For those that hack on busy roads...

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wench

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How on earth do you do it! Just been thinking as I've been driving through a very horsey area, with very busy roads. You often see horses being ridden down the Main Street in the village, seemingly impervious to everything!

I used to more rural roads, and just see things to spook at everywhere, how do you cope!

And finally, how do you trains horse to be so bombproof! (Asides from reading the michealpeace books!)
 
My spooky mare takes no notice of traffic at all. I was scared first time out as have to ride along a 60mph road to get to hacking and she just does it! I'm the one papping myself , we then get on the bridle path , I relax she spooks at a log and I almost come off! Horses who'd have em!
 
I suppose it starts in the school. You need to be very confident & if your worried id say don't so it. Mine can nap occasionally until she's reminded that I'm the boss! However she's the most sensible horse in traffic, nothing flaps her. She is 18 though, so a lot of experience under her belt. If your worried hack out with an experienced hacker who can put themselves between you & traffic.
 
Long slow breaths and then some more deep breathing :)
I took my friends mare through the local village a few weeks ago and she'd not been through there in a while. Everything was happening ; busses ..bin lorries ..zebra crossings..those flappy sign board things! It took a lot of calm as she was very on her toes and at 17h and IDxWB there's an awful lot of her to keep calm! Can't say I enjoyed any of it but we did manage it without her flipping out.
 
I don't have to hack on busy roads any more ! In fact I only went out for a short walk down the road twice on busy roads as there wasn't anyone to go out with!
 
Mmmm, its all about trust basically. The roads around here are rural, yet busy, we're on a bus route and also have to criss-cross a busy trunk road, i.e. either up & over the top, or underneath. We also hack on a bridleway which runs right along beside the dual carriageway, plus are in the flightpath of a regional airport. We also get the requisite boy racers, death-wish cyclists, plus orange tractor-dragons with rumbly bellies and big steel teeth sticking out in front. And while all this is happening there's a load of either cows or horses (usually both) hooning around in the field alongside. You couldn't make it up.

I'd trust my two in any situation; either solo hacking or together. But - particularly with my Trad-Lad, it hasn't always been so, not by any means. When I got him he'd come from a trekking centre and all he knew how to do was follow the bum ahead; we both had to learn to trust each other, the groundwork had to be done and the "herd leader" relationship set up properly as a framework. All hard work and slog, and I did have professional help as I don't think we'd have done it else (it was invaluable).

You can do bombproofing at home; set up some spooks around the place like flapping plastic, footballs which roll around, etc etc. Ask people to put up umbrellas around the horses so they get used to stuff like this happening. Ask friends with kiddies in buggies to push them around the yard so the horses get used to it. Every time I drive past my horses' field, I hoot the car horn - now, if we're out and someone toots their horn for whatever reason, they can deal with it.

Its about adopting a proactive, "can do" approach, and gradually building up the horses' confidence without doing too much too soon or before they're ready for it.

Also the rider has to have the right mindset and learn stuff like breathing/relaxation techniques: if the rider "sees spooks everywhere" then guess what, so will the horse!! :) its about thinking forward, and riding forward. Think how you'd ride if that "spook" or thing wasn't there, then ride exactly that way as if it didn't exist.
 
Mine is much less spooky on a busy road, always got a quieter hack on the main A road past the pubs and the car wash... He came to me like that ;) sounds a bit like yours polly. When that is only option (same with going over motorway bridges) you get used to it!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Mmmm, its all about trust basically. The roads around here are rural, yet busy, we're on a bus route and also have to criss-cross a busy trunk road, i.e. either up & over the top, or underneath. We also hack on a bridleway which runs right along beside the dual carriageway, plus are in the flightpath of a regional airport. We also get the requisite boy racers, death-wish cyclists, plus orange tractor-dragons with rumbly bellies and big steel teeth sticking out in front. And while all this is happening there's a load of either cows or horses (usually both) hooning around in the field alongside. You couldn't make it up.

I'd trust my two in any situation; either solo hacking or together. But - particularly with my Trad-Lad, it hasn't always been so, not by any means. When I got him he'd come from a trekking centre and all he knew how to do was follow the bum ahead; we both had to learn to trust each other, the groundwork had to be done and the "herd leader" relationship set up properly as a framework. All hard work and slog, and I did have professional help as I don't think we'd have done it else (it was invaluable).

You can do bombproofing at home; set up some spooks around the place like flapping plastic, footballs which roll around, etc etc. Ask people to put up umbrellas around the horses so they get used to stuff like this happening. Ask friends with kiddies in buggies to push them around the yard so the horses get used to it. Every time I drive past my horses' field, I hoot the car horn - now, if we're out and someone toots their horn for whatever reason, they can deal with it.

Its about adopting a proactive, "can do" approach, and gradually building up the horses' confidence without doing too much too soon or before they're ready for it.

