Anyone had a young horse that DOESN'T like riding in company???

phantomhorse

phantomhorse

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I am at a loss with my mare. I backed her and have been hacking out on and off for the past year around the 3 mile circuit around the lanes by the yard. She is also lightly schooled in the small menage at the yard and is generally very easy going. She's rising 5 and has come along nicely so far.

So this spring I decided it would be time to hack out in company. I don't know the rides around the area and company would be nice. However, my mare reacts really strangely in company. Rather than taking confidence from any of the accompanying horses we've hacked with, she's become stressed. She'll start neighing and looking backwards towards where she's just come from. She'll stop, plant, neigh and start to plunge and run backwards. The other horse/s can keep going but she doesn't want to follow. Quite the opposite. I can get her going on after them but the whole ride is a nightmare of her trying to stop and turn around home. So far we've have only taken her around the 3 mile circuit she's used to so there's no reason for her to feel uncomfortable and nervous. Last week we were hacking out alone and caught up with some people riding ahead of us on the road. Mine spotted them about 100 yards ahead and started her misbehaviour again. It's very strange, especially as she's a very dominant mare and definitely isn't the type to be overwhelmed in the company of other horses.

I thought she was going to benefit from the riding out in company? Why would she do this????
 
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Mine can be funny with company. She doesn't like more 3-4 horses out on a hack, and she is very wary of horses she doesn't know.

One horse came out with us, and she was happy with him for the get-go. He got confidence from her and used to tuck his head in beside my knee, which she didn't mind.

Other horses, she will shy away from and if they come within a few yards of her, she'll squeal and jump away from them - if she can't get away - then she'll kick. I find, the more I take her out with different company, the more she gets used to it and does settle down.

Does she have horse company in her field? It sounds like she may just be unsure of the other horse?
 
How is she with other horses in the arena or enclosed field ect? If she hasn't had much exposure to that I would get her confident in that situation first, then when that goes well take her out with only one other horse and see how she goes. Gradually introduce more horses with time.
 
coen said:
How is she with other horses in the arena or enclosed field ect? If she hasn't had much exposure to that I would get her confident in that situation first, then when that goes well take her out with only one other horse and see how she goes. Gradually introduce more horses with time.
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Thanks for the suggestion. She's been well socialised. She lived much of her first 3 years in a herd at stud and has been the dominant horse in whichever groups she's ever been in - even from a very young age (She had a high ranking dam who taught her the ropes :rolleyes:). So this is what I find so odd. She's the last horse I'd have expected to react like this in company.

She's kept on a large yard and is turned out with company sharing her paddock (maybe one or two others) and can always chat over the electric fences with horses in adjoining paddocks. When I visit when she's turned out she spends most of her time flattening her ears at her companions and lunging at them to to chase them away from me. She's really not the sort to be intimidated.

I think I'll try and find someone to quietly hack out with me on a one-to-one for a while. See if this helps get her over her problem. :confused:

In reply to how she is in the menage in company - a nightmare. She gets really worked up and excited. Very sweaty and unreasonable. At the best of times she's an easily destracted sort but in company in a close environment, she's hopeless. We're working on that! I lunge her whilst other's a are schooling closeby.
 
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I never could hack my hackney mare in company, she was a nightmare stressing and freaking out. On her own she was fine, marched along on a long contact good in all traffic, no problems. I had her from five to nineteen and even then she was as bad as ever if we met anyone else. She was fine in the school with others, just hacking out.
When she was pts and I was looking for a new horse the owners would say, 'She hacks out alone, would you like to take her round the block?' and I always asked if someone would come with me just to make sure it would go in company! After 14 years of hacking on my own I fancy going out for a natter now occasionally.
 
I can't hack my mare in company but she is the complete opposite, she won't walk. she jogs the whole time, if you try to canter she will bolt and i spend the whole hack fighting with her to slow down!

if she is the head mare, I wonder if she is worried about the other horses that she's left behind in the field? do they call her when you take her out?

I know shes find when alone but does the other horse you go out with come from the same field and leaves a small number of horses behind on their own, which get stressy?
 
Have you tried different positions in the group ! If she is dominant try putting her at the head of the group rather than behind - if she is ok with this then you can get her used to the group hacking first then move her about in the group once she is settled. As she is so dominant it could be that she feels uncomfortable when not allowed to be the "leader" only a guess though.

My chap is always happiest at the front - he has ears back most of the time if behind and can be a bit silly - he is also more than happy to let others go off without him ! I dont know if this stems from the fact that I had no-one to hack with for the first couple of years after he was backed so he has just gotten used to being on his own.
 
Probably a silly thing but has anyone else ever ridden her and does she do it with them? Only thing I would suggest is persevering with it and possibly riding another horse and leading her from it (I'd do this with someone else there just in case though) plus lots of work or classes with other horses, work her through it.
 
I had the same problem with my first pony. She was great to ride alone she was also good with one other but in a group she was really unhappy. I understand that a previous owner had taken her hunting and she had refused to go which has got to be a rarity. I found it easier to ride with just one other and start with her best friend or one she can nanny and say everything is ok. She never did improve but I generally only had the chance to ride alone or with one other then.
 
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