Anyone have a horse that can't/won't hack?

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kit279

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Not mine, thankfully! But a friend has bought a lovely warmblood gelding for showjumping/dressage and he won't hack - I don't think he's dangerous but he doesn't enjoy it at all, is very very tense and afraid (I've ridden him and you can feel his heart going against your leg the whole time!). He is always rushing and pulling against you and it seems to really mess with his head and he's stressed for the rest of the day, you can't get a good tune out of him afterwards. My friend was quite upset but I said that since he goes so well and so willingly in the school and jumping, she shouldn't be too disappointed. I thought that since hacking seems to do more harm than good, she shouldn't force the issue.

Just wondering if anyone else has had a horse they couldn't or wouldn't hack?
 
How long's she had him and what's his history? I think time is the key here and little and often. I think you will find with a lot of these competition warmbloods they are brought on as just that and it could be quite possible it has done little or no hacking before.

Maybe try leading him out with another horse or on his own and the hack him. I do think the key is give him time, you say your friend has bought him so i am assuming it is recent.

A frined of mine said she bought a horse years ago and after initially settling it in on the livery yard it was turned out with other hores. It ended up having to be PTS as sustained a fractured leg. Turned out the horse had NEVER been out with other horses in it's life, had been mollycoddled since a foal and only ever led out to graze, Very sad, it had no natural instincts of how to interact with other horses. Had she known this she would have taken things a lot slower.

Hacking will be steessful if the horse hasn't done it.
 
I wouldn't hack my youngster one were on a busy main road and two if something scares him he runs
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I had a napper but since she was intended as a hack, I had to work on it. But I don't think she was truly afraid, more she had been allowed to get away with it in her previous home plus not wanting to leave her pals. It took a few months of gradual walking out in-hand, long reining and so on before she was happy, but it was worth every minute as she ended up as a fabulous hack, we could go anywhere.

If hacking out isn't so important to your friend, then maybe don't force him, but I always think it's a shame to see horses who excel in the school or competitions, but won't ride out. Do you think he might come round with some patience and hard work?
 
How long has she had him? It could be that he isn't settled yet so he is just insecure. One of ours hated leaving the yard to begin with but as he adjusted to his new surroundings, he became more confident. If he is new, it could also be a question of building up a relationship with him. Is he any better in company?

One of our warmbloods was terrified of going out when he first arrived. He had actually never been on a hack at his previous home. To start with we ponied him out so that no one was actually at risk. After a while he got used to the idea and now hacks out alone. Luckily we don't actually have to leave our property go on a hack, I wouldn't recommend ponying out if you are not in a secure environment.
 
Is he a warmblood straight from holland?
If so it is unlikely that he has ever been hacked before. He probably just doesn't 'get' it and needs time to adjust. Take it slowly and he may come round to the idea!

Alternatively, if he is for SJ & dressage, just don't hack him!
 
I knew of an ex-racehorse who simply couldn't be hacked, he was very nervous on the road and if he saw something scary he would flip straight over backwards - he had killed one rider and broken another's pelvis before he ended up at my old yard.

He was very insecure and spooky on the yard, in and out of the stable, and very very head shy and mistrustful of people. I think when you take a horse away from its familiar surroundings at the yard you ask them to put a lot of trust in their rider and this horse just didn't trust people.

If she hasn't had him long hopefully he will settle as he gets to know her and builds a bond. Second the above poster who said take him out in company, literally for 5 minutes. Some horses feel more confident if you lead them ,others if you're on their back.

The ex-racehorse I knew was 18, he had one to one attention but he just couldn't trust people and sadly I think he's just too old to change.
 
He's not really nappy as such, doesn't rear or buck, doesn't really panic or bolt, but you can feel him breathing heavily all the time, not just in traffic but in the fields. He doesn't do that 'looking at everything waiting to spook' thing either - he just puts his head down grimly and rushes as if he can't wait for it to be over. He's only 6 years old so not a total youngster but she's had him about 6 months now and he's no better. I just don't think he enjoys it at all, either in company or not. He's also what I would call a "solo horse", likes his own space and likes to work in the school on his own too. He feels quite different to a nappy horse so I'm not sure it's that.
 
If he is dutch then he probaby has never been hacked, mine is dutch and gets worried and nappy we are getting there now with more schooling, even if he wont hack out if he can at least go a little way from th yard on his own its usefull which is what we can now do with constant reasurrance and before we moved she would go out for about 20 mins on her own not because she stopped but i didnt want her to stop so i just went for a little while, she hacks out in company fine and we can now go in front for a short amount of time before she gets worried. Just keep on but i would do some more schooling and build more of a bond before you push him too much if he isnt for hacking it may not be worth putting him through it if your friend isnt desperate to hack out all the time, it doesnt reallt bother me tbh sometimes i think oh i'd love to poddle out on our own as its such a nice evening but then we go in the school and progress and i think in a way thats more rewarding!
 
I bought a warmblood in Germany and all he had every known was stable to indoor school and turn out when the weather was nice on his own. I had major issues just getting him to walk near a tiny bit of mud or a puddle, never mind hack out. I have had him 4 years now and he splashes through the mud! he hacks ok, not totally bombproof but then i didn't buy him to hack.
I think all you can do is let the horse get his head around the change in lifestyle, dont force him to hack straight away or he will only become scared.
I am sure once he begins to trust the rider he will be fine.
 
I can't hack my TBx out - we were hit by a car and ever since she isn't safe in traffic. She's better - I can walk her out in hand now but she is nowhere near safe enough for me to consider endangering myself and others by hacking her out
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Yes had one like that but most days I couldn't even get her out the gate !!!
Used to put her on the lorry and take her to a friends and hack out with her, she was fine in company.
 
it would be nice for the horse if they could by small stages persuade him to the delights of being out and about. Just to give him some variety.
 
I have a horse that was a very unhappy hacker. He's not afraid of the traffic just was never happy to go out. One of my daughter's friends took him for a very long walk up on the mountains, in company, and he just kept looking for anything and everything to fuss about and didn't relax at all. If I tried to take him out he'd refuse to go up our drive to the gate. The better he knew you the more he tried to say 'I don't like this.'

In the end I allowed someone really gutsy to ride him out on a very long rein. He takes all his confidence from the rider and when there was no restriction and she just said 'Okay if you want to run away, go' he did nothing. He has grown in confidence since and enjoys a very occasional hack. I really believe that he's happy in the school all the time because he's confident there.
 
I bought my horse 8 months ago and she still spooks and rushes about a bit, it will take a long time if he has never hacked before. Its a shame if they cant/wont do it because its good for them to get out and about
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I've got a WB from Holland and he's a pain in the bum to hack out. At first he would nap/rear even in company, but now at least he hacks out nicely with others. He wouldn't go near puddles etc either and was very spooky - he's better now and I've had him for 18 months. We still have problems on our own though, I'm not sure if he'll ever be happy enough for us to go out on our own.
 
I have an ex-racer and he is good to hack out in regards to he isn't spooky and is good with traffic however he is rather nappy. At certain poines in a hack (apart from one route) he will stop, refuse to go forwards, will keep walking backwards (have not found a way to get him to stop this) and spin around and then charge off in the opposite direction.

I don't know why he does this, I don't think it is down to fear but cannot see any reason causing his rudeness. Howver if he forces me to dismount he will happily walk all the way home with me on foot and I will re-mount at home and hack him out again straight away and he is usualy ok then.

He is much better than how he was before I just think he was allowed to get away with everything as he was previously owned by a 14yro who was scared of him. And before that he was apparently owned by another 14yro and they didn't own him long.
 
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