Hacking - get off or stay on?

Stay on. He's just shy of 17hh so if he's genuinely spooked by something then I have a much better chance of controlling him on board than on the ground.
TBH not much spooks him so it's generally not a problem - thankfully!
 
To be honest I wouldn't expect any of my horses to react to a burnt -out car - they don't know it has been used for joyriding & they are perfectly used to walking past bonfires, so it would really only be if I was reacting to it & anticipating that it might be a problem, that I would expect it to become one. If it was somewhere they walked past every day & something had suddenly appeared there - and it could just as easily be a wheelie bin or hub cap - I might find that they looked at it with interest. As someone else said earlier, if I think I am going to encounter something a bit tricky and I am hacking on a road, I would halt & make sure the road was clear before proceeding.
I would get off if a horse was lame/not right, if I had a tack malfunction, or if I needed to deal with one of my kids on their ponies, otherwise I definitely wouldn't get off and lead. I don't get off and lead him past things he might not like the look of if I'm competing, so I don't see that hacking is any different. Of course I want my horses to be obedient in hand, but equally I want them to go forward off the leg, without a quibble when asked.
 
ridefast said:
I don't get off anymore, but when my horse was younger and getting used to hacking out alone I would frequently get off and lead her past anything new that she hesitated at. I had 2 reasonings for this, 1, she is much bigger than me and if it came to a fight she would win, 2, she was very happy to follow me past so it was easier to get off and lead her, giving her a good experience of said scary thing she'd never seen before, and also teaching her to stand to be mounted anywhere and everywhere. I never had to get off more than once for the same object, once she was past it and everything was fine then she was fine
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This is exactly how I did this with my mare for the first year I had her. She was petrified of cows and we had to pass several fields full of them just to get off the farm. I didn't see the point in doing battle with her when it was a genuine fear and the result is now 4 years on, I can happily hack anywhere on my own without having to get off. She is still scared half to death of cows but as I didn't make a big issue of it in the beginning, over time she learnt to trust my judgement that it's ok to pass by them and does so nervously but willingly! I would always get off if I felt it would be the best and safest thing to do, but at the same time you need to know your horse well enough to make that decision.
 
Depends on the horse. The mare is genuinely not scared of anything. If she is not sure of something she seems to just close her eyes and power trot past it! The only exception were piglets running at the fence :D

The gelding on the other hand is genuinely scared of everything. He doesn't try it on, you can feel his heart going a million miles an hour. He will follow you past anything though (as long as you promise to protect him)

I think in all horse situations, you have to ride them as individuals. Like other posters, I too would never get off when younger - they had to learn! But whether it has something to do with since having two children who are completely different, I now have the attitude that there is more than one way to skin a cat :D
 
With my old lad, I would have stayed on no matter what - he wasn't the type to throw anything horrible at me when in the saddle, but could be really tricky to handle on the ground (I regularly had to handle him with a stallion chain as he would just go and drag the rope out of your hands if he decided he didn't want to play). For me, I'd have lost him on the ground in those situations.

Current one, it depends. If he was so bad I'd have to get off, I probably wouldn't be able to get on again - not only is he 17hh but being an exracer when wound up he just won't stand to let you mount... In horribly, horribly scary scenarios where I had to get off I'd probably have to end up walking him home.
 
Preferably stay on.

I say this because I saw someone get off their horse to lead it past a scary object, horse spooked sideways and slammed her straight into the side of the passing car.

I would rather be on top where more of my body is out of the way should they fling themselves into something, plus like another poster said some horses may take more comfort from you being on top rather than on the ground.

When i was younger I did get off my little cob once when he spooked, little ****** wouldn't stand still to let me get back on again...walked him all the way home! I was young, mother went mad when I got back for letting him get his own way
 
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My friends 7yo 15.3hh I rather stay on as he easier to manage but her 20yo 16.3hh I rather lead as he he needs confidence by someone walking with you, rather then you telling him from above. I see it as we being equal as I have done a lot of ground work with him and he is very respectful on the ground
 
Baileybones said:
When I was younger I'd have rather eaten my own leg than got off and led past a scary object as I believed I should be able to ride any horse past anything. I was young and a prat.
When I look back to those occasions I'm not so proud of my riding :-(

I'm still an assertive rider but I now realise there is no weakness in being a leader from the ground and showing my horse some support.I've not had to get off and lead yet but I would if legs on and being firm wouldn't work or if I couldn't be sure of her safety I.e stopping her from leaping into the traffic.

I also realise now that I'm not invincible!
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I agree totally.
 
I never get off. Probably I would have let the cars past first then gone past it but I don't think that would have bothered my horse as she is only worried about completely innocuous things :)
 
Always always always stay on! If you get off I they learn to misbehave so you will get off. No matter how long it takes me to get past something, I will keep it facing the way I want to go and if it means standing there for an hour, we will stand there for an hour until they learn to co-operate!
 
Totally depends on the horse and circumstances. I have no problem in getting off and leading if I think it's safer. I don't believe my horse sees it as anything other than me being a leader. Once past the object I get right back on. If however I think that (and it is usually with my pony) the pony won't listen any better with me on the ground I'll usually stay on top and sit out the problem rather than risk getting squished.
If there is other traffic I think you did absolutely the right thing getting off. I'm sure the Highway Code says you are to remain in control of your animal, and it would be crazy if it made you stay on when you had made a informed choice to get off for safety reasons?
 
