educating a horse new to hunting

[angelish]

hi
i don't come in here often so am hoping your all going to be kind

i am an experienced rider but have not done a lot of hunting ,i took my project horse out cubing last week and he had a great time but was a little wild (he's a welsh D ), nothing too bad just a little bad mannered
he may be for sale in the future and i'd like to give him another "string to his bow" so to speak
he was also lovely when trotting or cantering ,very responsive if i wanted to slow down or stop ,he didn't get at all strong which was lovely
he was also very mannerly with the hounds and other horses but =

he wouldn't stand still at all ,he threw himself all over and was shaking quite violently i responded by walking him in quiet circles keeping him clear of everyone else

should i have insisted he stood ? ie keep asking ?

he also "passaged" all the way back to the lorry sideways ,now it was lovely to have a little more suspension in his trot work but it did my back no good at all
i just ignored this ^
is there anything i can do to educate him that "pasage" is not required on the hunting field ?

he also insisted on launching any water crossings ,not just streams he actually managed to clear quite a wide river
will this ^ just come over time through keep crossing rivers ,he's honest enough to go ,he just prefers not to get his feet wet

can you "educate" them into being good hunters ?
or will this kind of horse always be like this ?

i'm taking him back out at the weekend and would be grateful for any tips on how to make a good hunter ,if that is at all possible

 

[laurapru]

Hi Angelish,
I may not be of much help but I too took my boy out AH last week and the only time I felt I could relax was when we were cantering across the field. I haven't had my horse long (4months) and he is 5 his previous owners said they had taken him twice before i brought him. He would not stand still for the first 2 hours and I kept circling him and trying to direct his energy as his adrenalin was sky high and he was shaking! at gateways he would just plough thru the middle of everyone and I had no way of bringing him back to me!
All I could do was apologise, but everyone was so helpful and said that it will take him a few times to grasp the concept and it was important to take him again as soon as possible.
Aside from this we had a blast and he eventually did stand! ( thankfully, my poor arms couldn't take anymore!)
We trotted the whole way back to the box so i think he perhaps could've gone a bit further but i will know for next time.
Maybe work on the water thing at home and practice walking through it.
I am hoping once i relax into it, he will follow.
Hope you enjoy yourself on saturday. x

 

[JenHunt]

OP - it sounds like he's just excited by it all, and that's fine.

IMO you did exactly the right thing by walking him around quietly. By keeping him moving and keeping him listening to you he's learning to remain focussed. With time and practice you will be able to ask him to stand (count to 5) and walk on again, reward him for standing but don't get into a fight if he won't. as he gets more experienced he'll be happier to stand, and you can ask him to stand for longer periods. One day he'll realise it's easier to just stand, and you don't need to worry until he wants to fidget.

and the water crossings are probably just experience too - can you take him XC schooling somewhere that has water, or can you hack somewhere he has to cross water?

Be warned - sometime the fidget is that they are cold or tired. But you have to learn which it is...

 

[Suziq77]

That all sounds quite normal and positive to me - they usually settle after a few outings. I don't insist youngsters stand still if they are able to walk quietly in small circles - you wouldn't take a small child to a party and make it stand still all the time so I think they can be forgiven for needing to move their feet as long as they are listening to you.

Try and find an older steadier horse to stand next to, this does wonders for their confidence and teaches them that it is ok to relax.

The passage trot sounds normal too! That should stop after a couple of outings as well.

It's the ones that fret and fret, sweat and jiggle on the spot etc. that I worry more about settling to it.

 

[angelish]

Hi Angelish,
I may not be of much help but I too took my boy out AH last week and the only time I felt I could relax was when we were cantering across the field. I haven't had my horse long (4months) and he is 5 his previous owners said they had taken him twice before i brought him. He would not stand still for the first 2 hours and I kept circling him and trying to direct his energy as his adrenalin was sky high and he was shaking! at gateways he would just plough thru the middle of everyone and I had no way of bringing him back to me!
All I could do was apologise, but everyone was so helpful and said that it will take him a few times to grasp the concept and it was important to take him again as soon as possible.
Aside from this we had a blast and he eventually did stand! ( thankfully, my poor arms couldn't take anymore!)
We trotted the whole way back to the box so i think he perhaps could've gone a bit further but i will know for next time.
Maybe work on the water thing at home and practice walking through it.
I am hoping once i relax into it, he will follow.
Hope you enjoy yourself on saturday. x

hi thank you he does walk through water on a xc course because its still its when its moving that he feels the need to jump it ,think a trip to the beach might be in order

OP - it sounds like he's just excited by it all, and that's fine.

