Hacking nerves woe - help please!

[Eggshells]

I'm a rubbish hacker. I love it on paper and on a 100% trusted horse I am normally fine, but out on my rather sharp WBxTB nerves more often than not get the better of me. He naturally picks up on this and it turns into a vicious circle.

Any way, the last week I have had my brave pants on and I've been out twice with a trusted companion and twice ended up out by myself (which is a big milestone for me - I hate hacking alone). Yesterday he was so good. We did 25 mins solo around the fields (with me singing show tunes to keep the nerves in check - apologies to any passing dog walkers) and he put nary a hoof wrong. Today I was full of courage and was going to go further and do more: horse had other ideas. He was jumpy, spooky, joggy etc etc and simply looking for trouble and we headed for home after only 20 mins. He didn't really do much wrong and I never felt truly out of control, although there were some hairy moments, but it will be a while before I try to go out alone again.

So here is the request for advice - what do people do to keep a spooky horses mind off the gremlins in the hedge? What do nervous riders do to keep their nerves in check? What would peoples battle plan be?

Sorry it is so long, I would offer Tunnocks Teacakes to people who've made it this far, but I've eaten them all...

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Try lunging quietly fo r15 mins before going out, and do you have a small circuit you can go on, it is always tricky if it is out and back.

 

[littleshetland]

Try lunging quietly fo r15 mins before going out, and do you have a small circuit you can go on, it is always tricky if it is out and back.

As above. I have a mantra for hacking out sharp horses - whilst riding forwards and straight say over an over to yourself 'I am a sack of potatoes, I am a sack of potatoes etc etc'

This bulls***s the horse nicely into thinking you're fully in control and as brave as a lion and will accept no nonsense from any naughty horses! (which of course you are and won't!)
Good luck.
ps a couple of drops of rescue remedy before you go.

 

[Eggshells]

Cheers m'dears. Deliberately don't do out and backs - even today I made him turn away from the path to home and trot away up the field and then walked back down the other side. Lunging is one I will have a go with and I will work on my internal sack of potatoes chant! The girl I usually hack out with is excellent as she makes sure we talk non-stop so I forget about the horse and worries.

It is so irritating, sometimes I am fine and will often laugh at his stupid ability to be completely un-phased by the pheasant taking off under his front feet but wet himself at a robin on a twig, other times it really gets to me and I turn to jelly. Joys of getting older and realising I now break rather than bounce.

 

[Eggshells]

ps a couple of drops of rescue remedy before you go.

Do you mean a couple of swigs from the hip flask ;-)

 

[littleshetland]

You're very welcome! I do understand, it does seem to get worse as you get older - but just remember, you're probably a far better rider than you think you are!

ps nothing wrong with a teeny bit of dutch courage sometimes!

 

[Ibblebibble]

singing or consciously breathing deep and slow, but some days no matter what tricks you have the gremlins are going to win! some days, especially at this time of year, just bringing the big girl in from the field tells me it's not a good day to ride! so i groom and faff and then put her back out. I ride for pleasure and if she's arsing around at imaginary gremlins before I've got to the yard then i know it's not going to be a pleasure for either of us!

If you do get on board and find things are not going as planned, set yourself a milestone, a gateway or tree or lamp post, get to that point and turn and go home, feel pleased that you achieved what you set out to do (even if it was only 2 minutes up the road and back!) always concentrate on the positive instead of dwelling on the negative.

 

[wattamus]

I know I may probably get a lot of stick for this but I have my iPod on (quietly so I can still hear cars) Listening to music really calms my nerves.
I also just talk to my horse which I found has really worked- she used to be a really nervy/nappy hacker I found that if I just sat there and pointed out what an idiot she was being and laughed at her silliness she was a lot better probably because I was calmer about the whole thing. Lots of patting and stroking and laughing.
I don't think anything will really solve it unless you just get out and go, I had no school originally so I just had to go out and do it. The more I did it the better it went, start short and sweet and slowly build up. Of course we had some scary days but now after a few months I spend most of my time hacking out on buckle end able to relax all the way round

 

[TrasaM]

Stay relaxed and heavy in the saddle.
DO NOT LOOK at the scary things
Do not tighten the reins..give a little but be ready to hold if you need to.
Sing
And don't forget to breathe

Meanwhile dialogue in head goes " oh holy **** it's a bin lorry! / plastic bag / bird eek! No don't look at it don't look at it..look somewhere else ..pretend you don't care... Breathe and meaningless chatter " .. Mostly it works

 

[Flibble]

I know the feeling. Someone Pointed out to me that when I get anxious she can tell because I stop talking. So I don't anymore I talk his ears off.

