Need To Gain Confidence Hacking

[nellytheelephant]

I have had my own horse for 5 years and I have always been quite nervous hacking. My last horse was a foot perfect 14.3hh bay gelding who was a project who was brilliant out hacking, bar the odd spook, but I found it really hard to hack him as I kept on thinking he was going to spook or bolt and leave me on the ground.
I sold him in the summer and now have a 16.2 6 year old mare. She is lovely but is a project so when I brought her I knew I was going to have trouble hacking so it has come as no surprise. I really loved hacking in the end with my old boy but that was after two years! I don't want to spend two years being nervous as it is too much time to waste.

I get really nervous on the grass when I ride her as I think she is going to bolt. She has taken off before but only as a spook and I have stopped her within less that 5 strides but I still am so nervous. I am also afraid that she will buck and rear with me as she has done so before and I have stopped her with that as well.

I am an event rider so I need to get a grip!

I know that I need to overcome this silly fear but I get so nervous as soon as we touch grass. I know what I need to do, but I freeze when it comes to it. I've had my mare since October but it hasn't got any better and I don't want to sell her as I am so confident in everything else!

Sorry for my awful writing - I'm really bad at it!
Can anyone help me?! I would really appreciate it as I would love to be confident for my first event in May. Any help would be gratefully appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

How do you feel when you hack in company? If you feel better, try to do plenty of hacking with a sensible companion (horse and rider) until you feel more relaxed, then start taking your horse in front or on a slightly different route and meeting back up, or arrange to meet your friend a few minutes away from the yard - build your confidence up in small steps, just as you would if it were the horse who was nervous.

 

[SadKen]

I'm not a great hacker but I get better the more I do it. It's very helpful to have a steady friend to chat to as it helps you relax and remember to breathe. I take a few kalms before I go too. If I have a few weeks off I slip back into worrying again, but the day I get back from a big hack I feel like I can take on the world! Short rides to start with and don't forget to give yourself a big cheer every time you go out successfully even if it's just for 5 minutes at the end of a schooling session!

 

[nellytheelephant]

Hi thanks for replying! I do feel more comfortable hacking in company but my mare tries to race. I felt that if I could conquer the hacking alone first then I could control her with others. The only other reasonably sensible horse at my yard is my sisters but she tends to go fast so I don't feel like I can go out with her...

 

[nellytheelephant]

I'm not a great hacker but I get better the more I do it. It's very helpful to have a steady friend to chat to as it helps you relax and remember to breathe. I take a few kalms before I go too. If I have a few weeks off I slip back into worrying again, but the day I get back from a big hack I feel like I can take on the world! Short rides to start with and don't forget to give yourself a big cheer every time you go out successfully even if it's just for 5 minutes at the end of a schooling session!

Thank you very much! This really helps I will try that!

 

[flirtygerty]

Sing your favourite song, even in your mind, it really does work, because you are thinking about the song you are relaxing, therefore the horse also relaxes

 

[laura_nash]

I had some years of being nervous on grass, especially open fields. Even though my current cob is often more likely to stop and eat than take off, I would still panic as soon as I reached an open field. I found that when I started riding again after having my daughter I didn't panic or freeze anymore. I could still be worried (e.g. in company if they started racing) but I could still react and wouldn't freeze up.

The only thing I have been able to put it down to is that I had some hypnotherapy sessions as labour preparation, which focus on staying relaxed and not panicking, and the hypnotherapist also gave me some "homework" with a CD to listen to and exercises to practice. Anyway, she seems to have cured my hacking phobia at the same time as a side benefit! I don't know if it will last, but so far so good.

It might be worth looking into hypnotherapy? It wasn't hugely expensive and I only had two sessions.

 

[Cobbytype]

Can you get someone trustworthy to cycle at the side of you? My hubby used to accompany me and my horse, mostly because the traffic could be awfully fast and busy and hubby would help shield us from the nutty drivers.