IMO you did exactly the right thing by walking him around quietly. By keeping him moving and keeping him listening to you he's learning to remain focussed. With time and practice you will be able to ask him to stand (count to 5) and walk on again, reward him for standing but don't get into a fight if he won't. as he gets more experienced he'll be happier to stand, and you can ask him to stand for longer periods. One day he'll realise it's easier to just stand, and you don't need to worry until he wants to fidget.

and the water crossings are probably just experience too - can you take him XC schooling somewhere that has water, or can you hack somewhere he has to cross water?

Be warned - sometime the fidget is that they are cold or tired. But you have to learn which it is...

thank you we have to cross a ford out hacking and he walks through that ,i think its the added excitment of the day and it was flowing quite fast so he may get better when he settles down
he wasn't tiered as we'd left the meet ,came along the road and stood about for a while ,at this point he was really chilled and i thought i was going to have an easy day
but then we got moving again and had a short canter ,then waited in a field ,he then had a wee and started fidgeting ,then that was the theme for the rest of the day

he may well get mentally tiered by it though so thanks i will be sure to look out for that on sat and take him home

That all sounds quite normal and positive to me - they usually settle after a few outings. I don't insist youngsters stand still if they are able to walk quietly in small circles - you wouldn't take a small child to a party and make it stand still all the time so I think they can be forgiven for needing to move their feet as long as they are listening to you.

Try and find an older steadier horse to stand next to, this does wonders for their confidence and teaches them that it is ok to relax.

The passage trot sounds normal too! That should stop after a couple of outings as well.

It's the ones that fret and fret, sweat and jiggle on the spot etc. that I worry more about settling to it.

thank you
pleased i did the right thing letting him walk about a bit
he was a pleasure to take compared to my other horse (he's gets v strong) so its good to hear this is normal and he will get better

can't wait to take him back out

 

[TGM]

My daughter's horse didn't get the standing still bit when she first started hunting him, but she followed the approach outlined by JenHunt above, and now he is happy to stand patiently.

 

[mastermax]

OP - it sounds like he's just excited by it all, and that's fine.

IMO you did exactly the right thing by walking him around quietly. By keeping him moving and keeping him listening to you he's learning to remain focussed. With time and practice you will be able to ask him to stand (count to 5) and walk on again, reward him for standing but don't get into a fight if he won't. as he gets more experienced he'll be happier to stand, and you can ask him to stand for longer periods. One day he'll realise it's easier to just stand, and you don't need to worry until he wants to fidget.

and the water crossings are probably just experience too - can you take him XC schooling somewhere that has water, or can you hack somewhere he has to cross water?

Be warned - sometime the fidget is that they are cold or tired. But you have to learn which it is...

Totally agree with all of this JenHunt, my husbands 17.3 horse would hunt lke a dream but would get stronger and fidgety as the day wore on. It was a fine line between adrenaline and energy and this was always the cue to take him home.
Persevere, keep taking him and good luck x

 

[JenHunt]

I was told that the line comes when a fit horse starts to lather - that's the adrenaline kicking in - there's also a subtle change in their eye, as well as the more obvious things like tripping and less balanced.

 

[angelish]

thank you all
ive had a brilliant day out ,he was so much better today and there was a lot of water to practice splashing through ,i only had one "well sat" moment over a stream and he didn't feel like he went so high today so i think he'll stop doing that eventually

he stood much better too ,was only a little fidgity when we arrived but tbf i think he was a little cold this morning as it was freezing so walked him around ,here's proof

i think he's going to make a great hunting pony i think i was just worrying as my big horse just got worse the more he went out but this little man is getting better

thanks again

 

[JenHunt]

excellent! Glad you feel he's getting better! He looks nice and calm there!