Do you think feeding my horse on a 'hack' only for a while would help hacking alone?

[226699]

My horse is really bad at hacking alone. In company he is OK, just follows the other horses and will go in front occasionally on the way home (but only when he decides ) Anyway, really going to start tackling this problem! Do you think walking him a short way down the road (in hand, as would be only way!) to a bridleway and then giving him his feed there and riding him back as he is OK on the way back? Obviously a short walk, he won't be hot or sweaty etc. He's just very food obsessed and waiting it out doen't work as he will start playing up in traffic to try and turn for home so trying to be creative as he is fine on the way home!
Thanks!

 

[Foxhunter49]

Personally I think this is just a waste of time. You need to pick your battles and stop allowing him to decide when he will go in front and make him take the lead. First when you are heading home and then when you are going out.

If you hack on your own and he naps sit him out. Do not battle with him just sit on him. Do not allow him to turn around just keep him in the same spot. If he goes backwards then when he stops make him go back to the same spot. If he persists in going back then turn him and make him reverse in the direction you had been going.
Be prepared to be out for some time if you do sit him out. Eventually he will want to go forward and then you make him wait for a while longer and then ask him to go forward so he is moving forward on your terms.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I found food didn't really work in my favour.
I was trying to slow horse down or get her to stand patiently so I could look at map. She got a treat while stood but the problem with her was she realised where the food was at one point we were trotting along, I was reading map and pony trotting smartly, had her head whipped around trying to see if she's get a treat. How she stayed on her feet, I've no idea?

And again, as soon as she's had her treat, she has gone full steam ahead again so we're back to schooling and trying to distract her with school movements etc.

 

[226699]

Personally I think this is just a waste of time. You need to pick your battles and stop allowing him to decide when he will go in front and make him take the lead. First when you are heading home and then when you are going out.

If you hack on your own and he naps sit him out. Do not battle with him just sit on him. Do not allow him to turn around just keep him in the same spot. If he goes backwards then when he stops make him go back to the same spot. If he persists in going back then turn him and make him reverse in the direction you had been going.
Be prepared to be out for some time if you do sit him out. Eventually he will want to go forward and then you make him wait for a while longer and then ask him to go forward so he is moving forward on your terms.

Hi, I definitely do wait it out all the time! It's just we have to go down a road as soon as we leave the yard, so we manage to do the yard lane (about 45 mins of waiting!) and then on the road he will try again and spin round in front of cars or if I block that he will run backwards in front of cars, sometimes he genuienly feels nervy on the road after working himself up but again, is fine with someone walking/in company. He is only 6 if it makes a difference and never hacked alone before we had him. If the road wasn't an issue I wouldn't be looking for other options! He is not very confident and we wait it out as much as possible when hacking with others but the others get wound up so go in front eventually!

 

[stencilface]

Do you have a confident instructor/friend who would be able to hack him in company for you and make him go in front? Sometimes these issues become embedded in our and the horses behaviour, so unknowingly, you could be bringing this behaviour out in him as you are anticipating a fight about it.

Mine was like this when I got him as a 4yo - would spin and refuse to turn around. I used to make him stand until I wanted him to go again and get through it that way. Standing was the only way of chilling him out, as once he had started he'd get stressy. I would also wear a standing martingale or draw reins to help me with control. And I'm back to wearing draw reins atm as restricted turnour/box rest has made him into a bit of a pain to do our rehabilitation hacks!

If he runs backwards, sometime making them go backwards is a way of getting the control back, ie you make him go backwards for longer than he wants to, you take the control back and he learns that isn't a way to evade.

 

[Damnation]

Remember, horses are herd animals. They need to be either very chilled or really trust the rider as the "herd leader" in order to be confident hacking out alone.

Horses learn by repetition. If you start feeding him in the same place, you will have a food obsessed horse who then won't go past the point where you feed him.

Personally I would get a good instructor and some poor sod on foot D) to build your horses confidence.

Some horses just don't hack on their own, some do. My last mare wouldn't hack on her own full stop. Same as yours, ru n backwards, spin, buck, canter in little circles to go home (If I could even get her to leave the yard in the first place!!!) and I just accepted that she will never hack on her own and just lacked conficence. It turned out to be a pain reaction, she took her confidence from the other horse in this case. Current mare will hack anywhere I ask her to, alone or in company. It is the luck of the draw..

It can be overcome but I do not believe that feeding him is the answer. Also get everything checked. My mare would hack in company fine but on her own she was a mentalist. She had a very severe back problem and I think that when in company she took some comfort from the other horse and just struggled on through. (I had had vets to here and they found nothing, they were useless!)

 

[Magicmillbrook]

Not sure about feed, but with a nervous horse of ours we used to go for long walks and stop and graze from time to time, the whole act of head down and chewing is calming, it helped her bond with us and I think she saw going out alone as a positive thing - however you would need to be careful you dont train your horse to stop and eat or snatch at grass whilst ridden. It would be a bit embarrasing to be an adult on a horse with daisy reins!

 

[Bigginge]

To be honest, even if it works in the short term, giving him a feed at a certain point may just lead to napping at that point (and you couldn't blame him for expecting it).

Can you lead him out or long-rein him out with someone at his head at first then gradually back the person away or have someone ride him while you walk? If you do want to try a food reward then perhaps if you have someone on foot they can give him a little treat each time he unsticks himself, rather than stopping at a certain point for a feed.

