An eventful hack report!

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caramel

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Me and Handy were invited out on a hack today, with Heather and Bella (cob mare.. heather hadn't hacked out much), and Holly and Bacardi (the safest thing on 4 legs!) and Tim, who'd come on foot for some confidence boosting :D

We left the yard and crossed the road, for a nice quiet walk round a field.
Nice and Quiet it wasn't!

Handy's eyes were on stalks, he was fixated with some scarecrows he'd spotted over on the other side! Started out fine. Nice and quiet, everyone was having fun, until...

Holly and Bacardi went off for a trot. Handy was rather on his toes at this point, and was jogging, jumping up and down, and threatening to spin (but luckily didn't!) Then Bella (led at this point) went off for a trot, yet handy, was desperate to go galloping off, leaving me feeling rather nervous. Not fun when he spins, he can't be left on his own (even if for 30 secs).

So at this point Tim came and walked with us, I was reassuring handy, trying to stay calm (I suffer with my nerves) and he seemed to settle. To a point.
As we went round a corner he got stronger and stronger (thinks back to when he was racing he was led out onto the track and let go) So this in turn started worrying Bella. Tim ended up leading Handy on one side and Bella on the other.
Then somehow, Bella lashed out and kicked handy twice. My first (and only thought) was "Did she get him??" He jumped away and was standing there shaking. (Bella did indeed kick him twice on the stifle).
Jumped off as was waving his right hind around quite a lot, and wouldn't let me anywhere near it. So decision was made to lead him back.
He was terribly strong to lead back, had Tim leading him by the reins, then wrapped a leadrope round the nose (still awfully strong so lots of halting etc) Handy was jogging, getting really hot, and he really did think he was back racing and looked like a proper racehorse :(
Got him back and informed YO of what happened, she had a look, luckily he's not lame, just sore :(
Luckily everyone got back in one piece and I'm riding handy in the school tomorrow (do some canter work) and Tim's riding him monday (wants to take him for a gallop!)

Learnt a lot from this. He'll always be a racer as it's all he knows. He's a quirky horse and very sharp and bright. He's not done this before. Just wasn't expecting it :D
 
He was obviously expecting a good breeze up. At least no one was hurt - I'd be tempted to take him on a long hack tomorrow on his own, on the roads, and keep him in trot, take the edge of him (but that's just what I would do! :-) )
 
I'd love to take him out but he can't go on his own (spinning, jogging, lack of brakes) so lunging him tomorrow or riding.
Yeah he looked really on his toes like he was back at the races, he was raced a lot and was in training for 8 years so it's all still there.
I am rather new to ex-racers, have ridden a few but he's my first that I've owned. I tried loosening the contact, relaxing my seat, half halting but not much worked.

Will take him out again with one other, more sensible horse (he was good as gold last time)
 
Oh dear, glad he wasn't seriously hurt!!

Do you think it might have been easier to just let all of them trot together? If they were getting strong, maybe pop them all on a large 20m circle and keep them trotting until they settle a bit. Sometimes trying to keep them in walk, especially when other horses are trotting off can set them off a bit.
 
This really does sound like a disaster waiting to happen.

There are a couple of issues here which sort of jump out at you as you read through the post. The first thing is the fact that you mention suffering with your nerves. Any horse will pick up on the fact that you are nervous, and with some horses will be very reactive to this and behave in a way which will make you more nervous and so a circle forms.

Every day the horse is looking for a leader, and if you are not it, he will look somewhere else, if he cannot find a leader he will make decisions for himself because he feels he has too. This often accounts for separation issues, where a low ranking horse is relying on other horses and panic's when left alone.

TB horses trained to gallop and race react to this in a number of ways, many enjoy the competition and see it as fun, others are running for their life. On a race track this doesn't matter much in a controlled environment with strong confident riders focused purely on speed and winning, not the case when hacking out.

With the situation you describe, I would firstly remove any starch and sugars from the feed, as far as possible. If he has a problem holding condition, I would put him on a fibre only diet with an appropreate balancer. If his head is being cooked through excess sugars, when his metabolism settles you may find he holds weight better as he is not stressing the weight off. If he starts to go back, use high protien fiber. You may well find that a change of diet will help with the problems you describe, but give it time.

