Sometimes a horse feels so excitable or tense that trying to contain all thatenergy beneathyou triggers anattack of nerves or sense of unease. Im talking aboutthe kind of fresh horse where youre reluctant to put your leg on as you fear their reaction. It feels as though all that tension andexcitability could spill out at any second.And it might not be at a competition perhaps youre preparing for a lesson on a cold, windy day or youre back on board after a break.Will you beable to sit the bucks, leaps and spooks? Will the horse ever settle, listenand knuckle down to work?Its an unnerving situation, but one inwhich many riders find themselves:trying to warm up a horse who feels toofresh to walk but too sharp to apply anyleg contact. Its a vicious circle and ithappens to the top riders too. Yes, really.Youcant put any pressure on tensionWhen superstar event rider Oliver Townend rides into the mainarena at Your Horse Live for a jointdemo with legendary showjumper GeoffBillington, hes sitting on Cartoon for the very first time. The young stallion, who showjumps withGeoffs wife Sarah, is clearly tense as he spooks hisway around the arena. The audience istotally silent, so obvious is it that thishorse is on the brink of boiling over.All Im working on to start with istrying to get him relaxed. Wherever I goand whatever I do, I keep riding the trotrhythm and sitting in the middle of thesaddle, says Oliver. Its basic things; youcant put any pressure on tension, so allIm doing is trotting around, letting himhave a really good look at the arena.We can hear Oliver quietly talking toand reassuring the tense horse as they work.Using his voice gives the horse somethingto focus on and listen to, rather thanthe sights and sounds of his newsurroundings, and gives him confidence.You cant rush a fresh horseNine minutes into the session, Oliver picksup canter.Ive come a little bit lighter in the seatnow. When youve got a horse thats freshor possibly not been worked for a day ortwo, when you go into canter just lighten the seat to start with, he advises.All Im trying to do is get the horse breathing; get him to the point where hethinks this is turning into a bit of work.Keep it nice and relaxed. You cant rusha fresh horse; you need to ride them likeyou have all day long, even if you havent.Oliver rides a transition back to trot.Even when varying the pace up anddown, maintaining a regular rhythm isimportant and if your horse isnt thereyet, keep working towards it.As I land in the trot Im straight backinto a nice steady rhythm, he explains.Hes quietly starting to relax inthe trot and his mind iscoming back to me.If a tense horse like thistrips or makes a mistake, you dont getanywhere by trying to correct that. Justkeep riding the same good basic things:rhythm and balance. I stay in rising trotfor as long as possible too.Keep quietly riding a tense horseOliver steers the stallion over some trotpoles. Cartoon is still clearly on edge, buthe is beginning to look more rideable andas though he is listening to his rider.They do lots of transitions as theynavigate the arena to help consolidate thehorses focus and channel his energy.Im going to do a few walk-to-canters,walk-to-trot lots of transitions. Againits all little exercises getting the horse togive me his brain, says Oliver. I want toget to the point where Im going aroundwaiting for him to think, What is he goingto do next?, rather than him wonderingwhat hes going to spook at next.Oliver can feel that Cartoon is beginningto relax beneath him: it is evident to thosewatching too.When I opened my fingers he straightaway wanted to stretch his neck and back,and thats a really good sign, says Oliver.Im just going to keep quietly riding allthe same things into him all the time.Suspension from the elbowsCartoon is inconsistent inthe contact, due to tension,but Oliver states that nowis not the time to makeany major changes inhis riding.He is messing around inthe mouth a little bit; heson and off the contact, hesays, but all I do is keep asteady elastic contact, sothat when the horse goes topull my hand goes forward,and when he goes to dropthe contact, my hand comesback to take the rein.Its almost likesuspension from my elbows.The minute he comes soft inthe mouth I soften the handand give him as comfortablea ride as possible.When he comes againstmy hand, my fingers areclosed and things becomea little more uncomfortablefor him; the minute hessoft, Im soft and relaxedand let him canter forward.Avoid teaching bad habitsThe pair move on to negotiate a line ofcanter poles. Cartoon spooks and halftrots/half canters over the final pole. GeoffBillington describes it as a tranter.Next time, Oliver turns the stallionaway when he gets bit too keen, throwinghis head up in the air, on the approach.Sorry, but Im not doing it like that,he tells the horse as they calmly circleaway. This is important for the horseseducation, because correcting the horsebefore he gets it wrong (by rushing thepoles and not listening to his rider) isbetter than allowing the horse to continueand learn to do it wrong.This time, Cartoon maintains hisrhythm down the line of poles. They aremoved closer together to shorten thestride and the stallion does this well.With us, not against usMoving on to jumping, first up is a smallvertical with a ground pole one strideaway from the fence on both sides.This horse has lots of energy, so my jobis to quietly contain that energy, makingsure I keep the good canter on the cornerand ride a good turn, explains Oliver.As before, every time he puts his headup and goes yahoo I just quietly controlit, turn a little circle and put him backinto the canter that I want. I keep doingthis so that it becomes habitual, to thepoint that whatever canter I put him in,he keeps it himself.Cartoon is beginning to work really well.Joking aside, I like this stallion a lotbecause for the big competitions, whetheryoure doing dressage, eventing orshowjumping, you need a bit of fight a bit of rah and hes definitely a horsethat enjoys his job. Its our job as the riderto contain it and bend that enthusiasm towork for us and not against us.The session rounds off with a shortcourse to consolidate everything thestallion has learned. Oliver gives him apat and allows him to walk on a long rein,looking around at the crowd, before thedemo ends. This is important for lettingthe horse realise that he can relax in anew setting such as this.Olivers three tips for riding a tense horseYou cant put any pressureon tension, so dont ask fortoo much from a tense horse until they relax.You cant rush a fresh horseeither, so ride like youvegot all day long, even ifyou havent.If a tense horse trips ormakes a mistake, donttry to correct it. Justkeep focusing onachieving a regularbalance and rhythm.Main image: Please note Oliver Townend is not pictured riding. Your Horse Library/Kelsey Media LtdRelated contentHorse posture: why its so important and exercises to improve itAm I good enough? How to build confidence and self-belief in your riding ability *VIDEO*Ros Canters grid exercise to slow a keen or strong horse when youre jumpingTicket information for Your Horse Live 2026The post Oliver Townends training tactics for a horse who is very tense or fresh appeared first on Your Horse.