building confidence hacking

[dottylottie]

does anyone have any bright ideas to help a horse get over major nerves out hacking?

she’s good as gold in the arena (thankyou, mirrors!), will happily walk out on foot with me, but trying to hack her out is turning into a nightmare!

the YO has very kindly said i can hack around the perimeter of the huge field that runs the length of the yard, but yesterday we barely made it through the gate before she spun in the other direction and tried to make a run for it. i jumped off and we walked further down, and then rode her back up, but she’s a bag of nerves if i’m riding her. the buggaring off in the other direction is new though, until now she’d usually stop and reverse or “jump” at something but wiggle her way past when i push her on.

i’m reluctant to start taking her out with another horse and i’m a bit short on hacking companions really, i don’t want the issues going out alone to get even worse because she’s been with another horse, but i’m also doubtful that it’ll make a huge difference. i will of course try it, but i think i might struggle as there’s only 1 other person on my yard who rides, and not very often.

just feeling a bit deflated! she’s been so much more settled on the new yard, we’ve got amazing hacking just a short walk up the (20mph) road, she tries her heart out in the arena but i don’t know how to help her with hacking out! and i’m hesitant to just push through it on my own, because she seems to lose her head completely and i don’t fancy being hit by a car!

i feel so guilty, i don’t want to school day in day out for the sake of her physical and both of our mental well-being, but when i have pushed her through it there’s no enjoyment there for her whatsoever.

i’m going to try an “obstacle course” in the arena, so we can explore scary things in an environment she feels safe in to hopefully help her figure out that nothing is going to eat her and we can stop and process the feelings without panicking but other than this i’m stumped!

sorry for the very long post guys, im just at a loss as to moving forward (literally) i’ll include a photo of the madam herself for anyone who makes it this far lol

 

[canteron]

I think anything you can do to build up her confidence with flappy/loud/moving things will help! Look at agility/Trt/Jenku and lots of others for inspiration.

 

[dottylottie]

I think anything you can do to build up her confidence with flappy/loud/moving things will help! Look at agility/Trt/Jenku and lots of others for inspiration.

thankyou! the worst part is she’s fine with moving things, not fussed by traffic, but things like rocks on the ground send her into a panic of course i know horses don’t have the understanding to “group” items together and know that rocks are all, well rocks, but it’s baffling and frustrating the things she’s spooked by haha.

 

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

I would say try doing some ground work in the arena, and introduce things like tarps and feed bags, things that blow about and make a racket really, untill she becomes comfortable around them. Also you could try doing 'the bag test' aka: tying feed bags to the saddle with her on the lunge. I always do this before I get on the youngsters for the first time, works like a dream (most of the time ).

 

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

thankyou! the worst part is she’s fine with moving things, not fussed by traffic, but things like rocks on the ground send her into a panic of course i know horses don’t have the understanding to “group” items together and know that rocks are all, well rocks, but it’s baffling and frustrating the things she’s spooked by haha.

Oh, I've just posted a message saying how to desensitize her to the things she's not scared of . Maybe if it's rocks that she's scared of out hacking, then I would long line her down a quiet road.

 

[Miss_Millie]

This video is the best advice I have ever received about taking a horse out hacking:

Remember that horses are both herd animals and prey animals, being separated from other equines = danger in their minds. The only way to truly overcome this is to build a strong enough bond and trust between you, so that she feels completely safe with you away from other horses.

If you were teaching someone to swim and they were terrified of water, would you throw them in at the deep end? No. The same applies here. Confidence is built by slowly building someone up and stretching their comfort zone little by little.

Right now, her comfort zone is with her friends. Try taking her on an in hand walk a little away from the yard. Make it a really positive experience - lots of praise, be patient and understanding. Then turn around and go back before she starts to get anxious. I'd repeat this as frequently as possible, try to go a little further each day, but be aware that progress is not linear, so if one day you don't get as far as the day before, that's fine. Before you know it, you can add tack, still going on an in hand walk, but then perhaps mount and ride back if she is feeling calm. Or hop on for a few metres when you are leaving the yard and then hop off again.

One of the biggest training mistruths I hear spouted in the horse world is 'don't let them win'. This is the biggest BS ever, from a scientific perspective horses don't have any concept of 'winning' or 'taking the mick', they are prey animals and act on instinct. If a horse spins around to run back, they aren't 'trying it on', that behaviour is often times fear based, but can also be an evasion behaviour if they have had a bad experience whilst being hacked etc.

