Napping

[Barton Bounty]

My cob is the same when hacking solo, I tried a few months back and we had the hack from hell where he scared me so much, I’ve left it for a while and tried again last week and we managed 2 short hacks with a few spins but nothing I couldn’t cope with so we’ll continue doing that in bite sizes but I will remember the sweetie stop as that will work wonders on him. We don’t have a small circular route so I’ve been going a route that we don’t go very often. Out with others he’s a dream ?

I know that feeling, but perseverance and you will get there

 

[Carrottom]

I rode 1.5km (alone) to meet friends yesterday singing "Doh Ray Mi" the whole time on repeat - it's such a good "walking out" speed. I only stopped to greet dog walkers and it kept us marching forwards beautifully! However by the time we got to the meetup point I was starting to wonder what other songs might do the trick....I am not sure that Ten Green Bottles trumps Doh Ray Mi for interest value though. Anyone else got any suggestions? ?

3 blind mice is good for panic situations where you don't want think about words.
For general singing I sometimes try hymns remembered from my youth. Favourites are All things Bright and Beautiful and Morning has Broken.

 

[Barton Bounty]

Talking of napping lol, we had two today, didnt want to go into the dark scary woods ?

 

[SEL]

I rode 1.5km (alone) to meet friends yesterday singing "Doh Ray Mi" the whole time on repeat - it's such a good "walking out" speed. I only stopped to greet dog walkers and it kept us marching forwards beautifully! However by the time we got to the meetup point I was starting to wonder what other songs might do the trick....I am not sure that Ten Green Bottles trumps Doh Ray Mi for interest value though. Anyone else got any suggestions? ?

With baby cob I have started at 99 green bottles ?

Now though I just tell him he's very wonderful, very brave etc etc the whole way round. He was being so good the other day I stopped and he threw in a decent spook to wake me up. I'm seriously hoping he isn't expecting me to chat to him for the rest of his hacking career!

 

[Barton Bounty]

With baby cob I have started at 99 green bottles ?

Now though I just tell him he's very wonderful, very brave etc etc the whole way round. He was being so good the other day I stopped and he threw in a decent spook to wake me up. I'm seriously hoping he isn't expecting me to chat to him for the rest of his hacking career!

But you have to ?? youv started it now haha ?

 

[visa_bot]

For me the most important thing is never hack if you are short of time. It’s critical that the horse doesn’t get away with it. Obviously safety first, so quiet roads. Try to encourage from on board, but get off if you have to. Once the horse moves forward, even a bit, lots of praise. I never actually took treats, I found praise was enough. Sometimes I just had to stand there for a while, and she would eventually give up and move on. Patience is key, but you can usually train them out of it.

You have to win small psychological battles to eventually win the war!

 

[Caol Ila]

I hacked for an hour alone today, and the pony had to answer some questions. There was the out of control barky dog. There was the dog's owner on a mountain bike with the world's shriekiest brakes. There was a rattling lorry. There was a hedge trimmer. Any one of these things would have sent him into orbit six months or a year ago. But today, he handled them all with remarkable aplomb.

I've had this horse for a year now. He was green as a green thing when I got him. He was very sharp and spooky, and he also can plant as only Highlands can. He did not hack alone, but he was reasonably sane at following other horses and, thankfully, OH on foot. He was terrified of arenas and did not school.

I did not push the horse into major confrontations. I didn't think "winning" such a thing would be terribly useful, nor was I sure I could "win," and I don't like thinking I have this antagonistic you v. me relationship with the horse. I spent 99.9% of the last year working within his comfort zone. I hacked out in company and with OH on foot. If Fin offered a lead, I let him, but if he got scared and planted, I would stick OH or horsey friend in front straightaway rather than get into a fight about it. He gradually took more and more leads. I also worked on the schooling. Started with groundwork in the arena, then riding in and riding out straightaway, and after a while, he was fine. He became ridable in the arena after about six months, and working in there helped improve the hacking.

I ride 6-7 days per week. Over the last year, he has seen everything Mugdock Park can throw at him but had the company of another horse or our loyal foot soldier. There have been some hairy moments, and I tried hacking alone last year and earlier this year, and it was clear he wasn't quite ready. I didn't push it. Then one day earlier in July, I took a punt, and he strolled around the park like an old hat.

It was slow, and it relied on being at a large, busy livery yard where I could often find hacking buddies, and it helped that the horse was okay being out without other horses so long as he had a human on the ground to follow. I didn't have the extra hurdle of convincing him that it was safe leaving his equine pals. But I didn't really do anything other put in many, many miles of letting him see stuff, but (usually) in a safe and calm way.

