I'm not sure I can give you advice for what to do. Esp. since I don't know what you have already tried.
The problem is not a big mystery though. I'd guess on separation anxiety.
On the show ground they are on unfamiliar ground, getting nervous and excited, and will want to keep track of their flock-buddies at all times. So they neigh and they are anxious about getting separated from the others.
Maybe it's just a matter of training the situation:
I'm thinking going away often - perhaps with just the two calmest of them to begin with, but only compete one (or neither), and make sure both are kept busy in separate places. When they calm down, they get to see each other, or go home, or whatever seems appropriate for reward.

But in some the flock instinct is so strong you can't fight it - it's just their nature!
I don't know if this was helpful at all, but
Lots of luck!

I am having the same problem with a pair of horses. Both are young, and if I work with one in the large carrol with the other one present, all goes well. As soon as I lead one out, they both get really nervous and its like they have forgotten all their training!

I just seperated them into different adjoining carrols, I'm hoping to see less anxity the longer they are apart. I will let you know if this works.

This is available in the Q&As. Please give the search box a try. It is a really good tool.
Oct 29.04 Herd bound horse

10/29/04: How do you cure a herd bound horse?

Monty’s Answer: Easy. You separate them… While that is too simple of an answer, it’s basically what you do. If your horse panics when his buddy horses leave the property without him, it is a herd bound horse and needs to be de-bonded.

A horse that goes crazy when its companion(s) are away is a danger to itself, others and property. Separating your horses gives them the opportunity to learn they can survive by themselves. If you have a small property and separation is not possible in your circumstance, you have another option…

Borrow a friend’s horse. Have an agreeable friend ‘trade’ animals with you for a short period of time. You take care of their horse while they take care of yours temporarily. Let your horse spend some time in a different location.

Simply shift your horse(s) around for a while. The de-bonding process will occur over a relatively short period of time. From a safety perspective, it is a necessary thing to do.

Q and A is brilliant.
Trouble is a lot of people panic when their horse gets fired up and they hear their horse neighing because it is an intensely shrill, and to us, freaky ,noise and we project human screaming onto the animal and think it is really going mad ..then we give in!
I stick with being tough though and separate mine often and even make them stand still,when we're a quarter mile out ,still within earshot of the friend,I ask him to stand still till he drop his head and relaxes,sighs,then I take him slowly home,with frequent pauses.

thanks for all the help i will try these all out this week Dana

I have one horse here that no matter which of the other horse leaves the pasture he will whinny for HOURS!!!! None of the horses removed rarely ever respond to him. What can I do to help HIM? Do I pasture him alone? Even if I did that, I don't really have the SPACE to put him out of eye/ear shot. There's 6 horses in the same pasture, so it's not like he's left alone.

i know this is probably not the answer you were looking for but I would tend to ignore this problem unless it is upsetting neighbours etc. My Pie does this too and has for ever - it doesn't matter which horse goes out she just stands on the fence and carries on until we return.

I put one of my horses who did this kind of thing In a product called B-Quiet. It's a vitamin supliment for nervous horses. It really helped him. Not sure if that is helpful, but it might help if the horse is a particularly nervous individual.

He is extremely dominant in the pasture too. Always putting the run on ALL the horses! Take him out and get in the saddle and he seems to completely change, calms right down and gets to work. Only problem is, he makes himself lame sometimes by chasing, so he can't be ridden as often as he should? Should I put him completely alone? Or choose 1 or 2 of the mares, that he seems to be less aggressive with and pasture them separately?

Hi Gen
I'm interested in the B-Quiet supplement you mention - what is in it and how does it help? I did an online search and it seems to be available in Australia, but can't find it online in New Zealand where I live. I have seen various supplements here that contain magnesium which is supposed to counteract the effects of mycotoxins in the grass and are supposed to calm down fizzy behaviour, is it one those? If so there may be a similar one I can get.

Ok here comes my question about herd bound ;-)). We have 11 horses and they are very herd bound. We have an open construction as a barn because we have very hard winters here in Atlantic Canada. And they would not get enough exercise and possibilities to move if they would live in box stalls. So far they are very social and happy healthy horses that way. They can move around in the barn and always one door is open so they can go outside too. In summer they are outside in the pasture. I never have any problem to catch them. They come galloping towards me. At night I take them back to the barn paddock. So I don't loose contact over the summertime. I am able to do nice join-ups and Dually work. But I never have their absolute attention when always all of the others are around. It is funny when we do join-ups, all the others are around the round pen watching us. That is not very helpful for the concentration. But as soon as I separate them the trouble starts. I will try now Monty's advice to separate them. One after the other will learn to survive without the others. But one day I have to bring them back to the others. Will the same problem start again and will I have to do that again and again?
Does somebody have any ideas????