I actually found that listening to my horse was the best way to overcome her hacking anxiety, if she told me that she didn't want to go any further then I might ask again to see if I could gently stretch that comfort zone, if it was a firm 'hell no' then we would turn around and go back. This was the main catalyst for our progress, because as soon as she realised I wasn't going to force or bully her into doing something she was scared of, she calmed down and became more willing to listen to me and trust me.

My horse in similar in that she is fine with vehicles but can be scared of novel, static objects. E.g. road signs, piece of litter that was not there the day before. The game changer for us was teaching her how to target. The idea is that you train the horse to touch the scary object with their nose. If they touch it then they get a treat. Before you know it your horse will be more curious about scary objects, because of the positive associations built up from targeting. Targeting is easy to train, you could practice it in the arena, maybe set up some weird objects and teach her how to do it. Then you can use this training tool when out and about

 

[Barton Bounty]

Advised do many people on what I have done with mine, BB was a racehorse and had no hacking experience , actually no normal saddle riding experience at all. I did it with food. Just did it carefully and slowly and gradually expanded the areas we ride in. Started off just going a little way , say 20 minutes then give him a treat, make a huge fuss of him, then nudge him on a wee bit more , another treat and eventually he just didnt bother too much, now he just stops for a wee treat whenever he wants one but I dont care. He hacks alone now and I am so proud of him.
It isnt a quick fix but it took me about two months for him to be ok hacking out alone. He is actually better alone than with conpany as well now.
Just be consistent and repetitive and you will get there

 

[pixie27]

Positive reinforcement/clicker training has really helped mine. Started off on the ground and built up to under saddle. When he’s scared by something (or tense/worried/nervous) his panic/flight mode is so strong that nothing gets through it. He’s another one that is toooootally fine being led, not really spooky, fine in the school.

R+ seems to be the only thing that cuts through and gets him engaging his brain again! Plus the eating/chewing is the best way for him to relieve tension. And he does anything for food, so if he knows I have nuts in my pocket, he’s generally got one ear on my hand/my hand going into my pocket. So out hacking, i give him basic/easy cues that he knows (eg touch) and reward them when he’s chill. Then when he begins to get tense or worried I just repeat. I’m not a brave or super confident rider so I find this technique works well for us both.

 

[dottylottie]

Oh, I've just posted a message saying how to desensitize her to the things she's not scared of . Maybe if it's rocks that she's scared of out hacking, then I would long line her down a quiet road.

i’m still going to give it a go! when i say “fine” i mean by lilys standards lol - she’ll give it a side eye but go past. i think starting with things she’s already “okay” about it’ll help us work on the stuff she’s truly freaked out about! i don’t have a quiet “road” that i could long line down safely, but i’m definitely going to do it around the yard - it’s very small and all kind off off to one side of a long track, so it’s straight and we can gradually progress into the field.

 

[Poppy+MrDarcy]

i’m still going to give it a go! when i say “fine” i mean by lilys standards lol - she’ll give it a side eye but go past. i think starting with things she’s already “okay” about it’ll help us work on the stuff she’s truly freaked out about! i don’t have a quiet “road” that i could long line down safely, but i’m definitely going to do it around the yard - it’s very small and all kind off off to one side of a long track, so it’s straight and we can gradually progress into the field.

Yes I'm sure round the yard will work

 

[AntiPuck]

Positive reinforcement and in-hand walks (I wouldn't personally risk long-lining a very nervous horse out in the open) made a huge difference to mine, I echo all that Miss_Millie said

 

[dottylottie]

This video is the best advice I have ever received about taking a horse out hacking:

Remember that horses are both herd animals and prey animals, being separated from other equines = danger in their minds. The only way to truly overcome this is to build a strong enough bond and trust between you, so that she feels completely safe with you away from other horses.

If you were teaching someone to swim and they were terrified of water, would you throw them in at the deep end? No. The same applies here. Confidence is built by slowly building someone up and stretching their comfort zone little by little.