Also the rider has to have the right mindset and learn stuff like breathing/relaxation techniques: if the rider "sees spooks everywhere" then guess what, so will the horse!! :) its about thinking forward, and riding forward. Think how you'd ride if that "spook" or thing wasn't there, then ride exactly that way as if it didn't exist.
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Good advice there :) I like the horn tooting idea although not sure my YO would be so keen! Lol
 
Three out of four aren't bothered by it. The newbie got thrown in the deep end the first time we went out - think workmen digging up the road, bins being emptied as we passed and trains going past as we rode over the bridge - but he survived. As far as I'm concerned, he'll just have to get used it because roadwork is all we have. I've only had him for two weeks so he's allowed to be a bit spooky at the moment.

The others are so used to it, they mostly don't bother. They aren't bombproof - they'll spook at the odd thing but I try not to let it bother me and just get on with it. They're all pretty well behaved and always come back when asked if they do end up shooting off down the road.
 
Most horses I've ridden are actually better on busy roads! I have had much more trouble out hacking in the countryside and the horses spooking at the odd car/tractor/cyclist/flowers/slightly darker green grass! My normally very spooky arab mare and arab/welsh gelding (who would normally both snort, nap, rear, spin, ****** off at above listed things!) would hack through the local busy towns and on larger roads without even blinking!!!

I never used to even worry about it, just kick on and get on with it.....not sure I would have the same bravery now though! I think a lot of time on rural roads.....things could just "pop" out.....but in busy places you just expect it :)
 
I'm another who's horse is fearless in traffic (majority of the time that is). A crisp packet however- scariest thing ever. Luckily he only gets huffy really, so I just talk him past whatever's scaring him.


I don't have much choice in the matter, there are no bridlepaths around where I am and the country lanes are just down the main road. At the moment that road is closed further along, which means that the lanes I normally hack in are busier- but not with the normal country folk traffic.

In the past 2 weeks one horse has had to be PTS and another hit. :( They've put lots of temporary speed limit signs on the road- now those to Red are terrifying!

Ax
 
PollyP99 said:
My spooky mare takes no notice of traffic at all. I was scared first time out as have to ride along a 60mph road to get to hacking and she just does it! I'm the one papping myself , we then get on the bridle path , I relax she spooks at a log and I almost come off! Horses who'd have em!
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LOL, this is my horse exactly, isn't scared of bloody great diggers excavating logs and ripping up trees etc but see's a crisp packet in the hedge and the world is ending, they are clearly monsters in disguise, horse eating monters at that!!! :D
 
In Worcestershire we have special creatures that live in the hedges. They are called crocodilagators, they spring out and grab the horse and eat him whole. All very frightening.

Just last week one was hiding in a patch of daffodils, the milk tanker with his double drag was a breeze compared to the horror that lay in those daffs.

On a serious note I would not enjoy hacking on busy roads and not a day goes by when I am not grateful for the many routes I can use that are quiet.
 
AA.. They also reside in Leicestershire :D those hedges conceal all manner of horse eating monsters! And there's one along one end of the riding school which is inhabited by particularly evil ones :o
Such contrary animals,.the share TB I used to ride would happily walk over plastic bags, ignored big birds erupting from hedgerows but then floored us both because a motorbike came towards him too quickly!
 
This has made me chuckle as my 'quiet' hack out this evening turned out to be anything but quiet!!

Five minutes in we met 'druggy Dougie' emptying his pot plant remnants on the side of the road (when I say pot, I mean the smoking variety). He was flapping his black bin bags all over the place!!

Then we met the scooter kids on their hair driers - they pulled in though to let me pass (can't fault them). Just after that we had to jump into the edge as a flying VW golf came screaming round a blind bend. Wouldn't mind but he had kids in the back of car.

Stood and had a moan to farmer next door about the state of drivers today lol.

Anyway we got back in one piece but EVERYONE was in a huge rush tonight and there was little consideration anywhere. It's a good job my lad is soooooo good and isn't phased by much at all.

Oh yeah, these are all rural lanes I ride on ha ha ha ha.
 
All of my horses are perfectly behaved on main roads, and by main roads I mean ones that come straight off the motorway! with massive haulage lorries, fire engines, loud sports cars, you name it. Turn off on to the bridlepath and they will probably stand shaking at a daffodil that's popped up on the track :p. I do find that most people slow down on main roads and pass nice and wide, almost got ran over by a complete idiot on a single car width country lane, zooming along at what must have been 45mph around a blind bend. I heard them coming and had to shout and hope they saw me in time as there was nowhere to go, I was leading and I had a little 8 year old girl from the village on my horse :( they only just stopped in time, just their luck we were holding up the car behind us as they could have also been travelling at some speed and had a head on collision .

I did have to apologize to the girl for what I called the driver without thinking she could hear me :o luckily "mummy says that all the time " :D . It's shook me up though, and it was over a week ago now.
 
The owners of the horses I share are also agricultural contractors. The mare, who turns 6 this year, will now walk past combines, ploughs, sprayers, muckspreaders (including when they are working!), and will cautiously pass the power washer. Seeing this kind of thing on a daily basis has really improved her confidence. We did handy pony last year (came 3rd and 4th out of four, but a 15.2 with dishy legs was never going to beat the nippy little kids' ponies!) and she walked over tarpaulins, had tinsel draped round her ears, and an umbrella opened over her head.

