How do I get a horse to hack out on his own?

[liss1987]

Iv recently acquired a TB on permenant loan and hes lovely in every way except he will not hack out on his own. Once the other horse become out of sight in their field he will not go any further, not for love nor money!

I have kicked, pushed, pulled and bribed, but to no avail.
Iv tried dismounting and tried leading him, Iv tried giving him treats to make him walk forwards but nothing works! he will dig his heels in and only move again if i turn him round.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

[mightymammoth]

What if someone walks on foot besides you? Or leads you for the first bit?

 

[Paris1]

Hack with a person walking.

 

[Shantara]

Hack with a person walking.

This. Preferably a person he likes.
Ned would refuse to hack out alone, but if my Mum comes with me (He looooooves my Mum!) he'll follow her anywhere.
Failing that, I found a Dually helped a bit.

 

[liss1987]

ill try hacking him with someone he likes and see if thatll improve the situation, fingers crossed! thanks guys!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Will he load? Take him somewhere he doesnt know away from his friends and then he cant refuse to leave them?

 

[blackislegirl]

He is either anxious, naughty or both. So you need to build his confidence and obedience. Has he been on that route before with another horse? Is he OK to hack when he can still see his friends? Could you start with very short rides where he only has to be away from his friends for a minute or too (maybe with a person helping you as suggested by others), and then make a big fuss of him?

 

[albeg]

Does he lead when hacking out with others? If not, getting him to start doing that might help too.

 

[Tammytoo]

If he was a racehorse, he simply won't be used to going out on his own, as they are always ridden in company. Did his previous rider have this problem?

I would start to build up his confidence in you by lots of groundwork and join-up work. Is there an Intelligent Horsemanship instructor in your area? They could assess the horse for you and give you a plan of groundwork/riding excercises.

It takes times to build a bond and, to a horse ,being on his own is not safe (more vulnerable to predators in the wild). He needs to have confidence in you and to realise you are a leader who can be trusted.

 

[liss1987]

hes been on the route before but only when out with the other horses as he wont hack alone. he tends to be at the back when hacking but mainly because hes a bit lazy and isnt as fast as the others.
he does load but i dont have access to a horse box unfortunately and im not able to drive myself.
the track that i need to ride along to get to the national park by me follows the boundaries of the field for a small way, so he is happy to hack along that part on his own, but once the track gets to the end of the field and his friends are no longer visible he wont go any further.
hes not generally a naughty horse, he comes to be caught, he stands still to be mounted, and doesnt have any bad traits other than the fact he wont hack out alone. he can sometimes get a bit anxious when stabled as the other horses are not stabled and he doesnt like being away from them.
i need to get him to realise hes a big boy and being without the other horses is not as scary as he seems to think but im having problems getting him to feel secure on his own :/

 

[liss1987]

he was a racehorse many years ago, hes been reschooled and his previous owner could ride him out alone but she rarely did as her mum would usually ride out with her.
i think i need to get him to trust me but he seems to put all his attention towards making sure the other horses dont forget him when were out riding (whinnying, looking towards them anxiously etc) so my aids, voice, encouragement etc seems to fall on deaf ears.
i will see if there is someone who does intelligent horsemanship in my area, although iv not come across anyone that has done it with their horse so i think its unlikely.
i think i just need to give him more time to trust me!

 

[AshTay]

I would definitely agree that he needs to build trust in you. It sounds asthough you've not had him long so don't rush him. Just spend time riding him where he can see his friends and doing ground work (simple stuff like just leading him about, asking him to back up, etc) and then build up to doing it where he can't see his friends. Also just time spent grooming him will help to build trust as he relaxes in your company. Baby steps - have patience and persevere and know when to reward him for positive steps (i.e. when he stops whinnying to his friends, let him know you're please with him).

 

[Spangie]

could you get someone on a horse to wait a bit further along the track, so when he gets to the bit where he stops, he can see a friend and only has to go 100m or so to meet the friend. then graaudally increase the distance he gets company with someone meeting you on various different points, until eventually he can go alone??

 

[cheeryplatypus]

Agree with above, build more trust. Will he lead out with you and graze the verges? Can you get someone to hack out and then part company round different tracks before meeting up again?
Will he follow a push bike or person?
It's slow and takes time but is achievable. Before you try to leave the yard make sure he will let ou move him about inhand! For example when grooming or tacking up get him to move back instead of ducking under his neck, ask him to take a step to the side if you need to move past him, it's the tiny details that will convince him you are leader and to trust you.
Good luck.