Right now, her comfort zone is with her friends. Try taking her on an in hand walk a little away from the yard. Make it a really positive experience - lots of praise, be patient and understanding. Then turn around and go back before she starts to get anxious. I'd repeat this as frequently as possible, try to go a little further each day, but be aware that progress is not linear, so if one day you don't get as far as the day before, that's fine. Before you know it, you can add tack, still going on an in hand walk, but then perhaps mount and ride back if she is feeling calm. Or hop on for a few metres when you are leaving the yard and then hop off again.

One of the biggest training mistruths I hear spouted in the horse world is 'don't let them win'. This is the biggest BS ever, from a scientific perspective horses don't have any concept of 'winning' or 'taking the mick', they are prey animals and act on instinct. If a horse spins around to run back, they aren't 'trying it on', that behaviour is often times fear based, but can also be an evasion behaviour if they have had a bad experience whilst being hacked etc.

I actually found that listening to my horse was the best way to overcome her hacking anxiety, if she told me that she didn't want to go any further then I might ask again to see if I could gently stretch that comfort zone, if it was a firm 'hell no' then we would turn around and go back. This was the main catalyst for our progress, because as soon as she realised I wasn't going to force or bully her into doing something she was scared of, she calmed down and became more willing to listen to me and trust me.

My horse in similar in that she is fine with vehicles but can be scared of novel, static objects. E.g. road signs, piece of litter that was not there the day before. The game changer for us was teaching her how to target. The idea is that you train the horse to touch the scary object with their nose. If they touch it then they get a treat. Before you know it your horse will be more curious about scary objects, because of the positive associations built up from targeting. Targeting is easy to train, you could practice it in the arena, maybe set up some weird objects and teach her how to do it. Then you can use this training tool when out and about

thankyou!! i think maybe i tried to run before we could walk - before we moved she was doing well with little walks ridden and coming back, but of course she’s never been in that field before and neither of us were expecting the neighbours on the other side of the fence to have so much random stuff next to it lol. we’d been given strict instructions to stay by the edge, so when she turned round n buggared off i was more bothered about her churning up the field

we started doing some of the target training before we moved and it did help! the road going into the yard was full of road works, they’d dig up the full pavement so we did lots of it with the barriers blocking it off, strangely she wasn’t overly fussed, but i was on foot so obviously that helped.

i’m definitely not in the “don’t let them win” camp, i was getting thoroughly fed up of her trying to cart me off in the other direction and actually telling her “i know you can’t help it and you’re scared, but we’re not ending immediately after you doing that” helped - vocalising it out loud made me think about the fact that she has no idea how to handle a situation like that, because i said it without even thinking.

i didn’t think about doing it like that and coming back before she gets anxious, i can tell she’s nervous right from setting off but we usually go until she has a more extreme “strop” (i know they don’t think like that of course, but it’s the best word i can think of to describe the snorting and stamping lol) and once she calms down we go maybe 3 steps forward and come home. but thinking about it, that’s obviously not building any sort of positive association with hacking out!

it’s just difficult to tell what’s going to upset her. yesterday for example, we had that fiasco in the field about the things on the other side of the fence that were pretty standard stuff to see outside on a farm/yard property, but we went up the back of the arena where there’s machinery/tractor type stuff and flappy bales and she was hesitant but went, and then walked down to the gate which looks onto the road and she was fine watching the traffic even when a huge tractor came past, but when we turned round we got a few steps up and out of nowhere she scooted her bum under herself and shot forward a few strides - no cars going past, absolutely nothing behind or in front so i’ve no idea what she took a dislike to!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Plan a short circular hack and hand walk everyday for a week then try it on board repeat until she is fully relaxed, then do the same thing with another short route it was the only thing that got my nappy horse better.

 

[dottylottie]

Positive reinforcement/clicker training has really helped mine. Started off on the ground and built up to under saddle. When he’s scared by something (or tense/worried/nervous) his panic/flight mode is so strong that nothing gets through it. He’s another one that is toooootally fine being led, not really spooky, fine in the school.

R+ seems to be the only thing that cuts through and gets him engaging his brain again! Plus the eating/chewing is the best way for him to relieve tension. And he does anything for food, so if he knows I have nuts in my pocket, he’s generally got one ear on my hand/my hand going into my pocket. So out hacking, i give him basic/easy cues that he knows (eg touch) and reward them when he’s chill. Then when he begins to get tense or worried I just repeat. I’m not a brave or super confident rider so I find this technique works well for us both.

i’ll definitely stock my pockets up! i do let her graze on our in hand walks to chill her out with the chewing, i tend to stop her next to something she’s not keen on and let her have a nibble, but it turned into her trying to tow me to the grass verges for a snack so maybe pocket treats are the way forward since we had to minimise the grass haha.

luckily, walking round the outside of a field means there’s an abundance of grass to snack on!

