Hacking problem - advice appreciated!

Yubbie

Yubbie

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My mare is very sane and sensible for the vast majority of the time, however she does have a usually hidden sharp side which has started to give me problems out hacking. This weekend we were quietly hacking as usual with her best buddie when for no good reason it all went wrong. We simply turned onto the grassy bridleway and I felt her get really tense and then she just did an enormous leap which unseated me a bit, then she did another one and just started to tank off. I sat deep and took a check but she just wasn't listening and started to bolt off in a blind panic. Long story short is that I came off and she galloped hell for leather all the way back to the yard, thankfully arriving home unscathed but in a foaming heaving mess! It was very traumatic and not an experience I want to go through again!!!

She has done this leaping thing about 5 times in the 2 years that I've had her so I can hardly call it regular but it's hard to sit to and is so powerful and happens so quickly. Sometimes there is no obvious trigger, although she has done it once on the road when a double decker bus tried to squeeze past us. She just launched herself and leapt forward followed by several seconds of tanking off before thankfully I managed to pull her up. She is a non spooky mare and has never ever done it in the school, on a lesson or at a show.She is ridden in a fulmer snaffle with a lozenge and has a lovely soft light mouth and is normally very obedient. When we hack I put a running martingale on although this doesn't seem to be making much difference when she decides to leap.

She can be sensitive with some things and just panics and runs off if for example you attempt to take your coat off when mounted, or like when I took a packet of tissues out of my pocket, she even used to run off when I widened my hands whilst schooling although in fairness she's ok with that now. It's just this leaping behaviour and her consequent panic afterwards that I need to tackle.....anybody got any ideas?
 
My horse did that leaping thing a couple of times on the weekend when something frightened him - it was like riding a dolphin. He did it the other week when he got his legs trapped in some twiggy branches and I came off over his rump and landed on my back. I find wearing full length chaps really helps. Is it like she's going over a jump but there's no jump there?
 
A standing martingale is most helpful piece of kit - but get her used to it in the school. Vary your hacking pattern so you ensure she does not anticipate a gallop on that stretch (if you often do that there). And work, work, work her - often they are sharp in this cold weather and also hold the neck strap if she leaps. A sharp left right can pull the strongest horse right up if they try to bolt! You can risk a sharp tug or 200 but not her getting loose on the road! Have fun!
 
Thanks for suggesting the standing martingale, I had wondered about giving one a try, starting in the school!!! I think the whole crux of the matter is that she is a 'panicker' when she's genuinely worried about something and that instinct just kicks in before anything else. Her leaps can be huge even out of walk and it is so quick that it's usually happened before I've time to prevent it. But I've decided to try and 'get in first' if I feel the slightest bit of tension from her and put her on a tight circle to get her re-focused - I certainly never want a repeat of what happened at the weekend!!
 
I don't normally think 'despooking' in the school is a particularly useful exercise but for some horses they just need to learn not to panic at everything slightly unusual, and take a braver approach, so things like flapping bags and tarp, waving things around behind her eyeline, walking over and around various obstacles. Definitely taking your coat off and moving your arms around (maybe with someone holding her). I'd be a bit reluctant to hack out a horse who couldn't deal with things like that! It will help you to stay calm and manage her spooks in a controlled environment too.

Might be worth checking her eyes too?
 
Thorough vet check of back and saddle? The only horse I ever knew who lost it so thoroughly and with little or no warning turned out to have really bad kissing spines. He had tolerated it for months until suddenly it must have been acute severe pain. That much effort is only usually entered into for a very good reason - pain or fear being the most common.
Sounds like she was shouting "OWWWW!!!"
 
Should have added that she's recently had her teeth done, and saddle and back checked so really don't think she was shouting out 'owww' - it is more of a fear reaction. As I said she's normally very sane and sensible and is usually very well behaved hacking out, it's just the odd occasion that when she gets really upset she can leap for England followed by her tendency to try and run off!! She isn't a spooky mare by any means and will walk past scary objects and even happily lead the way past the local pig farm whilst everything else goes into meltdown!!!
 
Tricky! As you say this is rare but unexplained behaviour, much harder to train her out of it.
I would consider draw reins as an emergency brake. Don't need to use them unless she takes off. I used to ride a strong mare who would whip round when spooked and it was the only way I could stop her taking me home at speed!
Hope u get her sorted out, not nice experience for either of you.
 
:( That does not sound like fun at all. I hope you're ok!!

Maybe try and teach her to do a one rein stop when schooling? My gelding has no brakes when he gets worked up about something, I have tried everything... re mouthing, sending him to a trainer, stronger bits, martingales, draw reins etc. The only thing that gives me a chance of slowing down the blind panic/out on xc course freight train type running is the one rein stop. It has prevented me from coming a cropper so many times.

I have a martingale on him as well, which helps a bit too. It's probably a silly suggestion, but also make sure your martingale is at the correct length. I thought mine was doing absoultely nothing until my instructor adjusted it. :) My other suggestions would be teeth, feet, saddle fit or pain related - but you said in your other post that she is fine and these have been checked.

Good luck and I hope you find something that helps soon.
 
I would practise a one rein stop. Start slow while she learns it and then increase speed a bit. Practise it until it becomes second nature......I have found when they tense up if I breath out loudly and deeply it relaxes them a bit - then I relax more and they relax more!!
 
Thanks for the suggestions I appreciate all of them - I think teaching her the one rein stop sounds worth a go, so will start that as soon as I'm able. I managed to get my my battered and bruised body back in the saddle today and just mooched around the school with her and she was fine and back to her normal self......... then I'll just start rebuilding my confidence in preparation for hacking out again:)
 
My boy went through a very spooky stage last winter, he'd freak and dart forward if I'd move my leg, widen my reins etc. I now put it down to my nerves after a few scary incidents, transmitting to him, however I do think feed contributed to his hyper-sensitivity. He was on Safe and Sound and I now realise he actually needed nothing. He now has hay, a couple of carrots and that's it. I should add he's a big Welsh Sec D and could live on thin air! It was my ultimate mistake introducing feed the first winter of owning him. Just wondered if you'd changed her feed? Mine would charge off (occasionally bolting) and whilst nothing can stop a bolting horse I tend to use his right rein to prevent him going more than a few steps - can't stop him with two! :D All good fun (?!) good luck.
 
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