I've blown my youngsters brain :-( where to go from here????

[georgiegirl]

All is not good in team autumn camp at the moment

For those who dont know her here is a bit of background info in shorthand!

5yo 16hh irish sport horse - very bold yet laid back, hacks out alone and in company, first or last at any pace. has competed 1.10 sj this year as well as some byeh at some very busy shows inc bramham - never been bothered a jot by anything. done a bit of xc schooling and a ode - again perfect, taken everything in her stride.

with all this impeccable behaviour we thought she would be lovely hunting, took her cubbing and what a disaster - bolted across two stubble fields past everyone and when we stopped she had a total mental breakdown - rearing (which she has never done) plunging forward, broncing and more bolting.

She had a week off simply because she had made the side of her mouth sore with all the carry on. since getting her back into work she has been absolutely fine in the school however hacking is another story. constantly spooking, full of it and from quietly walking exploding into the plunging broncing thing, its like my horse has had a complete personality transplant :-( I've knocked her feed on the head so shes not getting anything but wondering where to go from here?

do i keep at it with the hacking or do i sack it off and stick to school work and jumping for a bit and get our trust back in each other? its like shes just totally blown her lid and frightened herself. has anyone else had a horse blow its gasket? how long did it take for normality to resume? any advice much appreciated - hindsight is a wonderful thing, wish she had never gone now!

 

[seabsicuit2]

I would chuck her out in the field for a couple of months and let her have some complete down time? She's done a lot for a 5 y.o, some can cope others cant- this may be her way of saying she's had enough for now?

 

[oldvic]

I would turn her out and ride her from the field. Start by working her in the school and maybe having a jump then take her for a short potter. I don't know what your hacking is like but ideally keep it simple and build from there. I wouldn't just turn her out and leave her as you will have to then face the problem when she starts again. Taking her out on long reins is another alternative. Once you have made some progress, then a holiday may be a good thing.

 

[Lou_Lou123]

Hi Georgiegirl, I only have experience of this with my own horse. I took him (drag)hunting in his 5/6 year old winter and the first time we went I think he had never galloped before as I had tried to ask him to and he just used to do a very slightly faster canter. Anyway, we got to the first line and he went as fast as he possibly could wondering what the hell was going on. he did get the hang of it by the end of the day, so not as stressed as your horse. I gave him a day off the next day and then decided to quiet hack the next day, well he had other ideas! He was very full of himself, leaping and spooking and was the same schooling and jumping for about ten days. The next time i took him out it took about five or six days to calm down and got progressively better each time we went hunting until he would only be excitable the first day I rode him after his day off.

Perhaps you could try schooling first and then hack at the end when she has had a chance to calm down (get tired !) and reduce the schooling time until you can take her straight out.

I'm sure she'll calm down once she gets over the excitement and realises every hack is not going to be like cubbing!

 

[alainax]

Id go back a couple of steps. Just to clarify all the stuff she's learned already. Get her working good again, enjoying it, before moving on to the next stage.

 

[stencilface]

I too would maybe turn her away a bit, but continue working her in hand. Then take her on long relaxing hacks with a reliable nanny horse to let her know everything is ok. Is she relaxed going showjumping? Could you take her somewhere low key and familiar to ease her back into parties?

What are your plans for the winter though? Were you planning on turning her away at all?

Thats unfortunate for that to happen, I took mine on a try hunting day (my first ever too) as a VERY low mileage 5yo. It was total carnage, about 200 horses at the start, and although excited he coped fine. Its so annoying when we do things like this isn't it, just wish you coudl turn back the clock don't you?!

Nothing is permanent though, and she will get over it.

 

[coreteam1]

I have never taken mine for this very reason, blimey he spooks enough but I think this experience would definitely blow his gasket. I would be the person walking at the back trying to catch him!

There was a young girl on our yard who had the same kind of experience and she still went out hacking afterwards, it just took the horse time to settle.

I would go back to the schooling and like someone said on here, ride to and from the field.
Good luck, I'm sure she will settle back into her normal ways soon enough

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

ok, my lad has to be managed very carefully normal hacking (never mind hunting, the thought of taking him hunting makes me feel ill),eg minimal cantering in fields, never in same place twice, always *just* in front etc etc, and iv managed not once but twice to over do it and end up with hysterical rearing, leaping and plunging sideways etc.

what always works to settle him is 2 things- going in to big scary exciting fields and.......eating! seriously, have a walk round and whenever she gets tense, stop and let her eat some grass, then have a trot, have some grass etc etc.

and verges.....for some reason my boy is ok at cantering up verges even when i am unable to canter in fields/on tracks, so if you have any wide verges on quiet roads, id go with a sensible companion and do some steady canters.