Just us, at Mugdock Castle.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I hacked for an hour alone today, and the pony had to answer some questions. There was the out of control barky dog. There was the dog's owner on a mountain bike with the world's shriekiest brakes. There was a rattling lorry. There was a hedge trimmer. Any one of these things would have sent him into orbit six months or a year ago. But today, he handled them all with remarkable aplomb.

I've had this horse for a year now. He was green as a green thing when I got him. He did not hack alone, but he was reasonably sane at following other horses and, thankfully, OH on foot. He was terrified of arenas and did not school.

I did not push the horse into major confrontations. I didn't think "winning" such a thing would be terribly useful, nor was I sure I could "win," and I don't like thinking I have this antagonistic you v. me relationship with the horse. I spent 99.9% of the last year working within his comfort zone. I hacked out in company and with OH on foot. If Fin offered a lead, I let him, but if he got scared and planted, I would stick OH or horsey friend in front straightaway rather than get into a fight about it. He gradually took more and more leads. I also worked on the schooling. Started with groundwork in the arena, then riding in and riding out straightaway, and after a while, he was fine. He became ridable in the arena after about six months, and working in there helped improve the hacking.

I ride 6-7 days per week. Over the last year, he has seen everything Mugdock Park can throw at him but had the company of another horse or our loyal foot soldier. There have been some hairy moments, and I tried hacking alone last year and earlier this year, and it was clear he wasn't quite ready. I didn't push it. Then one day earlier in July, I took a punt, and he strolled around the park like an old hat.

It was slow, and it relied on being at a large, busy livery yard where I could often find hacking buddies, and it helped that the horse was okay being out without other horses so long as he had a human on the ground to follow. I didn't have the extra hurdle of convincing him that it was safe leaving his equine pals. But I didn't really do anything other put in many, many miles of letting him see stuff, but (usually) in a safe and calm way.

Just us, at Mugdock Castle.

View attachment 96972

Yay, sounds like progress was made ?

 

[Lois Lame]

Mine struggled with solo hacking at first and still has the potential to nap if he were to get overwhelmed, so when we're solo I stick to certain routes. In hand he's much more confident and will follow me anywhere. Something about me being on the ground I think? I don't know. It's not that I'm nervous when I'm on him but maybe he feels more responsible for our safety then. So she might be ok in hand. Depends on the horse.

My OH told me that he thinks the horse sees us as the one likely to be eaten if a monster jumps out from somewhere. I think he's right.

 

[Pmf27]

I hacked for an hour alone today, and the pony had to answer some questions. There was the out of control barky dog. There was the dog's owner on a mountain bike with the world's shriekiest brakes. There was a rattling lorry. There was a hedge trimmer. Any one of these things would have sent him into orbit six months or a year ago. But today, he handled them all with remarkable aplomb.

I've had this horse for a year now. He was green as a green thing when I got him. He was very sharp and spooky, and he also can plant as only Highlands can. He did not hack alone, but he was reasonably sane at following other horses and, thankfully, OH on foot. He was terrified of arenas and did not school.

I did not push the horse into major confrontations. I didn't think "winning" such a thing would be terribly useful, nor was I sure I could "win," and I don't like thinking I have this antagonistic you v. me relationship with the horse. I spent 99.9% of the last year working within his comfort zone. I hacked out in company and with OH on foot. If Fin offered a lead, I let him, but if he got scared and planted, I would stick OH or horsey friend in front straightaway rather than get into a fight about it. He gradually took more and more leads. I also worked on the schooling. Started with groundwork in the arena, then riding in and riding out straightaway, and after a while, he was fine. He became ridable in the arena after about six months, and working in there helped improve the hacking.

I ride 6-7 days per week. Over the last year, he has seen everything Mugdock Park can throw at him but had the company of another horse or our loyal foot soldier. There have been some hairy moments, and I tried hacking alone last year and earlier this year, and it was clear he wasn't quite ready. I didn't push it. Then one day earlier in July, I took a punt, and he strolled around the park like an old hat.

It was slow, and it relied on being at a large, busy livery yard where I could often find hacking buddies, and it helped that the horse was okay being out without other horses so long as he had a human on the ground to follow. I didn't have the extra hurdle of convincing him that it was safe leaving his equine pals. But I didn't really do anything other put in many, many miles of letting him see stuff, but (usually) in a safe and calm way.

Just us, at Mugdock Castle.

View attachment 96972

Love this! Congrats on the success, what a lovely photo too