has anyone had a horse blow its top hunting - what were they like after?

georgiegirl

georgiegirl

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As some of you may know my normally extremely calm and unphasable youngster went to her first meet the other day and it completely blew her lid with behaviour we didnt even know she was capable of.

I'm a bit worried now about cantering her out with others or taking her out to a competiton and her thinking were going hunting again. Have others any experience of this or are they pretty able to suss out its a totally different situation and remain their normal sane selves?

I've only been on her once since we went hunting simply because of all her antics her mouth does look a little sore on the corners so im giving her a week off until its sorted - so ive had her once in the school and she was ok - quite spritely for her school work but nothing naughty or silly so fingers crossed i have my normal horse still!
 
I posted a reply on a rather similar thread - it was headed Youngster out Hunting I think, a few days ago.

Your baby is still just a baby, so she may for the moment hot up a lot, whether hunting or at a competition. See if you can ride her in lots of different situations, gradually escalating the excitement factor, e.g. take her for a riding picnic/pub lunch with some friends; choose some longer rides, again with other horses, where you can crack on a bit and have some canters/gallops, then fast trotting, cantering again, so that she? realises that it is actually quite hard work. Long Distance Riding is a wonderful way of settling horses, as it IS sustained hard work.

I said on the other thread that my youngster was a demon out hunting (rearing and bucking) until the huntsman invited me to follow him. He jumped everything in sight, so did we, it was a long run, and I never had problems of any magnitude after that.

But is is scary, and you can't give your baby confidence if yours has been shaken, which is not your fault. Hope she settles
 
hmmm i dont think the case her in situation! shes quite level headed for a 5yo and has been eventing etc and competing at county shows which were extremely busy and never once as she hotted up. she has comepted a fair bit and is very very used to going out.

my confidence certainly hasnt been shaken either! I was just wondering what to expect from her next time we go out competing (not bothering hunting again) or cantering out on a hack with pals so i know how i can tailor the situation to suit!
 
i had one i never even got to take hunting as i took her to a local boundry ride and she bahaved very dangerously and i got sent home "on foot so you don't kill yourself" :o

i never got the lid back on ,but she did have a screw loose and i was advised to shoot her a few times , but i loved her :D

i think yours will calm down ,the only way to find out really is to take her out in comp and see how she behaves ,maybe quietly at first to give her a chance to settle

my current horse is silly when hunting and he is a bit more lively for a week when home but soon settles down again
 
I took my boy out a couple of years ago and he was a nightmare. Never rears but he stood on his back legs most of the time, shaking, wouldn't move then when he did move...... I thought I may need to change my jodphurs!! Rang OH to bring trailer to come and get me as I was sure if I stayed out any longer we would part company!! Anyway got him home, turned him out and you wouldn't have thought he had been anywhere!! Took him showjumping a few days later with no problems!!
 
My brown fella is a horse you'd stick your granny on normally, so chilled and laid back. Great on fun rides etc

The minute he hears hounds and horns he turns into a demented idiot. Although possibly was my own fault for not introducing him properly

I've been out 5 times in past 3 weeks and the little b*gger still did stonking great rears today. I just have a problem from cantering to stopping and it blows his brains.

I am going to persevere for the time being and see if I can cure it (he's got to get bored of me slapping him round the head with the crop every time he does this!)

Back at home and he is straight back to normal
 
Oh dear, that's making me think twice about taking my 5yr old out hunting! We've done a few pleasure rides, and he does get quite excited to begin with but soon settles down, he's normally very chilled and quite lazy to hack at home.

Also, what makes me think he might blow his lid hunting, is that one day out hacking, I met a friend on foot, who i stopped to talk to. His phone rang, and his ringtone happened to be the hunting horn - my horse's ears pricked up and he started jumping round on the spot - I know for a fact he had never hunted before I bought him, but he certainly got very excited at the sound!

Will just have to wait and see how it goes I suppose :confused:
 
serenbach said:
Also, what makes me think he might blow his lid hunting, is that one day out hacking, I met a friend on foot, who i stopped to talk to. His phone rang, and his ringtone happened to be the hunting horn - my horse's ears pricked up and he started jumping round on the spot - I know for a fact he had never hunted before I bought him, but he certainly got very excited at the sound!
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Funny, I was just talking to someone about that! It seems to be universal. She was saying she's sure her relatively new horse has hunted because of its reaction to the hunting horn ring tone but I've seen the same thing in horses in North America that I KNOW have never even heard a horn, let alone hunted. It's an odd one!

To the OP, I think it's very hard to predict to knock on effects, especially since her behaviour was so out of character. Can you get her out to a show soon, even just to "ride around" and see how she is?

As far as whether you persevere, I think that depends on how important it is to you and how much you want to risk both of you and your other activities. It seems unlikely she'll magically be a dobbin next time out so you'll need to expect a few more dramas but if it's something you want to do with her then you'll need to know whether she improves with mileage or not. If other things are more important and you don't care if she hunts, I might be inclined to leave it. I know people can get into the mindset of "I won't be beaten" in situations like this but it's not really about that, it's about ego, its about what's best for the horse. I can understand needing to expose a horse to situations but, as you say, she's been lots of places and done lots of things. Presumably hunting isn't for every horse. If you're keen to do other things at a high level and it's not worth the risk, then there's no harm in just leaving it.
 
Hunting can be exciting for some youngsters - the best thing to do is take them little and often until they settle. They only need to be out for a couple of hours, but preferably at least twice a week. If they are good at the beginning don't keep them out too long as being tired (mentally and physically) can alter their behaviour. Personally I would persevere with the hunting. Try and find a quiet nanny who you can ride around with at the back. It is so good for them in so many ways. I don't think you will find any change in your horse in other situations.
 
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