Problems hacking alone

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scottish_girl

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Hello, looking for some advice. Had my horse 7 years and we would hack alone all the time with no problems. To start with I had to walk him in hand down our lane to where we could go and hack to the woods and gradually worked to leaving from the yard. However in the past 5 months I cannot hack him alone and even in company can be difficult. He will drop his shoulder and bolt home at the sight of anything scary.
I have tried having someone walk out with me and had him on a lead rein but it's there's no difference. However I can no longer walk him in hand out of our yard, recently he literally puts the breaks on and will not move so I'm stuck. I have tried everything I can think of, had a behaviourist out and that has made no difference. Any advice at all would be welcome, I just want to be able to hack out!!
 
Had his back, teeth and general health all checked when these problems started then I got the behaviourist out, tried to cover all avenues hoping to find the problem. We had an incident with a. Friend and her horse two years ago while hacking which sadly she her horse being PTS while we were out. We have been out alone since this incident as well with no issues then suddenly he is petrified of leaving the yard alone
 
greenbean10 said:
I would definitely get a vet out as very strange he used to hack out fine. How is he in the school?
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Schooling is a nightmare at the moment. Warming up consists of bolting around the paddock and spooking at his own shadow. He drops his shoulder and bucks. The only time he settles is when I let him pop over a jump which he loves doing for a cob
 
scottish_girl said:
Schooling is a nightmare at the moment. Warming up consists of bolting around the paddock and spooking at his own shadow. He drops his shoulder and bucks. The only time he settles is when I let him pop over a jump which he loves doing for a cob
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If nothing else has changed in his management that could give him reason to start behaving in this way, lack of turnout, too much food are the obvious, then I think it needs to be a proper vet check with some investigations rather than sending him away as it sounds to me as if he is in discomfort and trying his hardest to tell you, the fact he enjoys popping a pole is not always a sign there is nothing wrong as they will often do something they enjoy and it takes their mind off the issue.
 
scottish_girl said:
However in the past 5 months I cannot hack him alone and even in company can be difficult. He will drop his shoulder and bolt home at the sight of anything scary.
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scottish_girl said:
Schooling is a nightmare at the moment. Warming up consists of bolting around the paddock and spooking at his own shadow. He drops his shoulder and bucks.
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I would strongly suspect it's all connected - most likely pain-related, although not necessarily. This time of year turnout can be an issue, but this started around August, so unlikely? When you say you've had his back and 'general health' checked... Think about what that included and what it might not have included/what might have just been a quick cursory glance (you don't have to list everything the vet did here!).

The fact he jumps willingly could be a good sign or a red herring - adrenaline (from fear or excitement) can make them push through pain/fear of expected pain.

There are far more experienced posters on here when it comes to lameness/unsoundness/behavioural issues (etc.) who might be able to suggest more concrete possible causes, but I think if he were mine, first ports of call would be (in conjunction with a vet I knew and trusted), probably in this order:

- look at changes made in summer - especially tack/feed. Get tack checked now by saddle fitter anyway just in case.
- look at feed/nutrition and potential for gut issues
- get hearing and eyesight checked over
- back pain investigation. I know you said you'd had this checked; don't know whether you had a vet/chiro/physio?
 
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And when all the physical and behavioural checks fail to give an answer, think about an animal communicator. I have made more progress with "impossible" cases going down this route in the past.
 
scottish_girl said:
Schooling is a nightmare at the moment. Warming up consists of bolting around the paddock and spooking at his own shadow. He drops his shoulder and bucks. The only time he settles is when I let him pop over a jump which he loves doing for a cob
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Oh dear! TBH I think your problem stems much wider than your horse not wanting to hack alone - I would park that for now! I'd do exactly what NLPM has said. It sounds like the horse has a much bigger problem than not wanting to head out on his own, as bolting around the paddock and bucking isn't normal especially if he's never normally like this!
 
It really does sound like something is physically wrong. I know you had the vet out, but I'd be inclined to get a second opinion - tell them exactly what the problems are, the timescale and also arrange for them to see him ridden as that's where you have the most problems. If they didn't check eyes then I'd want this done, and although they now seem to be blamed for everything I'd also want him tested for ulcers if nothing else shows up.
 
How does he react to seeing his tack? One of my lads behaviours was to become dangerous/unpredictable to hack and bronking in the school. Many £s spent on physio,saddles, lessons etc final straw came when he bronked off down the yard before I’d got on! Vet was called and eventually diagnosed with arthritis in hocks, SI and neck ? he was always worse in winter, probably due to stiffening up with less turnout. He taught me so much about listening to him - if he reacted to seeing his tack by bowing (yes, like a dog doing a play bow!) we didn’t bother. If he let me tack up we carried on - if he started grinding his teeth we stopped before any escalation in behaviour happened. When he was comfortable he was THE nicest, bombproof, confident horse to ride - anyhoo I guess what I’m saying is I wish I’d got the vet sooner. Even if they find nothing at least you can go ahead with reschooling etc confident that there are no pain issues - good luck, they can ‘talk’ if we open our eyes ☺️
 
scottish_girl said:
Schooling is a nightmare at the moment. Warming up consists of bolting around the paddock and spooking at his own shadow. He drops his shoulder and bucks. The only time he settles is when I let him pop over a jump which he loves doing for a cob
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Then it's not just hacking and sounds like serious pain somewhere, so you need a full work up from an equine vet.
 
It would seem that because he has some pain any thing that is difficult, a tiny bit scary is blown up out of proportion because he feels he cannot escape from it. Hence the spinning and bolting and reluctance to go out and face the world. If he was genuine previously these changes are significant.
 
Thank you all for your comments. He lives out 24/7 (saying that he never does much more than a walk in his field but at least he's moving!) I do believe everything is connected -the reluctant behaviour hacking and in the paddock - and there has been no changes in his routine between summer and winter, lives with the same horses, same feeding and same daily routine, yet I could hack out before. I am going to get the vet out, thank you NLPM for your comment I will get his eyes checked as well. I feel like I've been hitting my head off a brick wall recently and just want to get on the right path again!
 
Mine is doing exactly this, plus bucking in the school. But she is prone to ulcers so I know why. She's back on her medications next week ?
 
Good luck Scottish_girl - it's so worrying when you know something is up but can't quite work out what. Fingers crossed for you :)
 
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