How To Relax A Tense Horse

[@comesahorseman]

The late Mark Russell taught me to loop the reins in the outside hand, soft or no contact, then take the inside rein softly & stroke it. This encourages your horse to soften the jaw, lower the head a little and relax the topline. Very similar techniques. Thanks!

[@seanabrady4770]

Wow.... and I’m subscribed- love this video so simple, smart and effective.

[@Ginnyshorseproductreview]

Just found your channel and love it already! Simple and effective technique for a chronic worrier! I've seen so many horses get more upset and anxious by riders that ignore their worry and push them rather than helping to quiet their minds.

[@thismaybeofhelp1849]

Wow well done. This is such a good idea, I usually have them do eights or bend them, but this is even easier and probably less tense for the horse. I have to say when it coemes to tense horses we really also need to notice the subtle signs. Bought a horse from a lady where she said he needed mpre go, but I quickly realized there was nothing wrong with his go it was just that he shut down and got tense and froze. Then every time I asked him to walk he would trot and trot on with no focus going all over the place. I could not figure it out and thought perhaps he was just so tense he could not go slow. I recently looked at a video the former owner has of him at her place where she is moving him forward fast even though he is obvisouly tense, you can not notice it so well so I guess for a layperson it can be missed but I know him by now and could notice the tense neck and the unfocus way he had, not listening to the rains but just going because she was so happy he was moving. So he was like trotting and the worst thing was that she was going "good boy" the whole time so he got the signal "I dont care if you are scared as hell as long and so move your feet". So what I am focusing now on is having him walk walk walk walk. And I am so glad to see that in the months I have had him, FINALLY, FINALLY his neck seems a bit looser and his eyes are calm and he does not think movement and stress go hand in hand. I wish people would learn to read the smaller signals from introverted horses. Even just when your horse looks away when you stroke him. Leave him. He is not in the mood for that. Come on people. Your horse looks away? That means no. I dont are how cute your horse is stop petting him like a little puppy and show some respect.

[@AndyTheCornbread]

Once he gets good at bending to relax like that at the walk will she be continuing the exercise in the trot and then the canter or was doing this at a walk enough to relieve his anxiety in other gaits as well? If it is continued in the other gaits do you bend them and wait for them to relax at the gait they are in or do you allow them to drop to the walk while bent and relax there since they already know how to do it at the walk? I guess I am looking for what you feel the logical progression is with this exercise for the horses on which it is used?

[@RossJacobs]

A lot depends on the individual horse. I would progress to use the bend at the trot and then onto the canter to help them relax. But it is very important you work through the lower energy paces and get relaxation strongly established first before attempting this kind of work at the gaits of higher energy. With regard to whether you should allow them to drop down from trot to walk and canter to trot to establish relaxation or attempt to maintain the gait and wait for the horse to relax, it will depend on the horse. Many horses need to be allowed to drop back to the lower energy gait, but not all. If in doubt, let them drop back to walk in order to find relaxation and then try again at the trot or canter. No harm will be done. But in time they should be able to relax to the inside rein even at the canter. And eventually, relaxation will be part of life at all gaits and bending to the inside rein will not be necessary.

[@AndyTheCornbread]

@@RossJacobs Thank you for the detailed explanation, that makes complete sense.

[@leealexander3507]

Sweetheart freaked out bad yesterday because he got rained on. He was in a tornado once and it collapsed several buildings within a few feet of him so he doesn't deal well with sudden weather changes. I had a lot of"fun" getting him back home and calmed down.

[@katarinamills8530]

Very interesting,despite the bad sound quality :-(

[@RossJacobs]

Yes, sorry about the sound but it was unavoidable. Nevertheless, I still felt the video was worth making available.

[@katarinamills8530]

@@RossJacobs what an honour to get your reply!!!Of course,ALL of your videos are such a gift for us here...so grateful!And saw them all till now!many regards from Germany!!

[@tocaimmy4136]

hi there! i have a pony of my own and I'm not the most confident person in the world. i know ur not m meant to be scared of horses or whatnot when riding, but my pony has made me scared of her. I'm scared to sit on her, or even touch her let alone ride her. she's extremely stubborn, although I happen to be one of her favourite people. she had a few troubles in the past with abuse and people abandoning her, so that's probably it. are there any tips you can give me with settling a stubborn horse?

[@RossJacobs]

I wish I could offer a magic potion to help you. However, without seeing you and your horse together it is impossible for me to understand the root cause of the issue and therefore offer you some sage advice. I strongly urge you to seek some first hand help from the best local trainer you can find. They will be able to assess you and your horse and help you find a path forward. One thing I will say is that I think your issues are made a lot harder by the fact that you have such strong fear. Overcoming fear is not easy, but it is necessary. Again, a good horse person should be able to help you take small steps to gradually build your confidence. I wish I could do more, but I wish you and your horse the best.

[@tocaimmy4136]

@@RossJacobs alright thank you for replying so fast! this actually really helped. thank you.

[@imba.hjaltalin]

Hi Sheep, I would strongly recommend that you spend lots of time with her on the ground establishing a good friendly leadership role. If she misbehaves in the paddock and bolts at you or ignores you (showing you her behind) send her away, this is what another horse does. As soon as she shows friendliness, lowers her head, looks at you, then stop looking streight at her, you can also move your body so that your side faces her, and back away, then most likely she will come to you. Never lure her with treats. She wont respect you. To praise her you stroke her (dont pat her) long strokes or you itch her. Not too long, do it for a little bit then walk away. Get to be friends with her and soon enough you will feel like riding her again. Dont force it. Let her come to you and say "hey okay you wanna ride me already?" Haha. Enjoy her company and your fear will disappear!