I put it down to constant exposure. We've gone out of our way to ask the men to keep working as we pass, or keep going at full speed when they pass us on the road, knowing that they will stop if anything happens, so that the horses are prepared for the time when someone doesn't want to stop! Once they've had a tractor with a raised plough bouncing about, followed by another one with a big rattling trailer pass them at about 40mph 3 times on the same hack, with drivers and riders waving, and screaming "HI GRANDAD!!!!" over the noise of the tractors, a procession of speeding cars and motorbikes becomes a bit old hat!

They aren't perfect horses, by a long shot, and the mare's conformation is... interesting (has anyone seen the reindeer in 'Frozen'?...!) but to us they're worth their weight in gold because they're so good in traffic. My friend and I genuinely burst with pride when people fly past us at 60, or we meet an artic lorry roaring around a corner, and the horses don't blink (or in maresy's case, are too busy gawping into someone's garden to even notice!)
 
An awful lot depends on the rider, a horse will look to the rider for confidence. One of my daughter's was described as 'absolutely not suitable for a 14 year old totally spooky and frightened of her own shadow, quite dangerous'. However compared with her NF pony she is actually far less spooky and MUCH easier to ride down the road, especially when out on her own.
 
Give me a crowded busy road any day rather than a narrow twisty "quiet "country lane. At least in heavy traffic everyone is concentrating ,and whilst I do my utmost not to hinder cars etc I am happiest with a slow queue behind me as it means some boy racer (actualy no they tend to be pretty good ,as do motorcyclists)cannot hurtle into the back of us. As a driver however,one thing really annoys me. Riders who think horses have only one gear ,crawler gear slow plod. A brisk trot up the road to a suitable passing place keeps everyone happy.
 
My mare can be a spooky ****** but to be honest I think the only way you do it is by just getting on with it. I bought her in October and started hacking in December, I made sure at first i was going out with calm horses who were less likely to spook to have a calming influence on her, I tried to get her out hacking at the very least once a week sometimes twice. In march I decided it was time for us to have a go on our own! And with me being calm and thinking ahead we have had some great hacks out. Don't get me wrong she still spooks but now I know her I know that she doesn't like HGVs and tractors, as long as I signalled them to pass us slow she would walk past just snorting and staring! I did have an occasion where a lorry completely ignored my slow down hand signal and rattled past me at over 40mph on a narrow road and my poor mare took off up the road, but I pulled her up a few strides later and carried on with the hack and she was fine. (Inconsiderate arse!) i found it made a difference if my mare has had plenty of turnout and not been cooped up in and the more I hack out a week the better she is. Just be confident, enjoy yourself and have fun. Your horse will sense your attitude which will reflect their experience :-)
 
Ride regularly on them is the best answer, but it can take a bit of balls to start doing it!

Luckily mine is fab in traffic, we're far more likely to spook at the hedge monsters so if I sense something might be amiss I tend to hold him up until a gap in the traffic or if there is space move slightly further away from the curb to force the traffic wider - once they have to go to the other side of the road they tend to give enough space but will try to squeeze past otherwise (and were on a 60 mph road in a busy area :eek3:)
 
You get them out and about when they are young, a ride around town seeing things with another horse that's good in traffic. You put them into situations that at first are a little scary but them they become quite normal like riding past the supermarket with trolleys everywhere, to riding down the housing estate with cars everywhere, pushchairs, dogs umbrellas, wheelie bins. You just don't go on bridle ways. Do in hand walking out. Stand at the entrance of the yard watching the lorries go by. It's basically you put the work in you get the confidence of you both.
 
Pour 'country lanes ' are 60moh limits , we only have B roads really but these are like a roads for the rest of the country . My mare was 15 month sold when I first had her, used to have to walk up and down these roads to get to stables from grazing and used to take her for walks like a dog, now at nearly 4 she is the most bombproof horse I could ask for. I honestly believe I could ride her the wrong way down a motor way and she would be cool about it . She's hacked out alone from the I broke her in as we have no school or flat field where I was keeping her before . If your horse genuinely totally 100% trusts you and you him, you can do anything. My girl knows we have a job to do and looks after me . I wouldn't knowingly put her in a situation where we were out of our depths . At 3 years old and newly backed she would nanny nervous horses across the road , I believe she takes her confidence from me and I have ridden that road for 15 years , it's fast , scary and not much fun but I know it's possible, we are light up light a Christmas tree , she is taught properly to stand and let cars pass and we always trot on and get out of the wAy. Don't give them time to think about the traffic , it's a normal everyday thing. Many of us only hack , a horse that is bombproof and I mean literally bombproof to meis worth more than say Valegro .......
 
Exposure is the only way to get them used to it. It's up to the rider to make sure that the exposure happens in a good way - in a school/at a quiet time of the day/with an experienced companion/whatever works for that horse.

Saying that, the field of young cows that followed us down a fenceline at a run made our hack yesterday slightly more exciting than planned...many thanks to the white van man who blocked people from trying to overtake us until everything was back under control! :)
 
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