Trying To Calm Your Horses

No matter what the cause or expression of your horse’s anxiety, all riders need to accept that all horses will be afraid of something periodically.

It’s the nature of a prey animal to always be “on the lookout,” and it’s a behavior we must accept.

So to calm your horses, you will find that there is no single “quick fix” for overcoming fear.

It takes time and patience, and you must be willing to accept that it will take some time before your horse will be completely comfortable with what he fears.

Some Keys To Look For
The key to helping a fearful horse is understanding his or her triggers.  Once you know them, you can avoid them if possible, or minimize the impact of those triggers if not.

For example, there are products available that help mask the scent of another animal by spraying it on yourself or your clothing when around other animals (like deer).

You Could Try Desensitizing
Additionally, there are many techniques that can help reduce a horse’s anxiety levels – the most common being desensitization.

Through systematic desensitization and counter-conditioning using operant conditioning principles (e.g., clicker training).

You may also want to consider consulting with an equine professional, who specializes in treating horses with anxiety issues; these professionals often have specialized knowledge about how certain breeds.

While we can’t eliminate fear altogether, we can help our horses understand that things aren’t so scary after all.

By teaching them what they need to know about their environment and surroundings, we can reduce their anxiety level and improve the overall quality of life for both horse and rider alike.

How To Calm Down a Hot Horse

When a horse is in the middle of an episode, it can seem like there’s nothing you can do to help.

If your horse is leaning back and resisting the rider’s leg, it can be a challenge to get him to straighten up.

One of the most common reasons for resistance in the saddle is tension in the horse’s neck and back muscles.

That tension causes his head, neck, and shoulders to tighten up so that he feels like he just can’t drop them down.

Relax Your Horses Neck

Often this happens when you ask your horse to bend around a corner or over an obstacle on-trail ride.

Relaxing your horse’s neck will help him release some of that tightness which may make bending easier for both of you!

“It’s important for people to realize that horses are not out of control when they have these episodes,” says Dr. Courtney Plummer.

Dr. Plummer is a DVM at Large Animal Clinic and Hospital in Tustin, Calif., who specializes in equine internal medicine with clients throughout Southern California.

He continues, “They are actually very well-behaved during their episodes; they just don’t know how to get themselves out of them.”

He goes on to say, “The only way we will ever be able to find a solution is if owners take the time to learn about what causes these reactions so we can start treating them effectively before they happen again.”

Well said Doctor, what issues create the most problems for you when riding your horse?

How To Calm a Horse While Riding

When a horse becomes nervous, the rider must remain calm. In most cases, this is not easy to do because you are in the midst of an unfamiliar situation and your own anxiety will begin to rise.

• The first thing that you should do is take a deep breath and try to relax as much as possible.
• Then give your horse time to acclimate itself with its surroundings before attempting anything else.

Do not attempt anything sudden or dramatic; instead, make gradual movements such as turning around or changing direction slowly, so that the animal can adjust accordingly without feeling threatened by what it does not understand at first glance.

If all goes well, the horse will eventually become accustomed to its environment and return to normalcy once more.

But if things start going downhill again then immediately turn around and leave whatever place or situation made it uneasy in the first place until things settle down for both of you again.

You Can Try Horse Calming Supplements

So you see, horses are not naturally calm animals. They were bred for strength and speed, which means that they can be quite skittish when faced with new situations.

If you have a horse that is particularly nervous or prone to spooking at the slightest provocation, it may be time to invest in calming supplements for horses.

What Are Horse Calm Supplements About

These products can help keep your animal relaxed and happy. You will find this works even in the midst of unfamiliar surroundings or stressful events.

These events could include things such as being ridden by an inexperienced rider or performing at an event with lots of noise from cheering crowds.

There are many different types of calming supplements available on the market today; however, one of the most effective is CalmEze Calming Supplement For Horses by Equi-Zymes LLC .

Another product that we could recommend to the horse owner is Equinety Horse Products.

We could also recommend Equi+ Calm Pellets you may check them out here

This supplement  (Equi+Calm Pellets) helps horses manage anxiety and maintain a calmer, more confident demeanor.

Equi+Calm Pellets also help reduce adrenaline and protect the stomach against the effects of stress.

