Road-proofing your horse - response to hacking thread.

[pennyturner]

Thought it might be useful if those of us who have successfully traffic-proofed our horses shared some of our habits. Sucking eggs for some, but hopefully food for thought for others. I'll start:

I graze my ponies at the side of the road after a hack as a 'treat'. Right by the road. They like getting a bite of better grass before they go away, and soon ignore even the big stuff passing fast and close.

If we pass something 'scary' the pony will be taken for a look, whether it is a bit of farm kit, or a dustbin lorry lifting bins into the back. If horse wants to stop and look at something, this is always OK. Take them through building sites, housing estates, car parks, farm yards. Everything.

If I have one who is worse than normal, I will take him to a strategically positioned spot by a very busy junction, and ask him to stand. We might be there for an hour, dancing the tarantella every time a trailer clanks by, but eventually he will get over himself.

Ride on as loose a rein as possible in traffic - the aim is to relax and de-sensitise, not to 'control', which just passes on your fear to the horse. Singing helps

 

[Dave's Mam]

Thank you Pennyturner. Great advice.

I am luckily in a field with traffic on 2 sides. Today we had a tractor, a couple of loud cars & the best, some bikers on choppers. The boy didn't even flinch.

 

[Auslander]

My secret weapon is Alf - he's absolutely bombproof with any size vehicle. Other horses feed off his calm energy, and settle pretty quickly in traffic. He is a spooky idiot with other stuff, but we forgive him that because he is so good on the roads!

 

[Goldenstar]

You need a horse who is traffic proof my horses are good because they all have learnt from another of my horses one after the other all the way back to a hunter called Rocket to call her traffic proof would not do her steadiness justice she taught the young horses we had and they taught the ones that came along after and so on .
I don't have young horses any more but when I did we did traffic training from a young age cars get driven round the stable yard we drive in fast and stop they see tractors and the wagon ,trailers etc .
When I long rein young ones my OH drives the cars around then to wards them around them past them up there bums he sounds the horn revs etc etc .
Once their ridden we repeat and add in the lorry we drive the lorry past them so close I whack it with hand to make a noise .
We will then lead from another horse in a small group TBH they just copy the others .

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

Most of mine are traffic proof by a few weeks old. Forest bred foals get a quick education!

My old boy used to shield my sisters horse as a 4yo. He used to get taken for walks by the train/bus station as a youngster, he loved train watching.

 

[DabDab]

OK, since I own a previously very traffic shy horse who is now bombproof I'll share some:

Give yourself plenty of time to do the hack and pick times of day when people aren't likely to be in such a rush.

If your horse is not good with passing cars then stop still when one approaches to let it past. You stopping will instantly slow most drivers down anyway as instinctively they think there might be something wrong.

I prefer narrower lanes with car shy horses as you can make it obvious that you are trotting to a passing place and then pull into a gateway to give yourself more safe space if the horse jumps while whatever it is is passing.

For big traffic, as above, simply hanging out in a safe place by a busy road is ideal.

Agree with walking on a loose rein, allowing to graze and rock steady buddy too.

Be polite and courteous and over exaggerate all hand and facial signals - most drivers are very nice and will accommodate if possible

 

[ycbm]

I only have myself , so different techniques. I walk in hand to close to the top of my road, where it joins a major route for lorries from quarries to the M6 and a lot of large traffic between the M6 and M1. If the horse reacts at all I get it off the road and into the field that borders the road. On a long line, and always bitted, I will gradually (over days if necessary) get the horse to a point where the lorries can pass within five feet, going at full speed, without reacting.

On the narrower roads I train left leg yield and stand still until both are good before I take a horse out ridden. I wear L plates back and front, which always gets the motorists to give me time and space, and we often have a laugh about who the L is for as well.

Local farmers know that if I have L plates on that I am on an untrained horse and will all do their best to help out by stopping, turning off the tractor, shutting up the barking dogs on the back of the ATV, etc.

I will get off only if the horse is seriously delaying traffic. I've had to do that once or twice with my horse which used to stand in the middle of the road and freeze. Other than that, I use confident riding to coax them past 'danger', always with the head well turned towards the vehicle. That way they will have trouble spinning or diving up the bank. I never let them rush away once past, it only reinforces their belief that there was something to run away from.

