How would you have ridden this?

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Jinx94

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Reached out to a local riding school as I think I need to get some saddle time on different horses to help with my confidence and it got me musing about where I lost it/incidents that didn't help.

Ultimately, I don't think it was horses at all, just specific individuals that made me feel incapable of doing anything in life 🤣

BUT this incident came to mind and I'm wondering what I could/should have done differently.

So. Out hacking with two others, all of us on eventers under 7. I was on a late-ish gelded 5yo, at the back and he was pretty much always behind the leg but could have questionable reactions to a whip, so I didn't have one with me.

We had a 4x4 and trailer come up behind us, so we all trotted to get to a driveway we could pull in to. My guy was getting a bit stressed by the vehicle and any extra energy was going up instead of forwards. He got more and more behind the leg, dropped behind the contact and got increasingly stressed as the gap between him and the horse in front got bigger. The more I put my leg on, the more 'up' his movement became. We caught up with the others and he did a few bouncy, not-really-rears while we stood for the vehicle to get past.

The other riders just found it funny and didn't offer any advice (one ridden to Advanced, the other to Intermediate) and I didn't feel in a position that I could ask for and receive it. I remember trying to keep my seat quiet, hands soft and leg on, but the leg clearly wasn't very effective!! I definitely got very stressed and tense which absolutely didn't help.

When I've been in a similar situation with Tris, I've used a lot of lateral work to get him thinking/focused, but he's got the buttons! This one didn't...

So, what would you have done? Was there anything else I could have done?
 
Bon sends his energy up if he panics, just sort of bounces more and more collected 😂
Generally the best way with him is just to come back to walk and have another go. Tbf, he's good that he doesn't carry it on and will chill again. I generally just laugh at him - there's not much else to be done
 
lily does this sometimes, jogging on the spot when if she was just walking she’d be going faster🤣 i just keep my leg on and drop the contact completely, but i can trust her 100% not to shoot off - pigs would fly before she goes fast voluntarily🙄
 
My boy has a tendency to get joggy and when it's because of tension rather than just exuberance he jogs slower than he walks and so gets left behind making him even more joggy and even slower until he eventually stands up on his back legs. The only thing I found that works is to not be afraid to ask the people I'm with to stop and wait for us even if it means holding up traffic for a few minutes...I go by the mantra that they'd have to wait longer if an ambulance is needed to scrape me off the road...and he is very good at showing drivers why they need to give horse riders space.
 
Jinx94 said:
Reached out to a local riding school as I think I need to get some saddle time on different horses to help with my confidence and it got me musing about where I lost it/incidents that didn't help.

Ultimately, I don't think it was horses at all, just specific individuals that made me feel incapable of doing anything in life 🤣

BUT this incident came to mind and I'm wondering what I could/should have done differently.

So. Out hacking with two others, all of us on eventers under 7. I was on a late-ish gelded 5yo, at the back and he was pretty much always behind the leg but could have questionable reactions to a whip, so I didn't have one with me.

We had a 4x4 and trailer come up behind us, so we all trotted to get to a driveway we could pull in to. My guy was getting a bit stressed by the vehicle and any extra energy was going up instead of forwards. He got more and more behind the leg, dropped behind the contact and got increasingly stressed as the gap between him and the horse in front got bigger. The more I put my leg on, the more 'up' his movement became. We caught up with the others and he did a few bouncy, not-really-rears while we stood for the vehicle to get past.

The other riders just found it funny and didn't offer any advice (one ridden to Advanced, the other to Intermediate) and I didn't feel in a position that I could ask for and receive it. I remember trying to keep my seat quiet, hands soft and leg on, but the leg clearly wasn't very effective!! I definitely got very stressed and tense which absolutely didn't help.

When I've been in a similar situation with Tris, I've used a lot of lateral work to get him thinking/focused, but he's got the buttons! This one didn't...

So, what would you have done? Was there anything else I could have done?
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One of the others should have dropped back to shield him from the vehicle. When hacking with a group, you must ride for each other.
 
I too thought of going to a good local RS to ride other horses. It did not go well. A first lesson at a new riding school is not ncessarilly going to improve your confidence. After all, the job of an RI is to find somethig to teach you, so they will be on the look out for what any new pupil cant do.
After a scare out hacking, (in my case usually being run away with) my own solution is to do a session of ground work in the school, next ride I ride in the school, and then I feel OK to hack again. But one can stay in the school till one feels OK to hack.
 
I would have signalled to the 4x4 and trailer to stop a sec, regrouped horse then walk on asking for trot when he felt able. I'll be quite forceful with drivers if we're having trouble, my horse's safety comes first.
 
From reading how everything played out, I'd say that you handled the situation perfect :)

It's natural to get anxious and tense when your usual tactics of dealing with a situation suddenly don't work, however I do think that the riders you were hacking with should have been more considerate and offered to hang back and shield the horse you were riding from the 4x4. Now admittedly they might not have heard you asking them to wait - but whenever I go hacking in a group, we have a constant stream of conversation going, so that if anyone is in trouble we know instantly as their part of the conversation stops suddenly. I always think that whenever you ride in a group, everyone has a duty of care for everyone else and their safety x
 
Sounds like you handled it perfectly.

That said, you shouldn't have been put in that position. As @Pearlsasinger says, you ride for each other, and especially so if you're paying someone to take you out hacking/rs wise.
 
Riding on the road is all about all for one and one for all .
One of the other riders should have supported the horse you were on .
He’s not your horse but if he was here I would be getting a plan in place to tease out this issue and deal with it .
It would not bother me much it’s just young horse stuff .
 
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