Behaviour - horse goes crazy if asked to stay behind on hack/Xc

[niagaraduval]

I have an ex racer and he was terrible in his younger years for this, I just could not hack him out in company at all for years, suddenly when he turned about 9 he calmed down a lot and I was finally able to hack him out with another very quiet mare.

I think if galloping about with lots of horses he would still be a nightmare though and he is 13 now.

However much I tried when he was younger he was just down right dangerous in a group and I had no control what so ever, he would even do stupid things like go cantering and spinning about in the middle of the road. When down the tracks all he wanted to do was go go go and of course I can't go galloping like a loony down steep hills etc. so this made him even worse.

Mine was an absolute *** during his teenage years though.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I think I have your horse's twin.

Only difference is mine cannot stand pressure in the mouth or on the poll when she is performing and will rear straight up if I ride her into contact.

When you find the answer, please tell me. I'm fairly desperate too.

Mine's also lovely to school and jump and is actually excellent over xc. Just impossible to hack, alone or in company.

 

[showaddy1]

I know I'm going to get a slating... But I think your going to have to accept she is what she is, I've ridden ex racers who I wouldn't dare ride out in company for fear of other road users/ hurting myself or horse.
Just think of what she's good at to stop yourself getting so disheartened, try to find a quiet horse to practice the hacking out, she may improve with age.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

I know I'm going to get a slating... But I think your going to have to accept she is what she is, I've ridden ex racers who I wouldn't dare ride out in company for fear of other road users/ hurting myself or horse.
Just think of what she's good at to stop yourself getting so disheartened, try to find a quiet horse to practice the hacking out, she may improve with age.

this.

its a HUGE ask for a herd animal to be forced to hold back, especially if she can then feel your frustration building and she is getting told off.

there is no way on gods great earth that i will ever be able to ask my boy to wait and be left behind (even if only a tiny amount). its taken FIVE YEARS to be able to hack 99% sensibly round the block in walk with 1 or 2 other horses (granted he is an extreme case but a good example of showaddy1's point, he is excellent at his *day job* of dressage so i dont force this issue). he wouldnt just be bunny hopping he would be vertical rearing and kicking and probably end up going over.

if you can cope with what she does and you are desperate to make the point that she MUST go behind, then just be prepared to accept her antics. she might get a bit better but to a certain degree they either accept it or they dont and i doubt any amount of schooling will make her able to plod on a long rein when she gets left behind. This is one of the things that IME schooling doesnt really change in a huge way.

 

[Fides]

The suggestion with serpentine s I feel will not work either probably as she is walking side to side and dancing every which way to get ahead already.

Which is exactly why this technique does work. The horse is thinking it is doing what it wants but actually you are controlling what happens. The horse soon learns that if it messes about then it is harder work than simply behaving. It's all about transferring the balance of power back to you.

And example - my mare is terrible for swinging her quarters in on the long side of the arena, but just one side. When she does this I increase the angle more and make her half pass down the long side. She soon begs to go straight...

I had a pony who used to jog on the way home - so I used to make him trot hard and then continue on past home. The jogging soon stopped...

It's all about using what they do against them so you are dictating what is happening, not them

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I know I'm going to get a slating... But I think your going to have to accept she is what she is, I've ridden ex racers who I wouldn't dare ride out in company for fear of other road users/ hurting myself or horse.
Just think of what she's good at to stop yourself getting so disheartened, try to find a quiet horse to practice the hacking out, she may improve with age.

This is where I'm at. I still hack her but I just accept it's likely to be stressful instead of relaxing. We limit roads to only the very necessary. I've had her nearly 8 years now and she's always been this way.

Good luck OP, if you do find something which improves things then I'd be very interested.

 

[PollyP99]

Well from my last post we have been out on a few more hacks. Yesterday she hacked out wards lovely, all be it up the other horses bum, and was chilled with loose rein. I'm still in mullen mouth Dutch gag on the normal main ring.

