Advice? Lost nerve hacking.

M

Muddywellies

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 July 2007
Messages
1,923
Visit site
Looking for some advice. I have not hacked out regulary for a few years due to no hacking. Now moved and have beautiful hacking, but I'm now petrified. My horse is quite sharp, and even when schooling will suddenly take a dislike to something, and has nearly unseated me on hundreds of occasions. Also, he is a little coldbacked, so I would always lunge before getting on (also to help get some fizz out of him) but I now have no facilities whatsoever. Needless to say, he is not being ridden at the mo, though I desperately want to crack this. So much so that I have borrowed a bombproof 14.2 for me to get back my nerve, learn the tracks round here, in the hope that my new found confidence will transfer to my rather spooky and nervy horse. I have bought (but not used yet) a calmer in a paste, and he is on Steady Up. But, I have an almost irrational fear of getting on this horse. Hes not dangerous, in fact he is very genuine, just quite sharp and nervy. If I was giving myself advise I would say lunge, school, then if feeling confident, take him for a gently walk up the lane and back, pref with another quiet horse. But I can't do this as no facilities. I am so disheartened about this but don't feel that I want to sell the horse yet as I haven't given it a fair go. Any advice would be much appreciated, particularly from anyone who is/has been in this situation and has got over it.
 
Hi Muddywellies,
How long have you had your horse and how old are they?
Have you previously hacked out on them ?
Is your horse stabled or in the field?
Have you had a bad fall from the horse at some point?

Sorry for all the questions
smile.gif
 
I think your borrowing of this other bomproof horse and building your confidence is great, i think that will go a long way. I hadnt hacked out by myself in years until recently due to no hacking,horse being on loan etc and feel pretty confident doing it now. Really just give yourself time and keep hacking this other horse. I hacked the same route for a while just to build confidence. Just give yourself time and lots of deep breathing and telling yourself that it will be fine and that you are confident. Good luck
smile.gif
 
Is it possible that you could long rein or lead the spooky horse around the routes first so he become more familiar with his surroundings?
x
 
I have had him about 3 years, and although i have never hacked much on him, i used to potter down the road and back once every so often without worry. Strangely enough, only last year, did 2, 9 mile sponsored rides (one had lots of roadwork) and he was a star, though he still did a couple of big spooks which made me lose stirrups etc. We really enjoyed them. At the moment he is field kept (stables just about to be built) and then he will be stabled and turned out. We haven't much routine at the moment and he does seem to thrive on routine so I am wondering if our relationship might improve once I have daily contact with him. Finally, I have had plenty of falls but no more than anyone else I shouldn't think. Something that I don't know is of any significance, is that I put to sleep my lovely mare last year who I could have ridden on the motorway without incident. She was one in a million and I sometimes wonder if me losing her has had a fairly detremental effect on my relationship with what was supposed to be her replacement.
 
I think it would be a fab idea just so you can reintroduce him to hacking without worrying how your riding affects him
smile.gif

Hope you sort it all out
x
 
Sorry to hear about your previous horse, must of been awful for you.
From what you say it sounds as though your new horse is a bit more of a handful/ spooky that your old one which is making you nervous. If you did 2 9 mile rides then you must of been doing well prevously so its just a matter of building up the confidence again.
If your horse likes routine i would take things slowly and get him into a routine of coming in, brushed, tacked up , could you electric fence a section of the field off to allow you lunge him before you ride to get the energy out a bit?
Hacking the 14.2 out for a while will build up your confidence and give you an idea of which route to take to i think thats a great idea. I bet once you have been out on your horse once you will be totally relieved as it will be fine!
Maybe if your feeling really nervous you could ask a friend to ride him out for you ? and you could take the 14.2 out as company for him?
 
Thanks astipussy-inboots. I know that I should give myself time really, but I do beat myself up every time I see him in the field doing nothing, when he needs to be getting out and about. I feel like I am letting him down.
 
