Hacking Woes

paddy555 said:
Somewhere you mention HRT. You have to take into account as some people get older they become more risk adverse, more worried, the tiny things in the past that have upset the horse in that location have also worried you. However much you think it is just him they upset your brain may have latched onto these and is now in self preservation status.
Just because you have done lots of brave and daring things in the past doesn’t mean you will still be able to carry on doing them. You are cross and frustrated but your brain still won’t let you.

You may have to accept you are never going to be able to ride this horse in the open spaces and it is pointless beating yourself up. Give up. Go somewhere else where you are happy and enjoy your horse.

If you get the chance borrow a safe horse and ride the open spaces to i

you mentioned HRT. You are getting older and I would guess this is a fair amount of your problem. Just because you could gallop with racehorses, jump 6 foot walls or whatever in the past doesn't mean that you will continue to do so as you get older. Some people especially females seem to get affected with confidence issues as they age.
As you have got older recently your mind is processing it all differently. Whatever you actively think it is in protection mode.

You give examples above of being chased by a dog, you coming off etc. Not only has that upset the horse but also even sub consciously you. So now this lack of confidence (however many times you sing) is coming to the fore and your lack of confidence = horse not getting support so it is the downward spiral.

will it be gone forever? who knows but maybe it will.
I think you will have to give up on the open spaces area with this horse. You are not going to get over the confidence part and the horse is not going to get over it without a stronger (more confident) rider. Stick to more enclosed areas and enjoy your horse there

If you get the chance ride a different horse on the open spaces just to keep your confidence up.
I would imagine that if he fell in hoof boots this may have made you especially nervous and that is difficult to get over.
I appreciate everyone else sees a pain problem but unfortunately I see it as a "you" problem and it is a case of finding a way to make "you" happier.
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I don’t believe it’s a pain problem, I believe it’s a mind problem. In both his mind and my mind.

But it would be my mind that needs to lead change, which as you say is no longer happening and it’s got worse mentally not better (repeated reinforcement)

Yes it’s become a downward spiral.

My understanding with HRT was if get dose right, would not have wider loss of confidence as that’s caused by low oestrogen.
 
coblets said:
Have you tried asking a cyclist friend to come out with you? A cyclist means he has someone to follow without it being as stressful as another horse where he’s stressing about staying with them. And you might gain confidence from having someone on the ground.
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That’s an interesting idea. I’m lacking cyclist friends. And I’m not sure they are allowed on horse grass areas.
canteron said:
If you think it’s location based is there somewhere else you could go - maybe with a school so you can mix a bit of schooling with a little bit of hacking and build up both your confidence

There is a riding school nearby me where they have nice riding around their own fields and you can have ‘hacking’ lessons, maybe something like that would answer a few questions.

Good luck
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I have this. I hack to arena I use, and can hack around their woods. All fine.
 
I don’t know of any criticism of Equibiome. It was recommended to me by two different vets.

It worked very well with lasting effects on my mare who had previously been on Succeed.

EquiNectar seems to have arrived with a blast on Facebook more recently. I haven’t evaluated EquiNectar at all, but the aggressive marketing and the utterly ridiculous product name has put me off it from the start!

I lost my hind gut issues mare in April ‘24 so haven’t kept up to date since then. I do maintain my other two on the oily herbs, though.
 
Is this the only hacking you have that goes direct from your yard? It sounds like he's pretty good everywhere else, so your choices are either:

1) Get someone confident to hack him out for a few weeks to see if he's any different. If he is, you know it's a you problem
2) Avoid hacking in this spot and box to other locations

There's no situation where an unconfident rider is going to be able to solve this kind of problem which it sounds like you already know. What is the behaviour that he does exactly? You say he's tense and reactive but doesn't go forward. Is he going up? Jig jogging?
 
Have read through your original post again. I think you are winding each other up. If horse is ok away at other places and ok in hand then it's specific to the local hacking area when you are riding him. Have you tried letting others ride him and seeing how he behaves. I think you are anticipating his behaviour,he picks up on it and behaves accordingly. Maybe not riding locally for as long as it takes is the answer to the situation.
 
Without knowing the geography of your area, this might not work out, but have you tried boxing him to the far side and hacking him back? So you are sort of hacking the route in reverse, if you see what I mean? Also, is this the only open space you hack in? Maybe get his eyes checked. Anything else changed in the area - building works, groundworks, something added/removed?
 
You have a tonne of different options to explore.

1) Bute for 2 weeks and see if change of behaviour.

2) take a lunge line and spend some actual time on the issue that makes him so worried on the ground. Get him hand grazing, standing etc and generally more relaxed to break the cycle.

3) get someone else to ride him and get an opinion.

4) every time their is a problem get off and work ok groundwork or hand graze until let’s go, get back on and rinse and repeat.
 
