Problems out hacking - HELP!!! VERY LONG!!

[kerrie_jay]

Hey everyone, I've had my new horse for around two minths now. He is a 7 year old ex racer who has done some retraining but still has a lot to learn.

The first few times I havcked him out (with another horse) he was good as gold and this was before the weather turned and we could go round the fields. The problems started last Sunday when we went out for a quick potter down the road and he went absolutely mental when we went past a car (usually fine with traffic), spun round, bucked, reared, cat leaped you name it, and then bolted down the road cannoning into the other horse we were with. We managed to get home, and luckily the car we were passing was another lady from the yard so she stayed behind acting as safety car till we got there. All the way home he kept cantering off and jigging until we got to the last straight to the yard when he settled into walk quite happily. How I stayed on I don't know but it frightened the life out of me.

Now having got back to the yard I had a chat with my YO and we decided it was probably because of the weather and the fact that I hadn't been able to exercise him enough and he was just very fresh. As a result of this discussion he is now exercised as often as possible and in the school all week he has been briliant, really starting to soften, even at 7.30 at night with floodlights - no spooking nothing. So I though ok, he's now had a total of 5 days on the trot being exercised so I'll potter down the road and see what happens - this was today. So we're fine until we pass the end of the yard where he starts napping. I stayed calm and kept asking him to move on - by napping I mean just standing still and refusing to move forward. I'd already decided that I wanted to get past the area where we had ahad a fit the last time before I turned round. We managed this with a lot of stopping and starting and I made him stand before I turned him round. However, as soon as I turned round he went berserk again and started cantering off up the road throwing his head about and half rearing when I tried to pull him up. This got eben worse when another haorse started calling and he started buking as well. We did get home eventually and once again when we got to the last straight by the yard he settled.

Now to the question. It seems to me like its separation anxiety and I don't know how to deal with this. He has only acted up since we have not been able to do a loop round the fields and have had to turn back on ourselves so I realise this may be the problem. I've told myself I have two options, persevere now and hope I don't fall off and get hurt or leave it till spring when we can do a loop round the fields again and just school till then. What do we think?

I'll tell you what he is fed and his routine too:

Daily and split between three feeds he has 2 double handfuls of Alfa-A Oil, two small square scoops of Baileys No. 4, 2 cupfuls of Equilibra 500 balancer and 1.5 small aquuare scoops of speedibeet. It is all as far as I know no heating and he is fed that to keep him at the weight he is. He also has Equine America's magnitude calmer but he has only had this since he first went mad and so I realise it may not be in his system properly yet.

He is turned out everday unless the weather is really bad from about 7 till just before it gets dark and is angel to lead to and from the field.

He has just had his saddle checked and his back and teeth are fine and I'm sure these aren't the problem because he is as good as gold in the school.

What's the best (and safest!) way to tackle this guys?

Sorry for the extremely long post and hot chocolate and biccies for anyone who has got this far!

Thanks in advance,

Kerrie

 

[RuthnMeg]

take him out in company but go another way?

 

[kerrie_jay]

he was in company when he did it the first time thought i'd try it on our own see if it made any difference. The only other way is down a very busy road into a village and I don't want to risk him doing it down there. Unfortunately there are no loops we can do on the road without going on really busy roads and the fields are just too wet now.

Thanks for your help though!

 

[Bosworth]

my first thought is because he is an ex racer turning him round to go home is an absolute no no. In racing the horses ride down to the start - then turn round and gallop so by taking him there and back again you are confusing him and in his mind he is turning to go. so try not to turn him round while hw is in this frame of mind

The next thought is get him off the alfa oil - I have found it to be far far far too heating for some horses - especially sensitive TB's it just seems to blow their minds I have known a coupld of seriously sane horses become monster on it. - if you have to give a chop then use a hi fi light type and add in Linseed as your oil - as that is non heating. Take him off the baileys number 4 as it has molasses in it - again this can cause hyperactivity in some horses. I know it says it is non heating - but Molasses is not good for some horses. If he were mine I would be changing him to a fibre only diet. I have my ex racer on Simple systems - basically lucerne nuts, with micronised linseed, unmollassed beet and brewers yeast. He gets all the vitamins and minerals he needs from it and because it is all fibre it is slow release energy and he remains totally calm on it.