 

[dottylottie]

Plan a short circular hack and hand walk everyday for a week then try it on board repeat until she is fully relaxed, then do the same thing with another short route it was the only thing that got my nappy horse better.

i think i’ll give this a go but start in the field, any “short” hacks mean being on the road the whole time - there’s a public footpath on the property that i have permission to ride on but the gates are kept locked (due to people messing with things on the property) so i think that can be our second route, but i don’t want to constantly be asking him to unlock the gates for me to be back in 5 minutes lol. and i also don’t want her to churn it up being a numpty and lose permission to ride on it

i’m hindsight i don’t know why i didn’t start on foot and then ride coming back, i think i got ahead of myself in how much better she’s been since we moved and temporarily forgot that she’ll let me get on from the ground unassisted now!

 

[pixie27]

i’ll definitely stock my pockets up! i do let her graze on our in hand walks to chill her out with the chewing, i tend to stop her next to something she’s not keen on and let her have a nibble, but it turned into her trying to tow me to the grass verges for a snack so maybe pocket treats are the way forward since we had to minimise the grass haha.

luckily, walking round the outside of a field means there’s an abundance of grass to snack on!

Haha i feel that! Mine learnt v quickly that he has to wait for his ‘reward’ now.

Reading your post above, about her scooting off after the scary thing - sounds super similar. Mine internalises his stress a lot, then it all boils over and he reacts. It was confusing for a while as it was like - but we got past the scary thing/got through a worrying situation. Then our R+ instructor pointed out that he was trying to hold it in, then exploding when it overran his bucket. So lots of easy requests and rewards to bring down the amount of stress in his (metaphorical) bucket seems to work. Eg i ask him to stop, click and reward when he does.

Came in super handy when i fell off in the forest. Normally he disappears home and I was terrified he’d gallop off, but he paused for a second, i gave the halt cue, he stayed stood still, so I clicked and that click noise sort of got his brain re engaged out of flight mode and he waited for me to walk over and retrieve him. All about building confidence and letting them know they can do this! Baby steps and reward and build from there.

Under saddle I set tiny goals - literally like, get 10m down the lane and turnaround and come back. Always wanted to leave the yard feeling ‘wish I stayed on/rode for longer’ than ‘oh god i never want to hack again!!’

(And just for context now we’re hacking for 90+ mins by ourselves with little drama - didn’t take long to get here but was based on a foundation of tiny steps!)

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Mine used to stop and spin and run back if he was unsure about anything and if I argued and tried to force him he got so upset and would threaten to rear, so I just used to get off and lead him I didn't want him stressed and unhappy I think you have to make it as nice and pleasant as possible.

 

[Boulty]

My thoughts are that I really would try to get her out with another horse whenever it is possible as giving her some good hacking experiences to build on is highly likely to improve her overall confidence. I wouldn’t just follow behind the whole way though. Keep alternating who’s in front & if she won’t go totally in front to start with then have her riding alongside, then nose in front, then chest in front. When she’ll happily go in front try & increase the distance between you & the other rider both when you’re in front & when you’re behind to get her doing things independent of the other horse.

On days you don’t have the option of another horse is there is human who could come on foot / on a bike with you? Would have them support & take the lead past anything scary but would build towards them dropping back gradually when not needed so it’s helping build towards being totally on your own.

You could always combine this with some inhand hacking on days you have nobody (get her walking on beside you not following behind / being dragged along) and as your confidence grows you could start getting on partway around and riding home.

Does she longrein at all? If so this can be a good tool for getting them going forwards independently and another thing to try. If you’ve never done it before would get an instructor to show you how to do it safely and then start in the arena and the field. If you feel fully safe and in control you could then build towards doing it on the road and bridleways.

It is definitely possible to teach a horse with low confidence to happily hack alone but it’s a tedious and sometimes long process. If you don’t feel confident enough to do all of this yourself you could always ask for the help of a professional although my advice would be to find someone who is going to work with the horse & make it a positive experience for them, not just bully them into it.

