Disheartened after such a good start! :(

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Sologirl

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I've had my gelding just over 2 weeks now and he's been brilliant in the school and on a hack with another horse. Thought it might be OK to take him on a little hack on his own yesterday - oh how wrong I was. Spinning, spooking at everything, planting his feet, trying to cart me back home....I was absolutely shocked with his behaviour after he'd done so well beforehand.

Any advice? I'm not a brave rider and I really don't know if I have got the confidence to work through this, but hacking alone is something my horse HAS to get used to.

Thanks!
 
I suspect your lack of confidence has an awful lot to do with the way he behaved. Try him again, but with brave pants on, and get after him. Drive him forwards, sing loudly if you have to and you act the big brave person. If he realised you were at all nervous, he would feed off that and become nervous himself. Take a schooling whip, and work through it. If you cannot do that and be brave, then get a friend to do it and prove to you he can do it. If he behaves the same with her. So many nervous horses can be made that way by less than confident riders.
 
I would take things slowly as 2 weeks isn't a long time to let a horse settle or build a relationship with.

Keep on hacking out in company and if you don't already start taking the lead so the horse gets used to listening to your aids and not just following the horse in front.

Also it might be worth taking the horse on walks in-hand on the routes that you'd normally ride on.

Just don't put too much pressure on yourself, it's still early days!
 
Keep at it. You've only had him a fortnight, give him time for you both to settle. Try hacking out with another person as chances are he'd follow another horse.
 
Patience and taking it slowly are the answer, and reassuring him that you're there, he's acting this way because he thinks he's alone and you need to show him that he's not, he has you!

You could start by walking him out in hand keeping it calm and controlled, then walking him a little way with lots of reassurance and turning back, aiming to get a little bit further each time. Don't let him rush home though, it should be the same speed as you went out. Doing some groundwork in the school will help you build a bond as well.

I'm having similar issues with my mare in the school alone at the moment so I know how you feel!
 
Did you check that he was good to hack alone when you bought him?
Its hard to say whether this is being caused purely by a lack of confidence from you, it could be an ongoing problem which you didn't know/ weren't told about.
A bit more info would help people to advise you :)
 
With a horse that whips round and tries to bog off back to the yard, I would only ride circular or lolly-pop shaped hacks (the 'lolly-pop' doesn't have to be big - I often use a grass triangle at a T junction - but I wouldn't ever turn on the spot).

When you can't hack in company, try leading him out in-hand or see if someone can walk or bike with you while you ride. When you are both more confident ride the routes, but if he does start behaving dangerously (eg there's a lot of traffic about and he's thinking about leaping into the middle of the road) get off and lead him. Once he's past the sticky spot and it's safe to remount, do so and carry on with the ride as if nothing had happened. You need to teach him that forward is the only option. Plus as mentioned in one of the posts above, it's still early days for your partnership an you do need to build confidence in each other.
 
Problems with new horses are very common. You don't know each other and have yet to develop a bond. Once you really get to the bottom of a horse and have coped with the worst he can do, then you have all the confidence and trust you both need.

Meanwhile, I would not attempt to hack out alone. I'd spend lots of time with him, grooming, groundwork, walking out in hand and school. If there anyone with a sensible horse you could hack with, then that's obviously going to help. If you are really going it alone, someone on foot or on a bike in front of the horse works well.

Don't despair and don't set yourself up to fail.
 
Thanks everyone - some great advice here. He was advertised as suitable for a nervous novice - so automatically assumed he was good to hack both alone and company. Unless people assume nervous novices don't hack alone so that's not required?? :(

I did hack him on his own briefly when viewing him (twice) and also in a field by himself, and he was fine at all times. I think he's just worried about being in a place he doesn't know and feeding off my worried vibes - I guess I was expecting him to be fine out on his own due to the way he was described. Just have to keep battling on and hope that I can keep my confidence up! I know that if we can get through it and come out at the other side then I'll feel SO good - but I don't want to think about the other outcome - I can't explain how long it's taken me to feel more confident out riding and I was hoping that this partnership would only increase that! Thanks again for the replies x
 
This happened with my Connie. He was perfect to hack in company and I knew he was good to hack alone as I tried him a few times and took him out alone where he didn't put a foot wrong. It was just the new yard and surroundings after I had bought and moved him. with him being only 4 I think it blew his mind a bit! Persevere, 2 weeks is nothing. Just hack in company as much as you can for a few months to settle him then work on going alone. I found someone on foot helped :)
 
He's not as described, which is a shame.

