Hello to all, 

I need a bit of advice for my 17hh 11 year old gelding. I got him about 6 months ago. He is cool, calm and easy going. A bomb could go off near him and he would barely wake up, he seems to be a real laid back customer. I have trouble moving him forward sometimes even he is so lazy, working on that... 

My issue is that I decided i'd take him to a dresage show seeing as he was so cool and calm i figured it was a no brainer and had already dreamed of where i'd be putting my ribbon lOL

 when we arrived at the show, he was neighing and stamping his feet in the float. 'just some nerves' i said to myself and then i unloaded him and i had a monster on my hands.circling, not standing still, neighing, stamping, trying to get away from me. This went on for 4 hours, yes 4 hours, but i was not going home. My cool boy who usually stands and sleeps as i saddle him was a maniac and you know, the horse that everyone stares at because he's making a fool out of himself and you. That was okay. No one came to help, they just stared. It took me 4 hours to be able to settle him like i said then i finally mounted when it felt safe. Worked him at a trot, doing heaps of circle work and getting him calm. did the test. scored ok. went home. 

 It was a good result, but it almost broke me emotionally. i got him home unloaded him and just cried like a child for about an hour. perhaps that was a release of anxiety that i had gotten from the situation. 

anyway how do i stop this? it's made me scared to take him out again. is there anything i could feed him. i don't want to use those pastes and sedate him. i just want some techniques, training and herbs that may help. thank you 

 Some questions for you, mellie:  Has he been to a show before?  Has he traveled with YOU before?  Is he bonded to a buddy at home?

I think you should congratulate yourself on doing exactly the right thing.  You hung in there, stuck with him, and kept at it till he calmed down.  I think you should be REALLY REALLY proud of accomplishing that in a difficult situation, by yourself.  Not only that, but you actually did your test and got a decent score.  So pat yourself on that back for that!  

Depending on your answers to the first questions, he may be better next time.  Giving him more mileage may just solve the problem.  Are you able to bring a friend with you who has a horse who travels well so you can perhaps do a trial trip to see how he does a second time?  Maybe under less pressure for you than a show where you are entered?

 Hi there, not sure if he's ever been to a show, but he's never been to one with me. I took him to a jump clinic a few weeks before and he played up a little but there was only a few horses and a couple of floats there. He has travelled with me before a couple of times and when i went to get him he lived 4 hours away and i floated him home, stopping every 30 minutes to reassure him and pat him. . he has a buddy at home who he is in love with. he is also a gelding and i am supportive of this relationship as all mums should be 

Thanks for the congrats. my partner (who is not horsey at all) ended up turning up and just waited with me by the float he couldn't help but it did help me emotionally to have that support. I think that giving him some more time and mileage might help. after all, i've only had him a few months before the show, maybe it was too much too soon. i spend time with him every day now and try to ride every other day. next show that is on i was just going to take him, not enter into anything, just go and ride around.... 

 First of all - congratulations for sticking it out and doing your test. I can understand that it was pretty traumatic for you when your Steady Eddy turned in to Godzilla at the show.

If this was the first time he'd been away from home, I think he just needs more mileage under his belt.  Take him for more trailer rides to get him accustomed to it, since he started getting antsy in the trailer.  A couple of miles and then home.    A bit further the next time etc.

Then you can start taking him to shows as a non-competitor, just to let him experience the hustle and bustle of a show since he's unaccustomed to it.  When you get there, walk him around, reassure him until he settles.  Then saddle and mount up and ride him around.  Again, reassure him.  There's no pressure on you, since you aren't competing, so you'll be more calm and that will help him be more calm.

I'm sure he'll settle down with a little experience and he'll be a great horse for you.  Best of luck with him.

 I think your plan is perfect -- just take him places and let him get time and mileage under his belt.  We sometimes forget that shows can be an overwhelming sensory experience for horses and they need time to adjust and learn, just like we do.  They miss their buddies, their familiar territory, and they don't really know us that well until we have had them for quite some time.

And don't worry, you are not alone -- the first show I ever took my horse to was on his home farm.  But having never been to a horse show, he thought his home had been invaded by aliens and was completely unrideable.  He had two gaits -- stand still and tremble or full out run.  I could not do anything with him but lead him around for several hours and let him watch everything.  But the next one we did, he was fine.  He  just had to see that it was just a different experience and nothing bad was going to happen.

it is so stressful handling your horse when he is like that.  i know in september i took a horsemanship course--groundwork.  on the 2nd to last class, my horse was obviously being pissy and shortly after we commented about it, he tried to attack another horse.  nothing bad happened, but, it was startling.

then, our last class got cancelled due to weather and after many false starts we are doing it tomorrow morning.  i haven't worked my horse in a couple of weeks ( i went on vacation), so, this should be fun!

all you can do is keep introducing a horse to new situations.  they are not as flexible about new situations as one would like.

update on us--sorry to take over your question.

went to my horsemanship class today and my horse was great.  they even had obstacles to deal with today.  my horse tried every obstacle without too much issue.  he stood still for long periods of time (he usually paws and nips constantly) and he basically acted like a good guy, something i have been longing for.

so, practice, practice, practice and get those horses out there experiencing new things.

I find that stock trailers are great for horses that get nervous at shows, my horses always travel in stock trailers now because I can leave them loose in them and then can still see everything.  I find it helps them to settle and then I can settle myself since my nerves aren't being bothered more by my nervous horse.  I have a little girl that wanted to show my QH last summer and I agreed, we trailered her over in time for the halter classes even though she girl wasn't showing any.  When we got there rather than taking her out we opened the trailer's center divider and opened the escape doors (we put stall guards up) and we left her to sit in the trailer with hay and water for about 2 hours, during that time she acted like a nut just as it sounds yours did.  After 2 hours she started to settle so we took her out and I entered myself into a few "throw away classes" (I call them this since they are classes I don't expect to win but I enter them anyway to get the horse used to the ring).

I agree that you need to take your horse to places and just go with things and get him used to it and congrats on sticking with it, but I really recommend a stock trailer, especially if you get nervous when your horse does.  I do this even with my TB who sounds very similar to your guy (very laid back and relaxed) and the stock trailer really helps the two of us, it's basically my horse's home away from home and after about 5 minutes I usually find him laying down taking a nap in the trailer.