do you think a calmer will help for hacking alone?

[mandwhy]

Hey everyone,

I have recently moved my 7yo Haflinger and her little companion to a new field (well 3-4 months ago), in with my friend's horse. Much less road work, loads of low calorie old grass and herbs for them to nibble, and several off road places for hacking.

At the last place the traffic was a bit too busy for us to hack alone safely apart from very short routes into the village (very quiet, dead end), partly due to my damaged confidence although we did have a few longer hacks successfully alone. She is not too bad generally, but when she isn't ok she explodes, and once I got bronced off on the road which was very scary but all was ok and we got home in one piece. I actually felt fine after and just took the practical approach that maybe my worries had been justified and we would take action - we did a few village hacks and schooling til we moved.

I have concluded that it's sort of like a pressure cooker, in company or in hand if she sees something big and scary like a clattering trailer full of sheep, we know it will be an issue and do our best to get past and contain ourselves, then once we are past it the stress levels drop back down and all is fine until the next scary thing - generally only things that most horses would be worried about. However if there are several small triggers, constant passing traffic, scary road signs, unusual noises, flappy birds, she won't react to them individually but will suddenly explode when it all gets too much :-(

We mostly hacked in company to get to know the area and schooled in the field when we first moved, and now I am feeling a million times more confident, riding regularly (because I want to not because I feel I should!) and we have been cantering a little which is great :-D my position has improved loads and I feel more able to cope if she spooks, and to sit up and kick on when she needs me to be confident.

I attempted to take her out with my partner on foot to this small woodland that we have been to lots of times with the other horse, so I felt it would be the best place. She was SO stressed, calling, trying to turn back, getting really really strong. I think I was as relaxed and cool as I could be, I tried to divert her attention by some simple exercises in our usual little 'schooling area' in the woods, but she wasn't having any of it and I got off in the end, taking her the rest of the route in hand (which is something I strongly feel works for her) she was better but still stressed. I've been taking her out in hand since, just really short walks building up the distance, doing our riding in the field, and she has been better in places other than the woods (which is a shame as it is literally the most ideal place to hack alone! It's just over the road, all grass tracks, gated in and lovely!) maybe the trees hold undetected monsters or even block out too much noise (as she can hear the other horses calling in some parts nearer the road).

Anyway, I guess that essay wasn't really necessary. I know there have been millions of threads about hacking alone, having been an avid HHO reader previously! I just wondered if a calmer might help, we did use mag ox at the previous field but it is really doubtful that there would be a deficiency at this one as it is super well rested.

I don't know much about non magnesium calmers, I hear the prokalm one is good but wow it's expensive!

P.s. she has dengie healthy tummy when she comes in for riding, doesn't really need feed every day, although I do feel it helps as it contains chamomile and keeps her sensitive stomach happy (I think she's a bit of a weird ulcer prone stress beast of a haffy!).

I'm not worried about competition legal etc at present as the only way we can do any competing is by hacking (other than the odd in hand showing class my friend takes me to). I would soooo love to get out and do some super simple dressage and stuff!

 

[Pingypo]

We have a horse that my mum and I share. When we first got him, we had to hack out alone a lot because it was a small yard and not many people riding at one time etc. He was very wary of hacking alone but great with other horses. He would spook at things and try to turn back or stand still and refuse to move. Since there are two of us, having one person right at his head helped him. You said that your horse was ok in hand. If you try to ride out more with someone on foot so that they can comfort your horse or even lead her on a bit to help her confidence.
Our horse, if ridden on a busy road hates it and swings into the middle of the road, dances around and wont walk on. Luckily we have since moved to the country side and all roads are quiet although we do have tractors etc! We also rescued a pony who we take out in hand with our horse so we don't have any problems now.
Personally I would not and have not given calmer to a horse because of problems with hacking alone due to the fact that horses are heard animals and some are able to cope better with being alone than others and that's just the way it is. Calmer didn't cross my mind I just felt I had to work around it. I'm not saying calmer is a bad thing or that it wouldn't work, just that I personally feel there are other ways of getting round the problem first, even if it does take time.