They are palatable, using a maple praline-flavored formula. This formula does not contain ingredients listed on the USEF or AQHA prohibited substance lists.

This makes this product a suitable choice for combatting your horse’s nerves at competition events. This could be a great plus for you, the horse owner.

It really doesn’t get more natural than this!

Consider Horseback Riding Lessons For Kids As a Fun Activity

Today’s kids spend far too much of their time indoors in front of computers and TVs. This tends to cause many modern parents to be at their wits’ end when it comes to finding ways to entice them to play outside.

So readers who can relate to this problem might have to get a bit inventive. Have you ever considered horseback riding lessons for your kids as an alternative to this problem.

Maybe your kids would enjoy getting outdoors and learning how to ride horseback.

Instead of just encouraging them to engage in more unstructured outdoor play, try signing them up for horseback riding lessons for kids.

You can find out now how to get started below

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How Young is Too Young?

There’s really no consistent, industry-wide answer to this question. Some instructors begin offering horse riding lessons for kids as young as seven years of age, or even younger. Others believe that it’s best to wait until their students are more physically mature.

Kids of just about any age can at least enjoy a pony ride and many younger children are plenty mature enough to grasp basic skills. Ultimately, it’s up to parents to make the call on when to get their children started with riding lessons.

Another consideration as a parent would be to ask the trainer, what their opinion is of your child and their response to a horse.

The person with the most experience, in this case, is the horse trainer. They should allow your son or your daughter a quick ride with the trainer walking the horse.

This will help the trainer to give you the best advice as you should not only consider the age but how that child responds to actually riding a real horse.

Required Equipment

I need to talk about one thing right now. Let’s get to it. Horseback riding does require somewhat of an investment.

Parents will need to pay for lessons and, more often than not, they’ll have to supply their children with proper clothes, boots, and an approved safety riding helmet.

Although it’s perfectly acceptable to get started learning about horseback riding for kids in used clothing, helmets should always be purchased new.

Make sure to bring the child to the store to be fitted for a helmet so that it will fit properly.

In fact I wrote an informational post that may help you out with this. You can go here to read, Buy Only a Riding Helmet Certified By ASTM

Benefits of Riding Lessons

There are many benefits of horse riding for kids, even before they’ve really gotten the hang of it. It gets them out of the house and encourages them to be more physically active.

It cultivates character and teaches them important life skills. Once kids have learned the ropes, it can also offer a great confidence boost.

Some of the lesser-known benefits of riding lessons may come as a surprise to parents. For instance, one study performed by the Tokyo University of Agriculture showed that students who took horseback riding lessons perform better in school thanks to increased cognitive ability.

Plus, it offers good, wholesome fun and that, in itself, is a good reason to enroll kids in riding lessons.

Getting Started

Even parents who are avid riders sometimes find themselves at a loss when it comes to actually teaching their children how to ride.

That’s why the majority of them enroll their kids in official riding lessons.

If you are a parent who knows your way around a horse, you can definitely help your child get to know what is necessary for them to be successful with a horse.

They can offer their children the following horse riding tips for beginners before they head off to their first lessons.

Mounting and Dismounting

The process of mounting a horse requires some pretty specific foot and hand motions and children who are still too short to reach a saddle’s stirrups will be physically unable to mount by themselves.

Make sure to help the child retain his or her balance when he or she tries mounting for the first time and offer reminders of which foot and hand to use where.

Learning proper dismounting habits is just as important as knowing how to mount a horse appropriately. Kids who are tall enough to mount a horse for themselves should be tall enough to learn how to dismount, as well.

Offer plenty of support, but don’t just lift them down.

How to Tell if a Child is Ready to Ride

Parents who have helped their children learn how to mount and dismount or those who have observed while a trained instructor did so should have an idea of whether their kids are really ready to get started riding.

Is Your Child Balanced It Will Make a Large Difference

Pay attention to how well-balanced the child is and whether he or she has had the attention span to learn the basics before allowing them to proceed with lessons.

Horseback riding can be perfectly safe for mature children, even at a young age, but they have to be able to really get the basics down before they start horseback riding lessons for kids in earnest.

Read More About Horseback Riding Lessons-View Related Posts Below

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