How do you settle your young competition horses?

[Night_Flight]

It really depends on the horses.

Like someone else said previously, sometimes an older horse who has been-there, done-that can suddenly become herdbound when accompanying a young horse.

I could take my old mare absolutely anywhere; she was a fantastic traveler and would settle in immediately at any venue. I took her and a young horse to a show together, and guess which one lost their mind the moment I took one horse out? I’m not sure if it’s some sort of protective instinct or what, but my very experienced mare lost her mind repeatedly.

[StormyDay]

@Night_Flight

It really depends on the horses.

Like someone else said previously, sometimes an older horse who has been-there, done-that can suddenly become herdbound when accompanying a young horse.

I could take my old mare absolutely anywhere; she was a fantastic traveler and would settle in immediately at any venue. I took her and a young horse to a show together, and guess which one lost their mind the moment I took one horse out? I’m not sure if it’s some sort of protective instinct or what, but my very experienced mare lost her mind repeatedly.

True, it depends on the personality. I have two older, BTDT horses. One couldn’t give a flying cr*p if every other horse in the universe stopped existing, so he’s perfect for traveling with younger horses. The other is a perfect gentleman and can settle into work easily, but when things start going off the rails it can become a bit of a train wreck to him, and he becomes upset. So a young horse screaming at him would certainly set him off.

[Manni01]

Well don’t know about your area in Germany, in my area if you want to see people lunging go to the last corner of the trailer parking lot. usually you find people lunging there…. But that’s only my personal opinion. and I believe they do it there because they don’t want people watching them….

[Manni01]

Yup!! My experience as well I think the older mare feels responsible for the younger one….

I just entered a show right around the corner to my barn which is a 2 day show and the young horse will do the first day and the old one the 2nd day….

There is no way I will take them together…. but … I am at a clinic right now and I took both and they love it…. They get turn out together and have stalls right besides each other and they don’t care at all if one of them leaves for a lesson…. But it’s a 4 day clinic and at shows I always show out of the trailer so that makes a big difference….

[Synthesis]

@rothmpp

I had a very well known judge once comment on a rider who was taking her horse around under saddle and showing the horse every tiny little thing (not a rider that was being judged at the moment), and said in their experience that is almost always a bad idea. Basically telling your horse that everything is scary vs just getting on with it.

I’ve had the opposite experience. Mine learn that they can stand, inspect and evaluate when uncertain instead of getting forced past. Once they’ve evaluated, they’re over it but if I tell them to just get on with it then the tension lasts far longer. I’ll walk under tack for ages, all over the place until they start relaxing and SI/LY to gain focus. But anything that notably concerns them? They get to check it out, at their leisure until over it, and I don’t have to deal with the blow up spook as they leap away over threshold.

[CanteringCarrot]

Telling a horse to get on with it doesn’t always lead to a blow up spook as they leap away over threshold. There are sometimes when I do let my horse have a look, relax, then move along. There are other times when he needs to and it’s more constructive for him to just get on with it.

This can depend on the horse and rider. Some people don’t have any feeling for these type of things and where the threshold lies.

Just keeping along with working and “getting on with it” actually can relax some horses vs letting them look, stand still, forcing them to confront something, and so on. It’s one of those things with horses where there isn’t necessarily an absolute and you’ve got to be flexible and understand the horse that you’re with.

Generally though, people spook way more than horses do.

[Synthesis]

@CanteringCarrot

It’s one of those things with horses where there isn’t necessarily an absolute and you’ve got to be flexible and understand the horse that you’re with.

Exactly, that was kind of my point. It depends.

[rothmpp]

The judge in question did use the words “almost always” - so not an absolute. Of course there are horses that are better if you let them look.

Not every situation is the same, but I’ve definitely seen more than just one or two riders that spend way too long showing their horses every tiny little thing. Essentially looking for trouble rather than accepting there was none to be had.

Personal experience - I watched my own trainer at the time spend 45 minutes hand-walking her horse at a show several times “making sure he was settled”. Guess what happened? He eventually got so tired of having his nose snapped from the chain (not helped by the fact that he walked very fast and she was too short to keep up with him) that he’d have a tantrum. Then the trainer was all “See? That’s why I walk him so long”.

[Synthesis]

@rothmpp

Then the trainer was all “See? That’s why I walk him so long”.

I’ve seen that one too. Self fulfilling prophecies with horses are a real thing

[CanteringCarrot]

@Synthesis

@CanteringCarrot

It’s one of those things with horses where there isn’t necessarily an absolute and you’ve got to be flexible and understand the horse that you’re with.

Exactly, that was kind of my point. It depends.

Ok then.

[Djones]

@StormyDay

Besides what you can do at the event, I find having the travel companion of the young horse be a seasoned older horse to be very helpful. The younger horse will look to the older horse to see how they react, and because older horse is calm younger horse tends to stay calmer too. I’ve always had bad results when I bring a gaggle of young horses somewhere, because they build off of each other’s uncertainty and fear.

I have a funny
I took seasoned Chippy and baby Archpod to a dressage show (schooling). Long haul together and they are pastured together. Chippy was an utter nutbar in the warm up and the ring, trying to find Archie at every turn lol. Chippy normally goes to dressage shows alone, and was a pill. Archie, when it was his little baby brain’s turn, was a calm cookie. At one point Chip screamed bloody murder from the trailer and Arch just muffled the tiniest *I can’t talk now * under his breath coming down centerline at the end of his test