Thank you all very much for the encouragement and advice. As the horses are at home, i do sometimes miss being on a yard where I could bounce this off people and get help where needed. You wouldn't belive I have had horses for about 25 years and have experienced alsmost everything with them - perhaps thats why this has knocked me for six. I would ride anything when I was younger and couldn't understand people who were in the situation I am now in. I do feel a tad silly. Is there anyone out there who would sell him on to someone who would do more with him and get myself a dependable cob. I have thought of this one but I would become bored i am sure. My current horse has such talent and really is a fun ride - I JUST NEED TO FIND THE FUN AGAIN
 
I would try starting by just going for very short hacks, in a circular route if possible, staying in walk and keeping everything very calm, try and have him on a loose rein (as long as you feel safe), as this will make him more relaxed and also help you learn to trust him again. If possible go out with someone else to start with (prehaps the owner of the safe cob) to help build your confidence. Stay in walk until you feel completely happy then only trot in places that are very unspooky and preferably going away from home so he is not tempted to go too fast at all.
 
I would also advise having lots of lessons on him (if you don't already), particualrly doing things like jumping so you can get your confidence up in trickier situations.
 
I had the same thing this time last year, after falling off hacking. To gain my confidence I just gradually increased the distance I went, and went hacking with a confident friend on a confident pony. I also used to vary speeds each time I went depeding how I felt he was, sometimes would walk for a full hour, some just trot etc. After doing this for 6 months I gained my confidence, and today took him round the spookiest ride you can do and he behaved brilliantly and I enjoyed myself
 
Thanks Paintedlady. I have had lessons for the last 2 years and last year competed in numerous unaff dressage competitions. Never did all that well but we enjoyed it which was the main thing. the plan is to get back to it once weve got the hacking thing sorted because as he is rather tense, I hope that regular hacking will relax him and therefore i will see the words 'Rather tense' appear less on my sheets. What I was wondering, is if you could explain the riding on a loose rein thing. I know that my lessons were different to hacking out, but I had it drummed in to me to ride with a good strong contact as he is quite insecure so a firm contact will make him feel more secure (??). Won't he be sort of wondering where I am if I have a loose rein. I did have someone else ride him out for me once and she also had him on a loose rein. (he was absolutely fine with her)
 
Loose rein is where you ahve little or no contact with the horses mouth (ie. washing line reins) but done deliberately. I find it works really well with a lot of otherwise tense/spooky/sharp horses when hacking, it is a bit like telling them to take responsibility for themselves. If you have a short rein on this type of horse they can feel all your tension coming through the reins and this makes them tense too. They may speed up when they feel you shortening the contact as they think you're going to ask them to trot. With a loose rein they can't feel your tensions as much (it's much easier to pretend you're calm through your body when your not holding them in a tight rein contact), so they're more likely to be calmer, if you feel them tense stroke them on the neck and speak to them and they'll (usually) soon calm down by themselves, whereas if you have a short rein your more likely to pull on it as soon as you feel the horse tense which is likely to only make them worse. Try it!
 
Thank you very much Paintedlady. I had been v confused as to whether to maining a strong contact or to have a loose rein whilst hacking him. I will most certainly give it a whirl.
 
I am in a similar situation. Broke my back in 2005. Got back on in 2006 and pretty much carried on where I left off - Was hacking for 2-3 hrs last Summer. Then all of a sudden after a couple of spooky hacks last winter I started to really worry about my back - Eg What would happen to me if I got thrown off. Pictures of wheeelcahirs kept entering my mind. TBH they still do.
I used to LOVE hacking though, the freedom of just being out in the countryside, free to go wherever I wanted with my horse. In the last few weeks I have picked up hacking again. At present I only do a 20 min circular route. We do the same route every time. I am not going to expand the area of the hack until I feel absolutely relaxed and so does he. I have also taken him out for walks in hand on a long lunge line. Have started expanding the route using this so he can see different things when I am not on his back, before I expand the ridden area. What I have noticed is that he is better when led than ridden, and I totally take responsibility for this, it is due to my tension.
He used to be super bold, and even now all it is is a little sharpness at times.
I agree don't HANG ON to the rein, that's what I do when I am nervous. Sit up and put your leg on.... I talk to him a lot when hacking to soothe him and take my mind off negative thoughts.
Also, if you are going to lead out, make sure you use a bridle and long lunge in case you get into difficulty. You will have more control.
Good luck. I understand entirely your issue.
 
As we get older we do loose some of our rubber content and do not bounce as well. I would continue hacking out the 14.2 bombproof horse and enjoy yourself. If you are happy then I would sell your horse and buy one that is more to your requirements.
 
Also, if you use a hunter martingale or a balancing strap it'll give you something to hold on to other than the reins.- this made me chuckle reminds me of my friend having a similar problem and saying she was putting her s*** bag strap on.. worked for her though kept her on .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top