In your shoes op I wpuld spend the winter hacking with friends. This will give you the opportunity to get to know the horse, have lots of different experiences in the company of others and gain confidence. Then come the spring start hacking out alone.
 
2 wks really early days! ! However if you are nervous suggest you do lots of hacking in company, also try taking someone on foot....i found that a great help! When you are ready to go solo go down road for two minutes and gradually extend it... If the behaviour continues suggest you get a very confident experienced rider to take the horse out.
 
I used to walk mine out in hand and then mount when we were on the way home and she was calm and only if I felt relaxed. I then started getting on at an earlier stage and it wasn't long before I was riding the whole route.

Not much help if mounting from the ground is a problem though! (which it is for me now)
 
I would contact old owners to make them aware of the problem and request any advice they can give for two reasons:1) they may be able to offer help/come and ride him out to remind him how to behave. 2) if you do end up having to send him back if he wont hack alone (fwiw-he may be unsettled but I would expect a nervous novices horse who could hack alone not to be so insecure as to not go at all, a baby or nervous horse may do this but not an established hack) then you have raised the issue early
 
Yep the old owner is aware of the problem - he was sold as a horse that had been used for pretty much nothing but hacking so I would have thought he would have been much better than he was. I would have easily forgiven a bit of the jitters or more "looky" than usual, but it was more than this. I just want to enjoy him, not fight the whole way along a ride - and I don't have unlimited time to work with a horse that needs improvement like this that I wasn't expecting! It's so sad, he's wonderful otherwise - in the school (which is where I'd expected a young horse with little schooling experience to misbehave), in the stable, comes to be caught, and stood like a lamb to be clipped. I'm just at a loss - I was hoping to get out hacking a lot (both with others and by ourselves) over the winter and then hopefully do a few common rides when the season starts up again - but now my faith in him and my own ability is shaken! :(
 
How young is young? I don't like seeing youngsters advertised as safe hacks or suitable for nervous novices because in all likelihood they will still lack experience and their confidence can be easily shaken, especially if they have a bad experience or feel that the rider is worried. If yours is young I'd def focus on schooling and hacking with others, I'm sure the solo hacking will be fine when he has got used to you and trusts you to look after him. Good luck.
 
what has old owner said? are they close enough to come ride him? To be honest after two weeks I would start making noises about wanting to return him-but I don't have time for horses that won't hack alone as it's such a prolonged battle a lot of the time. Another option is to get a confident rider to ride him out.
And agree-how young is young?
 
springtime1331 said:
How young is young? I don't like seeing youngsters advertised as safe hacks or suitable for nervous novices because in all likelihood they will still lack experience and their confidence can be easily shaken, especially if they have a bad experience or feel that the rider is worried. If yours is young I'd def focus on schooling and hacking with others, I'm sure the solo hacking will be fine when he has got used to you and trusts you to look after him. Good luck.
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Agree with this, he really shouldn't have been advertised the way he was if he is only a baby still. Make sure his previous owners know about the problems and exactly how you feel about them, they may be able to offer some constructive help.
He sounds lovely though, and may well be worth perservering with, as others have said it is very early days, especially if horse is young and inexperienced.
 
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I would say two weeks is a very short time and echo some of those above who say don't despair. Hack out with others, walk in hand out on your own (or take someone else on foot with you if you are worried) and give him a bit more time to settle.
A lot of horses take a while to build trust in a new owner. I have gone from having a nervous spooky horse to one who trusts me to keep him safe when he's having a worry but it has taken a year and it is still not completely foolproof - he wasn't advertised as a novice ride however. He was a complete nightmare for the first month I had him - jumped out of stable twice, reared in hand, bit quite badly and went into overdrive as soon as anyone got on. Time and patience have solved nearly all the issues so persist for a few more weeks or get someone more experienced to hack him out alone for you to see if he is the same with them.
 
He's six years old. I just don't know what to do - I'm so torn as I already think the world of him and would dearly love to get over this problem and form a great bond, but I don't want to end up shattering both my confidence and his by creating battles over hacking alone. If I only hack with others I'm restricted to just 1 per week and I would really like to ride him a little more often than that!! :(
 
He's only six. Hmmmm.

