How would you teach a horse to hack alone?

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Tonty Tont

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Over the winter, whilst there isn't much chance of riding, i'm planning to teach Tont to hack alone.

He's only been backed for about 9 months, even though he's 14 :) He's very sensible and hardly bothered by anything, but really stubborn when he wants to be. He hacks perfectly with others and will lead for a short while, but then will decide he doesn't want to lead anymore and just plant himself.

I'm planning on teaching him good groundwork first, voice commands ect, and then taking him on short hacks, with someone walking a little way behind. When he naps or spooks, i'm planning on getting off and calmly leading past.

Does this plan sound ok, and does anyone have any advice? :)

Thank you, Nicole :D
 
Your idea sounds good.
If I were you I'd lead him halfway round the route first, then ride back. This should help as he will know that he is on the way home. You could extend this by going on a circular route.
 
Hullo,

I'm in the midst of training the rather-large-4-year-old-girl (who is close to 17hh and has a hell of a buck when romping around the field, so not keen on experiencing it from above!) to go out on her own.

Have been through this a couple of years ago with Gul, so have a method of sorts. First of all, lots of hacking with other people on foot, horses, bicycles, whoever, just so they can go in front and take the pressure off.

Then a few very short hacks alone. It is better to go alone, rather than to take anyone else (unless you are very worried that things will go wrong) as then thay have no one to cling to and no excuses. Expect not to get far fast! I find that it is best not to get off and lead as it defeats the object, but to sit quietly and keep asking to go forward - forward is the key. Ask with the leg quietly, then more firmly (a bit of a dig) and then if still no forward motion, start tapping down the shoulder with the stick, not hard enough to hurt, just to niggle and annoy. Keep everything positive, keep asking with you voice and stick and I guarantee, eventually the horse will get sick of the niggling and move forward. Don't make it argumentative - you are cajoling, not telling!

The key is to relax and allow forward immediately the horse moves. Stop tapping, praise and attempt to keep him going forward. You might only get a couple of steps, but stay calm and do it all over again. Don't let him turn, just stay calm and keep asking forward, giving the rein. You might not get far to start with, but it will work and he will get more confidence. It takes a while, don't expect miracles in a day, but Gully was an amazingly clingy youngster and we were going on long hacks at the end of summer having started in the spring.

Calmness and gentle persistance will win the day!
 
my 5yr old is very nappy and refuses to go out on his own, he plants and threatens to rear if i try to bully him , so what has worked for me is leading him out on a short hack and then like someone else said when i turn for home i get on him and he knows he is on his way back and is ok although very tense, plenty of voice and praise and gradually increase the distance.

Also what really helped was after leading him out i then long reined him down the off road tracks, this gave him lots of confidence to go forward with me not at his side but behind him, again plenty of praise, ive been doing this for a month or so till the bad weather started so will resume doing this in the new year and hopefully i will be able to get out of the yard on his back and go for a full hack without getting off! you just need to build his confidence up without a major fight. He was very bad at first and would refuse to even go in the lead in company but now he loves taking the lead just need to get him going out on his own again!
 
I've got a 4yo and am long-reining down the road. Although going no-where at the moment due to the weather! Long reining really helps them to be independent when hacking alone and it is bloody interesting imho.
 
I would never get off. Take a stick and just persevere if he won't go, if you can't 'forcefully' persuade him just sit there for a few minutes. Whatever you do don't let him back up or turn around, then ask again.
 
I've always led out on foot for a while, followed by long reining and then riding - the transition seems to go unnoticed once they're confident leading and long reining.
 
there are many ways to skin this particular cat and it really depends on your horse and his temperament.

Mostly, I start mine long reining around the fields and quiet lanes to get them confident to go out alone.

Then progress to leading/long reining on the way out and riding back (on a circular route), gradually getting on earlier and earlier so you are leading for a shorter period.

Some horses need a smack up their bum when they have a dither, some need you to sit quietly and wait them out and some need you to get off and led for a few yards and then try again.
I am quite open minded and don't understand when people point blank refuse to even consider getting off etc.
As long as you are patient and calm I think most methods work eventually, as long as the horse has confidence in what you are asking.
 
i have read this post with interest as my 7 yr old mare plants her feet and if you try and push her she squeals and bucks (mega attitude problem) my friend next door moved yards so now i have no hacking buddy untill i find someone to ride my tb out with me. i had to get off and lead her then get back on. she just wasnt having any of it!
im going to try the sit there and persevere untill she gives in and moves on but what do you do if this happens on the main road?? before this weather we succesfully hacked to the end of the lane and back without any problems although i kept it very forward all the way!
sorry to hijack!
 
When I first got mine he didn't do hacking alone (ex racer).
He would plant and when put under pressure would calmly walk backwards. He was fine in hand and with another horse will go in front or behind and will often go first past scary objects.

I used a variety of approaches. I hacked out loads with other people so he was used to going out and knew the route.
I went out with someone walking and short hacks on my own on familiar routes. I didn't ask at that stage for him to go anywhere he didn't know on his own. I avoided main roads so I didn't have to have a battle with cars around.
If he did plant I waited him out but turned him sideways or backwards if he tried to walk backwards.
I don't like getting off but only because it's a stretch to get back on but don't see a problem in using it especially if you are on a road and just want to get out of the way of traffic.

