okay... well, my horse Kalypso, who is usually calm (he is a Quarter Horse/Arabian-Paint Mix- he is a 4th arabian, so this has nothing to do with his breed!). okay so just so you guys know, its about 30 degrees here in Dallas,TX!! so my horse just wont calm, well...i should not say WONT CALM, maybe l can use ''he just wont 'chill' he is a bit exuberant!''-

does anyone know something that will calm him down!??
i need help, he is so perfect in summer,spring,and fall! but in winter or anything around 30 degrees he gets a bit full of himself!

oh and by the way, l need advise to calm him down! ANYTHING BESIDES LUNGING! does not work for him, on his extra cold days!
-if anyone has ever herd of the whole : Right Brain, Left Brain thing... well right brain is instinct, and left is when they use their minds, you know...THEY THINK!, well when you lunge a horse, he does not need to use his left brain!! When l first herd this when l was asking Pat Parelli he said,'' Think about it Alex, when you use a lunge wip and even when you make you horse turn and use the lunge wip to encourage him, he is thinking INSTINCTIVELY!!! UGH OH l DON'T WANT THAT WIP TOUCHING MY HIND QUARTERS THE WIP IS LIKE A PREDATOR, HE'S USING HIS RIGHT BRAIN AS INSTINCT TO STAY AWAY FROM THE WIP!

so anyways, lunging sometimes helps me , but its 50/50 so l need more!!!

thanks guys :DD
he eat is hay 2 twice a day and gets grain or sweet- feed, i'm not sure
(i board, l will have to ask!)

i only ride him (during the winter ) about 3 times a week for about 30 minutes n week days and on saturday about an hour.

he is a train/western and english pleasure. l do not compete and i'm only 14 and l just ride him for fun because l love him, l wont be doing anything Show related for a while (i've only had him for a year!)
oh and he is 7 and he is gonna be 8 on April 5th
well l dont really just like devote my horsemanship to pat parelli , l like them all, l take stuff l like from them and create my own style , after all, they are not the one riding my KALYPSO are they??
ohh and l do ride, l recently had a pretty horific fall and am still getting my confidence in the saddle, but its kinda hard having to gain comfidence with a Exuberate horse under you, ya know!
he is turned out about 3 hours every day after the mares in the afternoon:)

Whew. After reading that post, l suspect it may be ur energy rubbing off on him. Be calm & he will be, too.


What r u feeding him?

What is his work load?

What is ur discipline?

How old is he?


Details please.


ADD- Well, he is still relatively young, u do not ride him all that much & he may or may not be eating an unknown amount sweet feed.

Does he get alfalfa or grass hay?

He probably just feels good, & shows it by being exuberant.

Are u concerned because he acts crazy under saddle, in hand or in the field? If it is the latter, l wouldn' t worry about it too much. He probably just feels like playing. As long as he is not going to slip on the ice, he should be fine. If it is one of the first two, the answer is to lower his grain intake & exercise/handle him more often.

EDIT- actually, chillax is almost a slang contraction for 'chill' & 'relax'. l will use it in a sentence- What r u doing? Oh, l am just chillaxin'. :) And, boom, we're all UTD on mid-06 slang terms.

Do not lunge your horse to calm them down. It will warm him up, get him excited, and make him more physically fit. l would consider a change of feed. If he is on sweet feed, put him on pellets. Some type of supplement might work too. Ask your vet about that.

well somethings just cant keep calm when it is so cold.

so maybe see if you can get hi a blanket or something to keep him a little warmer..


maybe he is a little hyper.. try taking him out for a run.


thats all l can think of.. if he isnt hurting himself or anyone else l would just let him be..

if you get to worried call a vet

l have a hot horse too.

l would look at his feed - is he eating more due to the cold and therefore getting more 'energy'

Why do not you try lunging a different way. My TB could lunge for hours before she gets tired, so l get her focusing on me and doing flexing and transitions so she starts concentrating and she calms right down.

My instincts keep my hip FAR from Parelli! He is a predator that is AFTER MY WALLET!!

Be glad ur horse feels good on chilly days. It is normal. Get ON & ride him.that is the best way.

Chill lax?? What?? Is that like mentholated metamucil???

**edit.You're right.it is hard to get confidence back when u have an energetic horse. Can u get someone else to ride him first? To take the edge off so u have a calm horse to get on?

**sigh.subtleness & puns r a dying art**

A horse is comfort temperature is much lower that humans. They r big animals with hair unlike people.well most people. He is just feeling good.
Horses r left handed or right handed not left brained or right brained.they r not people they r animals.

And what is chill-lax is that anything like ex-lax? Is it better than ex-lax? Cuz if it is then where do l get it? Just in case l need to loosen a bowl movement.

Edit- Also horses r aged by they year not the month & day like people are. So ur horse is already 8. Even if ur horse is born on Dec 31, the next day the horse is a year old. That is one of my pet peeves, horses r not aged by day/month they r aged by year only.

And l do not much care for using sedation drugs on a horse that is feeling good. l know it is boring, but just more work & riding, & if ur still working on ur confidence see if some one else will help u ride him down & get the ''bucks'' out.
And chill-lax still sounds like a laxitive to me.

even though you said that lunging only works 50 percent of the time, you should lunge him until he just gives into you. if you normally lunge him 20 minutes at a walk, trot and canter, try lunging him for 35 minutes 15 minutes of it canter alone, that should wear him out a bit and be ready for whatever it is you want him to do.. horses always get full of themselves, especially in spring for some reason, my barn is always buzzing like a bee hive lol. Good Luck!

l understand what you're going through!! l have a horse that hyped up right after we bought her (I've known the horse all her life so l knew it was not normal for her to be that excited). My farrier suggested that l change feeds. Her recommended alfalfa pellets and oats. No sweet feed. It has too much protein and the corn gives them more energy. Worked for her! Good luck!!

Try doing some exercises that will get him listening to you. Lots of transitions, circles, serpentines, & cavaletti (if u have them.) Lungeing will be good for burning some of the excess energy off, but will not solve the problem. Do lots of bending with him, too. If ur horse is on sweet feed, l would look at switching him off of it. Sweet feed can really ''hot'' a horse. Just remember, as he ages & gets more training under his belt he will calm down. The best things u can do r exercises that make him listen to you. l do not believe Parelli is right when they say lunging does nothing for calming a horse. When l was training my horse & he would misbehave (and l mean buck after buck,) l would get off & lunge him & get his focus back on me. It worked every time. Make sure u r relaxed when u r riding. If u r tense it will make him tense, too.

Does Kalypso get turnout time? if he is kept in a stall all week until u ride him, then it is definitely pent up energy! If he doesnt currently get turnout time, it would definitely be something u would want to look into. You could have someone else warm him up for u if u r worried, & then ride him yourself. If he is just full of energy, medium-quick trotting is the most work for ur horse, so that should get some energy out. If he is being disrespectful though, u may want to consider retraining.

Also, for everyone that doesnt understand Chill-lax, it is basically slang for chill out!

Well, l guess that is still slang. It all means calm down!

yes lunging sucks

horses naturally feel good in cold weather


if none of the things mentioned above are helpful try getting some kool blue. its a calmer and all it does is take the edge off, it works great.