# Complicated mare, any advice appreciated



## arabbarrelracer (Jun 2, 2015)

Hey, I'm having a similar issue with my mare.
She stresses out easily and is watching EVERYTHING!!!!
What I have found that works is to put her in a round pen with people walking close by, ask them to talk loudly and have phones ring and such that you would see and hear at a show. Ask your horse to stand by you without anything on her, like halterless. When she pays attention to everything but you drive her around the pen a couple of times. Then ask her to come back to you, and stand there quietly. If she looks around and isn't focusing on you drive her again. Keep doing this and eventually she will get the idea. Also my have all your friends haul to an arena with you and ride around and talk and stuff while you keep your horse on a lunge line. Drive when your not her main focus, let her stand still when you are. Hope this helps!!!


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## Justjump705 (Jun 8, 2015)

arabbarrelracer said:


> Hey, I'm having a similar issue with my mare.
> She stresses out easily and is watching EVERYTHING!!!!
> What I have found that works is to put her in a round pen with people walking close by, ask them to talk loudly and have phones ring and such that you would see and hear at a show. Ask your horse to stand by you without anything on her, like halterless. When she pays attention to everything but you drive her around the pen a couple of times. Then ask her to come back to you, and stand there quietly. If she looks around and isn't focusing on you drive her again. Keep doing this and eventually she will get the idea. Also my have all your friends haul to an arena with you and ride around and talk and stuff while you keep your horse on a lunge line. Drive when your not her main focus, let her stand still when you are. Hope this helps!!!


Thank you! Definitely going to try it, she's just so strange because most things do not bother her if I'm not riding and when she's focused on jumping she's fine as well, it's mainly flat classes she just cannot stay focused.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ducky123 (May 27, 2014)

Justjump705 said:


> or to accept ear plugs again.


Practice and what arabbarrelracer wrote will help a lot. Earplugs are great for noises loud enough to damage hearing. Desensitizing to noises would be a better solution for dealing with non-damaging sound levels. I know I have an old boombox down in the basement and I would be blasting it while I worked the horse.


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## Justjump705 (Jun 8, 2015)

ducky123 said:


> Practice and what arabbarrelracer wrote will help a lot. Earplugs are great for noises loud enough to damage hearing. Desensitizing to noises would be a better solution for dealing with non-damaging sound levels. I know I have an old boombox down in the basement and I would be blasting it while I worked the horse.


I have ridden her with music and she's not phased by it, her main problem is hearing the other horses so she will take off in the middle of a class.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## arabbarrelracer (Jun 2, 2015)

It sounds as if she might be a tad bit buddy sour....
My mare is not sour to a specific horse but to any horse even one she has never met.
One thing you could try is the Clinton Anderson Method. Type in "timeout for Tonka"
I think that was the name of it. Any way this worked for me as well.


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## ducky123 (May 27, 2014)

Justjump705 said:


> I have ridden her with music and she's not phased by it,


It's doubtful that the sounds of the cantering horses are contributing to your horse losing focus when others are cantering. A horse can see every other horse in the arena. It doesn't need to hear clip-clopping to know the horse behind is cantering. (I guess you could get a coconut, cut it in half, and get one of those Foley guys to test the idea.)

You need to get some friends (the more the better) to canter their horses around your horse. Start with you in the middle and goal is horse stands still while others canter. Friends circle both ways, and then go in counter directions at same time.

After he's good with that, walk while others canter, then trot, etc


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## jofo2003 (Aug 15, 2015)

believe it or not I got my first horse when I was 12 and it was a thoroughbred filly that was only 3. She had just come straight of the track. when I first did a show I used cups around her eyes and ear plugs. She didn't mind the cups but she hated the ear plugs. I eventually just kept changing them and them I found the perfect ones. If what other users on this sights advice is no good then just keep trying different ones. I really hope I helped


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