Okay so I have a 6 year old AQHA mare, that I had gotten when she was five years old. This year (2018) she'll be 7 in April. When I got her and took her to the show, we had my instructors old student school her and take her into the green/hopeful Walk-Trot-Canter hunter classes. She seemed to pretty well even with horses going up her rear or right next to her. I've ridden her in the Walk-trot classes and she's behaved wonderfully. Heck even a horse acted up in the ring and she was fine. She's been taught to do Western and English along with showmanship. She does pretty well with the trail obstacles at a show we go to as well.
Recently (near the end of 2017), something has changed. She now seems to hate being in the W-T-C classes the girl takes her in. (Same place, same show, same exact ring and jumps. Flat class though).
Now mind you, the girl who rides her rides extremely well, doesn't hang onto the horses mouth, treats the horse she's on with utmost respect and does whatever she can to keep my girl separated from the other horses and even sings to her when she feels its a must. She's 98% able to tell when my horse's mood changes so she can stop her from acting out ahead of time.
She's started spooking away from the horses or if she's crowded, she starts trying to buck (especially if another horse is right up her butt). Unfortunately at this show, the last time my girl was shown by her, this other girls trainer told that girl to ride up everyone's rear end. Em's got crowded and it basically turned into a rodeo until the horses around her were no longer crowding her. If they come on either side of her, she gets up and tries to avoid being so close to another horse.
We have no idea why she's all of a sudden having a total melt down in the ring with them. The girl tries her hardest to keep Em's under control and going even with such behavior but it has started happening recently. Now in the walk-trot classes I go in with her in the English show, she gets antsy when someone comes up her butt. So far she hasn't tried bucking or jumping out of the way with me (knock on wood) but you can tell it bothers her.
You see we can usually tell what is bothering her. She doesn't like jumpers (no offense), she dislikes the sound of the horses landing but the jumper ring isn't right against the arena we are and no one jumps in the flat. One time she noticed the dressage ring far off in the trees and saw the horses so now she's a little iffy about the back rail but she usually can be refocused.
Before her "meltdown" at the English show, she has only ever spooked with me (knock on wood) while I've shown western. The first time, she spooked because a box fell over with ribbons but she kept going, nothing major. The second time was at a Morgan show. Got first in western pleasure and equitation (Walk-trot) and the judge did not see her spook when my mom spun around beside the rail trying to video the area and quickly get back to video-ing me. (All of the horses spooked at some point anyway in that class and it was a tiny arena). She had small little tiny spooks after each class.
I can give you all the factors to the majority of her spooking's. The Morgan show. My mom spinning, startled her. Beside the arena was a past with a horse going crazy in it. People clapping. Tiny arena.
Now when my instructors daughter showed her in the English class at the Morgan place, there were A LOT of Morgan's in that class with her in that tiny arena in a walk-trot-canter class and she did not flip out even with all those horses surrounding her. She took care of the young girl on her back.
At the show where the ribbons fell, she was doing absolutely fine even when a horse was right up her butt at a jog (she wasn't crowded by a ton of horses but a horse was still right up her rear) and she kept going with a little leg and thankfully they called for a circle.
I've learned a lot about this mare but there's one thing I do not know and the only suggestion given by my instructor makes me uneasy with trying. Have someone canter/trot behind her and beside her over and over until she gets over it. It may work for some horses and I'm not sure if it may not work on others. Not sure how Em's would feel about it.
If there's any other way I'd love to try it as long as its not overly dangerous but if my instructors suggestion is the only good way to get her use to it. I'll have to try and find people willing to help out and obviously a safe area to ride them around in.
I would want someone with more riding experience with these situations to handle getting her use to it but I do not know that many people willing to with an open schedule and do not know anyone who'd be willing to help out with their horses.
My next show is a western show which is coming up pretty soon so I'm hoping if she gets crowded or a horse comes up behind her she won't be as angry in a western jog with them even though I'm more in my element in western than in English. There will be an English show a while after the western show. I want to help her get over/use to it so she doesn't stress. I want her to realize whoever's riding her, isn't going to let any of those horses do any harm to her. I wouldn't. My instructors daughter wouldn't and the girl who schools her wouldn't. We understand with their natural instinct, horses would act like Em's if horses crowded/came right up but to show people it doesn't matter.
I do shows for fun and I do not care for going in high level shows.
My plans for this mare is just to show in open/local shows (Western/English hunter/pleasure and equitation along with wanting to do trail obstacles with her) and hopefully one day do some more actual trail riding.
Em's I would describe as both cautious and curious. She tries to figure out what something is that's making her antsy and she does get moody like any mare but she's in my opinion a really sweet horse who tries her hardest. She's young and can act it too at times.
