soloequestrian
Well-Known Member
Part way through teaching my young horse about hacking alone. We go out with either someone on foot or on a bike (an e-bike so she can get trotting properly!). We have a short route that we have to do at least part of for every other hack - all the other hacks lead off it. She is totally relaxed on the short route with her foot soldier but gets a little tense and stop start if they drop behind. I can understand that because she is used to them being in front. However if the foot soldier pauses at one of the junctions to a longer hack, horse will stride off confidently along the new route even when she has never been down it before. Although I'm pleased about this, I'm also baffled. Why would she be confident on new bits and hesitant on bits she has seen many times before?! Any hints about how to transfer the confidence from one situation to the other?