Is there anyone in the area that has horses that you could arrange to meet up with to ride out together?
Is your horse's companion able to be lead out in hand with your horse?
Also, try getting your horse used to as many things as possible, e.g. make banging noises around your horse, tying plastic bags around the place, any other things that you could get your horse used to. Just try to expose your horse to as many different situations as possible!
Reward your horse lots after short rides alone, which I'm sure you probably do anyway!!

I hope this helps!

 

[saddlesore]

Zylkene is very good. Feed about 30 mins before you go out. It'll relax your horse and let you both get to know the area stress free!

 

[mandwhy]

Thanks guys! Yes I am doing my best with the in hand thing, I took her out on Thurs evening and we met cows. The cows were being utterly ridiculous! I have never seen such showboating from a cow! I can understand why she was perturbed but she was literally trying to mow me down and bog off home. Well we got home in one piece anyway, I do a bit of ground work type stuff when she does that, but she was so hyped it was difficult.. I had put side reins on her saddle just in case, I think that really helped to keep her going straight, just loose ones.

We do go out with my friend which is why I felt we had explored enough of the places to go alone, clearly she doesn't agree. Trouble is I think going out in company has actually made it worse as she is really attached to the gelding now and calls to him etc. She wasn't so bothered when it was the little Welsh, who is still there.

I can try ponying the Welsh but she is very sharp as she is only just turned 3 and about as Welsh as it gets. So not too sure how that will go, but I need to get her out on her own anyway.

I mentioned a calmer because we have hacked alone in far worse conditions at our old place and I had a tenth of the confidence I have now, I'm not nervous now just realistic! Mag ox helped then. I think when they get hyped up and can't come back down, is when a calmer is good. We don't need to be battling for another 20 minutes on the way home when the scary thing is long gone.

Anyway there is a field sort of next to us that is basically unused which we ride in sometimes, I've been in there with her in hand or with the other horse to school, and took her there last night and she did eventually settle and I lunged her, she was great! I thought trying to use the energy for work would help and it did, as she is awful to lunge most of the time with no energy at all

So I have got a maxavita calmer, l-tryptophan based, we'll see if that helps take the edge off!

 

[julie111]

Hi, I have a 5 yo cob, for the last 3 years he always had my daughters pony by his side, out in the field together, stabled next to each other, travelled together, when my boy was broken in he only ever hacked out with his friend. Anyway very recently my daughter sold her pony, I moved my boy to a DIY yard, he has individual turnout and has had to get used to hacking out on his own. The first few times he felt very tense and kept calling, I just talked to him (sometimes sang to him) that helped me to relax and in turn helped him! He is now hacking out confidently on his own. Keep your routes short, give constant praise and try to stay relaxed, good luck

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Does Happy Tummy contain alfalfa? If so I suggest taking your horse off it, many horses get spooky on alfalfa - one of ours becomes an absolute fruit-loop, spooking at the slightest thing. Without it she is a bit spooky but nowhere near as bad.

I couldn't tell from your post whether she has a feed every day or not. It doesn't really matter about a bucket feed if you fee that her weight is fine but if you are going to give one, it should be consistently every day, or you will upset the gut-flora, which can also cause spookiness.

If you feel that mag.ox has worked in the past, I'd say it's worth trying again. The minerals are usually in the ground, so grazed previously or not isn't really relevant.

 

[Kat]

Put her back on the mag ox, good grass is often deficient. It is cheap and difficult to od on too.

 

[TigerTail]

Ring equifeast and have a good chat to them - they are so helpful and have really helped my mate who I have had for 4 years and nearly given up in sanity as she is so reactive and just doesn't recover so the next scary thing gets bigger jump etc etc.

They do a mag free version of all their stuff fr flexibility but if you aren't supplementing anything else u want mag in it 99/ of uk soils are deficient in it