However, this horse needs to be walked and at most trotted until you can go anywhere with him alone. Cantering and galloping a horse like this is asking to be run off with.

If you take it steady and do lots of groundwork and walking, building your confidence and his and improving your leadership skills then there is no reason for you not to have some success with this horse.
 
sounds stressful - at least you all got back to the yard in one piece!
In hindsight it probably wasnt a very good idea to go in the field in the first place. Would be better to get him used to hacking out with a buddy walk and trot until he is relaxed and then introduce canter in enclosed bridlelanes up hills etc till settled with that - eventually fields and eventually you might be able to walk him round while others trot off but thats probably a long way off. If you find yourself in the same situation again then trot is probably the best pace - in walk its far easier to whip round or explode I think - in trot at least you can go forward purposefully and if they buck etc it isnt as bad- trotting circles with a buddy is the best way to calm them down and try not to get tense - easier said than done
Probably best that your friend doesnt gallop him at the moment unless you have a specific place you can do it as once youve done it once he`ll expect to gallop there again
 
thanks. Long reining him today and will lunge tomorrow, then lesson at the weekend. Like I said he hasn't done this with me before, and I am making changes to his feed. Think as another horse and rider were nervous he picked up on that aswell. He's been fne hacking out with one other, so will stick with that. He hacked out with one other before and was fine, good as gold and didn't put a foot wrong.
 
Does he only behave like this in fields or is it a general problem on hacks? If it's only in fields then it is probably solvable (sp). I have trained all of my horses to walk, trot, canter and gallop in a field when and where I want them to. It takes time but it's really worth it and I'm sure it would be extremely helpful in an emergency. They have to learn that grass doesn't mean go, so just walk him in fields for at least two months, with a friend if that makes it easier for you. Then, when he is very calm in walk, add a bit of trot in. (If it makes you feel safer, trot as you near a corner so you can turn him into it if he gets too excited). It's just a gradual process.

You can use the same technique with normal hacking too. It just takes time and a lot of patience.
 
Spot_the_Risk said:
He was obviously expecting a good breeze up. At least no one was hurt - I'd be tempted to take him on a long hack tomorrow on his own, on the roads, and keep him in trot, take the edge of him (but that's just what I would do! :-) )
Click to expand...

Good advice but I know the yard Caramel is on and the road running past it is horrendous....you have to go down it a little way before turning onto fields...then if you go the other way, you have to go across fields and through a little wooded area to get anywhere....If that makes any sense..(it does to me because I can picture it!!! :) )
 
caramel said:
I'd love to take him out but he can't go on his own (spinning, jogging, lack of brakes) so lunging him tomorrow or riding.
Yeah he looked really on his toes like he was back at the races, he was raced a lot and was in training for 8 years so it's all still there.
I am rather new to ex-racers, have ridden a few but he's my first that I've owned. I tried loosening the contact, relaxing my seat, half halting but not much worked.

Will take him out again with one other, more sensible horse (he was good as gold last time)
Click to expand...

Get some help with someone experienced with ex-racers :). Try the ex-racers website as it's very useful. Also try sending a pm to Wimbles - she's had a fair bit of experience with them and she is lovely :D

You're going to have to take him right back to basics and re-school from the ground up. Has he had any time just turned away in the field since you got him?
 
You probably made him worse as you were tense and nervous. Tbs are highly sensitive they pick up on everything.
Our exracers are lovely to ride across fields with others, very calm and sensible. I rode across a field the other day and my friends cob was spinning and jogging ect and my racer slopped along at walk on a long rein!
You need to relax and then he will relax. Also it was pretty silly going out with people who were not capable of controlling their own horses and who were going to trot off and leave you. Even the most sensible cob can get upset if they see their friends disappearing into the distance.
Not sure an ex-racer with a nervous rider is really the best recipe but hey ho. If I was you I would do things with your horse that you are 100% comfortable with so he doesn't pick up on any nervous tension. Be careful at letting your friend take him for a gallop too, you don't want that to wind him up even more.
 
caramel said:
Me and Handy were invited out on a hack today, with Heather and Bella (cob mare.. heather hadn't hacked out much), and Holly and Bacardi (the safest thing on 4 legs!) and Tim, who'd come on foot for some confidence boosting :D

We left the yard and crossed the road, for a nice quiet walk round a field.
Nice and Quiet it wasn't!