I’ve had a similar scenario, with a horse who was scary in a certain situation but totally fine in others. If I was feeling brave, I could ride through it and then he’d be fine, other times I’d just want to get off.

Anyway, I believe if they are fine in all other situations but there’s one thing that sets them off, such as this particular hacking for you, then it’s likely to be behavioral. Doesn’t mean he isn’t genuinely frightened, and doesn’t mean anyone needs to be cruel to him, but if you want to do this hacking on him, you both need to work at it.

Sounds to me like he finds that ride stressful, perhaps associates it with exciting canters, or slipping over, or other horses whizzing about, or maybe feet trouble him on that going. Dogs chasing him etc.

For mine, I got a behaviorist out who spent 4 hrs with me on the ground, then in the school, and then walked with me on the scary hack, and we never had an issue there again. He didn’t ride the horse in this instance, but I’ve had him out again for other conundrums with other horses, and he has ridden them. But always with the view that he teaches you his methods.

The suggestions of getting another rider to take him could work also. I always find though, that they revert back as soon as their normal rider gets back on.
Hence why I said you both need work!

Good luck.
 
bouncing_ball said:
That’s an option.

But this WAS my heart horse just over a year ago.

He’s never previously been particularly tricky. He’s always been more whoa & chilled than go.

And he’s good in many ways.

I’m not sure he’d be super easy to sell. He’s lazy. Ok at WE & Trec but not bred for them. Ok at dressage but not keen on competing (super stuffy).

He’s quirky in that he’s a strong personality. He bettered the person I bought him from who had him 3.5-10. And she cycles 70km hill races for fun and black run skis etc. (I didn’t know this when I bought him!).
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I would say he has some sort of discomfort somewhere you say his only like it on hacks but then his stuffy doing dressage, that's not normal I would get a lack of performance work up.
 
Its probably not he answer you want butI had the same problem, I moved yards for other reasons and it helped massively, not 100% it is always his go to when stressed. It helped break the cycle and we both feel much more confident, which helps diffuse the situation and it is happening less and less
 
It does sound to me like there is something physically amiss with him - you describe him as lazy, but it sounds like you do a lot with him, and I would expect a horse being ridden that much to have a good level of fitness. I agree with others suggesting a performance workup to see if there is something niggling him. An unwillingness to work or use energy will always have some kind of valid reason behind it - I dislike the term 'lazy' for that reason.

In the specific scenario of him napping in the field, it may be that you have unintentionally reinforced his anxiety by tensing up in that spot, and he is reacting to and anticipating your worried energy.

I don't think there's a quick fix, but to quote 'The problem is **I** passionately love this open grassy area of hacking. I don’t want to move away, and **I** want to enjoy it.' - I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to enjoy that space again. But you can't force your horse to enjoy it, and maybe your tunnel vision is adding to that frustrated energy which he may be feeding off.

If it were me, I'd probably hack out there with a rucksack of hay with some treats mixed in, halt and dismount at the scary spot and give him his well-earned treat. Get back on and just walk if you feel confident enough to do so, or lead in hand until you're on the other side. Do this on repeat so that he starts associating the worrying open field as novelty snack time, and slowly ramp up the speed you feel confident riding across it in. It may be a few weeks of walk until you both feel relaxed enough to trot or canter. You just want to change the association of that field to something positive, whatever that looks like for him. Eating does help horses to emotionally regulate - you could even just let him graze for 10 minutes if the grass isn't too churned up. Whatever works.

Tbh, I think getting a pro to do that ride is only a sticking plaster if you believe the issue is your anxiety or stress in that particular situation. If this is about your relationship with the horse then it is between you and him to build upon and strengthen. I'm a big believer in having a foot soldier/ground cheerleader in these scenarios though. Someone who is there for a reassuring word and a helping hand when you need it.
 
Miss_Millie said:
halt and dismount at the scary spot and give him his well-earned treat. Get back on and just walk if you feel confident enough to do so, or lead in hand until you're on the other side.
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There isnt one scary spot, its the whole downs.

Theres been a lot of contradictory things posted by OP and now they've popped up on another account.
 
I'm Dun said:
There isnt one scary spot, its the whole downs.

Theres been a lot of contradictory things posted by OP and now they've popped up on another account.
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Ah, I thought it was one open field as they mentioned that they're fine hacking through woodland trails etc. I still maintain that it sounds like there is something physically not right if this behaviour only started after hind gut ulcers though.
 
Miss_Millie said:
Ah, I thought it was one open field as they mentioned that they're fine hacking through woodland trails etc. I still maintain that it sounds like there is something physically not right if this behaviour only started after hind gut ulcers though.
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They have said multiple things, but at least one post says its the whole downs so who knows. Theres clearly something wrong.
 
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