Advice please - completely baffled as to how to proceed.

If you had a horse that was a complete angel to hack on the outward journey but that turned into a nightmare as soon as you turned for home/reached the half way point on a circular route how would you go about trying resolve the issue?


Horse is question is a 5yo ex-racer and I am 100% sure that she is not being naughty. She is emotionally very (over) sensitive and physically very (over) reactive.
She is fantastic to handle in every other respect and is always keen to please me, except for on a return journey when hacked out alone
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Before anyone asks she is absolutely fine physically - back, teeth, saddle all perfect - it seems to be a complete psychological issue
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What happens if as soon as she starts you turn her and ride her away from home again? I suggest you set out a long day, when it isn't too cold and the weather is nice for this approach though!
 
Same as SC pick a nice quiet day with good weather and plan a route with as many loops back to and then on past home again as possible.

It's already pencilled in for a sunnier day with my lad, luckily he's not too bad just bets a good marching walk on , on the way home.
 
Are there any circular routes you can do, so you don't have to turn round and come back again? Slightly avoiding the issue I know but...!!
 
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What happens if as soon as she starts you turn her and ride her away from home again? I suggest you set out a long day, when it isn't too cold and the weather is nice for this approach though!

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Was going to say something similar. She sounds like an eager beaver to get back home to her mates
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Right, will try and answer questions in QR, so I know what everyone asked and I don't repeat myself too much!
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Horsegirl - She immediately gets tense, which rapidly progresses into trotting and sometimes running sideways. She will leap sideways and if anything spooks her (can be as little as a leaf blowing across the road behind her) she will shoot forwards at a million miles an hour, and then resume the sideways approach. Previously she would try and 'take off' for home, but I have managed to stop that at least, thankfully!
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SC and P_B - have tried that but it ends up in her getting in a real stew about it, to the point where I can't realistically have her on the road as she is putting herself, me and other road users at risk
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. Each time you turn her around to go away form home she settles, but when you turn back towards home again she is just even worse than the time before
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Donadea - circular routes aren't any better
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Even if you box her to somewhere she is unfamiliar with she still somehow *knows* when the half way point is, and the problems start again.

Naturally - she hasn't got a strong pair bond, but is in a small group where she is settled and happy. She will work happily away from the others, stays relaxed and never calls for them. On the way out for a hack she doesn't even flick an ear in their direction, even if we ride past the field where the others are calling for her - she seems to enjoy and look forward to going out on a hack, but is terrified of coming home?
In company she is more 'onward bound' on the way home, in the she will stride out more, but is never anything less than what I would describe as the 'perfect hack' when in company.
 
I think you need to have a long, long day free - every time you turn to home one foot wrong and she is turned away from home and worked - whether that is by trotting or shoulder in or outline - whatever. Then see if she wants to go home nicely. Don't let it escalate to being a real issue - as soon as she starts getting in a tizz immediately away from home again. Basically the approach being that away from home is hard work, to home is the 'nice' place to be. Don't know if that will work or not, but it may be worth a try.
 
My horse has homing pigeon tendencies as well, so I can sympathise. She was nappy on the way out though (to the point that even a bendy road caused issues if it was going in the "wrong direction") and nicely forward on the way home.

Can you enlist the help of someone and hack to a trailer/box pick up point so that she is hacking out, and then gets a lift home? Not a long term solution, but may help her confidence (and yours) short term.

In company where does she prefer to be?
 
At the moment I have been riding her outbound, and then hopping off before we turn for home, spending some time 'relaxing' (giving her a rub, some grass etc to kill some time) so that we don't just immediately turn around towards home. I then walk her home, and everytime she jogs, runs sideways or leaps I make her stop, back up, wait and then proceed again until she does it the next time. If I do this while on board she gets ridiculous, so it's safer for us both on the floor for the time being!

I'm wary of trying your approach though as it took me months to persuade her to hack out at all. When she first arrived here she would NOT leave the yard, and even once we got past that she would nap to other horses, and even fences or buildings
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I don't want to make hacking out so much 'work' for her that she reverts back to her old policy of not wanting to go out at all.

Gosh, she really doesn't sound great does she?! Hacking alone is her only hang up though, so she's not as bad as she sounds - honest!
 
In company she always prefers to be the lead, and (believe it or not!) is the horse I would always choose to 'nanny' youngsters or less confident horses.

Previously she was nappy to the point where she wouldn't leave the yard even in the company of other horses, so she has come a long way, just this final habit I need to shake now!

Did you make any progress with your horse? Or was it something that you just had to accept in the end?
 
