Help with horse being silly on hacks

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GG80

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Hi All,
Can anyone offer me advice with what to do. Recently when out hacking, my horse seems to be absolutely fine on the way out, but as soon as we turn for home, she goes into 'silly' mode. Will not listen to me, she just gets faster and faster, then starts throwing her head in the air when I try and calm her down. She sometimes spooks at silly things that wouldn't normally bother her, and then other times doesn't spook at all. When she gets faster, I try and go with her before trying to calm back down as I find we just end up in a fight if I try and slow her down straight away. I just sit deep in the saddle until she realises she is having to work harder this way and subsequently slows down, but as soon as I trot normally again she goes into fast mode again. Then the snorting ensues and it is like she has got herself so wound up she doesn't know what to do with herself, once she is at this stage, she will start being silly on the road when normally she is pretty good. I dread meeting a vehicle, especially large vehicles (we have no choice but to come along this road) because I just know she will spin. It's really knocking my confidence, which she is then picking up on. I try singing to calm myself, but that doesn't work. She isn't nasty and means me no harm, I just don't know if it is excitement as she hasn't been ridden as much as usual through the winter with all the bad weather, or if we have just lost the bond somehow. I used to trust her a lot, but at the moment I dread riding as I never know what she will be like.
The vet has been to check her out, could find nothing wrong and just thinks it is her thinking she is a youngster when in fact she is 20.
How do I stop her from behaving like this? Unfortunately I can't lunge her to get the excess energy off first as the fields are too wet. I know the answer is to ride when I can, get her back into a routine but when you don't want to ride because you're worried what she will be like it's hard to get in the saddle. Other days we go out and she is as calm as anything, I want more of those days please.
I have dropped her hard feed down, and soaked her hay in case she was getting too much sugar, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. She can't hoon around the field either as it is so wet, so she can't even get her energy out that way.
Any advice? I am not a novice rider, but nor am I experienced and probably have a lot to learn! I want to love riding again, not dread it. I could never sell her, so please no suggestions of replacing her with a bombproof school master, we used to be good together and I know we can be again... just need help how to get there.
ETA, we don't always go the same route on a hack so it isn't the 'she knows where she is going' problem, but we do always have to go and come back on the same road.
 
Do you always go out and come back the same way? You may have no choice - but if you can it would be better to vary your route so she doesn't know when she is headed toward home. Also if you ahve an option go out with another really solid sensible horse who won;t be upset by your mare's antics. Partly to give you support but mainly so your mare has good behaviour to copy. It might help if the rider is an instructor you trust to see what is happening and make suggestions.

It might help - especially if you have no choice on routes - to try to box out somewhere she doesn't know and hack there - again so she can't know which way is home. And do some sponsored rides etc.

You are doing the right thing about reducing feed. Look again at that and see if there is further you could reasonably go. Is there anything with added molasses or alfalfa you could switch out. You might also want to consider a herbal calmer. Anything with valerian in it does work - but you cannot compete with it.

You both got yourself into a cycle and you need some help to break out of it. You've done the right thing in asking. You will get there!
 
Hi, I would start by not going so far, do 100 yards and turn back, even closer if she still jogs until you find a distance that she is happy with, which may be a 20m circle outside your yard gate!

The I would gradually increase the distance, so you could do 20 short rides in one day.

If you get caught out once you are away from home I would turn round and walk away from home. When she settles turn back. If she jogs turn away from home. etc etc etc.

I would not ride out when you are short of time ever, as you never want her to find that she can jog home. It could end up that one day you end up with a looooooong ride, going backwards and forwards, but I would not let her return home unless she is walking.

The first time she finds her usual technique of jogging home does not work she could get quite cross, so it would be nice to have someone with you on a pedal bike or on foot. This is for moral support but also in case you need someone to watch for traffic.
 
My old boy was like this, particularly when I rode round the farm at home. I spent many hours circling in front of gaps & gateways trying to get him to relax but it made no difference at all. Fortunately he was fine on the roads . I agree with Shay, ride way from home ground if you can. Can you handle her on the ground? May be dismounting before you reach home & lead her for the last bit. The other thing I know would wind mine up was knowing that he would be turned out once he arrived home, perhaps you could re-organise her routine with turnout time first, ( of course would only be possible if she spends some time in!)
 
Thanks for your replies all, some really helpful advice which I will definitely be trying out, especially turning away from home each time she tries to jog. We don't always go the same route once we are out, so she doesn't know when we will be heading home, but the sillyness does generally start after we are starting to head that way, if that makes sense. If she has wound herself up so much, once we do turn home she is silly on the road with traffic. I have no choice but to go out and come home on this one road unfortunately.

