Calling whilst hacking - advice please

[Hjarvis]

This may be a very silly question as i'm not sure there is much you can do about it but ...

After my 3 year old has passed horses in a field whilst out hacking he then calls for the remainder of the hack (even to sheep and cows!). He lives out with another horse and is quite happy to leave her. Is it just a confidence thing - checking he's not a lone? I often don't have anyone to hack out with but my OH walks around on foot for moral support and reassurance.

Any advice would be appreciated as he's doing it every 2 mins!

 

[hairycob]

My mare does this if we hack a new route & see horses. She stops once she is used to the route so I think she is just a confidence thing. Except when we go past Keysoe car park by ourselves that's just too exciting!

 

[Rachi]

Maybe he just likes to make sure he's not alone?

he could be a little nervous so just reassure him by talking to him and whatnot could help. My pony often neighs to other horses, but he mostly just stares with total enjoyment -- ''this is sooo cool!'' However he is so curious he's taken me into a couple of people drives before! LOL

 

[Hjarvis]

Good to know i'm not alone - We constantly end up in people's driveways. He's so nosey! It's prob just early days and he's getting used to new routes and knowing he's going home at the end of it. The neighing at cows and sheep as though they are long lost friends is very amusing!

 

[sherbet]

At least yours calls to sheep and cows mine calls to the chickens on one hack!!

 

[MrsMozart]

My mare used to do it (then aged three and a half), drove me nuts after a while

I found that if I asked her to concentrate on 'work' then she stopped thinking about the others and concentrated on what we were doing instead

.

 

[dwi]

Daisy does it, albeit less if I am asking her to school on the hack rather than mooching along. I've acepted that its just one of those things. She is quite happy to hack alone, doesn't get stressed or naughty, think its just one of those things because she is very vocal in other ways with squeals, grunts, neighs etc

 

[Hullabaloo]

My horse will call in the middle of a hack even when there are no horses around. He's not the least nervous about hacking on his own - I think he just likes to make his presence felt! He also calls on his way home so his friend knows he's coming and will call constantly if he knows his friend is being hacked at the same time - even if they are miles apart. I took him for a short hack with my friend one Sunday morning. She carried on when we turned for home. He must've woken half the village with his constant calling.
See, there is a reason he's called Hullabaloo

 

[amandaco2]

my 19yo has taken to screaming her head off lately hacking out.
shes fine if the other two dont call to her as she leaves the yard.but if they do she spends the whole hack screaming her head off usually doing passage the whole way!lol.
shes a funny mare as she hacks out much better on her own than with anything else.she gets really wound up hackming out with other horses.lol.

 

[spookypony]

Mine has called out to golf umbrellas! Now that's serious species confusion!

 

[YorksG]

Mine calls if she meets up with a group of other horses, particularly if she hacks to a show! I think she is telling them they can start the party now because she has arrived

 

[Faro]

Pharaoh was incredibly noisy when I first started hacking him out alone, but as his experience and confidence grew, the neighing got les and less. He still does it occasionally, usually if there's another horse somewhere in the distance, and he always neighs at a certain point on the way home when we come into sight of his friends from the lane at the back of the fields. It's absolutely nothing to worry about.