I just kept on at it going out as much as I could. It was summer so I could ride after work.

At some point something clicked in his brain and now we prefer going out on our own, he goes anywhere I ask ears pricked stepping out and asking if we can have a little canter if the ground it good.

I think it's just patience and repetition and not giving up.
 
If a horse is scared and doesn't want to go out on their own, then riding them forward (i.e not getting off or using a stick) is NOT the best way to tackle this.

I don't like hacking out alone, just in case something DID happen;but that's me. I agree with the longlining, but best to practice at home before! If your horse is scared, riding out on icey roads can pose a threat if he does freak.

Go for inhand walks out the yard, with my youngster, I did this to build his confidence up, increasing the periods of time which he was out each time; being on the ground meant he was reassured and that I could see his reactions. I would really praise even small steps out the yard.
Then I got on him and had someone walk with me, and encouraging him each step- he became a lot more confident and stopped spinning to go back home- I found if I began forcing him forward and putting too much pressure, he'd panick so by getting off and slowly leading past scary things helped develop his confidence (we are next to a builders yard, so have to walk through it), so I wasn't at this stage even out on the roads when he became exposed to things like loud noises, diggers, drills, and this is where we began our training!

First time I rode him out with another horse, he oozed in confidence; all the work done on the ground, with me getting on and off meant that he took the lead of the ride, the other two horses were spooking (older horses) yet Shadow was taking the lead, standing at the horse crossing and being a sweetie-he was quite inquisitive and wanted to look at things, so I let him, I didn't want to rush him.

With him being young; I don't want to take him out, but one of the other horses I sometimes ride, has severe issues when out alone. She doesn't like it and will rear up consequtivley. I followed the same process as I did with my horse and she is happy to go out with one horse and her owner has done well and continues taking it slowly and she has become a very independent mare

amy x
 
Take a look at my avatar - I inherited my lovely mare from a riding school ( supposedly one, if not the best in the country ) while there she was used extensively as a lunge horse teaching folk the gentle art of proper seat and then hands when suitably proficient and thus spent most of her life fairly contained. If she did go out, it was usually a sedentary plod around the block always in company. However! If she ever went out on her own, it was when an instructor or student fancied going out for a thrash and for my first few trips out I had - putting it mildly - some hairy rides, often featuring glimpes of the floor, hedges and sky in very short order. She was petrified of running water - even in the gutter after rain and don't mention pigs!! Just a slight whiff of pig could send her into orbit.

She was probably thirteen when coming to me so quite set in her ways but I took her back to basics the Monty Roberts way - I developed a very similar idea to "join up" when I was a young lad because I hated the way some horses were treated ( the same as Monty) back then - there had to be a better way. So I had the idea of surplanting the herd so more than anything else - she wanted to be with me and this takes TIME. I cannot stress how much enough - it's a joke in the family that I thought more of my mare than my wife and it's certainly true that I spent far more time with the one with four feet!

Never, never, ever hit your horse. If they are frightened ( remember that great big body has the mind of a small child ) that last thing you want to do is give them an even bigger fright - though this sometimes works short time. Gentle the horse, percy-vere as we say. Never give up, if you feel you horse about to nap or stop try to predict and turn him round a second before this means you will own the command rather than him. Try again. Never start without having the time to continue.

Never get off in the face of a problem - it is highly dangerous. I did this once against my better judgement but on the advice of the head instructor ( it was school policy) I ended up with a foot looking like crazy paving after she plonked one huge foot down on it after rearing.

Later on, she'd follow me about like a dog and I'd often ride her for 30, 40, 50 miles mostly roadwork, be gone all weekend, stay at a foreign yard for a night without much problem. So I wish you luck - come back and tell us how you get on.

Obviously, my mare was quite a big girl ( often used to call her that ) so my advice on not leading is for big horses - if you aren't in charge from the saddle - you most certainly won't be from the ground! It may be adapted for smaller sorts.
 
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Could you get a friend with her horse to meet you at some point around the route, so the pressure is then taken off and your horse gets a nice reward for having been brave and been alone for the early part. vary at which point friend meets you, then eventually, they won't have to come.
 
Agree with "Think Equus" philosophy; mine was a right toad to get out on his own when I first had him coz he'd been in a trekking centre and always followed the bum ahead without ever having gone solo before.

I had someone to help me. We started with groundwork, teaching him to respect me as "herd leader" on the ground, and progressed with this hierarchy established into ridden work. To start with, my trainer suggested leading him out, then as inconspicuously as possible, just hop on and ride him back to the yard, not letting him "stampede" back either as this is what he wanted to do - every time he stampeded/rushed homewards, he had to walk back up the road again until he learnt to associate the two!

Personally I'd not worry about whether you have to get off and lead: IF this is the reassurance the horse needs, far better to do that IMO than to stay up top and have a scene about it, and developing bad habits. Its what works for you.

