, my trainer made me really get after him (which I admit I only did half-heartedly) - once she even took the lead-rope from me and shanked him so hard I was surprised his nose didn’t come off – he STILL didn’t get better. If anything he got much worse, because giving him a CTJ when he was nervous was not the answer. He was really polite on the ground other than the hollering, but he just about flattened her when she went to town on his face. It’s been a long time and I still lesson with her occasionally because she’s a great teacher, but the way she handles screaming with horses makes me a little sour… I think the best thing you can do is ignore the screaming (correct the rudeness if they’re in your space thought) and go about business as usual - I think if you get after them you just add to the stress-pot and give them even more to be nervous about.
This is all very good advice. Ignore it and try to get them to work asap. Sort of like a toddler at the grocery store
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