How to teach a horse to hack alone?

[redapple]

Sounds a good plan! But if its a lack of confidence (on the horse's part) as a word of caution it won't do much good for them to jump on and get into a fight. I'm only basing this from yards i've been at where sometimes the offering party can be overconfident with perhaps overstated ability.

When we first started working on my mares napping she wouldn't have stood still either, to me, that's a far way down the path. First steps are going forwards or sideways or basically any direction that isn't home! If he's properly spinning though it does take a bit of a knack to catch them before they manage, the timing is very quick, so getting someone more experienced is definitely going to help. Good luck!

 

[paddy555]

Thanks everyone for all the advice! The only thing about the foot soldier is I’d be worried he would get used to having someone beside him and therefore not want to go out without them. Am I just being paranoid? I used to have a horse that reared vertical when I took her out on her own so I can sometimes get a bit nervous 😅

I haven't read all the replies but we are doing this with my 4yo ATM. He was led out in hand for all the getting used to things stuff. He is then ridden (no other horse) and one of us walks with him. The walker keeps changing position, at the side, in front, behind etc so he doesn't get used to being a trekking pony behind the walker. The walker then stops and the youngster is ridden a short distance and returns on his own. Or he leaves the walker and goes to ride along a bank for example. For the first couple of times when he had to leave the walker he thought about it but then it just became second nature and now the walker is only there as a safety measure in case of traffic or something happening. Often the walker goes slowly quite a way behind him and the horse goes off for a while on his own. The walker (which is me as OH cannot walk) is shortly going to progress to a bike. I could take a 2nd horse but his job is to hack alone anywhere and everywhere and he has always been taught to take the lead when led in hand so I don't want him getting dependent on another horse. I want him to be the big brave lead horse when he eventually goes out in company.

If you take a foot soldier do it many times. Don't overface the horse. Do just as much away from the walker as he can cope with and then stop and join up with the walker again. Just aim for tiny tiny little bits going in front to build up his confidence. Stop before he thinks of stopping.
If you lead in hand don't just plod along. Do stops, find an area to do some back, turns, in hand schooling exercises. Stop at a few banks/verges and let him eat. Treat it as an outing for him. Lead him up and down some banks(or whatever you have) lunge him in the road a couple of times. Anything to acclimatise him to going for a hack rather than just walking in a straight line.

Once you have done all that in a headcollar/bridle do it with a saddle on. That is a different experience for a horse. Don't try and ride alone just lead and "play" with him alone and then get on and ride the last 100 yards home.
Next time ride 150 yards home.

 

[sam72431]

This might strange but my mare used to nap walking from our old yard across the grass to the arena so I just used to keep walking in and out of the arena and this same mare was same with hacking so is there a point you can get to then go back and keep making that point further if that makes sense? I used to do that with my horse keep pushing her boundary! Also could you try leading in hand on way out then get on a walk back? I understand logic of using someone braver but you need to work on your relationship and trust! Good luck!

 

[Frano]

What has the horse been doing for his first seven years, that you felt you needed to almost restart him. Because if he has done very little you are expecting a lot in three weeks. Will he long rein .

 

[canteron]

You are only 3 weeks in. Give things time, don't rush it, as what you do now is all about setting bedrock for your future together.

I know I harp on about Michael Peace but there are two, nay three things he says which I find helpful. Firstly:

"Think Equus". So basically that means adopting a mind-set which thinks as your horse does.

Secondly: "Make it easy for the horse to do the right thing". So you make the "correct" choice easy and reward the horse for making that choice.

Thirdly: "If you do what you've always done, you'll get the results you've always got". Sometimes you have to dare to think outside of the box, especially with horses!!

Great advice - only thing to reinforce is paradoxically the slower and more carefully you do the first bit of training - the quicker you will achieve your goal!

 

[nikkimariet]

I've had the same with Rooni. 5yo but done nothing past backing as 3yo. Had never seen a car on the move.

I did 4 weeks of in hand hacking (3 times a week, even 10 mins helps) with and without company on foot and on horseback to get him used to a, hacking b, working with another horse and c, being happy on his own.

I always made sure he was striding out in front of me, not relying on me to be the buffer between him and everything else. Equally, with someone/something else, Rooni still went first. Every time.

If you can do a half and half hack that may help? Hop on half way round once relaxed and thinking forwards towards home?

The more confident he has been working at home the better I've found he is. He's gone from being a live wire to school (in a nice genuine way!) and needing 20 mins flatwork being even walking out in hand, to needing a 5 min walk and 5 min WTC in a light seat to get the edge off. Would working quickly before hacking help? So he's already paying a bit of attention in the way you want?

It's not easy and it is nerve wracking but take your time. Some of them take a bit longer than others. It's really not as easy as 'just hacking' when they don't know any different, sometimes people can forget that when they've got an easy one themselves.