 

[russianhorse]

On my nervous old boy, my best trick was to sing - anything from a funky pop song to the ABC - it just takes your mind off worrying and you naturally start to relax. I also used to get my rabble riding on the farm track adjacent to where I was on the grass track and would be singing whilst watching them

It really does work

Now, If I could talk myself into something similar for jumping ......

Good Luck x

 

[turnbuckle]

Are there any nice big hills near you? Much easier to pull up going up hill and if she does cart you odds are she'll be out of puff before the top! (Perhaps even add some calmer before you set off - for both you and the horse!)

 

[Kezzabell2]

I wouldn't say I'm. A nervous hacker but I'm building my confidence back up since my youngest knocked it by rearing up vertical and had 4 months off because he was in fact injured

I've been recommended to sign to take my mind off the nerves, which will mean the horse doesn't feel he has a reason to also be nervous

 

[Sukistokes2]

Don't think you are the only one, their are loads of us in the same boat. For years I have had a great horse who was great to hack, a shirex who you simply could not fall off if you tried. He is calm but forward going and if you want to stop you only have to sat whoa and he will slow and stop. The only problem was his tendency to trip and go splat on his nose. This never really worried me too much as he tended to only fall over when walking and I learnt to stay with him. He was semi retired last spring and I lost the use of him for months due to a back issue and had to change to my new horse....... a 13.2HH ( then, not so sure now) gypsy cob, 5 years old. It felt like I was sitting on a rail. Now I am learning to ride with him and not against him and we are doing well in lessons and in dressage but I still have not conquered the hacking demons. To be fair most times he is a good boy but like any young horse at other times he is a pain. I was riding him out on my own but after a particularly foul ride, with a 180 spin at speed, I decided that enough was enough and I only ride in company. We are getting there, slowly, at times I see the horse I will have in a few years and that keeps me going. I find talking non stop about anything takes my mind off worrying and I ride with the lady who is his professional rider and she is the one who rides him the most, so she talks me through any silliness. Also I have lessons which build the confidence and ability. I know that I can ride and to be honest I am not even bloody sure what i am worried about? I just think it is a combination of factors like, changing horses, age, common sense kicking in and self doubt. I have just started hacking my old horse again lightly and have found that it helps. I also joined confident riders on face book and the stories , support and jokes shared on there is also helpful. I hope you work through this.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I am just getting over my solo hacking issues. My saviours have been Rescue Remedy, singing, sheer bloodymindedness & an occasional beer.
Footsoldiers are gold dust. Whereabouts are you & could someone walk with you?

 

[Puzzley]

I actually got help with hacking from a riding instructor. We had about 5 lessons where she would walk with me and teach me how to read my horse a lot better. I know it sounds a bit silly but it really did help and we now hack out a lot more confidently. The tricky bit is finding the right instructor who understands your issues hacking and how important it is for you to conquer them.

 

[HashRouge]

How often do you hack? I started a job as an SJ groom last year and I was incredibly nervous hacking when I first started, as I had to ride all these strange horses, often on grass, and I was always worried they were going to do something naughty! I started off just riding the "good" ones and refused to get on anything that was even slightly quirky, but gradually I got more confident the more I did and now, almost a year later I would say I am actually fairly confident! My boss was away over the weekend and I had some slight hair raising hacks, but actually ended up really buzzing because of how I'd dealt with the horses! I had one horse who is 17.2hh and normally good as gold have a rearing fit when some youngsters in a field next to where we were hacking started racing around - he was going up pretty high and reversing towards a ditch - but despite a moment where I thought "I'm going to die" I managed to keep my cool and ride him through it! And then, because I was feeling good about myself, I got on the very-naughty-five-year-old who normally is only ridden by my boss, and managed to get him passed a tree surgeon's van, twice, despite him being convinced it was trying to kill him and doing his favourite rear and spin trick. I was so chuffed that I got him passed it a second time on our way home, when he could see the tree fellers sat inside eating their lunch and nearly had a nervous breakdown, that I actually punched the air and announced to the world that I was "winning at the hacking" . So for me, just getting out and hacking as much as possible has been a massive help, and I've gone from a right nervous nellie to actually feeling pretty confident!

