Not a happy hacker...

little_critter

little_critter

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I don't like hacking - I only do it because I believe the horse deserves some chill time and (if the ground is ok and I'm feeling brave) a blast to blow out the cobwebs.
My mare is normally pretty sane in the school but gets a bit fizzy when we hack. She doesn't really spook but like to have a look at everything, she's also pretty on her toes and will power walk given the opportunity or trot like a racing trotter.
The problem I have is while she's always stoppable, the more I hold her back the more het-up she gets and starts to bound / leap / plunge (not sure the best way to describe it).
Today we took a dislike to a bus, I asked her to stand still on a wide verge but she fought it and we ended up bounding across the road (luckily all the cars had seen I was having problems so had stopped already).
What can I do to get her calmer and not allow her to dictate the pace?
I do try to do lots of sitting deep, calm breathing etc and only hold her as much as I need to.
 
You have my sympathy. We had an Appaloosa who really disliked any vehicle bigger than a car and my current mare isn't especially brave either.
My advice would be to find a 'bombproof' hacking companion and hack out together as much as possible, so that your mare becomes less excited by it.
 
I am a great believer in letting horses see as much as possible and as often as possible. One of my boys is now fantastic in all traffic but when I got him he used to hate rattling trailers, motorbikes and pushchairs (to name a few things! :rolleyes:) but I can honestly say that he has got better by being hacked out a lot and being allowed to see all of these things on a regular basis. I always spend most of the time hacking out youngsters as I believe this is the best education for them.

So get out there as often as possible! :)
 
It sounds to me like she loves to hack, but gets very excited about it, what is she like with another horse, have you got any good hills to trot up,can you not lunge her before hand, are you over feeding her, there isnt a simple answer to this, doing more hacking will make it less exciting for her, but i would also worry about her playing up in the road, if you are tencing up when hacking would givng her more rein help, just a few ideas.
 
I try very hard not to tense - as I said lots of slow breathing and singing / hummimg to her (might try rescue remedy next time).
I also try hard not to hang onto her - I try to only hold her as much as I have to but don't feel I can give her a loose rein because she would just get faster and faster.
I'll see if I can find someone with a sensible plod to come out with me.
 
Do you have someone you can persuade to walk alongside? It might reassure you that they can grab her and stop her hurtling across the road? They can also talk to you to distract you from your nerves a bit (but not distract you too much!)
 
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