I did try taking short rides, literally down the road and back, but she was just as bad the second we turned home, which I put down to not being out long enough for her liking, but she is the same whether we have been out for 20 minutes or an hour.

She is turned out during the day, but unfortunately due to the wetness of the fields, she is only on a small paddock and doesn't like mud so stays on the harder ground where her feet stay dry, so that means she can't 'go nuts' to get the energy out.

She is brilliant with me on the ground, it's just when we ride.

I suppose I could drop the hard feed altogether, but she is a warmblood and is typically very food orientated, think I would feel too guilty dropping it off altogether, or is this something which won't do her any harm as long as she has ad lib hay?

I will try turning around the first time she gets fast and doesn't listen, but am a little nervous at doing this as I do think she will just get annoyed and the behaviour gets worse. I don't want to have to get off as I don't want her learning that she plays up, and I get off.
 
I think you mis read my post. As I said, I would not deliberately go so far as to have the behaviour happen, as I acknowledge that she would likely be cross. The turning back is if you get your demands wrong and are caught out.

I did say start with a 20m circle outside the gate, if necessary, if that is where she is happy, not 20 minutes. Then a 30M loop, 40m loop, 60m loop, 100m loop etc etc.

Go past the gate one on the other side too so coming home doesn't mean going in the gate. You could do 200m one way, turn and walk right past the gate to 200m the other way...

Go home and go on the school so coming home means working hard. Standing still on hack also breeds compliance. Walking, stopping and reversing. That would need practice on home turf first, of course, the place where she is doing her own thing is not the place to teach new behaviours.

If I wanted to stop this behaviour I would no way set off on my hack knowing that I was going to have an issue without doing the homework first.
 
Is the road generally busy OP? I ask because what I found worked with one of mine was to ride a short hack, come back but ride directly past the yard and continue for a short hack going the other way. I was on a quiet lane so it didn't matter if he napped a little near the gate - we would trot past and he would back off as soon as he realised we were carrying on. I would repeat this, some hacks I would only ride 4/500 yards up the road then turn back and do the same the other way. in walk and in trot. I wouldn't necessarily want to do it on a busy road but it might be worth it, you might find you are able to relax more too which will no doubt help.
 
Yes I did Red-1, sorry. I see what you mean now.

Unfortunately I am on a private yard (with horses in the adjacent field and a livery yard opposite so not on her own) with no access to a school and the fields are too wet to ride in, so can't work her when we get back. I am stuck to hacking, which is all I want to do and why I bought her, but I just want those hacks to be as enjoyable as they used to be. I think all this stems from me having a bad fall and then not being able to ride for a good few weeks, her then getting all out of routine (I literally couldn't do anything with her) and as that fall was due to her spooking and spinning that just sits in my mind, so as we all know, as soon as she starts getting silly, I start to panic and she then picks up on it.

I can get her to stop when she is being silly, but as soon as we move off again, she starts getting faster and snorting and head throwing.

I will try riding past the gate, but I unfortunately can't go too far the other way as it is then a main B road and I wouldn't want to be on that with all the traffic. The road we go along, although is a country road, can be quite busy at times, but others you don't get any traffic. A bit hit and miss really.

Our gate goes straight onto the road so as long as it isn't busy (no set times of day when it is busy or not) I could try the circling.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
 
Your safety always has to be your first concern.

If your current circumstances do not allow for you to sort the issue then you could hire in an expert to help. Otherwise you could move somewhere with a school and some round routes which are less likely to cause her to get so wound up.

It is meant to be fun, and you don't sound like you are having much :-(
 
What is she like to lead?

This post could have been written by me a few years ago. I did all my fast work on the way out and made her work bloody hard. When we turned for home (always do a circular route!) she would start to act up, very similar to your girl in what she was doing. I ended up dismounting and walking her, she calmed down and I remounted and usually she would then stay calm. My mare was incredible to lead in hand though so I would not try this with a Horse who is not easy on the ground.
 
Sometimes I think I just need to put my brave pants on and deal with it, show more confidence than I am feeling and hope it works, easier said than done though isn't it.

I do have a friend with a good safe horse that I could ask to ride out with, but I wouldn't want my horse winding hers up and we both end up in a bad situation! My yard is actually my own house, so am kind of a bit loathe to pay to be somewhere, but will consider it if all the advice I have so far doesn't work. I just want us both to be happy and enjoy being out, which we do on the way out, but then fight on the way home. Just hurts as we used to be good together until my fall a year and a bit ago, both our confidence just went after that.
 
LaurenBay said:
What is she like to lead?

