# Hyper Horses



## Small_Town_Girl (Feb 15, 2008)

Don't get me wrong I love fast speed event horses like
barrels, poles, speed, etc. but hyper horses or "hot horses" 
as I refer to them sometimes agravate me. For instance it's 
not even the horses fault most of the time it is the riders for 
not properly training the horse and taking there time doing so, 
a barrel horse for instance should be easy to control or any 
horse for that matter. For instance at playdays I will be riding 
and people and their spastic horses will get a little too close for
comfort when we are not even near them they come over while
their horses are head tossing and acting up and get our horses
who are in a calm state frightened or acting up as well. 
Someone even brought a spastic horse like this on the trail ride
Saturday and spooked my mare who got off the trail and was trotting
through brush and could of tripped over a stump with me, lol.

BTW, I love speed myself and the horses I ride are usually
on good behavior. What I am saying is I just don't like it 
when people bring horses to the arena not properly trained
and do not mind well and expect to win out there and not
correct bad behavior. 

Sorry just a personal rant from experience, I don't like old dead 
horses either, I like horses with a little spirit and get-up as well
but training and patience is important.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

I could not agree with you more. 
Speed horses should love to run and be looking for the barrel but not so much that they ignore their rider. Often times, like you said, it is the riders fault for overwhelming the horse with too much speed or for tensing up herself. 
A good speed horse should be attentive to their rider and focused -- They can't do that when their shaking their heads and dancing everywhere. I can excuse a bit of hyper-ness (I just invented that word) when they are getting into the alley if there is one, but only to an extent. Controlled energy is fine...Spazzing is not. 

In my opinion, a speed horse needs to be well rounded. I have mentioned before how I make my barrel horse do pleasure, english, and whatever I decide I want to do that day. Even if I ran barrels a few minutes before, I expect him to pay attention to me and listen when I tell him to settle down. 

We competed at a funday a few weekends back and they had an "Obstacle Course" Which was just some trail work: Gate, bridge, box, trot poles, etc. My horse that never places in actual trail classes (we have issues with gates and sidepassing -_-) placed first. Every other speed horse there freaked out when they saw the box, couldnt stand still for the gate, and tried to run over the trot poles. In my opinion, those are horses that need to have a break and learn to calm down. 


Good thread


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## Small_Town_Girl (Feb 15, 2008)

Great addition to the thread, exactly what I am talking about.
I just don't like it when people go to a play day ready to win
when their horses haven't even been in the arena before or even
trained properly...that's what exhibition is for people..to practice, lol!


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Exactly. Same with time only runs at barrels. If you psych your horse out every time he gets in the arena and try and "Train" him he's not going to want to go in the arena all the time. I think the added stress of being in front of people at exhibitions like this just cause people to get stressed and do stupid things which results in a confused, nutty horse. 

Playdays are like..what...$5 to run? And you get a ribbon at best when you win? I don't see how you can get super competitive over that.


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## woodey2508 (May 6, 2009)

I totally agree.
I love speed when riding.
But when someone else is doing it uncontrolably its silly


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## KTSpeedhorse (Mar 10, 2009)

I agree!! There is no way that I would expect a "rodeo run" on a horse that has not been in and around the arena and crowds numerous times just to hang out or mabe make an exibition trip around the pattern a few times with a crowd and at a slower rate of speed.

I HATE it when riders make their sour or scared horses enter an event they are not mentally capable of doing. This gets scary for sure.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Diesel gets pre-run anxiety sometimes. If there are a bunch of horses crowded near the gate he tends to not want to go in. I try and make it as low stress as possible and get his attention on me and usually it works. If it doesn't, we usually scratch and just let him watch for awhile. Nevermind he has done it a zillion times, sometimes he just acts like he's never done it before. I think it just comes with the territory lol

I just dont see the sense in beating our horse into the arena. Ick.


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## KTSpeedhorse (Mar 10, 2009)

The anxiousnes comes with the sport for sure. You know the ones who love their job and want to get in there and the ones who are scared and rearing over and over again. You are a good horsewoman Spastic : )


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

Well thank you  It helps that I have a good horse.


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## amy (Nov 26, 2008)

It so aggrivates me when the rider has to FORCE the horse into the ring. 
There is a difference between an antsy horse and a scared horse. Why make them run if they don't like it a bit?

I don't own a horse but I've barreled a few at playdays. Most of them, I finished out training. Sure, they're young, they get jumpy, but all they need is a reminder to keep their heads on their shoulders.

I had a horse last summer that flipped out sometimes. She would start off squirrely then lose her head. Thankfully, I could recognise when she was starting to freak. I would simply flex her or throw a rope over her back to desenitize her. If you compete, you should know your horse well enough to recognize spazz attacks and you should know a solution. If not, get your butt out of the ring.

Its quite selfish of those people. One, because there are those of us who don't want our horses to freak, and Two, because the poor horses they ride don't need that stress.

Gah. Quite ridiculous.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

It all comes down to training, in my opinion. The main things I compete in are Mounted Games and Sporting, which is equivalent to your gameing. Yet I can still put begginers on my horses and they will run a pattern as if they were 20 years old and arthritic, lol. They don't see barrels/poles/a MG race and go crazy. 

Mounted Games horses have extra pressure on them at start lines, as they don't have a gate, etc. And they have to stand in a line with anothe 4/6 horses while the starter gets you all in line etc. Now thats a test of training! My last comp, there was a horse who jept rearing everytime the rider tried to get it up to the start line. Super dangerous, and it ended up rearing and nearly landing on my horses rump :S

I expect my horses to stand at the line. They don't have to be calm, in fact I can often feel them shake in anticipation, but they do have to stand and wait. So many horses nack up uncontrollably, spin, rear, etc. If my horse starts playing up on the line, I will forget about speed and make him trot out of the box instead of gallop. There is nothing more important to me than safe, sane horses.

A lot fo the problem as well, is the rider. A lot fo them unintentionally psyche their horses up with their seat and hand, simply by not sitting quietly. If you can't sit quietly, how do you excpect your horse to? My Arab, i ahve to sit stone stil, and if I move a muscle, he's ready to go. He's like a coiled spring, ready for his run. As long as I sit quiet, I can stand him with his toes on the line while the other horses freak out, and get the best start.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

I wish they would have starting lines here! Diesel does so much better without a gate. I can see many people having problems with standing still though


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

More than you would believe! Plus, they are suposed to start you all together, so if one horse is playing up, theother have to wait. Which then sets the others off too, lol!


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