Horse show problems....?

Question

I have been showing for a while and my horse seems to get very agitated b/c she has to pee. I put her into the trailer, losen her girth, and then leave her alone so she wont be distracted by me. But for some reason she still doesnt want pee.

Advice?

Also, totally different question but i am having problems with my ponys turns at the canter. She is still a little green but she should defenatly b able to get her turns by now. Any sugesstions (and dont say put some outside leg and rein on her... or inside rein and inside leg or any combination of the two, i've already tried.)?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Answer 1

I have dealt with a few horses who had that same problem at shows.  Could be a number of reasons.  For one horse, he had to have clean shavings to pee on.  So we had to always wheel around a fresh bag at every show just for him.  Pain in the butt but it worked right away every time.  The others worked with a train whistle.  They train horses at the track to go with a whistle before races too so if you have an ex racer or one who trained that may work well.  We did have to put them in empty stalls so they were not distracted but once we blew on the whistle they went right away.  You can buy them a kids toy stores usually.  They are the square ones.  If you have tried putting her in the trailer a lot and it still is not working I would definitely do something else.  The trailer may be stressing her and she thinks she is going somewhere.  ???  I would try observing her and checking if she tends to pee after feedings or certain behaviors.  Then when you pick up on her normal habits you can try to duplicate them at the shows.

For the pony, I would work on circles and bending, serpentine and shoulder in and out and lots of basics.  She may just have a harder side, which is not uncommon.  If this is a new problem that just started occurring there may be an injury and she is compensating for the pain by protecting it, thus not wanting to turn.  If this is something she has always done then go back to the basics.  Use an open rein which is softer on the mouth.  Dont drill her on turning one way over and over.  You dont want to "fry her brain" by drilling one thing.  You dont want her to hate doing anything.  Work her good side first then make sure you reward her.  Petting her on the shoulder to let her know she did what you wanted.  I avoid treats because then they are expected and you may start to sour your horse if you start with treats then stop.  The moment she does turn end on that.  Do that for a few days and then start asking her for more turns.  But just keep at it.  Yeah there are the textbook way of asking a horse to do something but some horses just have their quirks and they like things done differently.  If you have tried training aids and exercises and everything you can think of you sould consider having a trainer help you.  One who has experiance with young horses.

Answer 2

You could cllicker or whistle train her to pee.  Start at home.  Most horses have a ritual.  Figure it out and start clicker or whistle and reward her when she goes.  With some food that is super special.  It shouldn't take too long.  We had all our halter horses whistle trained because in the 80's there was a lot of drug testing.  The drug testers would follow you back to the barn after a class, and all we had to do was whistle, and poof! there's your  sample. would work in your case too.  good luck

Answer 3

Is there a specific reason you put her into the trailer to pee? I would tie her to the trailer, not put her in it.  There could be another reason why she gets agitated, though.

For the turning, make sure your aids are correct (inside leg on the girth, outside leg behind the girth, slight pressure from the inside rein, contact with the outside rein).  Try riding patterns(figure eights, a serpentine, etc).  You didn't mention specifically what her problem is, so I'll just blindly offer suggestions.  If it's lack of bend or not wanting to turn you could use an opening rein.  If she's falling in you could put a dressage whip or crop/bat in your inside hand.  If she's drifting out or not want to turn you could put a dressage whip or crop/bat in your outside hand.  If your leg position and aids are really good you could use spurs instead.  A running martingale may also prove useful as a last resort.