 

[splashgirl45]

i have a very spooky mare who has not been ridden for some time and have just started hacking out (i have not ridden for 8 months ) slowly for both of our sakes. unfortunately my mare does really do slow or calm and the other day we met some other horses when i had only been out for 5 mins and she went ballistic, prancing, high blowing etc, so i asked them to stand still while i went past them and i went back to the yard...i didnt get off but walked round the yard until she was calmer, then, with my brave pants on, went out again and she was ok...i felt great when i got back as i had achieved what i wanted to do so be brave and keep trying.. the lunging is a good idea to get him calmer...good luck

 

[atropa]

I don't have a spooky horse but one that occasionally likes to test my nerves and take the mickey in company. I used to be a really nervous hacker, but conquered this by starting with someone on foot with me, then progressing to tiny short hacks alone until I felt comfortable, progressing to longer ones. From that I started hacking out with one calm, steady companion, working up to two and then more.
I also agree with chatting to the horse in order to regulate your breathing and distract you. Just take it tiny step by tiny step, and don't beat yourself up - hacking can be scary on the best behaved horse at times, let alone a spooky one. You don't ever have to do anything that you don't feel comfortable or safe doing. Increasing your own confidence will likely eventually help your horse stay calm instead of spooking lots.

 

[exmoorponyprincess1]

One of my Exmoors has a thing about bikes and any vehicle bigger than a car...I do a big deep breath out when I feel her tense and it seems to work as I relax and do a good "sack of potatoes" impression! Keep singing show tunes too - i used to take a friends daughter out who was a bit nervous and I used to make her sing with me (everything and anything!)... it was amazing how much she achieved not even realising she was doing it because she was so busy singing!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would lead the horse on the route you intend to ride, so that you (and he) know there is nothing to fear along the way. Then when you get back to the yard, hop on and repeat the route while mounted. You will be far more relaxed and he won't be surprised by anything you meet.

 

[Honey08]

I always find it much harder to lead a spooky horse somewhere rather than ride it, you've only half the control if they spook, I like my legs as back up!

I think just focus on the good rides, stop focusing on today's ride. Go out again tomorrow. I agree with the talking thing too, I do it XC (god help me if I ever had a hatcam!).

Another idea, create a bit of a handy pony course in the school of things that may spook him (plastic to walk over etc) and practice dealing with it in there. Hopefully you will gain confidence as you get him used to obstacles and hazards and it will make you feel more confident about dealing with things out on a hack.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Talk to them any random stuff will do. Widen your vision - looking at something close to you will make your horse do the same, so look to the horizon and beyond, and aim forward, always. Get your horse working, if he has spare energy to shy then he can do plenty of walk trot transitions, leg yield, shoulder in etc, doesn't matter if it's not perfect, you're just keeping his mind on you. Loads of praise, and personally I try not the comment if they do something wrong or silly, just give them something to occupy their mind.

 

[Eggshells]

Thank you everyone for your comments.

I think (hope) I am doing most things you have suggested but just need to commit to them more! Thing is: he is amazing in the school - for example today, having used every excuse under the sun to shy out round the fields, I took him into the school ('well you can f-ing do some work then, you utter sod' being my reasoning) and he was rock solid with tractors moving bales of hay, cat climbing the walls and jumping out in front of him, loud bangs etc etc when a bit of hay in a bush cause him to try and spin and tank off before. Seems that we both lose our bravado when out. On-wards and upwards, tomorrow is a new day (though that may be the wine talking!)

 

[Vickijay]

With my baby horses I always ride them first in the school and then hack out, so they are tired. I have a neckstrap on, which has saved me many a time! If there's something spooky/scary I let them look if possible, even go touch it etc.