Too difficul stangkeit!!! Even separating 11 horses one by one is mindboggling and when you bring them back together they will be worse than ever!! Your horses sound as if they have a great life so if you can take one out by itself then I would just leave them be. Unless the others are likely to damage each other when their mate leaves. If this is likely to happen then I would just stable them during their mates absence. I have NO other solution for you so perhaps someone else has!

Thank you MaggieF for your input. No, they don't damage themselves. Maybe it is a solution to take out one by one and walk them everyday and always a little longer. So they will learn to be with me alone and still no lunch for the bears? I started that already and should do more of that. So they will get used to be separated and know they will go back after a while.
It is really my biggest issue. I think I can manage everything else. I just can't go for a ride with myself and all of them around me ;-))))))

Hello everyone,
I'm into week five of a new relationship with a new horse.
Tessa is a 15.3 h thoroughbred mare, 15 years.
Um, I bought Tess off the internet, literally without seeing her in person.
The reason, she was hungry looking, a bad injury to her leg, & owner was going away for two weeks, leaving her with a non horse person.
She was said to be "exceptionally QUIET", in the ad.
I liked the look of her.
AND, I was grieving the lose of my part arab mare. we had been together for 23 years.
I haggled a good price, and she turned up two days later.

Anyway, I am newly learning natural horsemanship, I joined Monty's uni and we Tess and I, did a less then finessed join-up last Tuesday, however i got join-up and follow-up and I was chuffed.
Tess is in a paddock by her self.
This past week she has gained the companionship of two horses in the paddock next door.
All has been fine, as the next door horses have followed us up when I feed Tess.
This morning that didn't happen, I collected Tess from the far end of the paddock, about three acres, we walked up to the feed area and I was very pleased with how she didn't seem to be bothered with leaving them, however she then realised they were 'way back down there' and she got quite agitated. I tried the things I would have tried with my late equine friends, and that didn't go so well.
I got her rug off gave her her feed took the headcollar off and she took off.
Ok, so which lesson do I watch to give me an idea of what to do next time.
Tess' is somewhat of an unkown quantity to me at this point, i was at the paddock by my self, + she's bigger then I'm used to handling.
I have friend who does natural horsemanship Frank Bell style, and he's showed me a few of his techniques, but i like what Monty does so please if someone can direct me to what to look at here, i would be hugely appreciative.
Thanks in advance!
T ;-)

Hi Tessa's friend - it is always hard starting off with a mature horse if you do not know its background. If possible try to find out as much as you can about her from her previous owner. It is natural that she would miss her new buddies particularly if she has been previously kept by herself with no companions. She is stressed when you take her away from them as she fears it may be permanent. This is often a hard one to overcome in horses that are mature and prone to stress out when parted from their mates. It is good that you have achieved join up and follow up with her - this is a good start in building a trusting relationship. I would concentrate on trying to improve on her bonding with you - easy to say but sometimes hard to achieve. Try to spend quality time with her in the bottom of the paddock where the other horses are so that she starts to focus on you more. Do you have a dually halter? If not then a dually will help you to gain her trust and respect when effectively and correctly used - watch the videos on the use of the dually on this uni and on "horseandcountry tv" UK - horsemanship essentials with Monty and Kelly Marks. Using the dually lead her away from the other horses, keep her away for a little while talking to her and stroking her then lead her back to them. Do this over a number of days. Repeat your join-up and follow up too - Monty says we can do it up to six times with the same horse - (I find it helps to do it every few months or so with mine if she becomes disrespectful).If you have a round yard away from the other horses then take her there and work with her with the dually each day for awhile too to build up her trust in you. Once she is trusting you more hopefully she will be less stressful at leaving her new mates. .

Hi everybody! Just wanted to "pop in" and tell you our story:) The horse with the big H, the love of my life CD could never travel together with any other horse. Well, the traveling part was perfect, because CD would always make everybody behave perfect. But, being in charge also gave him the opportunity to tell everybody at the show "who´s the Big Guy. So, even if I had 5 horses to take to shows, CD had to travel by himself otherwise he would not be able to do his job a 100% on the show ground. Now, he was worth it! And yes, we had a lot of personal assistants keeping CD on one end of the showground and the others on the other side:) If we had to take them a long way, we made sure the grooms always had one horse standing outside the showering and yes, always trouble at the indoor show grounds, but over the years he became better. One thing in particular is that being twice at the same show ground made a big difference if we kept him cool calm and collected so to speak the first time and set everything up the "perfect way" for him. It is about finding the right DVD to put in - if you can get A LOT of calm pictures so to speak you are better of. And also, keep calm however funny it sounds! Good Luck and Keep On Equus All Warmest Ann Lindberg

I loved this story Ann - thanks!

