Horse gets seriously worked up hacking home

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jo_pearl

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Hi all. My mare gets seriously wound up hacking home. To The point I want to get off her. She does nothing nasty but canters when meant to trot and then leans on the bit. If I give her a longer rain she 'rushes off' with me. Everything is 100mph and it's very concerning when I have to hack up a main road to get home and she is jogging and throwing herself about . I'm always miles infront of everyone else as of someone gets to close she starts rushing off and winding herself up even more.

I'm getting to the point of wanting to sell her :( any help be so amazing!!!
 
How far do you go hacking with her? Any chance of going further afield so she is too tired to play up on the way home? Is she pulling home for a friend or possibly food, maybe give her a bucket of chaff 30 mins before leaving? I found the only way to bring my mare back to sanity on the way home was to take her for long hacks with lots of trotting and cantering on the way out and then she would plod home too tired to play up.
 
^^ this. Take her a good distance and knacker her on the way out. Likely just a bad habit that needs broken. I also wouldn't feed when I get back incase that's why she's rushing. Feed first if you need to.
 
Do you do circular hacks, or turn round to go home? If at all possible approach home from as many different directions as you can.

When I bought my horse, I was warned that she had run away with her previous owner. She can get very strong but I rider her in a NS Universal with 2 reins and she responds well to that. I only need to bring the curb rein into play when she decides tha she would like to be in charge.
 
Have you tried turning around and heading back the other way each and every time she tries to rush? It's boring as but it worked with my boy. When we turned for home he started to rush so promptly did a u-turn and walked away until him calmed down. When he had, we'd do another u-turn. When he started to rush we did another u-turn.....it took forever to get back but it did work....might be worth a try if you can find a patient friend.
 
If cantering when meant to trot can you make the journey home as dull as possible! Walk only as soon as you reach the point horse normally gets wound up!
 
Today we went for a very long hack with lots of cantering and trotting and hill work. It's really strange cause today we were in the woods coming back on like a Zig Zag route and she still seemed to know we were heading home. The moment you turn a corner or you start like going down a hill she starts her nonsense. If I turn her round she will walk away fine but the moment I turn for home it starts again :( she winds herself up so much she is a bath of sweat when we get back to the yard. She's not fed straight away when back its getting to the point where I'm really thinking of selling her as I don't enjoy riding her and she's such a nice horse. I've got a trans angle universal to try on her with a leather curb
 
And if she starts rushing on the road and I ask her to slow down she starts throwing her head up and like jumping forward. Even when others are walking she will still canter sidewards on the road :(
 
my horse sounds a lot like yours. he used to get tence schooling and grab the rein. we worked on bringing him back to a really short stride but kept him going never letting him stop. eventually hed give, note (hed give not me) at the bit and you would feel and see the bottom of his neck soften and relax. at this point you would then let him take the contact and the stride forwards! this has transformed our hacking!! if he dared even think to jog id bring him right back till he gave and when he did id go with him. it means he still walks home at the speed of light speed,but, when hes soft through the neck and I have a feel of his mouth im in control. he no longer thinks to jog/go side ways/backwards and most of all not up wards! he will now wait for friends to catch up, I have found that if hes in silly mode to turn away from home while other catch us up will help. but hes a much nicer horse than before, we no longer get back to the yard dripping in sweat and I think its a nicer experience for the both of us. also when ever hes worried by any thing I use, leg yield, or going up a gear can help, just gives him some thing else to think about. mine still knows the point he turns for home only now its a joke than rather than a oh my god here we go again thing, but really do try the shorternig the stride and holding the rein (not pulling) just holding until he gives and when he does let him take the stride forwards, this took a couple of months for me but it made a real difference . good luck x
 
