Hacking problems

[Sasal83]

I'm after some advice, I have recently bought a 4 year old out of racing, he is great apart from when out hacking. Now I know it will all be quite new to him, being out on his own and not gallopping on grass but yesterday we had a real issue which resulted in me being dumped in the middle of a field! I wasn't on my own and neither of us were hurt so not too bad really!

What would people suggest with him, should I go back to just hacking around the roads to get his confidence being out and gradually build up from there or would it be an idea to lead him around the tracks with 2 of us and lunge lines so when he has a spaz we can let them out, he can mess about and then we've still got hold of him and can carry on once hes over the paddy?

Thanks

 

[Pamfyson]

How long have you had him? Did you let him down first? When I got my ex-racehorse I gave him 2 months in the field before I did anything and then just walked everywhere for sometime. The one thing that was a no no for ages was walking one way and turning around to retrace my steps. That really stirred him up. I just sat it out and carried on walking. 13 years on he is just a wonderful horse. I would just carry on regardless and insist on walking wherever you happen to be. I'm sure he'll get the message if you are consistent. Personally I wouldn't longrein or lunge as I can't see how that will teach him that he has to do as he's told while ridden. Keep food to plenty of bulk, hay etc and little or no concentrate for a while. That's what I did anyway and it worked for us but it did take some time. Good luck with him.

 

[OWLIE185]

Your horse when being ridden associates a grass surface with a race track or a gallop. However when he is on a road surface he will associate that with walking. You need to spend the next two years gently hacking him on the road and only then start introducing him to walking on a grassed surface. This way you should avoid any explosions.