ottb help

Question
I took my ottb to his first show. We have been training for about 8 months and he has been coming along great! he is a happy horse and loves his job. We have been bending trotting and a little canter work. He knows the basics. He is usually a very calm and very happy fellow. I love him to death. I took him to a 4-H show with no intention of showing him. I just wanted to go and see how he would react and get him used to his new job without making him compete the first time. When we arrived he seemed fine enough. No calling to other horses or bolting or anything. Just placidly looking about at the going-ons. So i took him to the practice ring early before the heat or chaos set in. We lounged and he was fine. Head down and rounded. Calm as usual. I'm thinking "great!" So i tacked him up feeling pretty good. Walked him around with the saddle on to make sure everything fit fine (I wasn't using any tack different from what i usually use). I had someone to hold him when i got on. as I swung my leg over he suddenly bolted forward for a few strides then resumed a walk. Head carriage was WAY up. Like I said, nothing was different from tack, where we worked earlier. there was 1 other horses inn the ring with us too so he wasn't just insecure of being alone. So i tried to work him with the same lessons i used at home. Trotting circles, figure eights. Just the same drills. He started to calm down, lower his head. After we trotted for a while i gave him a breather and asked him to stand. He stood for maybe 30 seconds then freaked out. He dropped his head flew back spun ran for a few strides then quietly came back down and was fine. he did this every time i would try to stop him. He just seemed to forget how to move forward slowly. i ended up dismounting from a walk and working him on a lounge line and letting him stand. he was fine then. He doesn't do this at home in the ring. He sometimes gets a little fussy on the trail if we have top stop but he is never That bad. I don't know how to correct this or what to do when he does it. I try to remain calm but its scary when you know you cant stop and stand. I don't know what to do. Like i said, he is a over reactive type of horse. I love him to death but i cant stand to scared like this. I want to show(though its not a necessity) and i think his foundation is good i just don't know what he is reacting to!

Answer
Hello Allie,
It sounds like you have done a great job with your horse so far, I can only read one thing that you have not done yet. I feel it is one of the biggest breakthroughs for riders when they learn to really GO! Your horse sounds great but you have noticed on trail rides he wont stand still, new place means more energy and that means more not standing still. If a horse, as a prey animal, is told to hold still all his nature made mind can think of is how to keep moving ("Don't stop and get eaten!). I would work at home in the arena you know and see what it takes to get him to ask YOU if he can hold still. If you are uncomfortable at a canter you can keep him at a trot, once you are done with your warm up get him on the wall and just start going around and around the arena at a trot...think of yourself as a scientist and this is your experiment....how long until he does not want to go any more? Will it be 30 mins? 55 mins? Maybe in 2 hours? Give yourself an afternoon when you have all the time in the world and work on this. Once you can feel that you are having to remind him to keep going and when you sit back and relax your body like you were tired of going he would feel you and say "THANK GOODNESS", stop his feet and get the break he deserves then you are done. DON'T WALK HIM OUT! Let him stand in that spot until he gets his breath back to normal, this may take 30 mins or more but you won't care because you have all afternoon- just remember you want the release for him to be STOP not walk. If as he is catching his breath he starts to move his feet say "good idea!" and get him right back on the wall trotting for several more laps. Then you offer to stop again. Repeat this until he gets the idea in his head that if you OFFER a stop and he does not take you up on it then he has to work a whole lot harder and wait for you to offer it again ( sometimes the offer wont come for 20 more minutes!). I hope you see the objective here, you want him to realize you LOVE to go, and that he should be really happy when you just want to hang out and stop, stopping is a lot easier.
Try this out and let me know how it goes,
Caitlin Day Huntress