skychick
Well-Known Member
Some of you may have seen my posts about Paddy my new horse who was fab....apart from the fact that he would not hack alone and was really really nappy.
Well......8 weeks on.....and lastnight we went for the most amazing ride.
I had been doing loads of hacking out with sometimes one horse and sometimes up to 4 of us. Also my mum who is the most amazing star has been riding her bike out with us as he seemed to be fine if he had the bike.
He wasnt just nappy....but he was also a nervous jibbering wreck when he was alone so we took time to try and get out and about as much as possible so that he knows that the hedges arnt full of mosnters and he will go home to a nice stable of haylidge.
Well lastnight, there was noone at the yard and mum was unable to come out with us so i took him out alone and he was BRILLIANT.
No napping, no spinning, no bucking.
He walked out calmly without working himself into a sweaty, quivvering state.
We went past a pig, a heard of cows that were charging about the field and also a load of sheep....all previous no go's!
We went for about 4miles to a track i used to ride down as a kid and we went for a few canters...it was great! i felt 13 again and probably had the same big grin on my face too!
Part way along the track i had to get off as a branch was blocking the way....he stood perfectly still whilst i got back on....normally he spins around.
On the way back we had some lovely canters along the verges...(although we dont have amazing off road riding near us, its a lot of roadwork...we are blessed with a lot of really wide and flat verges to canter along...some of them even have ditches to jump
)
I rode back past my mums house, she didnt know i was going to take him out alone so it was a really nice surprise for her to see me ride in the driveway covered in mud with a big grin on my face. She has worked really hard in helping me to get paddy to hack out so her face was a picture.
Its really helped also adopting a very awfull position of loose reins, sitting like a sack of potatoes and singing....but it really has worked in getting him calmed right down.
Im so pleased with him, im really hoping that he now trusts me when i say that hacking alone is fun (especially seeing as alot of the other horses on the yard are in excess of 16hh so cant fit up all of the overgrown tracks with low branches that we can sneak under ;-) )
Fingers crossed this is the start of some fun hacking alone!!
Well......8 weeks on.....and lastnight we went for the most amazing ride.
I had been doing loads of hacking out with sometimes one horse and sometimes up to 4 of us. Also my mum who is the most amazing star has been riding her bike out with us as he seemed to be fine if he had the bike.
He wasnt just nappy....but he was also a nervous jibbering wreck when he was alone so we took time to try and get out and about as much as possible so that he knows that the hedges arnt full of mosnters and he will go home to a nice stable of haylidge.
Well lastnight, there was noone at the yard and mum was unable to come out with us so i took him out alone and he was BRILLIANT.
No napping, no spinning, no bucking.
He walked out calmly without working himself into a sweaty, quivvering state.
We went past a pig, a heard of cows that were charging about the field and also a load of sheep....all previous no go's!
We went for about 4miles to a track i used to ride down as a kid and we went for a few canters...it was great! i felt 13 again and probably had the same big grin on my face too!
Part way along the track i had to get off as a branch was blocking the way....he stood perfectly still whilst i got back on....normally he spins around.
On the way back we had some lovely canters along the verges...(although we dont have amazing off road riding near us, its a lot of roadwork...we are blessed with a lot of really wide and flat verges to canter along...some of them even have ditches to jump
)I rode back past my mums house, she didnt know i was going to take him out alone so it was a really nice surprise for her to see me ride in the driveway covered in mud with a big grin on my face. She has worked really hard in helping me to get paddy to hack out so her face was a picture.
Its really helped also adopting a very awfull position of loose reins, sitting like a sack of potatoes and singing....but it really has worked in getting him calmed right down.
Im so pleased with him, im really hoping that he now trusts me when i say that hacking alone is fun (especially seeing as alot of the other horses on the yard are in excess of 16hh so cant fit up all of the overgrown tracks with low branches that we can sneak under ;-) )
Fingers crossed this is the start of some fun hacking alone!!
She would plant her feet and try to spin back round to home. But last night we had a fab hack and no geting off, we met some scary things but she listened and trotted past which is much better than standing still !! 