Bounty I have the exact same problem with my tb so interested to see the replies. I've tried the turning back and walking other way for HOURS and it simply ends up with her going loopy and me being further from home- its soo annoying as she is good as gold before I turn for home.
I also have problems with her tying up so I am not hacking out at all at the moment as once she got so worked up she tied up quite badly.
 
In that case, accept her for what she is and don't hack alone. It's not a big deal - come back to it in a few months when she is perhaps more confident? Even if you only hack every couple of weeks when you have company then I really do not think it'll kill her!
 
Is yours an ex-racer or been in race training at any point?
I try not to treat them as ex-racers as I find it means I end up making excuses for them, so once they are here they are treated as any youngster would be.... but the way she reacts when we turn for home makes me think that she genuinely believes I want her to gallop for home, similar to how they hack to the gallops and then turn around and gallop
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I am on the verge of leaving it to be honest, it's just that she's come so far with the hacking thing already that I hoped we could crack this last bit
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The company I get to hack out with is less than desirable, hence me wanting some independence
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Maybe with a bit more maturity and life experience we'll get there
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Bounty,
Even though she isn't nappy going out, I'd suspect from all you say that it is still anxiety to get home because for whatever reason she wants to get TO home quicker than you are allowing her. I'd say she wanted to get there quicker because she wants to be there, it might be a safety blanket for her, and maybe here superaccurate homing pigeon senses only kick in to her consciousness when she turns for home? It could be that she quite enjoys leaving, but when she knows she is on her way home the adrenaline of "yes home is a good idea, I'm safe there" kicks in and prompts the sillyness. Who knows, maybe she was taught to race by walking her out away from home and turning home and bombing it?

All just ideas on what is causing it - I think if you can work that out you're half way to a solution. Possible suggestions based on the above might be;

1) Could you create a nice scenario on the way home where not getting home so quickly was a good thing for her? So maybe arrange to meet some friends somewhere safe (a horse-friendly pub?) and have a drink and let her graze, if she has scratchy spots giver her a good rub, treats or whatever she really likes.

Similarly maybe she could have a tit-bit when you're riding when she slows from jog to walk or halts nicely? Or you could let her stop a while and graze a safe verge with nice grass on it?

2) Provided its not dangerous, endure the getting home quickly thing but work her hard in the school when you get back, so that she's not so keen to get back and "do boring hard work"

3) Check that its not you tensing up or causing her behaviour - maybe a trusted friend could rider her, or you could just try hard to notice if your muscles are tense, subconsciously if you're trying to predict when she will start and causing her to worry/or even start because she thinks thats what you want? If you can, just relax and think "whatever, you're wasting energy for no good reason"

... does any of the above sound like it would be a good idea?
 
I expect you can crack it, but I sometimes find if you leave something for a bit and come back to it, they have had time to take it all in.

I was trying to teach my horse rein-back in Nov when he came back into work, and we ended up falling out big style over it. So I left it and in Jan asked again - he did it perfectly and has done ever since.

I'm not sure there is any point plugging away at it - better to reinforce the behaviour you want by hacking in company than get frustrated trying to stop behaviour you don't.
 
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In company she always prefers to be the lead, and (believe it or not!) is the horse I would always choose to 'nanny' youngsters or less confident horses.

Previously she was nappy to the point where she wouldn't leave the yard even in the company of other horses, so she has come a long way, just this final habit I need to shake now!

Did you make any progress with your horse? Or was it something that you just had to accept in the end?

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It took me a year, but I now have a fantastic horse to hack. Last year our biggest achievement was a 4 hour, 16 mile round-trip solo hack which was completely incident free
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A lot of it with my girl was her confidence, so I built her up by going out with my mum's bombproof mare, but making Meg take the lead at all times. I also did a lot of rides where my mum would set off first, then we'd catch up with her, so the rest of the ride was fun.

It took a few hairy solo hacks to get her to the stage where she was happy going out, and I had to be very quick at telling the difference between a 'I'm scared, and really not confident' nap (where sometimes I'd get off and lead her past, or I'd give her time to look before asking her to move on), and a 'I'm taking the pee cos I don't want to go any further' nap (where'd she'd get a smacked bottom).

Maybe with yours preferring the lead with others, then it could be cos she's dictating the pace. So try going at the back, or middle, so she has to go at a different speed, and one that's not of her choosing.

Good luck - I'm sure your perseverance will succeed with her
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Donadea - circular routes aren't any better
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Even if you box her to somewhere she is unfamiliar with she still somehow *knows* when the half way point is, and the problems start again.



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OK slightly playing devil's advocate here - but could it be that YOU are tensing up on the way home a bit? Ignore me if that sounds completely wrong, but I just wondered if that might be the case?
 
