How do you calm down a nervous horse?

Question

How do you calm down a nervous horse?

Answer 1

ride him. get trust from the horse

Answer 2

Give them a magnesium supplement every day

Foilage with magnesium in it

Or some Calm and Conditioner (uk only)

Answer 3

I watch what they do naturally to calm themselves down.  For example, my Arab free lunges himself out in the pasture when he's afraid or nervous...he creates a perfect circle and paces it in both directions...usually looking at whatever he is seeing/hearing the whole time.  When he starts to relax he slows to a walk but maintains the circling.  Then, all of a sudden, he quits and begins eating. This can last 20 minutes or more.  When he is nervous, he likes to pace, so I find him a place and let him work it out either on a line or riding.

Answer 4

What in particular makes your horse your horse nervous? for my horse I usually take her out to some big space and just walk around in big circles , and I t works so try that and see if it works. Though if you are in a show, try to find some where quiet and where nobody is, and just walk in circles and talk 2 it.

Answer 5

Without knowing what the history of your horse is, it makes it harder to answer. If you have a good horse savvy way, use your best judgement. I caught a wild pony that was 4yrs old and never handled. I placed her in a paddock and spent every single day talking to her and sitting with her. Then, when she would let me halter her, I let her out for long walks with me, just talking quietly and introducing her to new things that scared her. Afterwards, I would spend an hour or two brushing and using T-Touch (look up books to read) and the first set of Parelli techniques. She was within 4 weeks very trustworthy and when she gets nervous, she faces me and waits to hear my voice and see my movements. She was saddled and lead line riding within 6 weeks. Patience and LOVE are KEY to the animal we call a horse. They are true spirits of love. Best wishes. Patience is the key.

Answer 6

It depends why the horse is nervous.  Can you elaborate.  Perhaps give an example.

Answer 7

Okay, first of all, don't use drugs. It's a stupid copout to an easy problem. Try T-Touch. You can read up on it in books and on the internet. Also, try riding him/her in an enclosed indoor arena without many scary things to look at first to calm him/her down. Then, once you have the attention you want, take your horse to a more scary area and do the same things you did inside. I would recommend bending, flexing, leg yields, etc. This will reinforce the calm and relaxed presence he/she had inside and carry it over to scarier experiences! Good luck!

Answer 8

calming a nervous horse requires who ever goes in with the horse to be calm and walk in with a non threatening body posture.it is hard to explain and you have to be shown how to calm a horse.you cant be in a hurry and horses sence when you get frusrated and they look at this as aggression or as an animal stalking them which makes them more nervous.horses respond better when you walk in with the mindset that you are no better or lower than them,they are like a human two year old that always asks "why" why do you do this why should i do that and your answers have to be easy to understand and consistant or you run into the "no" answer.i hope this answers your question.

Answer 9

Whisper to the horse speak with slow movements and be careful a nervous horse could startle and injure or kill you accidentally if you are in confined spaces use extra caution but remain calm. communicate with the horse like you normally would if you dont have communication with the horse

you  should probably work on this first.

Answer 10

when does he get nervous, be specific...i can most likley help you just have to be specific on when she spooks or gets nervous...

Answer 11

If your horse is nervous, try to quickly find out what is causing him to be scared. Use your voice to comfort him/her, and if on the ground, turn the horse towards you to turn his/her attention back to you and away from whatever is making the horse nervous. If mounted, use your voice to let him/her know it's ok, and use rein to turn him/her to refocus attention to you.  

If you see something that may make your horse nervous, don't make a big deal out of it, as that may make the horse nervous instead of calming him/her.

Answer 12

ACE!!! at least 2 cc's of it  well thats if before your gonna ride him? but if your mounted on em take one rein and pull his/her head to your knee if you pullin his nose to your right knee then put your right heel in his flank and wear him out then when you stop him he should be a lil calm

Answer 13

When my horse gets nervous before a big show I will spend alot of time grooming him. This helps ease his mind and focus him. If he is still nervous and I'm not up to show for a while I will saddle him in my Grandpas roping saddle (its heavier than most saddles) and Ill leave him tied to the trailer with water. NO SWEET FEED! (sweet feed makes a horse really hot and nervous) if you need to give your horse grain I would highly suggest oats instead :) But letting your horse stand tied is the best way to calm him down. It gives him time to collect his thoughts and adapt to his surroundings. Ive had to work years at calming my horse (Smoke) because he gets so nervous before shows and when new horses are around him.

Hope this works for ya!

Answer 14

When a horse's poll is below its wither it is naturally calmer.  This is because when wild horses are calm they graze and can't look for threats.

There's an exercise that you can do while the horse has a bridle on.  While dismounted lift one of their reins upwards, towards their eye.  As soon as they pull down from the pressure release straight away.  Keep doing this until the horse will automatically lower it's head when you pull upwards.

Then you can mount the horse and try it at a halt, walk, trot and canter.  You should be able to canter around the arena with the horses head only inches away from the ground.  Some horses get to this stage in 10 mins, others take weeks.

It's also good to use this technique in dressage when you need to walk across the diagonal on a loose rein, in stock horse, or just showing off.  =]

When your horse is nervous try using this technique.  Hope you get everything sorted.

Answer 15

Is there anything in particular that makes this horse nervous?

How old is it?

How long have you had it?

Answer 16

If your horse is simply nervous in general, a daily vitamin B1 supplement may help a bit. I have recently started my horse on this and it seems to be helping.

If he/she spooks a lot, a good program of "bomb-proofing" will help, but you need to work at it regularly and not expect instant results - it will take time. In a nutshell, bomb-proofing is slowly exposing them to scary things like balloons, plastic bags, umbrellas, etc. so that they can accustom themselves to the new objects and come to realize that they are not going to jump out and eat them alive!

While you are riding, keep your eyes alert for potentially "scary" things and work your horse through them to divert their attention. For example, if there is something outside one side of the ring that is making my horse nervous, I might ask him to do a shoulder-in, or repeated circles, etc. as we pass whatever is making him nervous. This gets him to focus on my aids and what he should be doing, rather than the big scary thing outside the ring.  Sometimes even just giving a little extra inside rein and inside leg can divert his attention so he moves by it easily.