HOW TO HELP A NERVOUS HORSE
Coping with a nervous horse can feel like trying to parent an amped-up toddler crossed with a moody teen. You love them dearly---you truly do!---but some days you wonder why.
Whether it’s through epic spook-and-spins, a vehement refusal to stand for the farrier, or sitting back to break yet another set of cross ties, a “difficult” horse tests your patience and may make you worry for your safety and sanity.
Like a developing child, a horse doesn’t misbehave to irritate or defy you. In fact, it isn’t about you at all; it’s about him and his specific situation. Understanding that is the key to helping your horse keep his cool.
First and foremost, remember that horses don’t want to be bad---or good, for that matter---they just want to be safe and comfortable. It’s easy to see a particular behavior, such as refusal to stand still, shying or jigging, as a problem, but in most cases the horse is simply responding to his environment or experience.
One potential driver of seemingly anxious behavior is discomfort from ill-fitting tack, injury or illness. That means that any effort to deal with nervous behavior needs to start with a call to the veterinarian to schedule a thorough physical examination for the horse.
If your veterinarian rules out physical causes for your horse’s anxiety, you’ll need to consider whether his behavior is a manifestation of fear or