This post could have been written by me a few years ago. I did all my fast work on the way out and made her work bloody hard. When we turned for home (always do a circular route!) she would start to act up, very similar to your girl in what she was doing. I ended up dismounting and walking her, she calmed down and I remounted and usually she would then stay calm. My mare was incredible to lead in hand though so I would not try this with a Horse who is not easy on the ground.
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She is absolutely fine on the ground, walks like a lamb, respects me, waits when I tell her too... literally have no issues with her to lead. It could be something to try getting off when she starts acting up, I just thought that was the worst thing I could do as she would learn that I get off?

Mine has very similar markings to your horse :)
 
My first pony had an inbuilt satnav and would always speed up the moment we headed in a homewards direction - even when we were somewhere completely new to him.

In your position I would cut out the hard feed altogether - it certainly doesn't sound as though your horse is working hard enough at the moment to actually need it.

You have been given some good advise by others but the only other thing I can add is to maybe just stop riding until the weather improves and your horse can get out in the field.
 
eggs said:
My first pony had an inbuilt satnav and would always speed up the moment we headed in a homewards direction - even when we were somewhere completely new to him.

In your position I would cut out the hard feed altogether - it certainly doesn't sound as though your horse is working hard enough at the moment to actually need it.

You have been given some good advise by others but the only other thing I can add is to maybe just stop riding until the weather improves and your horse can get out in the field.
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Ditto this, they know to the yard when they are on the way home rather than going away and they only need to do a route once to learn this.

Cut down the hard food to practically zero, she isn't going to keel over and die from starvation. Horses can do quite a lot of work on hay alone. When my young horse tried to jog I made him halt and then walk on a loose rein and if he tried jogging again I would halt again and he learned that if he wanted to get home he had to walk. However - if there is any chance that this might make your horse start leaping around or rearing don't do this.

I think if the horse has no turnout and you can't ride enough to keep them calm then it is going to be difficult. I too would wait a bit longer until they can go out.
 
Orangehorse said:
Ditto this, they know to the yard when they are on the way home rather than going away and they only need to do a route once to learn this.

Cut down the hard food to practically zero, she isn't going to keel over and die from starvation. Horses can do quite a lot of work on hay alone. When my young horse tried to jog I made him halt and then walk on a loose rein and if he tried jogging again I would halt again and he learned that if he wanted to get home he had to walk. However - if there is any chance that this might make your horse start leaping around or rearing don't do this.

I think if the horse has no turnout and you can't ride enough to keep them calm then it is going to be difficult. I too would wait a bit longer until they can go out.
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Oh she knows her way home alright! When I have time, I go the other way at the end of the track we would normally head home from, which does calm her at which point I then make her work hard because she doesn't want to, but as soon as she gets to the point again she gets silly. I do make her halt when she starts jogging, but then when we go again she just starts up, so it's like the message isn't sinking in.

I think I will take her off hard food for the time being and seeing if it makes a difference, I agree she isn't in enough work at the moment to burn that energy off. She is food orientated though so it does worry me she will get grumpy when she doesn't get fed!
 
my gelding sounds the same as yours. I have had some success doing smaller rides nearer home. Like you I keep mine at home with no sand school. On top of that with all this awful weather we have had no routine riding out. I decided to give him a few months off to take the pressure off. I have found a lovely local instructor who is going to ride out with me on her bombproof horse. I think routine is going to be the way forward for us and giving him a job to do. It took me a while to admit I needed some professional help. I think it is harder keeping them at home when things go wrong as there is no one to talk to about it or work things through. Drop me a PM if you want to chat.
 
GG80 said:
She is absolutely fine on the ground, walks like a lamb, respects me, waits when I tell her too... literally have no issues with her to lead. It could be something to try getting off when she starts acting up, I just thought that was the worst thing I could do as she would learn that I get off?

Mine has very similar markings to your horse :)
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The reason it helped my mare to get off is that I was more confident on the ground then ridden. It used to make me very nervous when she acted up and this in turn made her worse, which in turn made me worse, it was a vicious circle. But once I got off and calmed myself down I gave her the confidence she needed. Once we were both calm I remounted and it was fine, I think it helped to know that I could get off and lead if she became too much. Started off that we would walk a good chunck of the way, it became less and less each time until it stopped all together and I could ride her all the way home with no issues (we even became so confident that I introduced fast work on the way home, I could canter her and pull up on the buckle if I wanted too) getting off your Horse is not giving up, but what you are doing is giving yourself and the Horse the confidence to continue home in a calm way. Do you have a pic of your mare? I'd love to see. I haven't updated my profile on here forever but have loads of photos of her on my Instagram if you wanted to look, she has very unique markings!
 
Thanks for all the lovely kind replies and advice, it is good to know I am not the only one that's been here!

I will try what each of you have suggested and see where that gets us. I just hate being nervous to ride when I never used to be. I am at the point if I see or hear something unusual I am waiting for her to react which makes me nervous, and like you said LaurenBay you end up in a vicious circle.