 

[Tarragon]

What about boxing out to somewhere safe and fun to ride? Perhaps you are just as anxious as she is and you are feeding off each other, and changing the location altogether might just help you both?

 

[eahotson]

This video is the best advice I have ever received about taking a horse out hacking:

Remember that horses are both herd animals and prey animals, being separated from other equines = danger in their minds. The only way to truly overcome this is to build a strong enough bond and trust between you, so that she feels completely safe with you away from other horses.

If you were teaching someone to swim and they were terrified of water, would you throw them in at the deep end? No. The same applies here. Confidence is built by slowly building someone up and stretching their comfort zone little by little.

Right now, her comfort zone is with her friends. Try taking her on an in hand walk a little away from the yard. Make it a really positive experience - lots of praise, be patient and understanding. Then turn around and go back before she starts to get anxious. I'd repeat this as frequently as possible, try to go a little further each day, but be aware that progress is not linear, so if one day you don't get as far as the day before, that's fine. Before you know it, you can add tack, still going on an in hand walk, but then perhaps mount and ride back if she is feeling calm. Or hop on for a few metres when you are leaving the yard and then hop off again.

One of the biggest training mistruths I hear spouted in the horse world is 'don't let them win'. This is the biggest BS ever, from a scientific perspective horses don't have any concept of 'winning' or 'taking the mick', they are prey animals and act on instinct. If a horse spins around to run back, they aren't 'trying it on', that behaviour is often times fear based, but can also be an evasion behaviour if they have had a bad experience whilst being hacked etc.

I actually found that listening to my horse was the best way to overcome her hacking anxiety, if she told me that she didn't want to go any further then I might ask again to see if I could gently stretch that comfort zone, if it was a firm 'hell no' then we would turn around and go back. This was the main catalyst for our progress, because as soon as she realised I wasn't going to force or bully her into doing something she was scared of, she calmed down and became more willing to listen to me and trust me.

My horse in similar in that she is fine with vehicles but can be scared of novel, static objects. E.g. road signs, piece of litter that was not there the day before. The game changer for us was teaching her how to target. The idea is that you train the horse to touch the scary object with their nose. If they touch it then they get a treat. Before you know it your horse will be more curious about scary objects, because of the positive associations built up from targeting. Targeting is easy to train, you could practice it in the arena, maybe set up some weird objects and teach her how to do it. Then you can use this training tool when out and about

Love

 

[Peglo]

Could you walk her out in hand away from home and when you’re nearing home pop on for the last 5 mins.
Then next time on the way home get on 10 mins from home etc.

I would hack out with friends when you can but continue working on your own as well.
having someone come with you on foot is good too if it helps her.

 

[Miss_Millie]

i didn’t think about doing it like that and coming back before she gets anxious, i can tell she’s nervous right from setting off but we usually go until she has a more extreme “strop” (i know they don’t think like that of course, but it’s the best word i can think of to describe the snorting and stamping lol) and once she calms down we go maybe 3 steps forward and come home. but thinking about it, that’s obviously not building any sort of positive association with hacking out!

I don't know if you've heard of trigger stacking before, but basically those big explosions where a horse will plant or spin around after seemingly being 'okay' for a while, are the result of lots of little anxieties building up which are bubbling under the surface, until finally it is too much, and that's when the explosive behaviour will finally surface.

E.g. horse is already a bit anxious about being on their own without another horse, a bit later they hear a rustle in the hedge, then a bit later there's a scary road sign, then suddenly there's a car coming in the distance and bam, the horse explodes, spinning, planting, loud snorting etc. To us is might seem like it came from 'out of nowhere', but all of those little things built up to push an already nervous horse over the edge.

There are lots of little tell tale signs that your horse might already be a bit worried from the get go - listen to her breathing, is it regulated, or is it short and shallow like she's holding her breath a bit? Is her neck long and relaxed, or is it braced and giraffe like? Is she constantly looking around with a worried, triangulated eye, or is she looking straight ahead?

I try to turn back before any of these signs escalate. I don't want it to be that we went back because my horse exploded and went over threshold, but turn back because we both had a positive experience and were both satisfied with how things went. It's such a nice feeling to walk calmly back to the yard with an emotionally regulated horse.

