My coming 5 yr old entered this stage at the beginning of summer. Teeth, new saddle, shoes, went from having basic training level as a 3 yr old to a belligerent right lead depart and all sorts of humpity action on both leads. Any pile of poop left in the arena is the cue for act like a stallion (he is gelded and not proud cut as I watched!) wanting to circle, sniff, and paw, and threatening to rear if I do anything to get him away. He also went from non reactive to a bit spooky and looky, as well as nippy on the ground. He has been super submissive up until this point and now it feels like constant corrections about leading, space, etc. He either reacts like its a game or has a complete meltdown, regardless of the ālevelā of correction! Aggravating, but I have had others go thru it too.
My mare turned 5 in July. She was also an easy-peasy 3 year old that was laid back and took long naps! I bought her because she had a good brain. She hasnāt gone through a phase with more spooking or shenanigansābut she has become a lot more forward and hotter under saddle. She was kind of a āpush rideā when I first got herāand now Iām doing a million half halts when I ride her. I feel like they have energy at ages 3-4, but no strength. Then they get a little more fit and want to burn off their energyābut still donāt have a lot of strength. And they have growth spurts which affect their balance and struggle to coordinate their body parts.
In the last month or so, my mare has finally started to respond to half halts. Itās greatābecause a few months ago, I felt like she was completely blowing through my aidsāand it was puzzling because she was such a lazy 3 year old! Ahhh, young horses----you have to enjoy the journey (because it IS a journey, with lots of side roads that make you feel like you arenāt making progress!)
OP the reactivity would make me really curious to do a trial run of ulcer treatment (pop rocks, ulcergaurd, nexium, whatever is feasible). The spooky demeanor and extra alert attitude really fits nicely. Lately Iāve known a string of glossy, gorgeous, no sensitivity to girthing or grooming, healthy verging on heavy horses that were loaded with ulcers. In all cases the owners invested a lot of worry into changes in demeanor when the underlying problem all along was discomfort.
I agree that the change in behavior makes me think you want to ensure it is not something physical.
My mare is very high energy and not a dominant alpha type, but super smart with a brain which races. When we started her, every ride started as you describe. Where with an alpha, putting them to work so they stop thinking of trying to control the world around them hel0s, with her we had to allow her to learn there was no reason to believe she was in danger with a predator on her back and going everywhere she went. No chasing her, no longeing her, get on and walk on a long rein and let her walk. If she spooked or flinched at something, we calmly went with her, no correcting her, no pulling or kicking, just let her be. There were times it took her 30 minutes to feel safe, and other times it took 2 minutes. This āsurvival modeā as my trainer called it allowed her time to learn her fears were unfounded, and we would keep her safe. She has heat cycle pain issues which vets have advised we ride her through. For a couple years that pain made her extremely anxious, but because we put in the time stocking the trust bank she would quiet as soon as someone was on her back. Her five year old year was our first year showing and our shows were some multiple of 3 weeks apart so we had hest cycles every show. Other riders would see her piaffing on the way to the mounting blOct if we stopped, chomping the bit, eyes wide - and couldnāt believe I was about to get on that. But with the work weād put in, I would get on and we would walk off on the buckle.
Standing still has never worked quite as well because it doesnāt help her body and mind like walking can, but as long as we are there with her she tends to be quieter. She lives out in a herd, but rather than having to be āput in placeā as was suggested, she sought out the horses whose dominant personalities made her feel safer.
OP, I have one like this.
She got hurt and needed a long, boring, slow and very, very controlled rehab. I became her jailer and task-master out of sheer necessity.
During the walking phase of this, she had a strict prescription to walk only in long,straight lines for exactly X minutes per day, and, of course, we had the arena with the spooky corner, and rain on a metal roof that spun her up and whatever else, lol. So what she wanted to do with her body or I wanted to do with training became subordinate to our using her body as a surgeon directed.
So I applied the standard of lightness and submission and focus on the ground that I saw Buck Brannaman teach. I made this mare super, super broke on the ground. To wit:
From the time I opened her stall door, she was āon the clockā and I expected he to focus on me. She didnāt know how high my standards were, of course, but I kept on her like a hawk. Let nothing slideā¦ this all counts as training.
That meant she was āpolicedā even in cross-ties (and later, certainly on the lunge). So in cross ties, in your case, Iād keep the lead in my and so that I always had a connection to the horse. If she moves as you didnāt ask for, you fix that.
It was her responsibility to keep a soft loop in the rope and to put her feet where and when I directed them. And that meant from either side, beside head, backing up, at her flank with her sent ahead of me, turning away from me, turning toward me.
