A horse with excess adrenaline and cortisol isn’t easier to manage, it’s harder. People often find that the more they longe, the more they feed into this feedback loop. Because they’re training the horse’s neurology to go from 0-60 on the longe, then repeat it under saddle.
If you’re truly dealing with a volatile, reactive horse, the last thing you want to do is teach it that when it’s worried, you’re going to put it to work. Or that when it’s feeling playful, you’re going to make it do endless boring circles.
Look at what you’re feeding them – and what might be hurting
People often don’t realize how big an impact diet can have on how anxious a horse is. Non-structural carbohydrates, like the sugars and starches in some grains and that rich, green spring grass, cause a blood glucose spike that can actually make your horse hyped up. If your horse is on that kind of diet, you may not be training your horse so much as managing its chemistry set right before you ride.
Magnesium is another piece of that puzzle to consider. It’s crucial to nerve function and muscular health, and magnesium deficient horses kept on low-magnesium forage or fed processed grain mixes can have exaggerated reactions to their environment. They’re not going to get better if they’re deficient or borderline – and unlike some sedative-type products, magnesium supplements can be a game-changer without sabotaging their metabolism or performance. Horse calming supplements with magnesium and other nervine-supporting nutrients, then, can provide the necessary support to a nutritionally stressed horse.
Start with groundwork, not circles
Prepare your horse through several lateral groundwork exercises for 10 minutes, before you saddle up. Exercises that require your horse to think – yielding the hindquarters, backing up from light pressure, moving the shoulders over. These aren’t just warmup movements – they move your horse’s brain from reactive mode into responsive mode.
Cortisol drops when your horse focuses on reading your signals and responding. The herd-brain flips off. You’re making the mental connection before you ever swing a leg over – so that the horse wants to peer inside your head for the next set of instructions.
You’re also making it clear that you are the unchanging element. Horses don’t feel safe with an anxious leader – they need the same one, as much as possible. Your breathing, your posture, your pace during this ground work all communicates “easy, not worried.”
Rule out pain before labeling behavior
This is something to take into consideration. Gastric ulcers can cause significant problems for a horse and one of the predominant signs isn’t colic – it’s behavioral. Girthiness, resistance to being saddled, sensitivity around the flanks, and general reactivity under saddle are all classic signs.
A horse that has been “hot” or “difficult” may in fact have been suffering from an ulcer the entire time. More often than not, treating the ulcer will change the horse’s behavior more than any training program.
Saddle fit is the other implied physical variable. A saddle that pinches at the shoulder or bridges across the back creates constant discomfort that the horse has no means of expressing except by being resistant and reactive. Before you consider implementing a behavioral plan, rule out the physical ones.
Build a predictable pre-ride routine
Nervous horses have an easier time coping with the things they find unnerving when they know what’s coming next. A consistent tacking and mounting routine, done in the same order, at the same pace, in the same location, gives a worried horse a framework. Over time, that routine becomes a signal: this is what we do before work, and it’s safe.
Mounting block anxiety is a clear sign that your horse is dreading something. If your horse won’t stand still to be mounted, don’t stick them with it, go back to the groundwork. Ask for stillness there first, then bring that to the mounting block. Horses that have been carefully desensitized step by step to the whole tacking and mounting sequence show much less anxiety than horses who were just held in place until they gave up.
Your body is part of the equation
Horses are similar to humans in terms of physiology. Your horse can feel tight shoulders, shallow breathing, and a braced core even before you give any cue. Riders who are nervous about a ride often end up creating the negative outcome they fear because their horse can feel their tension.
Before you even mount, your horse can tell if you’re going to have a stiff and fearful ride. So, take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, and walk up to your horse with confidence rather than fear. This isn’t just to make you feel better – these are actual bio-mechanical cues that your horse can read.
High-strung horses are often not that way because of their “personality” but because of their environment. It could be pain, diet, tension, or just a lack of predictability. Remove or minimize these sources of anxiety and your horse will be much easier to ride.
