How long before your youngster was confident hacking alone?

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peanut

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My 5 1/2 yo is still very hesitant on any unfamiliar territory and quite spooky in places she's been hundreds of times before. When hacking with another horse, she's totally confident and likes to lead.

Will it get better? I'd love to think that the day will come when we can actually enjoy hacking alone.
 
My two are both 7, coming up for 8yo now but they are confident hacking alone and have been for years.

That is because they were hacked out on their own every other day from day one, from the age of 3 1/2yo!
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I've been hacking her alone since a 4 yo but not as often as you. Maybe that's where I've gone wrong. Oh dear!
 
umm, have you tried having someone go with you on foot or on a bike, so she's got company if something really frightening comes along, but no other horse. just an idea.
mine have varied. one happily went out alone from day one, others have taken a long time.
 
Mine took about a year of hacking before she was confident on her own going on unfamiliar rides. I normally take her out at the weekends, and once during the week.

She was very nappy to begin with and it took a long time before she'd stop napping even when following another horse. She has the instincts of a homing pigeon, so is great for coming home, not so good for leaving the yard!

If yours is confident leading another then you're nearly there - just keep building up the distance and time on your own.
 
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umm, have you tried having someone go with you on foot or on a bike, so she's got company if something really frightening comes along, but no other horse. just an idea.

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Good idea kerilli! I hacked my 4yo out with another horse for about a month and then he was fine on his own (I was happily surprised!). I think it's quite natural for them to be a bit more spooky on their own because I guess they would normally rely on others in the herd but when they're on their own, they only have themselves to rely on if 'danger' comes anywhere near!
 
I only ever rode my 3 yr old out on her own so she never became reliant on another horse and had to face the spooky things alone and rely on me riding her to know that i would never put her in danger, but we had a fab bond before she was broken and i had been leading her out on the roads on her own since she was 6 months old.
 
When I got mine as a 4 y.o she'd never hacked out alone which set us back a lot as I very rarely have company to hack out with. It took her about 6 months to stop spinning and dumping me in hedges every 10 minutes, and a full year before we really got it together. If I'd had her as a youngster I'd have started her hacking out alone from day one, I think it's a key part of a horse's early education.

That said, learning how to behave in groups is also key, so
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Mine was fine from day one. We did alot of long reining with him though so it was neevr an issue to go out ahead on his own. He still likes being upfront on his own in a group!
 
Mine went out with someone on foot for a short while, then we just went short distances untill i was sure she felt confident and we have never had a problem
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My 10 yr old is spooky when out on her own - even jumps at her own poo on the way back. I think she will always be that way even when we regularly do the same ride. The 8 yr old is great can go anywhere at any speed she even went by a small wind turbine that has just been put up at the side of the track with no bother.
 
I always hack out in company, I prefer it to going on my own but I feel that my youngster should be able to hack alone so I occasionally hack him by myself.
He was really brave for the first 2 hacks we did then totally bottled it on the 3rd time reared up in the road and I had to get off and lead him home.
Since moving yards we have hacked out several times and he's now very brave and will happily go any where. He's 5 btw.
 
Mine's 5 1/2 - this time last year she was running round on the Gower Penninsula (she's a welsh sec C) and hadn't the best of starts. She was fine on her own in the summer - till someone started up a tractor behind a hedge and she went to pieces - we haven't quite got back to where we were, tho' saddle-fit issues are stopping us hacking out a lot. I take her out on our own when I can and we establish 'safe zones' where we stop and rest and I click and reward (amazing what clicker training can achieve) for head lowering and standing calmly. It's taking a while but she's a little calmer and we go a little further each time.

ghastly in this weather tho' - the roads are either frozen and we do bambi impressions (so actually, we don't go out at all) or flooded and I don't feel like riding.

good luck - keep going and it'll be fine. People expect a lot of young horses and some of them just need to gain their confidence slowly.

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