 

[liss1987]

some good pointers in your replies guys, thanks!

iv only had him for a month so its still very early days, i see him every day, twice a day and groom him everyday (to the point where he falls asleep sometimes!) and i try and be as much of a leader as possible! lol!

i think trying to take him on a hack and increasing the space between me and the other horse until he cant see them anymore would be good to try too

 

[nirikina]

You've already answered your own question.

You're not asking him to go out alone, you're asking him to go out with you, his owner. So he has to trust you as a leader. Spend some time with him on the ground, take him out for walks in hand so he learns that you are there to look after him.

Sometimes going out with others, whether it's other horses or people on foot, doesn't help the situation because the horse comes to rely on them. It needs to learn to trust it's rider.

 

[cambrica]

Having read a brilliant book by Mark Rashid there is one thing you might try as it has certainly worked for me.

When he refuses to walk gently pull his head round to your knee and hold it there, basically for as long as it takes. He may walk in circles but he will learn quite harmlessly that it is the easier option to move forward than it is to stand uncomfortably. It helps with your stress levels too as just sit there, it may take 5 minutes, 10 or 20 but it should work with time and patience.

 

[Delta99]

some good pointers in your replies guys, thanks!

iv only had him for a month so its still very early days, i see him every day, twice a day and groom him everyday (to the point where he falls asleep sometimes!) and i try and be as much of a leader as possible! lol!

i think trying to take him on a hack and increasing the space between me and the other horse until he cant see them anymore would be good to try too

Took me a good 6 months before I could hack my ex racer on his own and probably a year before we stopped having discussions about everything we met...!
I did a lot of getting off and leading initially, that seemed to do the trick, just took much longer than I expected.
Have you tried just taking him out in hand?

 

[Ashleigh_]

You're not asking him to go out alone, you're asking him to go out with you, his owner.

What a lovely way of putting it

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would start by getting him to take the lead when out with others. Let him get a good way in front of them, so that he gets used to not just following the horse in front.

 

[Cath&Vinnie]

I had this with my four year old.. He wouldnt go out alone, and when he was riding he wouldnt go out in front.

Id had a couple of months of lots of fustration in tears and everything. He had thrown me off a couple of times which made me loose my nerve a bit

My friend took me on two Veerryyyy fast rides with him we trotted all the way around we did a forty minute ride in twenty minutes..He was made to work hard i was constantly on him with my leg making sure he was right up behind the other horse (other horse was very safe guy) pushing and pushing him on didnt once take leg off both times , we did that twice then when i went out next time we went somewhere were we could seperate but still be together if you know what i mean this time going normall speed LOL

I took a schooling whip with me and when he was made to infront or away from the other he would stop so i would tap with heels and also tapped him from behind with schooling whip (Didnt need to slap just kind of kept on him annoying him with it) I also did a lot of growling. Also the minute he started walking forward i would give him lots of praises and pats and stuff. But the minute he started backing off i would be on him again.

We had everything he would back dand back and back till once we nearly went down a ditch, he would rear, buck spin you name it he did it, but i just snapped one day and realised if iidnt stop this now it would never happen.

He had had his teeth back saddle everything checked, so he was just plain naughty.. he still trys it on now but he knows now i wont take it.. and were able to out alone - Im not saying it would work for everyone but it did for me so thought would share with you - Good luck i know how fustrating it is

ETA- i had done the getting off and leading and getting back on again and having someone walk so this was what id done when i reached the point of thoughts crossing my mind to leave him tied up to someones front door for them to have to deal with (Wouldnt really )

 

[weesophz]

when i first got fox, he point blank refused to leave the yard alone. he would spin and rear at the top of the drive and run backwards. nightmare, so much so i nearly gave him up. but after riding him alone in the school for a few weeks, and me walking him up and down he drive inhand something seemed to click. i think its about trust, and sometimes they just like to test their limits! fox still tries to turn for home sometimes.

persevere! you will get there in the end!

 

[Waffles]

Does he lead when hacking out with others? If not, getting him to start doing that might help too.

That's what I would do - get him to go in front - that's bound to help as if they are behind they can easily switch off completely and let the front horse do all the thinking/spooking etc.