I will give it all a go and if it doesn't improve, I will definitely consider leaving off the riding until the fields are better and I can lunge her and she can have the freedom to let loose. Just feels like I am giving up, but I have to do what is best for her and I.... get the unit back together :)
 
I also invested in a comfortable body protector which gives me confidence when Logan is anxious. I also take out a lead rope which I attach to my saddle so if needed I can get off and lead him. Last time I got off Logan was so wound up he was a nightmare to lead and I was better off back in the saddle. We have just started doing lots of ground work including long reining.
 
Rosiebelle said:
I also invested in a comfortable body protector which gives me confidence when Logan is anxious. I also take out a lead rope which I attach to my saddle so if needed I can get off and lead him. Last time I got off Logan was so wound up he was a nightmare to lead and I was better off back in the saddle. We have just started doing lots of ground work including long reining.
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Maybe that is something I should invest in also. Definitely worth bearing in mind. Also good idea to carry a leadrope, I shall take one with me this afternoon when I try! She is much better when in regular work and I can do groundwork with her, just hope the fields dry up soon to see if she does go back to normal!
 
Don't think this weather is helping. My friend events her horse and had a fall off him a few weeks ago due to him being full of it. I think all this awful weather isn't helping. I am looking forward to the spring and lighter evenings.
 
Rosiebelle said:
Don't think this weather is helping. My friend events her horse and had a fall off him a few weeks ago due to him being full of it. I think all this awful weather isn't helping. I am looking forward to the spring and lighter evenings.
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Me too Rosiebell, just getting back into a routine I am hoping will help!
 
My lad doesn't pull for home but he does do the "silly" thing sometimes, with the speeding up and head throwing. He's about 20 too! A couple of things I have had success with...

If it's safe, tight circles, no other aid ie no pulling on reins to slow down, just use directional rein and leg. As soon as he slows (and it's hard to trot tight circles) i let him go straight. Repeat as necessary. He usually gets fed up of circles pretty quickly.

Fight the urge to pull on the reins to slow down/stop head throwing. I think the pull makes the head throwing worse with my lad. Sit deep and try to relax right through your body, breathe, lean slightly back to avoid thrown head, and only take up a firmer contact if the speeding up gets worse. I ride western with no contact most of the time - I found that the firm contact I was tending to take to avoid speed increase made the head throwing worse, and indeed gave him somethingg to fight against.

Allow a good trot but make it a good well controlled collected/energetic one, if it's safe to do so.

Do a load of work the moment you get back to the yard, don't just get off and untack, thereby rewarding the rushing back.

Get back then keep going , come and go several times before finally getting off.

I hope you find something you can maybe dip into here! Good luck :-)
 
Few thoughts.... if your nervous, and there a chance cars will be coming past... don’t do it. As others, take her off hard feed. A handful of chaff with vit and min powder plus hay should be all she needs if not in work.

Do you have a concrete/hardstanding yard at all? Whilst not ideal, it would still be possible to do some groundwork, leading, Flexion, moving legs around.

When you return to hacking, I’d suggest trying at a really quiet time of day, ie very early sat and Sunday mornings. If you can afford it may also be worth getting someone like Michael peace out to you.
 
My friend hunts two horses all season and they get little more than good haylage .... your horse does not need hard feed for the 'work' its doing! Practice your half halts and transitions to keep her listening to you will help but I have one that is silly on the way home and turning circles on her would make things escalate tenfold! I just sit quietly, have her on the bit and leg yield up and down the road to get her thinking and moving and so using the forward momentum rather than fighting to slow it down (and thus winding her up much more) Probably not 'curing' the issue but it works for me.
 
Carlosmum said:
Can you handle her on the ground? May be dismounting before you reach home & lead her for the last bit.
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Red-1's advice is very good, but this ^^ also.

I was at a yard for a few years where we had to navigate a series of gates etc to get from the farm to the yard, as a result we always got off in the farm yard and led them the last few minutes. It was noticeable that horses that were known for jogging and speeding up on the way home stopped doing it after they came to the yard and I think this may have been the reason, I'm not sure entirely why but maybe it splits the "treat" of arriving home?

Alongside / after the work Red-1 suggested, obviously don't feed, treat, turnout immediately when you get back, and (if practical) you could go into the school for a short session at the end of some hacks. You could also get off and have a short break, maybe give a treat / let her graze, somewhere out on the hack (assuming there is somewhere safe). Generally anything to break her focus on getting home as the reward.
 
I have one who did this in winter when he wasn't in much work (though turned out 24/7!). I just used to get off about a mile from home and walk it - we still strode out but no silliness. I still do get off and walk the last part - a cool down for him and better exercise for me.
 
Thank you for all the really helpful advice all. I shall be taking it all on board and hope that something works for us x
 
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