It sounds like you have the right mindset and are on the right track already

 

[Julia0803]

My cob is not naturally brave on his own. He was a kids pony for so long he didn’t ever go out alone so I don’t think that helped.

For the first four years of ownership we were on a big yard with lots of owners around during the day and always hacking out so it was lovely (but with hindsight bad habit) that we always went with at least one other. Oddly, he is much much happier in a busy spot than a quiet lane- he’d much rather hack up the high street at school pick up time, with a million shouty kids, barky dogs, cars and buses and HGVs than a deserted country lane. Equally, he is completely chilled going with a very nervy or difficult horse than alone- he doesn’t react to them losing their cool or throwing shapes which I would have thought more worrisome than alone with a rider down a deserted bridle path.

When he had his hocks injected for the first time in 2018 we were on a much smaller yard, mainly teens who rode together after school, in the winter it was only possible to ride in the arena due to dark. We were told he had to do 3/4 weeks of walking hacking, straight lines, no arena work. So we had to pull our brave pants on!

We started on short circular routes around the housing estate with a foot soldier. The walker started in front, then dropped behind. Then we started bits where the walker would cut through a side road, but cob and ride would do the longer outer road, so would be alone for 2min. We then stretched that a bit longer, so the walker would set out with them and carry on up the road straight whilst rider would do the curve of a D shape so he was doing 60% alone (but the walker was close by if we ran into trouble). Then they started to go alone, the same routes we’d practiced with a walker20-30 mins, then we’d double up on loops so it was up to 40 min. For him with his weird quirks mentioned above, I kept him on busy-ish residential roads with random pedestrians and cars going by.

That dealt with the walk rehab. Going forward we started doing lots and lots of hacking in company to new places, varying whether he was in front or behind.

He had a long stint of boxrest in 2020/21 due to a ligament injury. The rehab for that involved lots of inhand walking progressing to ridden walking. We’d moved yards to be able to do the boxrest closer to home, but he was happy having walked the new area to then progressed to riding it. However, we stuck to busy residential roads in and around the village.

Once he was back up and running and had been hacking in the new area in company lots, we started, last summer, building up to new ‘scary’ quiet rural routes that he was happily doing in company with a human walker/runner. He was happily doing that last autumn and was doing really well. It kind of tapered off in the autumn due to childcare issues looking after the kids if husband and I were going out together for 1.5/2hrs. However, hopefully we can resume it this year. Once he’s happily doing those scary quiet routes with a walker I will start trying alone.

Throughout all of this, I know he feels more confident if I’m on foot. So if there is ever anything that’s worrying him, I have no qualms about hopping off to walk next to him to reassure him, and then getting back on again. It helps he’s 14.2!

Good luck! Personally I’ve found it quite a slow process, but progress was rather hampered by his injury and long boxrest. I know it is something he is not wildly fond of, (and it doesn’t help I’ve always been nervous hacking alone, so given the choice I’d always go in company)but we have definitely made progress and probably could have been hacking out alone over longer distances by now if I’d really focussed on it.

Thinking about it, I’m sure I’m part of the problem. He was always more relaxed with my teenage son going out alone (sadly he’s wildly outgrown!). Teenage son is completely horizontal personality wise about everything. I think he was away with the fairies, totally relaxed and enjoying the scenery which rubbed off on the horse, who thought there was clearly nothing to worry about whereas I have massive ‘what-if-itis’

 

[Alibear]

When you lead, you go first or equal with her. When you are on board she goes first. Work on getting her going well on longlines in the arena, then try that for the baby hacking route. Once she's longlining around it nicely then you can try ridden. Also to transition between longlining and lead hacks, if you can borrow someone to walk with you both the first time or two that's a nice way to break it down further. I type this knowing it's what I need to do as well.

 

[dottylottie]

My cob is not naturally brave on his own. He was a kids pony for so long he didn’t ever go out alone so I don’t think that helped.

For the first four years of ownership we were on a big yard with lots of owners around during the day and always hacking out so it was lovely (but with hindsight bad habit) that we always went with at least one other. Oddly, he is much much happier in a busy spot than a quiet lane- he’d much rather hack up the high street at school pick up time, with a million shouty kids, barky dogs, cars and buses and HGVs than a deserted country lane. Equally, he is completely chilled going with a very nervy or difficult horse than alone- he doesn’t react to them losing their cool or throwing shapes which I would have thought more worrisome than alone with a rider down a deserted bridle path.