You need to decide what course of action you want to take. Return him or build his confidence.

It sounds like when he knows an area he is confident hacking alone, but the combination of moving home, a new rider and new routes is too much for him at the moment. If you can work through it, then he should return to the confident horse you tried with time, but you need to treat him as the young, green horse that he is (don't get into battles, set him up for success).

If this is too much for you, then either get experienced help or return him.
 
Was he started late do you know? If not, he should be fairly confident by now if he's been riding out happily for 2 years.
How is he if you lead him out alone?
If he's ok, you could try taking him around your local hacks in-hand until you both feel calm and confident, and then when the time feels right, hop up on the way home, eventually progressing to more riding, less leading, until you are riding off the yard. Good luck.
 
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So you've only tried the one solo hack so far? My boy (second horse) is about 14, he's had loads of experience at all sorts of things...but he's still spooky when I hack him out alone in a new place. Once he has been there a couple of times, he's fine, although he still has his spooky places. Once a scarey place, always a scarey place, quite often, but I know those places too, so I'm ready to tell him not to be such a big Nelly and get on with it! It's just a lack of confidence with him. He's fine if he's with other horses, he'll be the calmest one there. Your new horse may be the same. He has a new rider, new places to learn about...give him time, and try to go to each new place with either another rider, or in hand, before attempting it solo ridden.

Also, don't be afraid to get off and lead. It's not giving in, it's just helping you be more confident in getting the horse past something. Eventually you won't have to get off. My first horse used to stop dead and refuse to walk on sometimes. I worked out that he was afraid in enclosed lanes with high hedges, especially if there was also a ditch. One such, I used to routinely hop off and lead him down, and then hop on again at the end of the narrow bit. Homewards, he'd manage it ridden. It took a while till I could ride it on the out journey. He'd also nap and spin for home, and we had some right royal battles. That said, I never hit him, or caused him pain, I don't think that would help any horse's confidence, or help my relationship with him. First horse turned into the most bombproof horse I've ever known, but quirky.
I wasn't particularly confident at the beginning...but 6 years on, both the above horses have taught me such a lot, and both were well worth the journey. So I'd say, stick with it if you can....
 
Hmm I'm always sceptical when young horses are advertised as "bombproof" or "novice ride" as in my experience they take so much of their confidence from their rider.

Each to their own, but I wouldn't be as hasty as some on here to return him. Like I mentioned in my last post 2 weeks really isn't very long at all. I've had my boy almost 4 months now and if I'm totally honest it's only just started to feel like we're a partnership now, and trust me there were some really rocky times in between.

Where are you based? It could be that someone on here is near enough to hack out with you. Otherwise could your instructor come and hack out with you and get you to lead rides?

Feel free to PM me if you want. Having bought an incredibly green 7yo over summer I've had to dig deep and find some brave pants so I know how you feel and also know it can and will get better :)
 
GG2B said:
Hmm I'm always sceptical when young horses are advertised as "bombproof" or "novice ride" as in my experience they take so much of their confidence from their rider.

Each to their own, but I wouldn't be as hasty as some on here to return him. Like I mentioned in my last post 2 weeks really isn't very long at all. I've had my boy almost 4 months now and if I'm totally honest it's only just started to feel like we're a partnership now, and trust me there were some really rocky times in between.

Where are you based? It could be that someone on here is near enough to hack out with you. Otherwise could your instructor come and hack out with you and get you to lead rides?

Feel free to PM me if you want. Having bought an incredibly green 7yo over summer I've had to dig deep and find some brave pants so I know how you feel and also know it can and will get better :)
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Just saw your thread, brilliant!

Thanks all. I took him out again today, I needed to get back in the saddle before the problem escalated in my own head, if that makes sense? We only went a short way as the weather was crap and I didn't want to push him too hard - just up the lane and back and he was a lot better. He did spin once or twice but it seemed to be a little "half hearted" compared to yesterday's freak outs! I'm feeling a bit more positive after today, I hope that I can keep my big girl pants on (without soiling them too often lol) and we can develop a good bond. We are also going out in company tomorrow which should help. Thanks again for all the good advice, ill keep you posted! X
 
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