Actually, Donna, I don't think your horse is that much like Caisson. Yours seems to be worried about being left behind, and his major problem is being herd-bound. Sheila's idea of tieing him up after a ride might work. I think the multi-day idea will work, too, as it will help get him over his anxiousness. If he does the same thing several days in a row, the light might go on, with the result that he will be less frantic.
Caisson was that way to start with, and tying to the trailer helped. I took him to a horse show, and he was in a dripping sweat just tied to the trailer. I let him stand, then walked him around, tied him back up again. Then saddled up, but let him sit, then got on and walked around, tied back up, etc. By the end of the show, I was working him calmly in the warmup arena, or hanging out at ring-side. Second time I went to the same venue, he settled in right away. That was the end of his "pre-ride" nerves.
Now, his main issue is competitiveness. He is not herd-bound at all. He will leave the other horses in a blink. He is (now) calm in camp, even during warmup before the ride. He is calm when walking out of camp, if he is not in a group. Calm when he is traveling by himself. He melts down when he sees the first horse ahead of him, or when caught in a group, and has been known to try and block the trail to prevent a horse passing him (he got corrected.) Once back at camp, he will settle down again.
However, he solved my problems himself - he has suspensory branch issues so I'm pointing him toward another discipline - dressage. I'm hoping it will work out, as he will be the only horse in the ring. :) I'm only looking at doing low-level dressage with him, so it shouldn't stress his suspensories.
On Sep 12, 2009, at 10:15 AM, SHEILA A WALSH wrote:
k this gelding needs to stand tied up until he's taking a nap, after every ride; period. Then you can put him away.
Why don't you just take him to multi days and ride everyday, slow and easy? I can't think of a better way to get his attention and teach him that you are not going to stop, when he wants to ......
< He thinks rides are to be conducted at race-track speeds, and gets extremely frustrated at a rider that interferes with that plan. :) Doing training rides with a group helped somewhat, but I certainly could never consider riding in a snaffle. Actual rides only improved slightly. In any kind of competitive situation, he wants to be *FIRST*, and hates to be rated. I don't think any amount of training is going to fix that - certainly no training that I am competent to perform, anyway.>
I think you are describing MY horse. 8 yr old purebred Arab gelding, no previous trail experience til I got him this year. First couple of rides he was "terrified" of being left behind, so outdid himself to keep up.
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Sounds easy when they say, just re-direct your horse's energy when they act herd-bound. There's a lot more too it for certain types.
