New horse is nappy... In need of some HHO encouragement!

muckypony

muckypony

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I've had him just under 3 weeks now, so no time at all. I personally don't think he has done much at all so even though he's 5 I have been trying to trrat him as a newly backed 4yo. I don't have a menage so school in the field, his schooling has already began to come on massively, he is so willing to learn and really can move.

However.... He is very nappy hacking. Once he's out its not so bad but its just getting him out of the yard! Yesterday it took me 15 minutes to get him out. Initially he spins around and when you challenge him he rears - the more you challenge, the bigger he goes. He is incredibly balanced and feels like he's done it a lot. I don't feel unsafe on him, I just don't like it and want to stop it before it gets bad. Today he wouldn't stand for me to get on but when he eventually did I praised him and immediately trotted him out of the yard so he didn't have time to think. He only napped once when I stupidly relaxed but after a couple of half rears he carried on and we had a lovely hack - probably the best yet!

Unfortunately I have to hack alone. Theres only one other person to ride with and they walk so slowly that my boy gets very hot behind or if in front we have to keep stopping, which I want to avoid otherwise I think he'll just nap more. I think I overdid it to start with - hacking for too long and asking too much, my fault and I think it's made him dislike hacking. He is ridden 5 days a week, I now aim to hack him for about 20 mins and schooling is no longer than half an hour, mainly walking and transitions.

I just want to know if I'm doing the right thing... When he rears I spin him in a circle the opposite way and then send him forwards, if I use a whip behind the leg it generally makes him worse unless it is used straight away to send him forwards before he's reared. I keep thinking he's just pushing the boundaries but looking at him today he just looks genuinely worried.

I know we need to bond but what can I do to make him feel more comfortable with me? Am I doing right by him at the moment? How can I make hacking seem more fun for him?

I feel like today was a step in the right direction because he hardly napped but a step back from the mounting point of view....

Sorry for the essay!
 
I'm by no means an expert on this subject, but this is just from what I have heard from others in various forms:
Make hacking a pleasant experience. Bring a treat, and maybe get off half-way round and loosen the girth off for a bit, so he can chill out a bit. Don't work him too hard. Also, try to do some work round the yard area, so you are working him hard in the field a bit too, so he doesn't associate the yard with being happy and relaxed, and out hacking as bad and hard work.
Just an idea! Hope it all goes well for you :)
 
From the experiences I've had with horses like this it usually comes down to two main things
One is the horse lacks confidence and worries about the big wide world outside of its comfort zone and these sort often do better if ridden with another horse until they feel safe and in control - and also have gained trust in their rider as a leader. There was an interesting article in the H&H recently where they found that police horses put under stress were more relaxed when with the other horses. They also responded really well to a calm voice talking to them
The other horses I've had that were like this had had bad experiences out on hacks - maybe a bad fright of some sort or being ridden badly or inconsiderately - asked to do more than they were fit to do
Whipping a nappy horse rarely does any good but keeping their feet moving by making them circle distracts their minds and makes them concentrate on something else - it takes patience but over time usually works alongside praise for doing the right thing and keeping the outings short and sweet
Hopefully as your horse gets more trust in you and doesn't see hacking out as a dreadful thing the habit will disappear.
 
long rein and lead out in hand build his confidence in you and himself, continue hacking him out, once a week but long rein or lead out every day even if only for 5 mins to cool off or warm up before/after schooling
 
I would definitely second the longlining advice. Marjorie was very anxious about experiencing the outside world when I first had her so I longlined for months until she was confident. We went miles! Once she was calm and consistent, I hopped back on.
 
Thanks.

I definitely agree with you JDee - I'm looking in to moving him somewhere that I can hack out with others regularly to build his confidence and a calm voice definitely helps him. He's just a great big worry guts!!

I haven't done much long reining so I personally don't feel confident enough to take him out on the roads long reining - I would also prefer to be on him when he's silly in case he does it in hand and I loose him!
 
I hear what you're saying re: longlining, but if he goes up and you come off, you may lose him anyway.

Each horse is different, but both of mine took a lot of confidence from me on the ground on the early days of our partnerships.

It does sound like he needs to get confidence from somewhere, be it from you or another horse. You've already found that hitting him doesn't help. He's scared, and is telling you he's scared and he gets a whack for telling you. Keeping his feet moving will definitely help. With Marjorie, the key was getting one of her front feet freed up and moving. Once I'd done that I could channel her energy forward.Her napping trick is to buck, and a telling off results in a bigger buck, so I have been where you are. As his confidence grows, he should become more willing.

Good luck!
 
muckypony said:
Thanks.

I definitely agree with you JDee - I'm looking in to moving him somewhere that I can hack out with others regularly to build his confidence and a calm voice definitely helps him. He's just a great big worry guts!!

I haven't done much long reining so I personally don't feel confident enough to take him out on the roads long reining - I would also prefer to be on him when he's silly in case he does it in hand and I loose him!
Click to expand...

I totally wouldn't longline a horse that didn't know 'how too' especially if you aren't experienced yourself. I did find that leading helped but once I was back on it was the 'same old same old' again. Its all connected to the rider IMO and the horse needing to accept leadership from someone they cant see
I'm sure riding out with someone else will help. The worst case I ever had once held up traffic for what seemed like an eternity while he did a rocking horse impression in the middle of a road. Getting him fit and a season hunting actually changed his attitude. His problem was that he'd just got to hate hacking out because he'd belonged to a kid that had ridden him twice a week dragged out of a field and had the legs galloped off him
 
Thanks.

Yes once one foot is going forwards its much easier to keep him going. I will try leading him out once I feel I know him better on the ground - I don't think he will do anything mega but I do feel safer on him. I've only ever long reined my little shetties for fun so really I'm totally inexperienced at it! Perhaps I should have some lessons!
 
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