Hope that helps. Good thread penny

 

[ycbm]

Passing something scary, as well as pointing the head towards the vehicle, I spread my hands wide. Like pennyt, I'm not trying to 'control' the horse to stop him being fearful, I'm trying to reassure him there is simply nothing I need to control him for, so a fairly loose rein. The wide hands then stop him spinning away.

 

[Pie's mum]

My boy was awful when I first got him. He would leap sideways or spin and gallop off up the road. Add to that if he hacked with another horse he got overexcited and would try to race... I had him on a very busy working farm which I took full advantage of. Moving bales around by tractor? Quick lets get up in the school and do some work - starting at the end furthest away but working to using the whole school. When they ran cows through the yard I would take him out to watch from a safe distance at first then closer and closer. Same if they were hammering posts in / dehorning cows. Anything noisy and spooky was an opportunity I grabbed. All kept in his comfort zone so as not to make him worse. Seems to have worked though he is 100% in traffic now - double decker buses, lorries. we even got gritted by a gritter once and he just flinched a little (I complained to the council about that one).
Daffodils are another matter. One tried to eat him today.

 

[paddy555]

.
I don't have young horses any more but when I did we did traffic training from a young age cars get driven round the stable yard we drive in fast and stop they see tractors and the wagon ,trailers etc .
When I long rein young ones my OH drives the cars around then to wards them around them past them up there bums he sounds the horn revs etc etc .
Once their ridden we repeat and add in the lorry we drive the lorry past them so close I whack it with hand to make a noise .
We will then lead from another horse in a small group TBH they just copy the others .

I do a version of this, starting with a small car and moving up to the tractor and anything else I can find. OH parks in the centre of a quiet road and I LR round, then I LR all the way round backwards then we move the car closer to the edge and repeat until the horse has to squeeze between the car and wall. Then repeat with engine running, then repeat engine revving , then repeat the whole process using a tractor. Then OH drives towards me I LR past, and we do a sort of dance wandering around each other as we go along the road.
I also do this sort of thing with chainsaws, strimmers, mowers etc as you never know when someone will be trimming their hedge as you ride past.
I try and grab every occasion as a training opportunity. If something interesting drives towards us and they stop we have a wander round. We don't have major roads as such so many of the vehicles are variations of farm vehicles because that is what mine will have to learn to squeeze past on single track roads. I also do lots with my bike riding past them at speed, creeping up on them etc.

In addition when they are young I put them in our small road facing yard. They can't run very far so have to face up to it. Leave them with some hay and they get to watch what comes past. That might be people trotting past on exercise, ponies with a trap, vehicles, free ranging cows, sheep and ponies. Everything they will have to meet when they ride up the road they will have met when it comes past the gate. The youngsters are always alone for this so it teaches them to be left on their own and be independent at the same time.

 

[Mrs B]

I think the ultimate key is to have another traffic-proof horse alongside or some other form of help.

It IS possible to traffic-proof riding alone, but it relies heavily on an amazing rider and a lot of luck.

The trouble I have with all the 'Yes, you can train them and you should' threads is that for many horse owners, this is not the reality they face. It's just them and their horse. And to try and go it alone whatever is not a safe option.

I've hacked out all my life, alone and in company. I've met everything from air balloons to traction engines to steam trains to mega tractors.

I'm still (fingers crossed) in one piece.

BUT. I maintain that you can't easily do this alone.

I now mostly hack alone as it's the only time I can ride and no one else does at 6.30 or 7am. My boy is golden with 'normal' cars and vans but on narrow, high banked roads with bigger stuff, he panics and endangers me and himself. I can sit there as calm as you like, leg-yield, turn his head away whatever ... but in the end a loose rein can lose you a second's vital control.

I wish I had the answer.

 

[meleeka]

I think my top tip would be to stay calm yourself. I'm fortunate to have a grass verge outside my field so that's great for just chilling out with lots going past.

 

[touchstone]

Can I suggest watching Barry Hook vids on youtube? He has some vids of ponies that he is traffic proofing that might be useful for some.
I absolutely echo mrs B though, a schoolmaster is invaluable. I know plenty mentioned on the other thread how bombproof gypsy cobs can be in traffic, and youngsters are often sidelined to an experienced cob to learn the job when being driven.

I also agree that a loose rein on a nervous horse means youve lost vital communication, a light contact can help to give confidence and direction when needed, whereas hanging on to a tight rein can make things worse.