IF you have a napping situation, one thing you can do is try to control the feet coz if you control the feet you control the horse (obviously!!); my trainer said if he plants then don't sit there and kick - worst thing you can do if he has firmly jibbed. What she suggested was to have a really short rein on one side and make him go round in really tight circles - to the extent that the horse is uncomfortable, and then ask him to go forward calmly from the leg. If he won't then its back to tight circles again!! OR get off and do the same on the ground - if he's moving and YOU are the one controlling the movement, then you are at least achieving something heh. What you don't want to happen is for him to plant, you kick on, and because he hasn't got anywhere else to go, he goes up and starts rearing, which is what mine had been obviously allowed to do, so if getting off and walking past something stops this happening and/or nips it in the bud, then I'd go for that option personally.

Take heart coz you WILL get there! I was gonna sell mine two years ago, the main reason being he wouldn't hack alone, the blighter, but am so glad I persisted with him. OK so he can still throw in the odd nap but at least I've got the skills and confidence now to deal with this.

The other thing I'd highly recommend is getting some help with yours, there's nothing like a fresh pair of eyes to look at a problem like this and shed some light.

Good luck! Don't give up!
 
Different horses are different in different situations. You cannot merely say dont hit it and dont get off it.

For example - my old horse henry was an absolute bugger at times on his own. One minute you would be trotting along, the next he had whipped around 180 degrees to go home. He wasnt scared, just pig ignorant. One day he did it ten or fifteen times in the space of one field. Every time he did it he got a smack. Never did it as much again.

As for getting off - Henry hated lorries. Soon as he saw one he would panic and run off, probably throwing you underneath said lorry. Get off him, and he would let lorry go past no problems.
 
wench said:
Different horses are different in different situations. You cannot merely say dont hit it and dont get off it.

For example - my old horse henry was an absolute bugger at times on his own. One minute you would be trotting along, the next he had whipped around 180 degrees to go home. He wasnt scared, just pig ignorant. One day he did it ten or fifteen times in the space of one field. Every time he did it he got a smack. Never did it as much again.

As for getting off - Henry hated lorries. Soon as he saw one he would panic and run off, probably throwing you underneath said lorry. Get off him, and he would let lorry go past no problems.
Click to expand...

Every time you let an animal choose the solution - he owns the problem and will keep it for ever and a day.

Unfortunately your point about different situations has a rejoinder in that once you've made a choice - you can't go back and do it over to see the other outcome.

Oh - BTW - pigs are not ignorant, stubborn may be but never ignorant, they are in fact extremely clever and can be more trainable than a dog. Sheep pigs trials anyone?


http://www.thinkequus.com/wp-content...df/Napping.pdf
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Ah, "beware of getting aggresive with a napping horse" nuf said.
 
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I wouldn't get off, well not my boy anyways. I've experienced doing this and the horse expected you to get off whenever in that situation. My horse hates going out on his own but will happily lead in company. I get someone to ride out with me but get them to drop back a little more each time we go out. As soon as i can feel him getting a little tense as he's out of his comfort zone they'll catch up a little until he relaxes again. This obviously may not work for all horses but works well for mine, and we're making good progress.
 
I backed my 4yr old this year by myself and had no one to hack with so she has only ever hacked alone.

To be perfectly honest, im not a big fan of pandering to them, getting on and off and stuff, once my mare had had a few rides in the indoor school and got the basics down (stop, start, turn etc) i just took her out on the (quiet) road. The yard i was at then was right on a main road so we could only have a short hack 5 mins each way to avoid that road. But once we'd done that a couple of times I just took her for a proper hack.

I cant say i've had any problems at all, she's just taken it all in her stride. We even had a car crash right behind her (car ran into the one waiting to overtake me) and she was a star, barely flinched.

She has "spooked" at things a few of times which, for Una, consists of planting her feet, eyes on stalks. She is not a dangerous horse, she isnt the type to rear or spin but obviously, first time hacking you never know and the first few times i felt her getting ready to spin and run! So right from day 1 if she has been unsure of anything i have insisted she walk up to it and have a good sniff of it, and even a nibble! :D And yes, sometimes we have been there 20 minutes going one step at a time up the road towards it, and yes, we have sometimes held up cars for a few minutes but, whatever! I think it is SO important not to get stressed, and even more important not to let the horse turn away. I've never carried a whip on her and never wear spurs. She has done it all on her own with some gentle encouragement from me. Now if something scares her on a hack, after the initial standing and staring at it, she will voluntarily wallk up to investigate it and then carry on as normal. I think its done her the world of good to have that sort of calm introduction to scary things, even if it did require some serious patience :D


ETA: I introduced my other horse Charlie to hacking in this same way when he was a youngster and he is a completely different type of horse, very highly strung and stubborn, and he now also happily investigates scary things voluntarily. He's 18 now and i got him as a 3yr old and that has stuck with him all his life :D
 
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Been struggling with this for months and only recent had very small success, but with the bad weather havent even sat on him for 5 weeks now! What everyone else says is the way forward,long lining, groundwork, out with other people if possible, patience. However. I did try longlining down a quiet lane and horse still refusing to go forward and slipped over on the road so wont be trying that again. Every horse seems to have a different "eureka" moment when something clicks and they decide to co-operate, its finding the right button.
 
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