Also check your forage, I feed haylage but there are loads of different types and some are far more heating than others, a much higher protein than needed for the majority of horses. One yard i was at the yard owner got racehorse haylage - the little pony got laminitus, and my little hunter became a loon, we could not work it out until we found the analysis for the haylage.

 

[KingCharles]

Generall yi woudl say it sounds liek a lack of confidance on both parts. He may be pickin gup on the fact you are not 100% confident on him during hacks and this could be causing him to act up due to lack of confidence. Going otu only in company and not stopping at all, always making him go forward and changing the route as much as possible shoudl help. However as he is 100% with you in other ways, it sounds liek he is just being nappy and trying it on. If you dont feel liek it is safe, or you are confident enougth to hack him out alone. then i would not take him out alone as over time his behaviour could become worse and worse to a point where the situation could become dangerous. (already sounds like you have had a lucky escape)

Some horses just are not good to hack, racehorses are rarely hacked out alone in training, and generally go out in strings of other horses.

It may be that over time, and with the appropriate company he will become safer to hack out. In that time you may become nmore confident with him and he may trust you more. For now i woudl not try and prove a point with him, and set him up for a battle you may not win. as each time he wins your confidence will take a nose dive and he will become more nappy and evasive. The fact that you state he stops on hacks shows that he is a nappy horse and it sounds liek when before the explosive behaviour starts there are signs that he is not listening to you, and has a lack of trust/respect for you.

If he is good in the school and is coming along nicely in the school, maybe concetrate on schoolign him more, and getting him moving off your leg, and transistions. You have to be firm and not let him get away with this nappy behaviour.

I woudl hack out with company if you do hack out , but change the route regularly and not stop on hacks, keep him forward at all time. If he stops, turn him and keep him moving, it may be you end up riding him in a compleatly different diection that you planned, but make sure you choose the pace and the direction and not him. He coudl of generally spooked on the first hack that went wrong and takign him back there and makign him stand , if your not confident your self, will nto help matters.

could you maybe long rein him out or walk him out in hand?

 

[kendra2705]

hi i bought an ex racer , well rescued her and i couldnt ride her as we didnt understand each other as she had been trained differently , due to lack of time i gave her to a friend who is very nice and runs a riding school, she had same problem as me and she was very well educated in riding , so she got a friend of her who was an ex jockey to ride her , he said she is the most gentle and best schooled race horse he had ever ridden and told her how to overcome this , so my advice would be to maybe find someone who knows how to act with him and check him out , this mare has now been totaly rehabilitated under the instruction of the ex jockey and now does showjumping and dressage, she is 24 now was 18 when i got her, its worth a try to put some ads out there may be someone who can ride him and try to understand what he is trying to tell you good luck im sure he will turn out to be a nice horse x

 

[Gucci_b]

I would cut out some of the starch in his feed, i;e look into very low starch feed, i have my mare on WINERGY Equilibrium med http://www.winergy.com/Products/WINERGY-Equilibrium/WINERGY-Equilibrium-Medium-Energy/
Dengie Alfa chaff http://www.dengie.com/pages/products/alfa-a-and-hi-fi-ranges/fibre-feed-finder.php
speedi beet, sugar beet http://www.britishhorsefeeds.com/ and also Equine America's magnitude. My mare was very fizzyand napping and trying it on!! esp when out hacking... also may be take him out in hand for a while and just take things slow, have you had his bloods checked!!!! when he was vetted at the time of sale and his eyes looked at... as if he's napping, he's not happy with some thing or just really trying it on with you. what about lunging him or on the horse walker before you take him out. is he feed hay or other!!!

 

[Firewell]

I think it may help if you cout the cereals out of his diet. My old horse went skitso on Baileys no 4! She was a Tb and id fed her condition mixes before but she really felt wondeful on Baileys No4 and was a right pain. My vet suggested a diet of 5 scoops of Alfa Oil, 2 scoops of soaked suger beet and a mugful of oil split in to 3 feeds a day. She needed to put on weight and this gave her calories without any cereals and she was calm on this diet.