Homeward bound it all fell apart when the horse ahead had trotted on a little and was say 20ft ahead she got very annoyed. Instead of yanking her to stop, when she rushes I am circling her until she calms and let her walk, then circle again if she goes to trot again. She would maybe walk one stride before trying to trot again :-(

I do feel a slight progress but can't help feeling very annoyed after the hack as she works herself up into a right tizz and sweat lashing off her ... One good thing is she has stopped the spring bucks!

Can anyone offer any more tips? The calmer in the feed didn't work and she is getting no extra hard feed at present.

Small point but my happy in front or behind mare would get a bit up tight if the hacking companion suddenly trotted off, I would have thought being happy behind for a while is progress enough, being left behind is something many object to but it's not demanding to be first. If that makes sense to anyone?

 

[AmyMay]

Small point but my happy in front or behind mare would get a bit up tight if the hacking companion suddenly trotted off, I would have thought being happy behind for a while is progress enough, being left behind is something many object to but it's not demanding to be first. If that makes sense to anyone?

I agree 100%, which is why it's so important to choose the correct hacking partner for a tricky horse.

 

[laurenn1010]

My hacking partner was not trotting further away but was only in walk a short distance ahead. This was enough to light her up and she was fizzy the whole way home after that. The circles work better than the serpentine as she gets even more arsey in serpentine as she has more freedom. I'm thinking if my hacking partner Carrys a rope and slaps it side to side on her own back it might help back off my horse from her ponies bum.

I must try and get a video up.

 

[laurenn1010]

If I turned the trotting and jigging into her idea I believe we would be trotting for miles... This girl never runs out of go... Once she gets to the front it still doesn't matter as she then forgets the rest and wants to continue forward full speed ahead lol

 

[laurenn1010]

She is 100% hacking out alone! she just get anxiety when hacking in company and doesn't want to get left behind .

 

[Illusion100]

I had a horse similar to this.

He HAD to be first. Hacking he had to lead (good as gold hacking alone), XC schooling he had to go first, fitness training on Gallops, he had to be in front, loading onto Lorry, he had to go first, if bringing him and another horse in from field he had to be at least a nose in front of other horse. Try to make him wait his turn and he lost the plot, prancing/leaping/rearing etc. He never outgrew it. This was because he was an extremely competitive horse and hated being 'second'.

God forbid he caught sight of a horse ahead of him in the old days of Phases A&C on XC day. Oh the fun that caused!

Other than his competitiveness he was an absolute pleasure in everyway. It was just an aspect of his personality that had to be accepted.

 

[Kat]

If I turned the trotting and jigging into her idea I believe we would be trotting for miles... This girl never runs out of go... Once she gets to the front it still doesn't matter as she then forgets the rest and wants to continue forward full speed ahead lol

Well surely it would be worth trotting for miles a few times? If she starts jogging trot her on, on a contact forward, and if possible on circles or serpentines so that trotting is hard and when she asks to stop make her trot some more. Only stop when you ask her to and if she jogs you start again. The point is to have her exhausted so she realises that walking nicely is better. Your first few hacksay not be much fun but it will be worth it in the end.

 

[Gloi]

Well surely it would be worth trotting for miles a few times? If she starts jogging trot her on, on a contact forward, and if possible on circles or serpentines so that trotting is hard and when she asks to stop make her trot some more. Only stop when you ask her to and if she jogs you start again. The point is to have her exhausted so she realises that walking nicely is better. Your first few hacksay not be much fun but it will be worth it in the end.

This would work with mine if he was feeling joggy but it wouldn't work with my friend's one at all it would just leave him more wound up. He is always hyper even when turned out in the field he is never still. We've been out all day on hard rides and have never known him even to seem slightly more tired at the end he keeps himself so fit. There is no such thing as him 'asking to stop'. I think it would take something like an endurance race to actually start to tire him. Illusion100's horse sounds pretty much like him. When we are out with him we just accept him for what he is and let him go in front, it makes everyone's life easier and he does have the good point that he is also the most bombproof horse around who will go anywhere & pass everything so not a bad horse to have in the lead.