Charlie77 said:
my horse sounds a lot like yours. he used to get tence schooling and grab the rein. we worked on bringing him back to a really short stride but kept him going never letting him stop. eventually hed give, note (hed give not me) at the bit and you would feel and see the bottom of his neck soften and relax. at this point you would then let him take the contact and the stride forwards! this has transformed our hacking!! if he dared even think to jog id bring him right back till he gave and when he did id go with him. it means he still walks home at the speed of light speed,but, when hes soft through the neck and I have a feel of his mouth im in control. he no longer thinks to jog/go side ways/backwards and most of all not up wards! he will now wait for friends to catch up, I have found that if hes in silly mode to turn away from home while other catch us up will help. but hes a much nicer horse than before, we no longer get back to the yard dripping in sweat and I think its a nicer experience for the both of us. also when ever hes worried by any thing I use, leg yield, or going up a gear can help, just gives him some thing else to think about. mine still knows the point he turns for home only now its a joke than rather than a oh my god here we go again thing, but really do try the shorternig the stride and holding the rein (not pulling) just holding until he gives and when he does let him take the stride forwards, this took a couple of months for me but it made a real difference . good luck x
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Thank you so much :) I will try that each hack and schooling lesson I do. I so appreciate your and everyone's help!xx
 
When I got my mare she was the same; we used to joke about her two speeds, the slow out, the fast back.

We did figure of 8 loops around the yard; e.g half the ride one way, she thought she was coming home then off we would go and do another ride the opposite way; sometimes we would 'come back' several times! She is 95% better; its actually only the long far away rides when she might still get a bit excited now- even though I know she's tired it is a bit like hooray home at last!
 
blowsbubbles said:
When I got my mare she was the same; we used to joke about her two speeds, the slow out, the fast back.

We did figure of 8 loops around the yard; e.g half the ride one way, she thought she was coming home then off we would go and do another ride the opposite way; sometimes we would 'come back' several times! She is 95% better; its actually only the long far away rides when she might still get a bit excited now- even though I know she's tired it is a bit like hooray home at last!
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This! if possible ride straight past the turning for the yard and do another loop, it should help as she won't be certain of which point she is actually heading home :)
 
mine does this too and honestly she is in her twenties now and still exactly the same. For the 1st 1/4 of the ride she is slow then speeds right up for the rest. The only real difference with me is I do not have jogging with her as we just trot everywhere. I find holding her back she is a complete pain, but trotting she will just bounce along for the whole ride no problem. Then when she is genuinely tired she will walk, soon gets her breath back though. I sometimes do a 4-5 hour hack and she will still come racing back and still raring to go. Its just the way she is and always has been. Works for me though as I can do a fairly decent loop hack in about the usual time, handy if I have to get to work but she needs a decent ride. The only thing I will not have is trying to canter on the road, if she ever does this I stop her and make her go back the other way, she soon gets the message. It is better to do loop/circular rides not there and back ones and I don't do any cantering on paths on the way home. I have found if I ride out further to newer paths/places I don't go much she pays alot more attention, as she doesn't know what to expect. Same when I take her on holidays to new areas etc. I think the rushing home comes out out boredom and predictability of doing the same old routes. Try to change it up as much as you can, even if you turn up some other path for a bit rather than go straight back etc
 
She's keen to get home to food and rest, the two most important things to an equine, and you can't blame her for rushing to get there. Change it - give her ten minutes or more schooling, hard work like circles and serpentines, before you get off and untack and don't give her her feed when she gets home, change to routine so she is fed at another time. She wouldn't be a native or a cob by any chance would she?
 
JillA said:
She's keen to get home to food and rest, the two most important things to an equine, and you can't blame her for rushing to get there. Change it - give her ten minutes or more schooling, hard work like circles and serpentines, before you get off and untack and don't give her her feed when she gets home, change to routine so she is fed at another time. She wouldn't be a native or a cob by any chance would she?
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Totally agree. This is what I'd do; don't let coming home signify the end of work. I'd ride out for twenty minutes, come home, ride out again for twenty minutes, or I'd do some time in the school once I'd got home. I'd also expect some resistance to this at first, but ride through it. It's all about breaking habits.
 
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