Also I know its hard if light is fading ect but I would never turn my tb horse and come back the same way. They are so clever, they know and they just anticiate turning around which is what your horse is doing everytime he stops. I wouldnt hack unless you have enough time to go for a longer ride and do a proper loop.

The pracing and being silly on the way back is just fresh/cheekiness/insecurity, he just wants to get back to his friends. When my horse did this I would make her work on the bridle and do leg yielding/shoulder in and traver along the road to take her mind off being naughty. I would also try and sit relaxed and deep in the saddle and use my seat to keep her slow, its easy to start getting perched and hanging on to the reins when they get like that but it just makes them worse.

If she was still doing it when we got back, id take her in the school for a good canter on the bridle, if shes still got energy then she could work imo.

You havent had him that long so dont worry too much, hes just testing you and you will work out how to deal with him.

 

[kerrie_jay]

thanks guys i really appreciate the help will try all suggestions and will definitely check out simple systems. The only problem i have in winter with not turning round is there is only one way to go without turning round and that takes you onto a very busy main road! surprisingly my OH suggested the fact that when he turns round he thinks he's meant to go from his racing days and it hadn't even crossed my mind - and he's totally non-horsey!!

 

[Tinypony]

The feed advice is good, but imho the best advice here is to get someone who understands racehorses to come and help you. You are possibly giving the horse all the wrong signals and it's not great for both of you.

 

[jacksmum]

Try the ex-racers site, they are really friendly and helpful

 

[Flame_]

I have similar hacking problems. My horse goes nuts if a car comes towards her or past her a fraction too quick or we meet any big traffic. She's also sometimes nappy from home as she lacks confidence hacking ( since scaring herself having ideas about traffic being out to get her.

)

Being in company helps to some extent in most situations. You need a really big, steady but bold companion on the outside of you, slightly ahead of your horse's nose. The companion horse's rider also needs to be confident to hold their horse between yours and the traffic, even if the road's a bit narrow, a truck's coming, your horse is leaping about, etc - you need a really good nanny and your horse will take confidence from it.

That's not to say you won't still have issues. If you can, box up and hack from other places, on very quiet roads or off road altogether if possible. Being away from home should help reduce the napping element, and if you can build up yours and your horse's relationship, and trust in one-another in safer situations, you'll be better prepared and equipped to deal with your horse in trickier situations.

Its really frustrating to have a horse who acts up on the road, its just a situation you can't control enough to keep sticking at it until your horse accepts it safely. You're not alone, anyway.

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

I have an 8 yr old ex racer. He last raced 1 year ago.

Mine has also become very sharp since the weather changed, and the winter turnout means he is out for less time. I try to ride every day, and at the moment I'm lunging him for as long as it takes him to exhuast himself before I hack him out. This helps a great deal with my boy, and is something you could try.

I cannot turn my horse round on a hack. If I do, he takes off and it makes no difference weather it's on a road or a bridlepath. I can always pull him up but he will then buck and half rear and be a prat all the way home. It's something thats ingrained into their heads I think from their racing days. I think this will improve with time.

I think it would be a good idea to go out in company for the next couple of rides, and then the next time you ride out alone, give him a damn good lunging beforehand.

Good luck, and don't give up, it takes time and patience with the ex racehorses, but they are worth it in the end!!!

 

[OrangeEmpire]

I'd second (or is it third or forth?!) the suggestion that your horse is reverting to racing training. My otherwise calm exracer (been out of racing for 10 years now!!) will bounce and jig and generally act the fool if I turn him round on a there and back again hack. You can train them out of it, or at least control it, it just takes time and practice. It's not actually so much about training him, but about training yourself...

avoid hanging on to his mouth at all costs as in my experience this just makes them worse. With mine I have to give regular "Oi, No" tugs on the rein and otherwise be very calm and passive. Lots of talking helps - "walk, Jack just walk" in deep soothing voice with firm no's when he does anything else.

It's a flaw with ex-racers but i've found them to be so wonderful in other ways, they more than make up for it!