Why does my horse freak out?

[Briebomb241295]

Whenever I trailer my horse to a new place and when I bring her out of the trailer she gets super worked up, running over me, having her head stuck up really high, and really nervous, when she is usually a super relaxed, awesome horse. I do ground work with her a lot, which has made it better, but I was wondering why is it that the second we are in a new place she doesn't respect me anymore?

 

[alsea1]

teach her a calm down que.
If you teach her to lower her head it is calming for her.
Give that a try

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm puzzled.

You started off understanding that you are dealing with an animal that is nervous and anxious, and then jumped right off the tracks and tried to turn it into a respect issue. Why'd you do that?

Horses are herd-dwelling herbivores. For them, familiarity breeds contentment. At home, your horse knows every sight, sound, and smell. Even the trees and bushes are comfortable and familiar (well, maybe not so much when the wind blows). Outside of that environment, your horse is getting exposed to a barrage of unfamiliar stimuli, and she has no idea whether there is danger there or not. She ignored her instinctive fear of enclosed spaces to go into that trailer for you, and when she came out, it was like Dorothy walking out of the house in The Wizard of Oz - everything is different.

Imagine a small child in a totally unfamiliar place - a new school, maybe. They cling to what is familiar (Mommy's hand) until they get comfortable enough and gain enough confidence to start exploring the space on their own. Young horses have to be taught to move away from pressure, because they instinctively move into it and huddle together when feeling stressed. Your horse isn't disrespecting you, she's hugging you - instinctively clinging to the only familiar thing (you) in a totally unfamiliar space. Not desirable behavior, to be sure, because she could squash you doing that!

You need to be "the calm in the center of the storm" in a situation like this. If your horse sees you being calm and in control in the strange situation, it will help her to feel a bit more comfortable and confident. The ground work is good, it teaches her to listen to you. Alsea's "head down" cue is very useful, too - I use it when my minis start getting frazzled and unfocused. Ask her for "in control" behavior, and when she gives it to you, reward her. Don't get sucked into her drama - the last thing either of you need is for you to feed her negative energy with more of your own.

Stay safe, and good luck!

 

[Danica]

Honestly I have had a few friends with horses like that and the best thing to do is to do it more often get out as much as possible! The more you do something the more your horse will get more comfortable what I might try is bringing your horse toothed places but when you get your horse out tie them to your trailer and just make them stand once your horse has calmed down then start to do whatever you were planning on doing

 

[Benjii]

Does she get worked up in the float on the way to a new place? e.g pawing, neighing, rocking the float, becoming sweaty and foamy? or is it purely once off the float?

 

[HomesteaderWife]

This is just a quick post here, and I am not sure what other opinions on it are, but horses are naturally a "flight" animal. Strange and new things alert them, and make them very unsure of what is going on. They are used to being wary of everything, in case of a predator attack. As an example, what if someone you trusted very much just put you in a car, and without any communication or idea what was happening, you were then unloaded at an unfamiliar location. Would you not become nervous, and instantly start checking out your surroundings? You may be very afraid, or question why you were there. I feel like this is what your horse is doing.

Not sure if you have tried this, but possibly leave your horse in the trailer for a period of time to look out and smell the air, while still being secure in the trailer? I wouldn't walk away and just leave the horse in the trailer, but perhaps take the time to unload your vehicle or something like that in the vicinity of your trailer.

Here are some resource sites for some great trainers. Maybe you can find help there?

www.montyroberts.com
https://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/
http://www.parelli.com/

Just some quick thoughts. Hope it may help!