Franklin Levinson's
Horse Help Center
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Extremely Tense Horse Question
Hi,
We have a problem and hope you can help. We have a 4 1/2 year old Kentucky Mountain gelding that we purchased a year ago. Before we got him, the previous owner allowed teenage girls to race around on him a few times.
He is the most gentle animal you'd ever want to work with on the ground, but as soon as we get in the saddle, he becomes so tense that we can actually feel his muscles bunch up under the saddle. As long as he's allowed to ride in front of other horses or by himself at the speed he wants, he's fine. But as soon as we check him back a bit, he gets very tense and agitated. He will be so tense that he will actually be covered in sweat in just a few minutes. He even does this when we ride him alone in the arena at a walk. We ride him at a walk about 95% of the time. The rest of the time is a slow gait. We never canter him.
Just yesterday, we rode him with his brother for a quiet walk down the road. As soon as we asked him to slow down his walk a bit, he bunched up his muscles, took tiny little steps and broke out in a sweat. He also tries to pull on the reins. We checked his saddle fit and it seems perfect. We've also tried riding him in a treeless saddle. We have his teeth taken care of by an equine dentist on a regular basis. We tried just using a sidepull but it made no difference. We feed him oats and grass hay. We tried three different calming supplements but they had no affect whatsoever. We've had horses for over 30 years and have never come across a problem like this. We believe there is an awesome horse in there somewhere. We just need advice on how to bring it out of him.
Thanks very much for your help
Your horse sounds a lot like many Saddlebreds I have come across. Some say its because of the breed (they are prone to 'high anxiety'. Others say its the way they are started out as youngsters. From what I know of those techniques I can understand the animal's nervousness. Here is what has worked for me with exactly that sort of habitual way of being for a horse: ENDLESS SERPENTINE (FIGURE 8's) MOVEMENT AT A TROT. I DO MEAN ENDLESS, AS MUCH AS YOU CAN HANDLE. AFTER THE ANIMAL SETTLES DOWN A LOT (DOES THE SERPENTINES SOFTLY, CALMLY AND SMOOTHLY), BEGIN TO DO ENDLESS LEG YIELDS OF ALL SORTS (TURNS ON THE FRONT, TURNS ON THE HIND, SIDE AND QUARTER PASSES, BACKS, ROLL-BACKS. DO THESE UNTIL THEY ARE SOFT AND YOU CAN DO ALL IN ALMOST/OR MOSTLY SLOW MOTION. RIDE MASTERFULLY FROM YOUR SEAT USING YOUR HANDS AS LITTLE AS YOU CAN. UNDERSTANDING THAT LESS IS MORE WITH A HORSE LIKE THIS IS A BIG LEAP IN UNDERSTANDING. I AM GIVING YOU A WAY TO SET THE HORSE FREE BY SIMPLY DIRECTING WHERE HE GOES FOR EVERY STEP. YOU MUST RIDE THIS WAY A MINIMUM OF 3 AND UP TO 6 DAYS A WEEK. RIDE THE HORSE FOR AN AVERAGE OF 45 MINUTES A SESSION). DO SOME (10-15 MINUTES) OF GROUND PLAY (AGAIN DIRECTING MOVEMENT AND GIVING REWARD FOR COMPLIANCE AND EVEN TRYING) BEFORE RIDING EACH TIME.
If you get on this program, I promise you significant progress within 2 weeks. You must reprogram/re-habituate the way the horse is. This is not easy and takes time. AFTER THE HORSE DOES SOME MOVEMENT THAT IS RIGHT ON YOUR REQUEST..REWARD WITH A QUIET TIME (30 SECONDS TO A MINUTE OR TWO UNTIL THE HORSE SIGHS), THEN ASK FOR MORE MOVEMENT. REWARDING THE HORSE BY ALLOWING AND ASKING HIM TO STAND STILL IMMEDIATELY AFTER SOME BRISK MOVEMENT, GETS HIM IN THE HABIT OF RELAXING MORE AROUND MOVING.
KEEP ME POSTED....
Sincerely, Franklin