She was allowed to stop and look at interesting/scary things, but not allowed to move her feet. My standard is this: Iāll let a horse move her head and neck at will if Iām not asking her for something, but her feet are to stay where I put them. A foot moved without my say-so gets put back where it was. And I tried to also end with the mareās head lowered, in a relaxed posture, maybe with a pet on the forehead. The point is that Iād give her a very different experience and outcome when her first thought was to move and do something explosive. But focusing on the āthin end of the wedgeā-- the time when a horse wants to move her feet on her own in relation to something that scares her, or her feeling wildā I get to teach a different thought process while both of us are quite safe and no one is going to put lots of mileage or risk of injury on their body.
She learned to āstand in Parkā while tied before and after our work, just like the western guys who tie their colts along the arena wall in a row and ride them in succession.
The bottom line is that well before I expected focus under saddle, I have this mare hours and hours and hours of practice giving me focus on the ground in all sorts of situations.
And now, when I take her somewhere new and she wants to get spun up, I have tools/habits/long-experience installed. She relaxes when tied in a stall at a busy horse show if the stall itself isnāt enough security for her. She will get soft on the lead rope when being asked to come into a strange tailerā¦ because not being soft on the rope has never, ever been an optionā¦ she will stop looking and thinking about something scary she sees if I ask her to put her head down low for a pet on the forehead because that happened a thousand times in the past already and it always ended the same way-- with her relaxed and focused on me, regardless of the stimulus from the outside world. I give her the same kind of ride, and this training is what helps a horse be able to focus away from home, regardless of the novelty of the new scary thing at some venue that you couldnāt train for.
I tell you about all of these micro-managey details, OP, because I can see in your posts places where you let your mare have some latitude and then want focus back under saddle. E.g. letting her be reactive and busy on the cross-tiesā¦ letting her bolt or buck on the lungeline. I wouldnāt do that. If you want to let her use her body, her way, do that loose. But TEACH HER that when she is with you, she is to take direction, 100% of the time. Later on, when sheās in the habit of waiting for you to issue the next instruction, you can give her some freedom. But you canāt get that level of focus if you donāt teach it.
My mare had been easy as a weak, unsure baby, but got into a ārun first, ask questions laterā phase later. I think she was/is always suspicious and self-preserving. That just meant that she made her own, somewhat athletic decisions when she thought she could and was docile when she thought she couldnāt use her strength and speed to her own advantage. I donāt blame herā¦ that all seems rational to me.
But when she got hurt and this was absolutely not an option (and we had months and months of boring work to do together), I essentially set about re-wiring this habit of hers. Nowā¦ and just from all that in-hand, picky stuff, I have taught this mare the habit of stopping and thinking, first. She has learned that I will direct her and also that if she allows me to direct her, sheāll be safe.
I canāt tell you how much this foundational phase of her education has helped. And it will continue for the rest of her life so that I can have a sensitive, forward horse who is also really tractable in all situations. But I donāt think these animals come knowing that. For the ones like mine, you have to teach it.
my 2 cents againā¦ I have a 4 year old as well, and I went through a phase with her with a lot of resistance.
It started exactly when I started to introduce things other then plain WTC. She is very smart and also very self confident. And there was nothing wrong with her but she just figured she wasnāt sure whether she liked something new. Maybe I introduced it too fast, maybe I wasnāt doing it correctly, but it doesnāt really matter. She is my horse and we have to get along, otherwise there will be a problem.
So I did fight it through with herā¦ It took me several days and be basiacally only did small circles during those days because her way of resistance was simply stopping and resisting any forward aids. At one point I found out that her resistance was getting less forceful. She accepted that I would not allow her to resist. Since then I have not had any problem at all with her.
We are going to shows, to clinics and everywhere and she is happy and loves it. Sometimes when we work a little harder she still shows me that she can resist. I think its a way to tell me that we could stop nowā¦ But its not serious and she is willing to go forward when I tap her with my whip. I basically ignore it but I give her a break a little later because I do not want to overwork her. So in the moment our relationship is kind of trust on both sidesā¦ And I think thats what a young horse needs. And most problems are not health problems but trust and submission problemsā¦ A horse is a herd animals and is used to have a clear position in the rankingā¦
And by the way I rode her in a clinic this weekend and there were 2 pros riding in that clinic as well also with young horses. And their horses did the same thing when things started to get hard. We talked about it and they have the same approach as I doā¦ I think its very typical for young horses. Nothing really bad.
This is paramount. It is the foundation every thinking, performance horse who is smart and clever and reactive needs to have installed. Probably any horse, but certainly the youngsters and the clever ones.
And the thing is, if you want a great horse at the end, you often need to start with one who is a little on the tough side at the beginning. By that, I mean the horse needs to be sensitive, smart and a good athlete.
