A little trick for calming an excited horse.

We have all been there, you are out at the barn ready to load your horse on the trailer or go for a ride and your horse is wired for sound. They could be fired up for any sort of reason but all you know is your horse is prancing, head held high, jumpy and showing the whites of his eyes. It is obvious your horse is nervous or scared so how do you calm him down so you can handle him in a safe calm manner. I have a trick I use to help settle a nervous horse. I am not sure where I picked this trick up; it may have been from another horseman, an article I read or the internet. I don't really know the science or magic behind this technique, (I think it works on pressure points and endorphin release) but I do know it has worked for me.

Let me explain; the first thing I do is keep calm, it is impossible to settle an animal when you are stressed so I take a couple of deep breathes and relax. When I feel the tension leave I talk to my horse in a calm cool manner in a soothing soft voice.

Once I can approach the horse I start by scratching and petting around the withers. Hopefully the horse will stand still and lower his head enough so I can rub him between the eyes. Once I have rubbed and petted on his head him I apply a little pressure to the indentations above the horse’s eyes. I use my pinkie and my thumb (like the hang loose symbol) and apply light steady pressure to this area.

At first your horse may not know what to expect and start to move around and try to raise his head, stay with it. In a very short time the horses head will begin to drop and his eye lids will grow very heavy. After 30 seconds to a minute of this the horse will become very calm and relaxed, some become so relaxed that they try to lie down and almost fall asleep. I believe this is a good practice to get into before every ride, particularly for those of you who are mounting a nervous high strung horse. What I like about this trick is it performs three purposes, one it can help settle the horse and two it forces you to calm yourself down before mounting and three helps to build the bond between you and your horse. Keep this up for a few weeks and in no time your horse will learn to look forward to it. I can hear the sceptics already and I know it sounds crazy and a little flakey but it works for me.