You need to remember that there is no rush and take your time. Confidence is something that builds up slowly, but better to be slow and build a firm foundation, than rush and risk it all coming tumbling down. The quote in my signature roughly translates as "The hard part is done, the impossible only takes more time" and I think that's pretty good inspiration - every time you go hacking, you've done the hard part and are taking one more step towards the "impossible" and being confident out hacking.

 

[Podgelover]

I'm a terrible hacker, so would like to follow this. My boy loves hacking, he gets so excited he jogs and has the biggest horsey smile on his face, but I'm such a nervous rider as it is! Worst thing is, I never have had an accident out hacking only in the school, but would ride in the school over hacking any day. I hoped it would get better but it really doesn't, the fact that he jogs makes me feel out of control which makes me more nervous. It's siully because I am 100% in control, but my mind doesn't let me think that. It gets worse because I am a bailer as well, so if anything goes wrong I,e a lot of bucks, i'll throw myself out of the saddle to avoid getting thrown into a fence and being even more hurt, sadly I know I can sit through it after the bucks, but at the time my instant reaction is to bail! Luckily my boy is so good this is usually not a problem. Ive started short hacks around the block and my boyfriend comes with our dog. Its funny how your mind reacts to thing

 

[Pipsqueak!]

I used to be terribly nervous hacking out by myself. My mare is a total saint but can be spooky and that would scare me. When I got scared I would shorted my reins and lean forward so of course she would mess around more. I moved to a grazing with loads of hacking readily available. I would set goals every day, how far I wanted to hack, whether I wanted to trot/canter, if I wanted to tackle riding through the scary stock paddocks etc. Eventually I was hacking out by myself nearly every day, even if it was just a short canter after schooling in the arena. Now I am very confident out hacking, this was confirmed when I hacked out a baby at work the other day who spent the entire ride trying to find ways to get me off!

 

[OWLIE185]

I have the perfect horse for you that will behave in all situations so if you would like to come for a ride on her and get your confidence back contact me. I am in North Hertfordshire.

 

[canteron]

Think what is is that worries you and work out a strategy i.e. horse bolting (learn an emergency stop), horse spinning (keep hands high as more difficult for horse to spin), horse spooking (neck flexions and shoulder in), not getting past tractors (sit up an in hand then ridden situation) etc, etc.

Then school for these things at home and then start practicing them out, when not in a tense situation. IMO confidence comes from knowledge.

 

[Vanha12]

Short walks after schooling session to start and build-up. I worry in the winter with one of mine but I make myself keep going out as I think it will only get worse if I don't. The more you do it the better it will get. The spooky mare is actually better by herself as she gets wound up with others.

 

[janehandley]

I'd definitely try self hypnosis as I can personally vouch for it working! I've had three falls from my young horse this year and found I was getting more and more scared to ride him, so much so that I actually considered selling him and giving up riding altogether. I bought a CD online (Confident Rider Series, Sharon Shinwell) (I could have bought MP3 as an alternative) for less than £10, specially concentrating on schooling, which was where I was having issues. They also do hacking/dressage/jumping self hypnosis recordings. It has been totally amazing. All my fear has gone although Im still aware of the dangers. My confidence has returned, and as a bonus I don't have any anxiety in other areas of my life either. Im going to order the hacking one soon!

 

[BSL]

Sing your favourite song, even in your mind, it really does work, because you are thinking about the song you are relaxing, therefore the horse also relaxes

i do this if in dodgy situation, 10 green bottles is a good one, (have been known to start at 100) so busy thinking about "botttles" forget to be nervous. Also is there anywhere you can go with a hill. Do a bit of fast work up hill, easier to control and then takes the novelty out of speed.

 

[BSL]

Are there any nice big hills near you? Much easier to pull up going up hill and if she does cart you odds are she'll be out of puff before the top! (Perhaps even add some calmer before you set off - for both you and the horse!)

Sorry just read your reply, sorry to duplicate.