[@tocaimmy4136]

@@imba.hjaltalin hey! on my field, its rather slopy, so i dont have anywhere flat. me and her do have a good bond, as she's sort of mean to people, she has trust issues, but she's nice to me, but i get scared to ride her, due to previous problems. i know ur not meant to get scared of ur horse, but its slightly hard, but thank you so much

[@leealexander3507]

Sweetheart freaked out bad yesterday because he got rained on. He was in a tornado once and it collapsed several buildings within a few feet of him so he doesn't deal well with sudden weather changes.

[@shawnaweesner3759]

Has this horse been to a specialist in back injuries? Shooter looks like he walks stiff, no matter what. I saw relaxing from him in front, not in the rear. I can’t tell if Shooter has a bit, but if he does, get rid of it. I can see a chain under his chin, that should go, too. Shooter is not a good choice to become a barrel racing horse. Barrel racing shouldn’t even be a sport. Awful for all horses, but for a tense horse, it will just be hell. I can’t hear you, trainer, over your obsession with your lesson, speaking up for this horse.

[@RossJacobs]

Shawna, I'm sorry but you don't know the horse and are making a lot of assumptions based on what you think you see in the video. The owner told me Shooter gets seen by a therapist regularly as maintenance (I can't recall if it was monthly or fortnightly or what type of therapy). Secondly, the owner has a string of barrel racers and Shooter has been highly successful in elite competition and is a very valuable horse for that reason. Thirdly, I think you incorrectly assume the tension is physical, but after working with him for 4 days I strongly believe his trouble was emotional. The owner saw the proof of this by the end of the clinic. Emotional tension will lead to physical tension and often shows itself as a a physical problem. But the tension in his body and his movement clearly stems from his emotional worry because of the improvement he made in such a short time with working to soften him to the inside rein. If it had been a physical problem, working on the bending work would not have helped him relax emotionally in the way that he did towards the end of the clip. Any pain or physical discomfort would not have allowed him to relax as shown in the video.

[@shawnaweesner3759]

Ross Jacobs I can only comment on what I see. The fact that your video did not include the information that the horse has had recent x-rays, a veterinarian check-up, and a ? Therapist is your fault, so stop with blaming me for making assumptions. Your issue with me is the fact that I disagree strongly with barrel racing, and I do not think your work shows that you are an advocate for the horse. Finally, if you want only positive comments in regards to your videos, show them only to your grandmother.

[@RossJacobs]

@@shawnaweesner3759 I am not sure what your problem is. You jumped to conclusions about a horse you do not know. Perhaps the better option would be to ask some questions about the horse rather than impose your views based purely on supposition and not from actually knowing the horse. I have no interest in barrel racing nor do I have an interest in whether or not you support it. It's irrelevant. At clinics I get all sort of people who participate and train in all forms of horse disciplines and practices I don't necessarily approve. But my job is not to judge, but to help. I don't believe barrel racing is a horse-friendly sport, but people will still do it and if I can help their horse's do it better and feel better about the work then that's what I will try to do. The video shows how the inside rein can help a horse relax and travel better. I think it shows that well and if you had been present at the clinic you would have seen how effective a change it made in Shooter over the course of the clinic. Your harping on about an imagined physical injury/damage to the horse is neither pertinent to the video nor supported by the changes the horse made. Your comments are welcome, but don't expect silence or agreement from me or others when you are plainly wrong. If you are not prepared for contradiction when people believe you are wrong, then perhaps you should think twice before commenting.

[@Ginnyshorseproductreview]

@@RossJacobs Chiming in to add that as somebody who owns a horse who carries a lot of emotional tension/mental baggage, it does get old when every five minutes somebody says the horse needs this or that chiropractic or veterinary treatment, when they have no idea how much money we've already spent exploring ALL possible potential physical reasons for the tension including veterinary, chiro, saddle fit, dental, hormonal, diet, management, etc etc. While I do agree that in many cases, tension in horses can be caused by physical pain, it's not the ONLY solution behind some animal's behavior and mental state. Not all horse brains are the same at some kind of baseline level of calm but for some type of physical pain, some of them have mental and emotional issues that modern veterinary medicine doesn't have ability to figure out diagnostically. Some are maybe born that way, and some are made by poor handling. Regardless, this inside rein technique sure does help to ease their tension and worry. This method works very well for settling our worrier's mind. I have no doubt that with this technique, this horse already has a better quality of life as a result of going to your clinic, and his owner has a way to help reduce tension and help him get his worry under control now. Well done Ross!

[@josebarrientes177]

With all due respect this horse isn´´t nervous or tense he´´s actually pretty easy use areally nervous tense horse to demonstrate

[@RossJacobs]

Sorry, but you are missing so much. He is upside down due to his tension. He is crooked due to tension. His mind is wayward due to his tension. His gait is uneven due to his tension,. He begins to relax more as the video progresses and all these things improve. If you disagree you should talk to the owner who was thrilled with the changes. Maybe you just normally ride tense and worried horses, so think that is normal and relaxed.