Experience of walking in hand

yaffsimone1

yaffsimone1

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At my yard we dont have a school and currently i cannot do any groundwork in the paddocks.

My 7yr old mare (who i've had 6 months who came from very rural Berkshire. She is still rural now but not as much so, lots more traffic and faster B roads).

She hacks out great with others, and will hack alone but is a little more spooky. She trusts me to a certain extent but i want to improve on this.

I'm happy to keep riding her and hacking out alone but i'm wondering weather doing our usual hacks but in hand will have any benefit?
 
Cortez said:
Well, it'll be nice exercise for you I suppose, but if she's good to hack why not ride her?
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I cant do any groundwork with her, i don't have a school and cant use my already poached paddocks. I can ride her all day long but i also need to work from the ground and wondered who else had experience with doing their hacks in hand.

Did it benefit with building relationships etc
 
I do take a pony out in hand once a week at the moment! He belongs to a fellow HHOer.
I think it is a very different experience and can create a different bond between horse and rider/leader. You have to deal with things differently, but having some concept of hacking on roads is helpful for dealing with spooky experiences/ hand signals etc. I think you could give it a go, why not! Good luck, let us know how it goes!
 
Toz said:
I do take a pony out in hand once a week at the moment! He belongs to a fellow HHOer.
I think it is a very different experience and can create a different bond between horse and rider/leader. You have to deal with things differently, but having some concept of hacking on roads is helpful for dealing with spooky experiences/ hand signals etc. I think you could give it a go, why not! Good luck, let us know how it goes!
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Many people have said to me i would be mad to lead her in hand because she can be a bit of a spook and i'm far safer in the saddle.

I'm happy in the saddle, if she is going to put me in a ditch then so be it, i've been there before it doesn't bother me. But when i have had to dismount and lead her past something she has calmed down much quicker with me being on the ground and allowed me to get back on with no problems.

So i was wondering it might just help the relationship building / bond if i did some hacks in hand. (given i dont have a school)
 
I walk my lad out in hand. We do stop, walk on, trot, stop at shoulder, yield from hand on side near girth (where my leg would be). I always make sure he`s tacked up, and will ride as well as doing in hand. I find it helps him a lot.
 
I did lots (and lots and lots) of walking in hand for a sacro iliac rehab. I got to like it so much, I kept doing it - on days when I've no time to ride but I feel hooves need stimulation, we go for a quick walk around the block. I enjoy it because you can see the horse's expression and reaction to things in a way you can't in the saddle. It helps that I put so much effort into making sure he was solid when led anywhere, so I can be confident he will be perfectly behaved led. And as Daisysp8 says, you can use it as a training opportunity too. Also, I'm confident that all the meeting of odd things on the road while led (milk lorries with air brakes, recycling and bin lorries, tractors, rattly trailers etc.) and giving him the opportunity to check them out in a relaxed way has made him really good to ride out in traffic.
 
Brightbay said:
I did lots (and lots and lots) of walking in hand for a sacro iliac rehab. I got to like it so much, I kept doing it - on days when I've no time to ride but I feel hooves need stimulation, we go for a quick walk around the block. I enjoy it because you can see the horse's expression and reaction to things in a way you can't in the saddle. It helps that I put so much effort into making sure he was solid when led anywhere, so I can be confident he will be perfectly behaved led. And as Daisysp8 says, you can use it as a training opportunity too. Also, I'm confident that all the meeting of odd things on the road while led (milk lorries with air brakes, recycling and bin lorries, tractors, rattly trailers etc.) and giving him the opportunity to check them out in a relaxed way has made him really good to ride out in traffic.
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Due to the amount of in hand work you didn't find that your boy then trusted you more on the ground than in the saddle?

I don't think she is this way inclined but my concern is, or maybe more paranoia, she will learn to trust me so much on the ground that she will then be a bu**ger in the saddle. I will do equal amounts of in hand to ridden work to try and avoid this.

I'm glad a couple you hack in hand, i just never ever see anyone in my area doing it
 
I'm looking at a young mare now that I probably wont be able to ride for a while, and who I wouldn't normally have considered, but she fits perfectly. I plan to do a lot of walking in-hand with her. My yard is on the edge of a village, on a farm, so we'll be having walks around both the farm (get her used to the tractors, the cows, the construction work), and into and around the village itself.

It's just going to be a good way of building her trust and confidence, and de-sensitizing her to everything that we'll be seeing once we start hacking.

I've been advised that it's very good as a bonding exercise, and it does mix up the routine a little.
 
I lead my unbacked youngster out in-hand and the grey who's recovering from a tendon injury (not together though ;)). Plus the other horse was walked in-hand to start with when she was coming back into work after a looooong time off.
 
I often take my 16.2hh 7yo on walks in-hand, both alone and with other horses. He seems to really enjoy them and, if it's grass season, I let him graze in the woodlands where we take our walks. During these walks I pay attention to the precision of his reactions to stopping, walking on, trotting, transitioning between walks, yielding his quarters, etc. Sometimes we jump little logs, cross ditches, go to a pond and do various other activities - seems to be good for his mind, as he gets bored fast with mundane tasks. I also love ground-driving hacks.

Besides, these walks are good for my mind as well. Really relaxing after a hard works' day. And it definitely builds our trust.
 
I started taking mine out running with me over the summer. Extra exercise for him and good discipline for me...if I slowed down he'd get narky! Good for him as he's not great hacking alone and it allowed me to repeat routes more often to familiarise him with them. I did it at 5am though to reduce cars I would meet.
 
I only walk out I hand ! I am too heavy for our pony who is ridden by my small 4 yr old, he got a bit footy and a bit naughty so we started walking out. I love it. I really feel it has built a great bond. I lost my confdence in the saddle so tended to panic and tense up which made everything worse, in hand I don't worry about falling off so relax more and deal with things better I am actually enjoying horses again. I am supposed to be losing weight to ride him but am not actually that bothered !
 
I love the idea of taking her for a run! From reading the replies its different and should keep her focused.

I'm definately going to give it a go
 
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