Ride with a heart rate monitor and you soon learn that they aren't 'trying it on' the majority of the time. It's genuine fear. Certainly taught me a lesson in not putting physical pressure on my pony when he won't go forward. (I thought he was trying it on but the HRM was through the roof so instead of slapping him I gave his nose a scratch and had a kind word and he then got on with the job. I stayed on board as he's better with that.)
 
My feelings - SAFETY FIRST for all concerned! I'd get off and lead her past quietly, taking up the whole road space.

Once passed and traffic gone, take her back to have a good look and reassurance - then hop back on and if conditions are safe ride back and forth a few times.

If the horse is just being a pain in the butt then ride past and again take up the whole road - let the drivers wait while you get past safely - I'm sure they would prefer their car dent free!
 
99% of the time I am in the camp of if in doubt sit it out!

However my loan ex-racer mare is GENUINELY terrified of pigs..and sadly at the end of our yard drive there are pigs! Usually we go by without a problem, she snorts and dances and then we are past and no harm done... a couple of weeks ago if not more I decided we'd go out for an early morning hack and must have timed it perfectly with pig feeding time as just as we got to the end of the drive the pigs started making the most horrendous, ear splitting racket! She froze and was trembling from head to toe literally poor girl I swear I could feel her heart thudding underneath me! That time though I sat quietly and just insisted we go past and she did it at trot but still we managed!
Coming home though we got in sight of the entrance to the drive and therefore the place where the pigs are (they are behind a hedge which doesn't help!) and even though they were not making a single noise she must have remembered because she stopped and then did rearing/running backwards/spinning and trotting opposite way etc... I'd have stayed on and insisted we went home but it was early I had to get to work and I could hear a car coming ! So I hopped off, told her shaking self to stop being a wuss and led her past..once I got off and reassured her she was then much happier to walk past especially as I was then between her and them! If I'd been in the middle of a hack though, I would have stayed on board because I am 5ft 4 and can't get on and off a 16.1 without a leg up or mounting block!

I don't get this 'if you get off the horse has won' rubbish-napping then yes you reinforce the behaviour, genuine fear like Daisy has with pigs by getting off you're saying 'I'm the leader and its safe for you to follow me' ...
 
xgemmax said:
Always always always stay on! If you get off I they learn to misbehave so you will get off. No matter how long it takes me to get past something, I will keep it facing the way I want to go and if it means standing there for an hour, we will stand there for an hour until they learn to co-operate!
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This is fine if the response is just to stand and refuse to go forward. I have one who as a youngster would do this if we came across something very spooky, and I would happily stay on and wait her out - have taken up to 20 mins to get past a branch on the bridle path! She would have been more unsettled if I got off.

However my other mare will panic and go into a high speed reverse especially if you kept her facing the thing she was spooking at. With her hopping off was the best option sometimes, especially on the road if cars were behind it would be seriously dangerous sometimes to try and stay on. She was fine to lead past and get back on and keep going.

Now they are 5 and 6 and both great to hack 99% of the time, but different approaches were needed for them.
 
xgemmax said:
If you get off I they learn to misbehave so you will get off.
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I don't think there's any danger of that happening.

I have one ride where I have to dismount to open approx 10 gates that are impossible to do while mounted (one is a sheep hurdle tied with baler twine). Plus on long rides I will get off and walk for a bit to stretch my legs, give the horse's back a rest and let her have a quick graze or drink if there is water available. So the few times I've dismounted to lead her past stuff over the years is a tiny fraction of the dismounts I have done.

I've even had to get off to sort out someone else's slipped saddle (with them still in it), pick up other people's dropped things (phone, whip etc...) and to sort out another horse's slipped down boots. None of those riders felt that they could remount their horses safely if they got off.
 
I am amazed by some of the logic shown by many posters!! I would far rather do an 'emergency dismount', regain control on the ground and continue the ride than try and 'sit it out' and take a nasty tumble and be unable to regain control!!! Been there, done that and had the time to spend thinking about it!!
 
Nikki J said:
I may be wrong, but I think it says in the Highway Code that you must not dismount on or beside the road?
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It might state that but wheres the logic?? Surely a very frightened horse messing about on a road rearing, spinning, backing up, not unusual behaviour for horse to display and rider having to control it, traffic queueing up, you get the picture. I'd definately get off and walk between the problem and my horse. I know my horse would feel safer and more confident from me leading him.
 
nix123 said:
It might state that but wheres the logic?? Surely a very frightened horse messing about on a road rearing, spinning, backing up, not unusual behaviour for horse to display and rider having to control it, traffic queueing up, you get the picture. I'd definitely get off and walk between the problem and my horse. I know my horse would feel safer and more confident from me leading him.
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Exactly the situation I was in when I jumped off. And just where else was I supposed to remount? Ask someone to use their front garden? No I walked him around the bend and away from whatever was bothering him and got back on using the kerb when all the cars had gone by.
 
personally it depends on the horse - firstly I never buy horses I can't mount from the floor if I have to for this very reason - you might have to get of for something - there are gates round here that need two hands and foot to get them open and shut so you have to get off. But for scary things it depends on my horse. Two of the 4 I have had long term I would stay on as they were both very established and more obedient with you mounted than in hand - safer to be on top. The other two were both types to settle as soon as you stood between them and the 'monster' and on those yes if I met monster somewhere ground was too poor to have a battle or on main road or in other unsuitable place, I hop off, lead past and hop on again. No big deal. One is a real spinner if terrified and I must say my worst fear is that she might spin back into the path on an oncoming car - if I feel her threaten to do this on the busy road I will hop off and lead past or pull right of road until it is empty before trying to pass 'scary' object. If I was a better rider I might not have to do this but still I'd rather be safe than try to prove a point.
 
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