How do I train my stressed standardbred?
Hi! I think you are already onto part of the answer yourself. 🙂 Two things are worth bearing in mind. First, as you say, he has just changed environment, so everything is new: people, field mates, surroundings, routines, the lot. Second, he has also had to switch "system", meaning you probably do not do things exactly the way his previous owner did. All of this stresses the horse, and we need to manage it. You do not say how long he has been a riding horse or how he was backed. Did he race, and how did he go as a racehorse? Knowing a bit more about his background will help you find a way to help him.
What you need to do, and what you are already onto, is find relaxation. If that does not work with a rider on board, start from the ground. Find situations where he walks calmly and begin there, making it a routine and a habit before you put a rider back on. Once he can stand still and walk calmly with a rider up, you can start teaching, or re-teaching, the aids. A stressed horse finds it hard to learn. Begin with the basics, such as what the rein means, and remember that horses learn over time through repetition. Always start with your weight aid so that the rein stays secondary. Re-teaching a behaviour takes far longer than teaching it from scratch, so give it plenty of time and patience.
The one thing I strongly recommend is teaching control on one rein. Rein contact is most likely what triggers him to run.
Control on one rein is an excellent tool to teach. Its extreme form, the emergency brake, is what people call the one rein stop, but if you teach it properly you will never need it as an emergency stop. Control on one rein is about taking control of the legs through bend.
Teach your horse these steps:
1️⃣ Bending the neck while the horse stands still. This can be especially hard for a standardbred but it is very good for body awareness. Start from the ground, ideally with a rope and rope headcollar. Work to the influence and release principle: apply a light sideways pressure on the headcollar, and the moment the horse softens and starts to bend the neck, give the release. Only work as fast as the horse allows without becoming stressed. Once the horse bends the neck off a light aid (no more than 90 degrees), you can do the same from the saddle, provided you have found calm in walk or halt. Bend the neck with one rein, keeping the other completely loose so the horse does not feel claustrophobic. Remember to take the rein well out from the neck first, then bring your hand in front of your stomach. If the horse moves off as you bend, keep the bend until it stops, then release. This is one of the keys to teaching the tool successfully.
2️⃣ Once bending the neck works from the saddle in halt, offer the horse a walk on a long, loose rein so it can stretch its neck forward. To stop, take a rein aid, softly bend the neck, and let the legs follow onto a circle until the horse halts, then release. Repeat many times over many days, on both reins.
3️⃣ Once it works in walk, repeat the same in trot. Keep the rein loose and use only one rein for control.
This is a very good tool that I teach all my horses. It does not just give me control of the speed, it also gives good contact and communication, because the horse stays tuned in to what I want while still being free. We work together nicely.
Do come back with more background and some videos 🙂
