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
 
i'm feeling your pain - the 6 year old mare i bought having been advertised as a safe sensible hack is now behaving as if every blade of grass is out to get her (including suddenly spooking and galloping forward). She started off being safe to hack alone and is now too silly to go out without my other half on the bike (which she loves, she's a different horse when she follows him). I'm hoping its just her trying me out and that perseverance will mean that hacking is no longer a big deal - company seems to be the only thing that helps at the moment! So I would also be very interested in any wisdom from other users too!
 
5 and 6 years are very young! You just need time and experience!! :D

I think keep on riding. GIve horse lots of time to explore, think about things (horses take alot more time to process things than we do - first reaction to scary things is RUN!).

I suggest rather than "working" your horse out on hacks, treat it as a stroll out in the country. Sniff everything he spooks at. Infact if spooks at things, go back for a good look and a sniff. Stop and talk to people in cars if on quiet lane etc and mostly, you need to give THEM confidence. Talk, sing, pat and stroke, whatever.
 
I can sympathise with you both! My mare is 8, but wasn't broken in until she was 5 (nothing to do with me) and had done very little before I got her. So she is very green. She doesn't like to hack out on her own and used to nap a lot, however she seems to be getting over this. I think you just have to persevere with it, as hard as that sounds. It is just a matter of becoming familiar with their surroundings and also trusting you. My horse 'power walks' when she is out on her own, I'm sure that eventually she will settle down and I try and alternate between riding with someone and then repeating that ride a day or so later on my own. Good Luck with your horses you will get there in the end x
 
Most horses don't like a geographical change to where they are living. They are very sensitive to changes in smell which dissorientate them.
You are going to have to continue biting the bullet and hack your horse out each day and after about two years he should be fine.
I actually find hacking them from their existing home to their new home helps (rather than moving them in a trailer or lorry)!
 
OWLIE185 said:
Most horses don't like a geographical change to where they are living. They are very sensitive to changes in smell which dissorientate them.
You are going to have to continue biting the bullet and hack your horse out each day and after about two years he should be fine.
I actually find hacking them from their existing home to their new home helps (rather than moving them in a trailer or lorry)!
Click to expand...

Wow, 2 years!! I was hoping for a bit quicker than that!! But yes I know your all right, patience is the only way forward here. We'll just have to keep working on it.

Thanks for everyones help though!
 
Just this morning I had my third hack in a row alone on my 5 year old where she walked very calmly the entire way and didn't spook or nap at anything. That's taken me 3.5 weeks to achieve, the background to which was several months of fairly tense hacking in company and almost no hacking alone. I felt the same as the OP and couldn't always find people to ride with / come on foot. I concluded that 5 is still pretty young and she'd grow out of it although I suspected that I was making it worse by expecting her to be tense....

After having a really great start to the summer season taking her to shows and dressage I decided that enough was enough and I simply can't have a horse that doesn't hack comfortably alone, however comfortable I feel with her in the school and out at events - I ride before and after work and the others on my yard don't tend to arrive at 6am or stay past 7pm.

So, I said to myself that this had to stop - we were going hacking like it or not, but instead of forcing the issue which would have meant I was unconsciously tense from the beginning I did this:

Took her to my trainer's yard for a week so he could ride out with me each evening after work - rode every day for 5 days in a row in company in the forest - on day 4 she felt like a different horse in the way she was walking.

Took her home and rode out alone every day for 5 days in a row (allowing for a few days off in there) - singing and pushing on to trot every time I felt her spooking. Had some "interesting" nappy moments but just kept telling myself that we didn't have a choice, we had to continue going the way I wanted to go (after a fashion) as I didn't want to have to tell my trainer I'd let myself, him and the horse down (in reality he would have been really nice to me if I had needed to step back but I didn't want to and knew we could get over this). We rode a different route each time we went out so that I couldn't decide there was a particular spot where she'd spook/nap. Every time she did nap in an open area I asked her to trot figures of 8 until she was concentrating on the figures of 8 and listening to me.

Then I gave her a couple of days off in the field after which I rode in the outdoor school for the next two days and didn't mention or think about hacking.

We had a lesson on Saturday morning for an hour then I took her out alone for half an hour round the fields to cool off. Her walk finally felt the way it did on day 4 of the accompanied hacking. BINGO, no protest.

On Sunday I rode out alone around the farm. As we turned away from home I felt her start to slide out through the left shoulder so I trotted a figure of 8 and sent her forward. No mention of napping.... I didn't do any singing as a thank you to her ;-)

This morning we set out at 6.30am, she strolled along on a long rein (maintaining and even contact) and didn't mention being scared of anything, not even the pheasant that flew up under her nose (all she did was bend her hocks and shake but kept moving forward).

I finally feel like we will be fine going out alone anytime, anywhere (within reason!) in any weather. I'm not saying she won't spook again but I don't believe she will nap with the same seriousness again.

It was REALLY ***** making myself go out alone 5 days in a row but I really feel like I properly trust this horse now - and I've owned her for just over a year!

You CAN do it, like you say patience is the only way - don't force it and you might be surprised how quickly it all comes together.
 
tallyho! said:
5 and 6 years are very young! You just need time and experience!! :D

I think keep on riding. GIve horse lots of time to explore, think about things (horses take alot more time to process things than we do - first reaction to scary things is RUN!).

I suggest rather than "working" your horse out on hacks, treat it as a stroll out in the country. Sniff everything he spooks at. Infact if spooks at things, go back for a good look and a sniff. Stop and talk to people in cars if on quiet lane etc and mostly, you need to give THEM confidence. Talk, sing, pat and stroke, whatever.
Click to expand...

agree with the above, keep doing what you are doing, there's a lot of truth in the saying 'practice makes perfect';)
the other thing is try not to expect a spooky ride, if all you're thinking about is spooking then you're going to be tense, horsie thinks 'oh blimey, she's tense, whats up, best be on my toes just in case i nee to run for my life';) and then you end up with a vicious circle of tense rider making horse more tense making rider more tense etc etc:)
 
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