This mare is my first Dressage Nugget. She has made me a better horseman after coming from Hunter World where, by and large, I looked for a different mind. She has taught me a lot. And before her and her rehab, I didnāt know that horses like this needed to be taught to focus, or that you could make a reactive one into a thinking one. I wouldnāt have chosen the injury we got, but Iām very grateful for the education it forced me to get. Iāll use these higher standards with horses for the rest of my lifeā¦ and that will allow me to ride better āmore horseā kind of horses successfully in the future because I know how to get them into the āhead spaceā that I want.
mvpās post is spot on and I was going to come back to say something similar.
OP, if youāve ruled out any physical issues (I did have a situation with a young horse who got wound up during rides and my gut told me it was not young-horse shenanigans and it did turn out to be something physical) or dietary explanations, go to the mind. Heck, go to the mind anyway.
Iāve worked with a cowboy or two who get to the mind first and it creates a softness that translates through the body and the lightness of riding with a tuned in horse like that is lovely.
mvp is right in that it starts when you first engage your horse. My cowboy lessons donāt start with riding. I donāt have the horse tacked up and ready to go. I wait for him before I halter my horse and the lesson starts when he walks in the barn. EVERYTHING you do with your horse either helps the horse āchange a thoughtā from āwhat the heck is going on over there or over there or over there or can I put this in my mouth or what about this or what about this or maybe Iāll paw or maybe Iāll fidget or look, the neighborsā cat!ā to āIām relaxed when Iām with you.ā
From before you even put the halter on - where is your horseās attention? Is she moving into your space uninvited? Is she fidgeting? Is she looking at something in her paddock and not even paying attention to you? THAT is where it starts. The longer she goes without you helping her change her thoughts and attention, the more the situation will escalate.
The cowboy I work with hates cross ties and so we work without them. Grooming in-hand in the barn aisle or in the arena where we can combine it with ground work if necessary/as-needed. Everything needs to be done with softness. How does the horse pick up a foot? Softly or snapping it off the ground? Can you hold it quietly? Can you quietly and slowly bring it down to the ground without the horse snatching it away? Standing still for saddling, quietly accepting the bridle with a soft head and neck position. We do suppling exercises before mounting - how soft can the horse be? Does she follow a feel? Where does her body go? Is she leaning in or out? How can you get to the shoulder or haunches to teach her how to have a balanced arc in her body while walking in a circle?
When you mount, will she line up to meet you? Will she stand still for mounting? Will she still be standing still when you settle into the saddle and before you ask her to walk off?
All of that stuff adds up. So it isnāt just about āmakingā her quiet when you get on. It is about everything that happens before that to ask you to change her thoughts to you versus anything other than you. If youāve done all of that before you get on, then youāll have less funny business to deal with; or, if you do have the funny business, youāve already set the horse up to look for you or come back to you quickly so that things donāt escalate.
Yes!!! ^^^^^^^^^
Note the difference in tone of how Manni described things and how PP did.
I donāt believe in forcing it or fighting. My mare sounds very much like Manniās personality-wise, in that stopping is also her resistance. HOWEVER, she resists when confused because Iāve asked her to do something too quickly or Iām not clear enough. Thatās not something I fight through - thatās something I FIX.
And so as I work through new things which are hard for her, she does NOT stop and resist and try not to do it because itās difficult. Instead, she focuses on me and works hard to do what I am asking and if it takes strength she hasnāt yet developed fully she will keep trying until I ask her to stop, because I donāt want her sore from trying too hard. That easily distracted brain has become an easily focused brain, and since she has excess energy she directs it into trying to work with me to make new things happen. The harder the work, the happier she is, because she has something to focus on - and because I have had the great guidance which has helped me learn to never fight but instead to focus and work with her to develop true trust, she sees harder work as a plus and loves it.
The way I work at it, you can choose to fight and make things hard - or you can choose to allow her mind to settle and work with you, following suggestions such as those made by PP, and end up with a horse who rewards you for it one hundredfold in the future.
Well interesting how you interpret fightingā¦ You donāt know me or my horse but you describe as somebody fighting with my horseā¦ But if it makes you happy be itā¦By the way my poor overwhelmed horsey got a qualifier for regionals in her first recognized show and everybody praised her how cool she wasā¦ She was cool because she had funā¦ And she had fun because I showed her that I am a pack leader whom you can trust 
so she felt safe because I was thereā¦
But I guess thats a different philosophyā¦
Update: I have a young, very quiet event rider riding my mare 3 days/ week and I work her on the ground the other days or take her on the trails. We have already made good progress! For now I am not tying her while grooming or tacking up anymore as I like to have control of the lead line and that has helped tremendously. I also have started to work on her focusing on me from the walk from her run in to the arena/ barn, which is about 800 ft away from ne another. We walk/ halt/ walk/ back/ yield during this walk. This way once we are at the barn getting ready she is already focused on me versus waiting to tie her then her getting wound up. She was always good for the walk up so I am taking that time of opportunity, when I know she is already calm, to get her focused and working.