Sighing is great, if there is something spooky I will do a big over exaggerated sigh/yawn to trick the horse into thinking I'm not bothered/bored!

I always like forward thinking too, if I feel like I'm about to get ejected I get trotting (with 1 finger under the neckstrap if I really feel dubious!!), get them into a contact & get them thinking forwards, I wouldn't do that with a baby/spooky one on the roads, unless they were very quiet, but happy to if I'm off road/in a safe environment.

 

[pansymouse]

I'm a super brave hacker; that's my thing, don't school, don't compete, I do fast, disciplined hacking. When I get a new horse I take it out for a short walk on my own to see if it plays nice. If it doesn't I start by walking out in-hand chattering away to it, stopping and looking at things and rewarding it for being good. I never sympathise or cajole if it's being an idiot, just wait until it's got over itself and move on. When I'm happy it's getting a grip I start on short ridden hacks and move on from there.

Having said that I got on my YO TB at the weekend for the first time and within 15 minutes had ride it through a ford up to it's arm pits and proceeded on to ride along the railway line where we met two trains. Only afterwards did it occur to be that was a bit fool hardy.

I have had a v nasty accident out hacking - came off my monster WB x TB, smashed up both legs, had a complete confidence fail, sold the horse and only started riding again being nurse round by a angelic school master. I was motivated to don the brave pants and hack again because if I didn't I wouldn't ride and that wasn't an option I wanted to live with.

I get v annoyed when people say "only hacking" or "happy hacker" - what I do isn't pony rides, it's proper brave challenging stuff and I absolutely love it.

 

[Lacuna]

Love hacking! I had a shaky ride several years ago and lost confidence (coblet lost shoe and decided to try and gallop back to the yard or a busy road). But funnily enough got it back with my last share (Dales pony with a penchant of planting and spooking at anything).

My magic trick appears to be non-stop chatter with the horse that always seems to garner me odd looks from people we pass. I talk about the weather, sing songs, about the scarey things that might eat the ponio as we go along. "oh look its a flappy bit of plastic; yes that's a lady gardening, no she doesn't want pony burgers please shift your bum; ok you can stand and look at the daffodil of doom, but you're not turning round."

It keeps me from tensing up and thinking about all the things that might go wrong and seems to keep the pony's mind on what I'm doing rather than trying to run away from the horse-killing object in question. i probably bring some entertainment to the village too!

 

[I*HM]

I love hacking! Though at times I am not the most confident of riders (though I think I have improved and it is purely a case of me thinking I'm not as brave or as capable as I actually am!).
Last week I hacked out a horse from the yard. There was a group of us and I had never ridden said horse but assumed that he was going to be a big plod (he looks more suited to pulling a plough!). Anyways, I led the way because my mount was a good two hands bigger and several feet wider than our companions and it turns out he's a giant spooky idiot.
I went into my "talk to the horse and tell him he's being stupid" mode. Trotting down the road telling him "you're a big idiot... man up, it's a ditch!... that car is half the size of you so cop on... it's another horse, you've definitely seen one of them before... ooooooh you big fool!" and so on. My friends behind me thought i was off my rocker and possibly on something but it does the trick.
If I'm talking then I have to be breathing and by telling the horse there's nothing scary and he's just being an idiot, I start to believe it myself so tend to actually ride on.

If even the idea of a hack is off putting for you perhaps do your normal schooling session and give go for a 10 minute wander afterwards as your cooling down period. Some energy will have been expelled in the school, you'll be feeling happy in the saddle, horse will be tuned in to you from schooling and you're just going out to unwind and have a breather. Just an idea though

 

[Mardy Mare]

My mare can be quite spooky so I trot on roads until we get to the bridle paths when we either walk or canter. I find if I keep her moving forwards and trotting, it gives her less time to think about spooking and gets rid of some of the fizz!

 

[DiggoryVenn]

when my mare was young I used to soak her hay in heavy duty binbags, which were easy to empty and lug the hay to her stable. She became bombproof apart from fearing the horse eating trolls that lurk behind wayside stones and under large dock leaves. but combine harvesters, motorway bridges, fine. with hacking the less I do it the more cowardly I become. I haven't been out for a long while since my horse died and now I can't imagine how I ever loved it so.