Help with hacking problems, please.

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tusc2

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Hi all.

So my new horse that I have had since February and was sold to me as good hacking alone and in company, refuses to hack out alone into the village.

He is only 5 and he is just lacking in confidence when we hack in the village, if we go out down the bridleway or a quiet lane he is fine, has a look at everything but is relaxed. As soon as we get into the village he tenses up and starts to blow and genuinely feels scared. I think I have pinned it down to the driveways, as he is always looking up them or just refuses point blankly to go past them.

The village is very quiet, so its not the noise of a busy place and he is fantastic with all sorts of traffic, so again this is not the problem, even barking dogs that run around his legs he's fine with.

So really what I'm looking for is suggestions as to what I can do and how long you think it might take for him to gain his confidence.

I do try to hack out in company as often as I can but this is not always possible. I have long reined him around the village whilst a friend walks ahead of him, and I have lead him around on a lunge line so that he can follow me. I've even managed to get my teenage son to come out on his bike!! Is there anything else I can do?? Apart from being patient ;)
 
Temptation said:
Lots of determination and pony club kicking :) :)
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Echo this, it could be a mild form of napping too, especially if he was ok to start with. It is perfect timing for testing you both with how long you have had him and his age. Being firm will also give him confidence
 
I'd agree with the lots of determination but not with the pony club kicking! He's only a baby and new to the owner and the area. He needs his confidence building up, as the OP has said, not being punished for being worried! OP - I'd start a programme of "bombproofing", which can be done in the school to begin with. Start on the ground with walking over tarpaulins, plastic, anything unusual. Expect eyes on stalks and horse growing 4hh! Be business-like, confident, praise even the tiniest try. Move on to putting odd things in the school for him to walk round, through, over, under, you name it. The sort of obstacles in Trec is a good start but get inventive as he grows in confidence. A final goal might be to get him to peer into a wheelie bin, and reward his curiosity and bravery by having apples inside to create a nice surprise. Then you take him on easy hacks and continue the bombproofing eg walk up to a wheelie bin, or shoulder in past it. Again, huge pats for the tiniest try. You might be able to persuade one of the owners of the scary drives to walk quietly up to you and your horse when you come by at a pre-arranged time and offer a polo. I've got a picture in my mind of the whole street standing at the ends of their drives, each person holding a polo. Ned 5lbs heavier by the end of the hack but one happy happy boy, longing for the next hack! There's a book out called Bombproofing Your Horse - brilliant - full of common sense stuff to try. Also, police horse training includes this sort of confidence building so anything you can get hold of along those lines would be great too. The outcome of your hard work - weeks and weeks of it but don't overdo it and do it in bite sized chunks - will be a bold horse that has confidence in you and in himself and is curious rather than terrified. When a horse makes its own mind up to do something, he will always do it. When he is beaten up and made to do somethig (especially something he's genuinely frightened of) there will always come a time when he resents you, can't cope, and tells you so in any way he can.
 
My young TB can be like this, I just kick on!
Mine is the least spooky horse, he'll jump anything, walk over plastic, not frightened by building sites, dogs, bunting whatever but change direction and go down a different path and woah scary! Lol.
It's just confidence, sometimes I canter mine forwards. He's fine as long as I kick hard enough :p.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I have tried the pony club kicks, using spurs and giving a wallop but all just send him backwards and he doesn't mind what he backs up into. This has also caused him to buck and rear. I stopped this approach after the rear!!

I even invested in a driving whip so that I could give him a flick behind his hocks as he responds well to a lunge whip and when I long rien him. This worked once, and I had a lovely hack around the village where I just kept going around and around until he walked nicely both ways around the circuit. Since then it has had no affect!!

I love the idea of the whole village standing in their driveways feeding polos!!! It'd take 2 hours for a 15 minute hack!! Great idea tho!

And as for bomb proofing, well he really isn't bothered by anything! He walks over and in water trays, will walk onto and stand on gym mats, pokes his nose in everything including bins. This is why I don't think he is scared really, but just lacks confidence.

Guess I am going to have to be patient and keep hacking out loads with other people.
 
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