I have a barn cat that likes to hang out along the arena edge and sometimes dart in, which she hates. Last night kitty was playing, and although it was hard for her at first, she did āgive inā and focus on me and forget about the cat. We did a lot of in hand lateral work and that got her focused. So we will press onā¦thankfully she is a kind hearted mare and not obstinate.
So I did fight it through with her
Your words.
First definition:
to force something through some sort of procedure or process;
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/fight+through
Words have meaning. Forcing a horse is always bad in my book. But it goes along with everything else you say - we just have dramatically different opinions on how to treat a horse.
I agree with you on thatā¦ I donāt judge you, so please donāt judge me as wellā¦ I guess that would be fairā¦ You started to be personal in this thread, so please stop that as wellā¦
Re: Cats and other scary things. With a spooky horse (or really any horse), I like to teach them to either touch or follow what theyāre afraid of. And I like to send them over it/to it rather than leading them over, as it translates better to riding. Itās easier to start on the ground. Teach them to touch and then push a yoga ball or a barrel around. Iāve done it with cats at a barn that had A LOT of barn cats popping out of anywhere and everywhere. Obviously in this case you just teach them to follow the cat, it works pretty well because the horse realizes that if they follow the scary cat, itāll eventually go away. It also just generally instills a little more bravery and inquisitiveness as their go-to responses.
I would contribute it to diet, health and or pain. She might be stressed from training and have ulcers. Suceed has a cheap test that is very accurate in testing for ulcers.
GET MOAR KATZ!
Good for you, OP. I tend to think of distractions for babies as (sigh) Another Training Opportunity. I mean, we are supposed to be making war horses, my fellow dressagists. So if baby horse canāt keep her pants on when a cat comes by, well, you have to fix that. There will assuredly be Cats in war, and even worse at a horse show.
So who cares if cats lurk? Just put them on the great big list of things that she gets to learn are None Of Her Business. I canāt tell you how many times a day Iād say to my young horse, āNunnya Bidnissā¦ Not that, or that, or that. You just stay right with me; thatās your only job.ā And itās true that when a horse lives through the process of getting worried and finding a solution to that problem (in the form of listening to you so that she experiences peace there), they get more brave.
Sometimes, the problem is that we have a training agenda that takes for granted the kind of taming of those instincts of flight-first and self-preservation that (some) horses bring to the table in a big, big way.
I try to remind myself that Iām like a rock polisher: On any given day, I merely polish whichever edge the horse presents to me. But I donāt always get to choose which edge that is. With all horses, we have to"pull over" and work on any mental problems that show up first. I donāt see how a horse can submit his body to us if heās got prior questions about whether thatās safe and whether our requests will be understandable. And with some horses, we donāt even get to decide when they are done with the big, fat ācredit checkā they are running on us. When people speak of mares as ātestingā them, Iām always a little sad. I donāt see that as being challenging, rather I see that as an animal feeling vulnerable and trying to satisfy herself that sheāll be OK if she turns over the use of her body to someone else. I think itās quite reasonable that I should have to earn an animalās trust. I donāt resent it that she should askā¦ over and over and over, until sheās done. After all, sheās taking a big risk.
I think most young horses go through teenage phases - sometimes at four, sometimes at five, sometimes six.
My AQHA was a really tough young horse for several years (he was supposed to be an easy project horse because he was AQHA ā¦ but I digress). Today he did his first steps of canter half pass - but it has not been an easy journey
Heās quirky. There were several times when I had to hand him over to a race track/young horse trainer at my barn. I didnāt have the timing or confidence to get through it. And it was the absolute smartest thing I ever did. You have to know your own strengths and get really good help when you need it.
Heās still a quirky little horse - canāt handle stallions, mules or loud friesian type horses and has huge issues with separation anxiety or being crowded, but overall heās turned into a super horse.
The one red flag I see is the lunging every day in the same arena that you ride in. IMHO that is a very, very bad idea. I would be using a round pen for dealing with both the extra energy and the focus issue. I donāt ever let horses be idiots in the arena that I ride in, I just think itās a bad idea.
Give them a safe place to express energy, but not in the location they are ridden every day. When their little feet enter an arena, it is my expectation that they are working, not leaping around like an idiot. I just donāt ever want that behavior associated with the riding arena if I can prevent it.
Iāve done this with fun/funny results. Iāve used various things . . . dragging a tarp on the ground, umbrella, all sorts of random āstuff,ā following my dog or barn catā¦ It definitely helps in making a braver pony. It seems like her reaction now is to āfollow (the thing)!ā Deer bedding down in the grass? Go git āem! Cows grazing at the neighborsā property? Make them moooooove! Birds in the arena? Chase them until they fly away! It is pretty fun and funny. With the cows, I swear my pony wants to just bust through the fence to go to them and move them around!
