Ribbon / sash training

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Cherie97

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Joined
Mar 22, 2015
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Location
NSW, Australia
I have a bit of a weird question but here goes, does anyone have any tips or tricks to get a horse to stand still when being given a ribbon or sash in the ring? I have tried just about everything I can think of with my boy but nothing has worked. He is totally fine at home when we have practised with him, I have had multiple people come up to him at home and place a ribbon around his neck like what is done at a show and he is fine, doesn't even flinch or move a muscle. I have had some friends who are strangers to him, come up to him at a show and do the same and he is fine but as soon as he steps into the ring and the judge comes towards him with a ribbon, he literally flips himself inside out. It is sometimes quite awkward and embarrassing when he does it because I have had some judges go to the competitor next to me and say comments like "some people just need to teach their horses some ground rules before coming to a show" when I have. I know it seems like a bit of a silly question but I have never had a horse play up this much over a ribbon and I am out of ideas!

Any help would be greatly appreciated
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When you practice did you try changing the people outfits? Put on a suit and big hat? Try to mimick what the judge or ribbon holder would be wearing. Also gender may play a factor.

I had a halflinger cross mare that was afraid of men of specific race. She would pick them out of a croud. But if I walked up to them first she was fine.
 
My Arab gelding used to panic when getting pinned...really embarrassing. We practiced at home and he was fine but at a show he'd panic. We tried hanging a bunch in his stall with him to get him comfortable with them (worked to acclimate him with clippers and tarps). I had men and women approach him with ribbons and sashes even wave them around like some runners do at shows, to no avail...then one day while looking at show photos, I noticed a glean in one of the pics shining off the ribbon. The camera flash captured it right. Inside an indoor under fluorescent lights, the shiny ribbons were catching his eye. I trucked him to a friends indoor, came at him with a long ribbon and he balked, just as he did at shows. We continued practicing and rewarding with treats until he accepted the ribbon. At our next show he did much better, he started but did not spook at his ribbon.
 
Thanks guys, I have tried him with someone wearing a judges outfit and he is fine at home, we went to an out door show a few weeks back (my profile pic is from this) and he did the same thing, we noticed when she went to put it on him she had sun glasses and a hat on which might make him freak but when he got out of the ring I found someone with a hat and sunglasses to put it on him but he was fine. The Judge told me if I wanted, to bring someone into the ring that he knew to sash him so I could get a photo so I got my sister to come and do it who he knows very well and he still played up. I got her to put on the Same clothes she had on when she did it, a few weeks after the show, when we were home, it was a windy day so the sash was flapping about and he stood there perfectly still the whole time. He is turning two this year so he is still a baby but he has been shown since 4 months old and was perfectly fine with ribbons and such up until last year where all of a sudden he just started playing up.
 
Honestly, take him to the cheapest backyard show you can find and train him in the ring. Get right after him for that nonsense - if you blow a class oh well, not losing national points.
 
I know for me my adrenalin level inside the ring and outside the ring are on opposite ends of the scale. Add awards to that and it goes even higher. You may be telegraphing more emotion than you think in the ring especially if you are anticipating a problem.
 
Yeah, I took him to our local ag show a few months ago and he didn't act up as much, I thought it could have been as I wasn't as stressed or nervous because it was just a show for practice. We actually have our national show next week and it is in an indoor arena so we will see how that goes. I have a few people showing him including myself so I will see how he acts with different people. In the mean time I will just keep trying him at home and hope for the best

Thank you everyone for your input
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I agree with Barefoot and the more it happens the more likely it will happen , try humming a song at home while sashing him and then give him a treat , then when hes about to be sashed at a show hum the same song ,it may be enough to distract both of you until you get over this blip, you could also ask someone else to hold him while you put the sash on
 

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