OMG! I now have an answer to a problem I have had with one of my mares. Bought her as a 5 month old with her mum 6 yrs ago. Did join up with her as she was growing up. Did all the ground work to break her in and had a friend do the riding side of it. She was a dream. Took her mustering 3 times and trail riding twice. On the 4th muster I took my gelding for my husband to ride and she played up and bucked me off. Since then even though I have ridden her I have been extremely nervous around her. I am overcoming this on the ground but riding her is another story. If this was simply a case of "Buddy Sour" as I had passed my gelding on the track then i think i can work with it. Thank you for your stories. Sandra Griffiths, Qld Australia

Hard to know exactly why this happened. It could have been because you passed her mate and she played up to go back to him (buddy sour)but there may have been other factors too. She is young and just started so being young they often tend to be unsettled and there are many things that could make her buck. Many young horses go through 'stages' after they have been started. She may have been enjoying too much spring grass, it could have been windy - that often spooks young horses and makes them lively, a bee or other insect may have bitten her, or she may have just been testing you and perhaps identifying with your nervousness....etc. The important thing is to now teach her that this is not acceptable behaviour and if you are nervous of her it may be best to get someone else who is experienced to ride her for you but please make sure you are with them all the time so that you can monitor everything that they do with your young horse. Too many young horses that start misbehaving after being started are ruined for life by ruthless, traditional type breakers who often take these horses on for re-training/breaking! I appreciate your nervousness as it is hard getting confidence again once you have been tossed off - it seems harder when the horse is young too. Your story sounds a little bit like my experience with Tricka. I bred her and as she was a dream horse to handle I decided to have a go at breaking her in myself. Everything went perfectly and she was so good when I first saddled her and then when I rode her- bareback and all. I had been riding her for over 12 months and she was perfect but I was too confident on her when our problems started. One day in a dressage lesson she was falling in with her canter and the instructor told me to give her a good boot with the inside leg to move her out. I should have known better as I had never kicked her before but I did give her gentle kick - not a good boot! She jumped out sideways in fright and I lost my outside stirrup and balance but I was still unconcerned as I trusted her too much and just started moving my outside foot around trying to retreive the stirrup. No doubt she thought I was intending to kick her again. It was too much for my baby - she took off and gave a mighty pig root and I summersaulted through the air to land very heavily on my back winded and dazed. I was very unstable but managed to get back up and back onto Tricka. It is so important to get straight back on a young horse if you possibly can so that they do not gain from this behaviour. It is also important for your own confidence. My instructor suggested that I not canter her again but just walk and trot but I knew if I ddn't she would have still won - also it was important for my confidence to do it again too - luckily she was a good girl. Others who have been on forum for awhile will know this story! I couldn't ride for five weeks after this as I had pinched my sciatic nerve in my lower back and lived on pain killers and could harly walk. After five weeks I dosed myself up on pain killers and took Tricka back to our next club day. I wasn't intending to have a lesson but I was asked to join one as they were short of riders. Tricka was behaving well but was a little nervous of a megaphone lying on the side of the arena. I took her up to it to check it out but I stupidly did not take her round the back of it which of course looked different. As my back was too sore to canter I chose to circle Tricka onto the grass in trot. She saw the back of the megaphone shyed badly on the wet grass, I flew off and she tipped herself onto her back on top of her saddle. The fall fixed my back but Tricka has had back and hip problems ever since so it has been a very sad experience. After 18 months I am still a little nervous when cantering but she has not been a all naughty since that day despite her sore back. I do breath a lot and talk to her a lot to reduce my nervousness and hers and this helps. Riding my other horse Nicky who never does anything scary, is bomb proof but quite sparky and fun to ride has also helped me build up confidence for Tricka. So there my story and are some thoughts for you. Good luck!

Thanks! I really appreciate your reply. I do remember that particular day we had rushed to get there and it started to lightly rain as we started out. I have had a young girl who owns her own horse training business come and ride her and give me a lesson on her (in a round pen) and she helped me greatly with her ground manners. I am going to take it very slowly. She also suggested I ride my bombproof gelding first and get my adrenalin down. Your mishap sounds a lot worse than mine, I just ended up in a heap at her feet with her staring at me. I hope all is ok now for you both.

Sounds good Chris! I am pretty OK given I am pretty old but Tricka still suffers and I have just had the physio back to her this morning. A flat paddock may be the answer for awhile so she could join Nicky and Ouyen on my flat agisted acres but I will miss her madly as she is forever talking to me here. Uggs and Chester may have to go out there too as they would also fret without her. Its only 3 kilometres away but I would miss them from my back paddock!

Hi emlaw
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Sorry, I missed your question about the B-Quiet. I don't get on the Uni as much as I like to any more. The B-Quiet has Vitamin b1 in it to held with nervousness. It's made by the Kentucky Equine Research Center www.ker.com/products/Suppliments/BQuietPowder/
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I have used it a few times now with great results.
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I am really sorry for not responding sooner.
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Kind regards,
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Gen