 

[jeanettethree]

EXACTLY this happened to my gelding.

100% to hack and very laid back, so i thought hed be fab hunting.

OH NOOOOOO

blew his head, since then hes a swine for spooking out hacking, spins etc but i can handle him. When he sees a horse in the distance, he goes mental!

Gradually he is getting better (2yrs on!) but what a mistake it was to take him hunting!

 

[georgiegirl]

stencilface - i certainly do wish i could turn back the clock but all the stuff we had done previous gave us great confidence she'd be ok - you just dont know how they are going to react!!

my plans for the next few eeks are to get her out to some dressage and just do boring boring stuff - as i say shes been fine in school and we've only had over trot poles since but there was no silliness at all, its just when we've been out! was planning to give her jan off when the weather is realy yucky for a break for the pair of us.

princesssparkle - what a mega tip! she is very food orientated so may well try doing some school work then going out with a steady plod for a mooch round with the odd munch.

jeanettethree - oh god dont say that!!! honestly hacking her out she is just constantly scanning empty fields probably looking for where the hounds are! i think shes seriously frightened herself silly with it. I can handle it its just very frustrating knowing previously i could hack ANYWHERE on a long rein with not a care in the world - its like shes had a brain transplant!

 

[kerilli]

i second the 'let her have a munch' idea.
i'd bribe or beg someone to walk out on foot with you, to give her confidence, and perhaps to pick some grass to distract her if necessary, or to give her the idea that she's allowed to eat under saddle, if you've never allowed it. (letting a possibly wild youngster stick its head down to graze isn't the nicest idea the first time, until they get the idea!)
My 5 yr old has to have a person walking with her at the moment... she's not had a meltdown, she's just naturally wussy and another horse doesn't give her confidence, so I have a friend or my OH walk with us and she grows hugely in confidence every time.
A holiday for yours is prob a good idea, but I'd want to turn her away on a good note, personally.

 

[Gucci_b]

This also happened to my mare ... took her drag hunting for the 1st time and she was o.k then the second time, it just blow her head, gave her a few days off and she became a nightmare to hack out.. so i got someone from the hunt to run her for me a good few times and she began to settle. I have seen some right carry on's in the car park, not even set off, and it's such a shame... i just found little and offen worked for us. Do you no anyone that could may be ride her for you a few times...

 

[coreteam1]

my OH walk with us and she grows hugely in confidence every time.
QUOTE]

I'm going to see if mine will do this!!

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

i would get a couple of weeks constructive work under her belt, insisting on manners and good responses, then let her down and turn out for 3 months, then pick it all back up slowly, and firmly, insisting on good manners and response every time. she is only 5 so probably could do with a break to pondor what she has learnt. not all horses take to hunting. i like to cub my youngsters about 10 times in 20 days by then they usually have settled to the job.

 

[Kelpie]

If it makes you feel any better, I took my 4yo out hunting the other week and for him it was a good thing to have done...... so don't beat yourself up about not knowing in advance what it would do to your horse, sounds like you couldn't have known.

My other horse, however, thought hunting was completely nuts and it blew his brain, bit like yours.

I second the idea to turn away for a bit, but get things on more of a good note first.

As another idea, how about walking out in-hand with your horse? To get our youngsters used to hacking, we actually do a lot in-hand. In fact, I'll walk them out around the farm with the dogs (kills two birds with one stone as the dogs get a walk too!). I'll also often pony from another (older) horse, so not sure if you could think of that as an option? Just trying to think of things to get your horse out and about but in more of a chilled way.....

 

[OneInAMillion]

i think it might be best to turn her away for a month or so just so she can have some processing time to think about everything she has done and calm herself down abit... hope you sort it out

 

[georgiegirl]

its a tough one isnt it! part of me thinks just tunring her away is a good idea and then whe i bring her back i might have my lovely horse back and then another part tinks i need to nip this problem in the bud now. tough one. I think im going to go along the lines of doing mostly school work/jumping and road work (have been fine on roads) and then when shes had long enough to hopefully forget about it all then venture out into the open fields one step at a time

 

[palomino_pony]

Mine is 14 and still does the bouncing, sideways stressing after stubble fields. Only happens once in a while but she is a very "hot" horse. Chills after more "brain" work like slow round trots up a hill / or if something is very spooky to look at - takes her mind off it. I've accepted thats her - she has a "brain banging on head moment" then is ok. Like she has to get the adrenaline out some way. (Never hunted her...never will) I'd just keep riding her for a bit with quiet hacks - you said she was good to hack. I can never completely relax on hacks - always a "moment" brewing !!