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At the moment I have been riding her outbound, and then hopping off before we turn for home, spending some time 'relaxing' (giving her a rub, some grass etc to kill some time) so that we don't just immediately turn around towards home. I then walk her home, and everytime she jogs, runs sideways or leaps I make her stop, back up, wait and then proceed again until she does it the next time. If I do this while on board she gets ridiculous, so it's safer for us both on the floor for the time being!


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Well you're obviously doing something right to have got her this far so a big well done to you!

To be honest I'd carry on what you have been doing as you say here, sometimes it can just be a case of tenacity, keep at it and keep having the patience of a saint!
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Lots of good ideas there Naturally, thankyou - thought most of them have been exhausted already!
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I do use tit-bits and grazing in gateways etc to try and get her to *breathe*, rather than pratting around with her heart trying to fight it's way out of her chest.
Horse friendly pub is out of the equation though (a shame, as she would love socialising!) as A) we have no rural pubs close by, and B) horse friendly often doesn't come into the equation around her either!
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Can't endure the 'getting home quickly thing' as, as much as I hate to admit it, dangerous
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Don't think it is me - I'm pretty laid back, and tend to rub that off on most things I ride. If things get nasty I usually detach myself emotionally from the situation (sounds bizarre, but it's almost as though I am watching myself, rather than doing it?!) and just deal with it, rather than getting emotional. Previously I have had my OH try hacking her for me (affectionately known as my crash test dummy!) as he is the ultimate "you can do what you want under me, but I'm not budging" rider, but she was even worse for him
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Part of me thinks I just need to spend more time working with her on the ground... if I can't have her walk sensibly home on the end of a leadrope then I don't have a hope under saddle, do I?
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Just to add... she is completely spook proof at home and will do anything I ask of her and has impeccable manners (these days!). I've spent so long working her out of her nappiness, and in a huge field she will sensibly go away from and come back to other horses over quite long distances without getting silly, so I feel a bit that I've done all the preparatory work I can, but there is still something missing?
 
I often make her walk behind, and will make her halt and stand while the other horse(s) carry on without her. I make her stop, turn around and go away from them too, while they carry on without us, and she is fine with that
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Thankfully we now have a relationship where it doesn't even occur to her to take the p*ss and I know her well enough to know that she is genuinely worried.... even though if she was taking the p*ss it would be much easier to deal with!
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Really pleased to hear that you and Meg are making up for lost time now
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To be honest she sounds like she's being an 'ex-racer'. Ie they walk up the gallops, then turn and gallop back again... my TB behaves like this if he is feeling stressed or overly bursting with energy - he reverts back to being a racehorse again. This doesn't mean to say I tollerate it, it just helps to understand the cause.

It sounds to me that you've already come a long way so don't give yourself or her too much of a hard time.

When I first got jack he had all sorts of issues like this. I resolved them by trotting everywhere - he couldn't jog to evade a trot command and I had more oomf to ride him through his issues. Try trotting (assuming the terrain allows it!) and ride forwards through the problem rather than slowing/backing off from it. This more proactive approach should teach your horse that she has to listen to you and should also stop her from getting frustrated.
 
I don't think so, as I (occasionally to my detriment!) usually start each session with a clean slate and don't hold grudges, even with some horses who's reputations precede them
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Most people call me naive for that though...
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With Boo especially I have to have that sort of attitude, as if you even fleetingly think she might do something, she will rise to the occasion without fail. She has taught me to control my thoughts and emotions like no one else ever could!

My OH (so laid back he is almost horizontal) has hacked her out as well and she was even worse than usual
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I spoke to someone the other day who I'd lost touch with - she knew Boo when she first arrived, and on finding out that I still have her she was most surprised, apparently she though she'd end up being shot because of her behavioural issues?
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She then went on to slate me for 'always finding the good in everything'....... I wasn't aware it was a negative thing, but obviously I've been so wrong!
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I wouldn't long rein her on the roads as they are just too dangerous (either wide and fast, or very narrow and bendy) but I long rein her around the fields here and she is fine with that.
As I said, I lead her back to try and help her confidence, but it is just a mental block, she worries about it and then 'over boils', and from that point there isn't much else I can do to improve the situation.
 
Yes, I said that in a reply to Sophie, I think it was.
I may try a decent trot on the way home, but could well end up in A&E
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. To me it would feel as though I was going back on all the time I've been teaching her to relax and walk, but it may well be a case of taking a couple of steps back to come forwards I suppose, so will give it a try.

Just to add though, non of my other ex-racers have been any trouble at all, I just think she is a particularly sensitive soul and has been completely 'blown' in the brains!
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