This past summer while my horse and I were warming up for a class, another horse collided into us, and unfortunately he has never been the same when it comes to riding with other horses since.

Whether we are riding around in the arena, or in a warm-up ring at a show he gets very stressed when horses come near him.

I try to give him reassurance, however I get stressed about it now as well, because I am never sure of his reaction.

Has this ever happened to anyone, and would you happen to have any tips on how to work through this and build both his and my confidence up again? Thanks!!

First off that's rough that this happened.
But what you said that you get tense, he senses that. You have to find a new way of thinking about the situation. Instead of dwelling on what happened. Learn from it and help your horse get more comfortable again. Best to ride as much with other horses as possible and maybe have your coach there to coach you through it.
And just go to the shows, more shows you go to the better things will get as long as you believe it will get better. You have to make sure you think positive otherwise your horse will sense it.

I had a similar thing happen to me this past season in the hunter. I was trotting around the warm up ring beside another horse, probably 5 feet away. Some "fool" cantering towards us decided she could squeeze through that 5 foot space instead of taking the open areas around us.

People need to look where they are going.

Sorry to hear you had this experience. Have you tried to ride other horses and get them to cram you in close quarters, just to make sure you haven't developped the habit all the time? If you do get tense when this happens working through it on other horses may help. Does your horse get tense if your coach is riding him, and this happens?

Good luck.

i have had this happen to me before, but i have also done it to someone sadly i felt so guilty after i did it.

But when it happened to me, i was actually in the ring for a flat class with atleast 12 ponies, half of them grey, which my pony will kick out at an grey, and we were asked to canter. one second i was cantering fine, but then 2 greay ponies came straight for me. i had to break into a trot to
not get crashed into. for my pony, she tried, but when i brought her back , she got off balanced so she couldnt throw her leg out.

she didnt suffer anything, but jus imagining what would have happened if i kept cantering is just horrifying.

you should just... deal.

um.. DUH!

my recommendation to this is when you're riding with other horses...take a deep breath!!! Pat your horse, and be confident (try). Take your horse to shows even without entering. You can just pay for the warm up class, walk around the showground. Then pack up and go. This helps alot because you're not stressed out over winning a class or whatever. You're just there as a spectator, and so is your horse! Bring lots of treats!! And take lots of breaks.

I had the same thing happen with my horse last show season. The girl that did it felt really bad and didn't try to do it, but it just happened.
We're STILL trying to get him over this, but he is still pretty intimidated by almost all horses. I think one thing that has helped is riding outside of lessons in your spare time, with one or two other horses in the arena with you and then riding on the inside track while the other horse(s) ride on the outside track in the opposite direction. It may scare him at first, as it did my horse, but if you keep repeating it, he gets used to other horses going near him and he becomes less tense, and so do you!
If this really doesn't work, then maybe try a slower and easier approach.

"you should just...deal" ..????!?!?!?!?!

OHHHH, DUH, the answer is SO clear...well that's by far the best advice anyone on here has given...thank god you gave that useful bit of info

actually i found that rather rude. Mischief was just asking for advice, and wants to go about the right route without making things worse for herself or her horse. Obviously, she needs to "deal" with the issue. HOW to do so is what she is asking for.

And to Mischief, have you tried "Rescue Remedy"? It is a natural homeopathic liquid you can give to animals. It might calm him down a little.

I've ridden a lot of babies with similar issues. You could try a few things: at home school with your friends on other horses and work together to do exercises, passing each other at walk, trot, canter etc as you and your horse feel comfortable, with lots of praise (if you praise him consistently at these times, it might help him and you when you behave the same way at shows). Also at shows there are sometimes areas where you can warm up, at least on the flat, away from the warm up ring or in a warm up ring that isn't running yet (might even want to go early to do most of your warm up, and then just a bit before your class). Doing this will allow you to adjust without being overwhelmed. Everything together will hopefully slowly and consistently lead to some improvements, just listen to your horse and progress at a pace that works for both of you keeping experiences as positive as possible. And yes, warm up rings are crazy, so make sure to position yourself and ride defensively in the warm up ring, and plan a warm up that works for you and your horse, knowing your issues. Good luck!

Lol, I've run into a few horses. My mare doesn't care at all. They enter her bubble, she aims a kick at them, and the horse/rider usually figures out it's best to avoid us.
Anywho, I don't know you or your horse, but I'm going to guess that it's you making him nervous. I mean, come on, he's got to have run into other horses out in the pasture, so I don't see how he could be any more stressed by other horses coming near him. You're probably unconciously tensing up, or changing your position ever so slightly. He feels you getting nervous and gets nervous himself, simply because you are.
Take some deep breaths and focus on something else. Practise bending, half-halting, ect., when you get nervous.