# Tips To Help With An Antsy Lineup?



## HunterJumperEmma (Jun 7, 2011)

My mare and I have a schooling show on Wednesday to prepare us for the show season ahead. I did this series last year, and I believe we did well except for our lineup. She's a little antsy (Thoroughbred, huh? , and sometimes we just make sweeping circles until its all over. Any ideas to keep her quiet and happy in the lineup?


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Hi HJEmma, nice to meet you.

I suddenly found this very problem with my boy last weekend, it was our first time in the ring in a group, we usually do dressage, so it's just us.

The only way I could get him to stand still, and it did have everyone including me nearly crying with laughter in the end (good job it was schooling show) was for me just to let out a huge breath in a sigh, and totally relax everything, and give him some rein. 

Every time I did it, both in the ring and waiting outside, he just stretched into the contact a little and stood still as anything:rofl::rofl:

You may not want to be so obvious in a line up while showing, but I would suggest practicing it out of the ring and see if it works.

Hoep someone has more advice for you, and good luck


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## HunterJumperEmma (Jun 7, 2011)

Thank you! I will indeed try giving her more rein.


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## countercanter (May 18, 2011)

A horse I used to ride and show for my trainer had that issue. I found that talking quietly to him and rubbing his neck/whithers area helped a lot. We would practice a lot at home standing still. After riding (and getting him cooled out) we would stand in the middle of the ring (if there were other people in the ring I would ask them to stand next to me) and I would have him stand still for like, 15 seconds, then walk him around, then ask him to stand again for maybe 20 seconds. Over the course of a few weeks we were able to make him stand (mostly) quietly for a couple of minutes. The talking and rubbing/scratching helped as well.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

I had the same problem with my mare (Thoroughbred....see a pattern? ;-) ) at a local show last month. It was absolutely humiliating....I ended up walking her back and forth across our little space the whole time while she decided to be a mare. Subscribing, I'd love to fix this, as she's an absolute doll at home.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Are they just not capable of standing still? My TB doesn't seem to get that concept either. Glad we event. No standing still and we have the ring to ourselves.


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## alexischristina (Jun 30, 2009)

My TB would rather be standing still, stretched out and relaxed than anything at all. Breaking the pattern, I guess! 
I would just say lots and lots of practice- it helped my POA to have to learn to stand quietly on her own first, just tied up with nobody on her back and learn to be patient. After that we started practicing standing as if in a 'line up' and overall went really well.


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## HunterJumperEmma (Jun 7, 2011)

She did pretty well at our show Wednesday. They decided to call out all the classes while we were standing there, so I ended up walking her in circles when they started talking.

It's hard for me to practice at home, as there are only 4 other horses and they're all pasturemates, so she doesn't give a rip about them. 

I think she's just curious. She hates not being able to see everything. I will definitely work on it more though.


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## PaintedFury (Aug 18, 2010)

My suggestion would be to take a deep breathe, let it out and relax. If you are relaxed your horse should as well. This can be practiced at home, even if you don't have other horses to practice it with, in line up fashion. After some exercise, take her to the center of the ring and do the relaxation exercise. Always after a workout, when she is wanting to stop and breathe. She'll get it, and learn that when you relax, so can she.


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## StormvaleQHStud (Dec 16, 2010)

Ok so I can't add any input whilst showing as I am only just starting to get into that lol. But I do a lot of arena work with all of mine at home and it is very important to me that my horses all learn to stand and wait. To the point I can walk out of sight to grab something to get them to stand and wait so I can take conformation pics from a distance or just stand squared and still before I get on or just when I want to get off. My thoroughbred gelding had the weevil tendency to walk off on me whilst trying to get on him when I first got him. I got very irritated with him I can tell you!!!! Haha. Anyways, what I did with him was leave reins loose and have my hand on the left rein so as I got up and asked for a 'wait' if he walked off on me I picked up the rein and made him circle in a tight circle (even if you only have one foot in stirrup - balance and ask calmly for the circle) I do not yank the rein or be harsh but you can kind of see them go 'ok now if I want to stop and stay will she let me?' of course I do but they will try it a couple of time each ride to start with but if you do it everytime they learn to wait and stand still. I get them to the point where when I get on I do not touch the reins they stay loose on the withers, and I can hop on and sit still (or fidget to trick them and see if they will stay) and my horses will not move untill I ask for it. Just phase the time out you ask them to wait for untill you can sit there for 10 minutes or something. Make sure you feel relaxed emotionally too. I do know that horses are different in show atmospheres as even if I ride at the pony club to train on their nice arenas lol if I train with my friend my normally angelic thouroughbred takes twice as long to warm up because he wants to be near the other horses so side passes and half rears and be's a complete ****. 10-15 mins of walking circle work and start trot work once he starts behaving at a walk and he soon settles in. But good luck and keep us posted on how your horse goes.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Carry some treats. Give your horsea bout 3' of lead and ask him to stand still for 5 seconds. Make a cluck sound, stretch your arm out and offer a treat. This teaches not to mug your pockets. Gradually advance to longer periods, always clucking and rewarding. Food is a great motivator and definitely assures him he's doing the right thing. Be sure to give him a break which is a reward in itself. If he moves, do not c/t but put him back on his spot and try again. In time you can wean him off the c/t, at least for that exercise.


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