When he had his hocks injected for the first time in 2018 we were on a much smaller yard, mainly teens who rode together after school, in the winter it was only possible to ride in the arena due to dark. We were told he had to do 3/4 weeks of walking hacking, straight lines, no arena work. So we had to pull our brave pants on!

We started on short circular routes around the housing estate with a foot soldier. The walker started in front, then dropped behind. Then we started bits where the walker would cut through a side road, but cob and ride would do the longer outer road, so would be alone for 2min. We then stretched that a bit longer, so the walker would set out with them and carry on up the road straight whilst rider would do the curve of a D shape so he was doing 60% alone (but the walker was close by if we ran into trouble). Then they started to go alone, the same routes we’d practiced with a walker20-30 mins, then we’d double up on loops so it was up to 40 min. For him with his weird quirks mentioned above, I kept him on busy-ish residential roads with random pedestrians and cars going by.

That dealt with the walk rehab. Going forward we started doing lots and lots of hacking in company to new places, varying whether he was in front or behind.

He had a long stint of boxrest in 2020/21 due to a ligament injury. The rehab for that involved lots of inhand walking progressing to ridden walking. We’d moved yards to be able to do the boxrest closer to home, but he was happy having walked the new area to then progressed to riding it. However, we stuck to busy residential roads in and around the village.

Once he was back up and running and had been hacking in the new area in company lots, we started, last summer, building up to new ‘scary’ quiet rural routes that he was happily doing in company with a human walker/runner. He was happily doing that last autumn and was doing really well. It kind of tapered off in the autumn due to childcare issues looking after the kids if husband and I were going out together for 1.5/2hrs. However, hopefully we can resume it this year. Once he’s happily doing those scary quiet routes with a walker I will start trying alone.

Throughout all of this, I know he feels more confident if I’m on foot. So if there is ever anything that’s worrying him, I have no qualms about hopping off to walk next to him to reassure him, and then getting back on again. It helps he’s 14.2!

Good luck! Personally I’ve found it quite a slow process, but progress was rather hampered by his injury and long boxrest. I know it is something he is not wildly fond of, (and it doesn’t help I’ve always been nervous hacking alone, so given the choice I’d always go in company)but we have definitely made progress and probably could have been hacking out alone over longer distances by now if I’d really focussed on it.

Thinking about it, I’m sure I’m part of the problem. He was always more relaxed with my teenage son going out alone (sadly he’s wildly outgrown!). Teenage son is completely horizontal personality wise about everything. I think he was away with the fairies, totally relaxed and enjoying the scenery which rubbed off on the horse, who thought there was clearly nothing to worry about whereas I have massive ‘what-if-itis’

When you lead, you go first or equal with her. When you are on board she goes first. Work on getting her going well on longlines in the arena, then try that for the baby hacking route. Once she's longlining around it nicely then you can try ridden. Also to transition between longlining and lead hacks, if you can borrow someone to walk with you both the first time or two that's a nice way to break it down further. I type this knowing it's what I need to do as well.

thankyou both! replying to both together so i don’t prattle on, but i’m definitely going to start walking her off the yard on foot and long reining around the yard. i do have a couple of people more than happy to walk on foot with us, which means we can long rein off the yard with a bit more safety and security eventually! we were doing lots of walking in hand off the yard before we moved, and once we got a certain length into it the head came down and she started to relax and take in the scenery.

on a lighter note, my mum said to me today, about yesterday, “did you not just want to canter back up?!” i said i didn’t have much choice in the matter, we very nearly did would’ve been a very short canter though since we didn’t manage to get very far into the field

she has offered to ride her round the field and i walk instead, but i said if you think i’m walking all the way round that field you can think again, it’s huge

 

[Marigold4]

My 6 year old horse is genuinely scared of going out on his own - you can feel his heart thumping. We have a great bond and I have owned him since he was nearly 2. I have walked him out in-hand, built things up slowly etc. The thing that works for him is to have my husband come out with me, either on foot or on his bike. He is not bold, even then, but we can do a 40 minute hack on a familiar route without inflicting too much fear/stress on him. He's as good as gold riding in the field, will go out to arena hires on his own (although spooky) and pretty OK at shows and clinics.