I've found it's a question of perseverence, repetition of short circular walks as often as possible, and choose your time of day. I chose early mornings (6.30am) when there are little to no cars on the road, so if you do get 'stuck' they are one less thing to worry about. Sitting and waiting hasn't always worked for me, as like you my old lad would quite happily stand there for an hour not moving (and he did!). Don't get into a fight but have a confident attitude "you are going" and if he stops, keep him moving any which way you can but don't let him turn around, keep the pressure on, annoy him like he is annoying you (I don't mean beat him up) until he gives the slightest hint of going forwards then reward him by relieving the 'pressure' but keep a confident leg on. Sorry for allt hsi rambling, it's Friday and my brain is tired...if you're not sure how to do it then have an instructor come out with you for some fresh ideas, mine is all to happy to go out on hacks with people. It's not easy and I have to admit I gave up hacking on my own for a few years as it just wasn't fun for either of us, I don't think he will ever really enjoy going out alone but we can manage up to an hours hack on our own now though and he does now stride out but I just don't bother if I can tell he is not going to be in a mood to co-operate, or more importantly if I'm not in the right frame of mind to be positive enough with him! Actually, just thinking about it. I think getting him out and about to different environments, competitions, fun-rides etc has helped him to be more confident out on his own too

 

[226699]

Thank for replies..
I have had someone walking out on foot with him all summer as we don't usually have anyone to hack with and he has become fine with that, though fights to follow them directly behind, we one waited for 30 mins to get him to walk next to someone! So he is a lot better that way and we can do the entire hack home without anyone walking and even got him to canter the other month (usually go verrrrry slow!) I am hoping he will eventually hack alone as we have only had him a year and he has improved loads already, only tried totally a couple of times!

Also, it could be pain related memory as when we got him he had a tensed back from a bad fitting rug from previous home, but that is all sorted now and doesn't bite as he used to when tacking up.

 

[Kenzo]

Keep hacking him out with others and do so on a regular basis but also just do very short circular routes and stick to it when you take him out on his own, do the same route every time (boring I know) but it will help him get his head round things if he does the same short ride, he'll learn to settle and know what is expected of him everytime you ride him out, in time he'll not hot up and get his knickers in a twist but remember everytime you ask for that little bit more (taking him somewhere different or him seeing something that scares him) which may not seem much to you, it will be a hell of a big deal to him, so don't be tempted otherwise it's 2 steps forward and 4 back, and before you know it your back to square one again, you must remember that and be patient, forgiving of silly behaviour but never let him get his own way.

To help ease him into things, why not try him on a calmer just to take the edge of him when hacking him out, lighten the load in his head a bit and chill him out a touch, worth a try.

Plenty of ground work really helps too.

 

[226699]

Keep hacking him out with others and do so on a regular basis but also just do very short circular routes and stick to it when you take him out on his own, do the same route every time (boring I know) but it will help him get his head round things if he does the same short ride, he'll learn to settle and know what is expected of him everytime you ride him out, in time he'll not hot up and get his knickers in a twist but remember everytime you ask for that little bit more (taking him somewhere different or him seeing something that scares him) which may not seem much to you, it will be a hell of a big deal to him, so don't be tempted otherwise it's 2 steps forward and 4 back, and before you know it your back to square one again, you must remember that and be patient, forgiving of silly behaviour but never let him get his own way.

To help ease him into things, why not try him on a calmer just to take the edge of him when hacking him out, lighten the load in his head a bit and chill him out a touch, worth a try.

Plenty of ground work really helps too.

Thanks, for a while we did walk him out in hand which was worse than riding probably! He eventually would walk with us but very slow and didn't feel safe. But can now walk him out in hand and ride him back, just can't get past that step! It's a circular route so it seems easy but he is such hard work, and learnt the hard way not to nag him! Want to take him to XC etc this summer but I doubt it if he continues like this!

 

[noblesteed]

Keep trying, eventually you will manage. It took me 2 years to get mine to hack alone, but we got there in the end. You just need to take it slowly and do it OFTEN - I mean every other day if you can. I tried the feeding thing, that didn't work. It was just a matter of perseverance and picking the time to go out when there were less cars about. Mine would spin and nap and I just had to sit tight and not let him get away with it. SOmetimes it would take ages, me turning him around and him backing up or trying to shoot off home, sometimes I would have to get off and lead past a scary thing but we managed in the end. SOme of it was naughtiness and some was lack of confidence on my side and his. I think I must have learned at some point when he was being naughty and when he was genuinely scared, he does react differently. I also found as I became more confiden thandling him and didn't let him push me around, he respected my riding more.
Keep trying! Lots of people on here will give you helpful tips and things to try, it's just a process of elimination to find out what will work for your horse. SOmething will!

 

[WandaMare]

There are some great tips on here but if you think the food thing would work I would go for it! Unless your horse gets stressy and agressive around food I can't see how it would do any harm. Getting their confidence for hacking is tricky and while some standard approaches work for most horses, you know your horse better than anyone and if you think if would help it probably will.

My horse is also a total foody and if she knew a bucket of feed was waiting round the corner nothing would stand in her way......

 

[226699]

There are some great tips on here but if you think the food thing would work I would go for it! Unless your horse gets stressy and agressive around food I can't see how it would do any harm. Getting their confidence for hacking is tricky and while some standard approaches work for most horses, you know your horse better than anyone and if you think if would help it probably will.

My horse is also a total foody and if she knew a bucket of feed was waiting round the corner nothing would stand in her way......

Thanks! I think I might try the food thing on the way home at random points so he has to do a whole circle to get his food. We got him hacking out with a walker faster by waving polos in front of his face