Not all horses are able to enjoy their grass with peace of heart and mind. Being out in a paddock is stressful for them, especially when the pasture’s new or when horses leave around them.
But how can you help your horse?
When your horse is running, calling or else wise showing signs of uncertainty and insecurity, it seems like the best choice to bring your horse in his stable to calm down again.
In actuality, that is nearly the worst thing you can do in that moment.
But why is that and how can you help your horse? Learn more about reducing tension and separation anxiety in this blog!
I was inspired to write this blog when I brought Wally, my Grand Prix horse, to a new paddock last week. The paddock was situated right next to a very busy road, creating an environment with a high level of energy. Wally, being naturally very sensitive, felt like he had to get away from the road as much as possible. When he couldn’t, he worked himself up into a lot of tension.
I stayed with him and recorded the steps I take when a horse is so stressed upon turnout.
Here are some tips that might help you and your horse!
First and foremost, when your horse shows signs of nervousness, anxiety, or stress, you shouldn’t take them out of that environment without resolving the thing that causes the horse’s unease.
What you should do instead is try and lead your horse further into the paddock, to a place where the tension isn’t as strong as near the fence.
Wally shows his anxiety by pacing up and down the fence line, so what I try to do is break his pattern. I calmly try to attract his attention by showing my presence.
And therefore slightly breaking the line of his pacing.
If your horse turns back to the fence line, the area of tension, that’s okay.
Just continue what you were doing and keep building contrast between the two environments: calm and tense.
You can see how I approached it with Wally here:
It’s important that you yourself remain calm and steady. This is to ensure that the place you are at feels as the spot of rest for the horse.
Through enough consistency, the horse will learn that it’s better to move away from the area of tension and explore the paddock further.
Again, it’s okay if the horse returns to their spot of tension.
Keep calm and stick to the same pattern, creating the contrast between the pacing line and a space away from the fence.
Lastly, just like anything with horses, don’t ask too much of them.
When your horse is so tense in the paddock, it takes a lot to relax, so it’s better to keep the training short and build the duration up slowly.
Wally here grazed for about 5 to 10 minutes until I took him in again, ready to give this a go again tomorrow, where he can stay in a bit longer.
By not making this a one-time thing but really seeing it as a training, I can help improve Wally’s self-management and make him feel more confident in places that scare him and cause him to panic.
I explain more about that in the video below:
A confidentand relaxed horse in every situation with my online training program TRT method.