However, my 4 year old horse has been happy to go out hacking on his own from the start. I am confident he can cope with whatever we meet. Different horses have different fears and I think it's worth listening to them. I wouldn't be averse to hacking your horse out in company. I think it may help her get the idea that it is not dangerous. If I had anyone to hack with (sadly I don't), I would definitely hack my scaredy-pants 6 year old out with another rather than push the hacking on his own.

 

[scats]

I’ve successfully managed to get a lot of nappy horses out hacking on their own. The best thing is to get a short, circular route and enlist a foot soldier to walk with you for the first few times and then attempt one time to set off a bit ahead of them and they follow you.
Every horse is completely different and all the nappy ones I’ve worked with have had different reactions to things like the type of aid and strength of aid you give, so I can’t say I have one thing that works for all, but I do have a toolbox that I’ve got from many years of experience and I judge which ones to use based on the horse I’m on.

Bit of an example is current mare whose answer to being asked to hack alone was to reverse. I’m a naturally strong rider who insists on ‘forward’, and Millie’s answer to this was to stand up spectacularly high. When I say I treated the neighbours to some fantastic displays, I really mean it!
So I had to quickly realise another way to get her to go forwards. What works with her is a combination of letting her have a few moments when she stops, then a gently nudge with one leg and wiggle in the saddle.
She doesn’t like to feel like she’s being forced to go forwards, but I make it slightly uncomfortable/annoying for to just continue to stand doing what she wants. Any forward movement and I instantly remove all aids and give her a lovely scratch and lots of praise. If she plants again, I start again with one leg nudging her side and the bum wiggle.
If she gets very sticky out hacking and it verges on dangerous (we did nearly sit on a parked car once) I jump off no fuss, lead her 20 or so yards and hop back on like nothing has happened. The more of a ‘thing’ you make it with Millie, the worse her reactions are.

Her problems stem from never having hacked on her own until I got her at the age of 7. She always just followed along behind so when I came along and expected her to go alone (I hack everything alone) she was not impressed!
She’s 95% of the time fine now and I have my toolkit for the times she kicks off.

 

[Goldenstar]

There are so many ways to get horses hacking it’s extremely hard to advise without seeing the horse and getting a feel for what the issue is .
the main to remember is going out and about on your own is not something horses are hardwired to think is a good idea .
To improve hacking you have to hack my top tip is never get into trouble but you are where you are .
I always allow horses to get confidence with others and are happy to take a year even more doing this .
In your situation I would hack every day for six weeks even it was for short periods you have the field thats a good resource and in your situation I would deploy and human on the ground .
long reining is another thing that can help I would only do this with a problem horse with two people .
When ever you can get company use it hack her beside with the other horse when ever possible .
She must right up level with the other horse and then you sneak the other horse further and further back until she in front .
Another thing that can crack this is loading away from home to hack sometimes this has dramatic effect and the horses get it away from the draw of home without knowing your horse it’s impossible to say if she one of these .
To deal with napping you need to be quick thinking to read the horse some horses respond to the strong driving forward others to the quiet but detained approach .
I once sat on a nappy horse for hours at the exit on the yard refusing to engage in its attempts to get me into a fight this was a very nappy horse with a long history eventually it just walked down the drive .

 

[SEL]

Mine have to hack alone because I'm on my own.

Leading out in hand with a pocket full of treats has worked well. So when they stand quietly and sniff at whatever is frightening them you can say good boy / girl and treat. Always in a bridle with a decent length lead rope, hat, gloves and a tonne of high viz. I tend to walk in hand the same route over and over then see if I can get a foot soldier with me on board and then the same route with me riding. Boring but once they realise that route doesn't have monsters on it and have got used to cars, cyclists, dog walkers etc then you can introduce something a bit different and see how they react.

 

[ponynutz]

My girl isn't brave on her own and we still occasionally get a nappy moment but the best way I did it was the short circular route. I then extended it or made up a new circular route and she slowly started to trust me not to take her anywhere scary.

Also had a friend who started away from home as horse had nowhere to want to return to that way and was forced to go and explore. Albeit they'd box up about 5 minutes down the road, hack around the area for 10 minutes and box him back but it built up his confidence and he eventually stopped napping towards home.