Handy's eyes were on stalks, he was fixated with some scarecrows he'd spotted over on the other side! Started out fine. Nice and quiet, everyone was having fun, until...

Holly and Bacardi went off for a trot. Handy was rather on his toes at this point, and was jogging, jumping up and down, and threatening to spin (but luckily didn't!) Then Bella (led at this point) went off for a trot, yet handy, was desperate to go galloping off, leaving me feeling rather nervous. Not fun when he spins, he can't be left on his own (even if for 30 secs).

So at this point Tim came and walked with us, I was reassuring handy, trying to stay calm (I suffer with my nerves) and he seemed to settle. To a point.
As we went round a corner he got stronger and stronger (thinks back to when he was racing he was led out onto the track and let go) So this in turn started worrying Bella. Tim ended up leading Handy on one side and Bella on the other.
Then somehow, Bella lashed out and kicked handy twice. My first (and only thought) was "Did she get him??" He jumped away and was standing there shaking. (Bella did indeed kick him twice on the stifle).
Jumped off as was waving his right hind around quite a lot, and wouldn't let me anywhere near it. So decision was made to lead him back.
He was terribly strong to lead back, had Tim leading him by the reins, then wrapped a leadrope round the nose (still awfully strong so lots of halting etc) Handy was jogging, getting really hot, and he really did think he was back racing and looked like a proper racehorse :(
Got him back and informed YO of what happened, she had a look, luckily he's not lame, just sore :(
Luckily everyone got back in one piece and I'm riding handy in the school tomorrow (do some canter work) and Tim's riding him monday (wants to take him for a gallop!)

Learnt a lot from this. He'll always be a racer as it's all he knows. He's a quirky horse and very sharp and bright. He's not done this before. Just wasn't expecting it :D
Click to expand...

After reading your thread, I am honestly wondering why you have an ex racer! Nervous riders and ex racers don't usually mix very well, could it be you who (unknowingly) wound him up on the hack?
 
Now look here 'firewell' I happened to read your reply about our hack and I was annoyed to be accused of being unable to control my own horse. Bella was perfectly fine up until Handy started getting excited, it wasn't his fault, it's what he used to do and he just wanted to go. Bella didn't do anything wrong and we did not trot off and leave her, she had Tim to hold Handy back so that he wouldn't go off into trot. I loved every minute of the hack up until she decided to kick him and because I'm a nice friend and thought about Ellen's safety I thought I'd get off and help her with her horse cos he would not stand still for one second, kept bouncing in the air and spinning around on the spot, trying to drag us everywhere. The main thing is we all got back safely and it probably wasn't the best thing to invite an ex racer out onto a hack but like the old saying 'you don't know until you try', in my opinion at least we gave it a go. But I will not have anything bad said about me or my horse as we were perfectly fine!
 
I would suggest a couple of things here.

Firstly it was not a good idea to go out with more than one other horse.
It was not a good idea to let the others trot off and leave you behind (not sure whose idea that was).
It was not a good idea not to follow in trot - the forward energy would have prevented most of the playing around.
Stick to roadwork and pathways (not open fields) until you have full control and confidence in your abilities.
Cut out all the cereal in his feed.

You are far better is a sitatuion like you described to let your horse go with the others. By holding him back you are just bottling up the energy - you need to let it go in a controlled manner and a good forward going trot should be ideal.
 
Sorry you both feel got at. I think people are trying to be helpful. I too was surprised that anyone would not expect problems if other horses trot off. On a hack in company you all need to do the same thing and stick together. Some horses will get stressed even at walk if they get left behind as they are herd animals. A nice forward trot is great fro calming down and giving them something to think about so they stop messing about. Please don't gallop or even canter for a long time yet, you need lots of controlled wok and ground work to teach different aids and manners. Good luck!
 
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