leaping in canter on hacks.

[cellie]

What would you do with horse that spooks hacking .She had never hacked out much before I bought her and definitely never on her own.She is fab on roads now listens to my aids hacking out but in canter she reverts back to excited anxious llittle mare and has adrenalin rushes.My problem being she will spook in canter and this involves huge leaps sideways in the air with all four legs of ground , not just front end.It gives me nothing to work with .
Would you scold her or ignore hoping that given more time she will settle.My biggest worry is if I come off she runs for home which involves main roads .
She made huge progress this is the last piece in jigsaw puzzle.She is very sharp tbx only just 7 and had missed out with all basic schooling .Her schooling is really helping but once excited she forgets herself.
Instructor says ride hunter style with heels well down and legs forward ready to brace.yo has told me to change chaff as alpha a always made her mare spooky .
Any ideas for self preservation appreciated

 

[JosieSmith]

My arab is a bit like this but not quite to that extent. She usually spooks in gallop too! I agree with keeping your heels down and legs forward, it might not be correct but it makes me feel much more secure. I don't think scolding her is a good idea IMO, if she's genuinely scared and you scold her she'll just start to associate things with being told off so she'll possibly get worse. Hopefully as she gets older and becomes more confident in herself and takes more confidence from you she'll settle. Maybe some more schooling to listen to your aids might help and you can try to pre-empt her spooks and put your leg on to keep her goping forwards and take her mind off it. Sorry I can't help much.

 

[DollyDolls]

Sorry for giggling, but this is something I've had with 2 horses in the past.
One would stop DEAD if there was a twig on the ground -even from a gallop......cue me flying over the top.

The other when the flowers in the meadow swayed or the heather came to blossom......sideways about 2m but kept going forward.

Yes, I agree with the defensive riding position, but you need to look well ahead & see the excuse before she does, then you'll be more ready & if you then ride her really properly (we all get a bit lazy out hacking) she probably wont try anything.

 

[Annagain]

I'd go with your instructor - heels down, sit up and ignore it as much as you can. I find as well that making them work properly and giving them something to focus on helps to stop them spooking. So rather than just let her blast off when you hit a cantering patch, make her canter a bit slower but working through properly from behind and in an outline. As she gets better with it you can relax a bit more and let her just have a nice canter and the spooking should be less frequent.

 

[Hedwards]

i would agree with the Alpha a - my last loan horse came to me being fed this, but he was underweight and unfit, after a few months i had to take him off it, as he just became too 'high spirited' and put him on Hi-Fi Lite - and he definitely chilled out a lot!

Also do you always canter in the same places - my old mare didnt do any leaping but would become very excitable if she went somewhere she new she would be cantering...

 

[Cavblacks]

I hack out regularly on various horses and some quite young and fizzy, getting angry with them does not help and they will associate that with the spookiness so it will makes things worse. If there is a particular place where she spooks try riding to it confidently and maybe playing with her/talking to her to take her mind off whatever it is that spoks her. I also try going up and down past the object to get them used to it. If she is spooking on the transition I would try letting her run for a few strides, bring her back to trot for a few strides then try the transition again after a while she'll recognise the pattern and improve her transition.
I hope this helps.

 

[cellie]

I vary hacking so its different places.She does hate being on track with hedgerow either side .Last week we ende up leaping up bank 3ft plus 2 ft grass and into farmers field.Frightened of monsters

.I thought hi fi lite was for good doers and she was under weight .I might contact dengie thanks

 

[cellie]

I should have worded that better its took me ages to get her trust so I would never get angry but want to tell her its not acceptable .We are doing transition work at the moment so putting into practice on hacks is not a problem.Its nothing in particular that you could put your finger on and say she spooked at that- being a bag or white line etc. thanks for input

 

[cellie]

Spooking has completely gone in manage and I school about 4 times a week so dont want to make her stale.She is really listening to aids instructor is thrilled with her progress but I suppose she loses it a bit hacking .Hope she doesnt kill me growing up

 

[Kayfm]

This is a awful thing to happen. One of my mares coming back into work is very spooky. I am re introducing canter and the other day she spooked at something and stopped dead. I head butted her first and fell off. I did hurt myself. I had no idea that she was going to do it i.e no warning atall. She has since done it again sideways and this time I hung on. Im not really sure of an answer apart from now i am a little more prepared. I was thinking of putting her on calmers to see if she relaxes a little. It is a worry if you come off out on a hack. Hold on tight !!!

 

[cellie]

These sharp horses are great to school but as she is so forward going I probably do take my leg off hacking

.Will try and be more aware

 

[cellie]

This is the frustrating part.When I first had her everything was 100mph so I have worked on control and schooling so that she is cantering really collect and listening she will stop and walk in middle of stubble but now she has time to look she is pinging about.The only thing I could do different is keep firm leg on in canter but she is very forward going

 

[cellie]

Hope your ok now.Tatty is on magnesium and Im going to try different chaff her hard feed is calm and condition so dont think thats problem.Calmers never made any difference schooling sorted her problems out all apart from this one.

 

[Riverboy]

There is hope - my now bombproof hack was just like this when i got him - 100 miles an hour everywhere and frequent leaps in all gaits...

I just made sure I was preared and kept my heels down - he just grew out of it as hacking became less 'exciting' - he was 7 and had never been hacked out so it was VERY exciting for a while.

Have paitence and she'll settle - in the meantime make sure you are safe!