 

[Fiona]

Thought it might be useful if those of us who have successfully traffic-proofed our horses shared some of our habits. Sucking eggs for some, but hopefully food for thought for others. I'll start:

I graze my ponies at the side of the road after a hack as a 'treat'. Right by the road. They like getting a bite of better grass before they go away, and soon ignore even the big stuff passing fast and close.

If we pass something 'scary' the pony will be taken for a look, whether it is a bit of farm kit, or a dustbin lorry lifting bins into the back. If horse wants to stop and look at something, this is always OK. Take them through building sites, housing estates, car parks, farm yards. Everything.

If I have one who is worse than normal, I will take him to a strategically positioned spot by a very busy junction, and ask him to stand. We might be there for an hour, dancing the tarantella every time a trailer clanks by, but eventually he will get over himself.

Ride on as loose a rein as possible in traffic - the aim is to relax and de-sensitise, not to 'control', which just passes on your fear to the horse. Singing helps

As someone who is hopefully getting a 4yo v v soon.......

Great thread -thanks

Fiona

 

[DabDab]

I think the ultimate key is to have another traffic-proof horse alongside or some other form of help.

It IS possible to traffic-proof riding alone, but it relies heavily on an amazing rider and a lot of luck.

The trouble I have with all the 'Yes, you can train them and you should' threads is that for many horse owners, this is not the reality they face. It's just them and their horse. And to try and go it alone whatever is not a safe option.

I've hacked out all my life, alone and in company. I've met everything from air balloons to traction engines to steam trains to mega tractors.

I'm still (fingers crossed) in one piece.

BUT. I maintain that you can't easily do this alone.

I now mostly hack alone as it's the only time I can ride and no one else does at 6.30 or 7am. My boy is golden with 'normal' cars and vans but on narrow, high banked roads with bigger stuff, he panics and endangers me and himself. I can sit there as calm as you like, leg-yield, turn his head away whatever ... but in the end a loose rein can lose you a second's vital control.

I wish I had the answer.

I do agree, to a point - I think that all advice that relies on people having help and reliable hacking buddies can be a bit disheartening to the huge amount of riders that have access to neither of these things on a regular and reliable basis. But it is possible to train even a very traffic shy horse on your own, and I think that is largely down to the quality of your hacking/opportunities for safe gradual exposure, and yes, experience.

Hacking is an activity that I think people are very reluctant to get in professional help with, and I think that that's a shame given the potential risk. Maybe there just aren't enough professionals visibly offering a hacking training service.

 

[ycbm]

.. but in the end a loose rein can lose you a second's vital control.

When the horse is scared of something I never have my reins loose. I have a contact at all times, just a light one that does not make the horse think I am trying to force it to go where I want it to, and leaves it the illusion that it is going past the scary object of it's own free will. That's all it is, an illusion.

That's what the wide hands are about. If you have a light contact, the horse can easily swing its head around, but by 'cross tying' it, you can stay safe and in control.

 

[ycbm]

Hacking is an activity that I think people are very reluctant to get in professional help with, and I think that that's a shame given the potential risk. Maybe there just aren't enough professionals visibly offering a hacking training service.

Great point.

 

[ycbm]

It IS possible to traffic-proof riding alone, but it relies heavily on an amazing rider and a lot of luck.

I think it's more about having the facility to introduce exposure gradually as dabdab said. I'm lucky, I have both quiet narrow roads and major A roads available. I don't think it takes an amazing rider, but it does take a confident one, of course.

 

[pennyturner]

On the issue of doing it alone, I recommend riding in a very built up area - somewhere where the road is restricted to single-file because of on-street parking, where the traffic cannot go very fast because of the number of non-horsey hazards. This is counter-intuitive, as there's tons of things for a horse to spook at, but that's kind of the point. Because nothing is going past you at speed, you are pretty safe, and once the horse is used to such a busy street-scene, he will accept the quieter roads much more easily.

 

[Goldenstar]

On the issue of doing it alone, I recommend riding in a very built up area - somewhere where the road is restricted to single-file because of on-street parking, where the traffic cannot go very fast because of the number of non-horsey hazards. This is counter-intuitive, as there's tons of things for a horse to spook at, but that's kind of the point. Because nothing is going past you at speed, you are pretty safe, and once the horse is used to such a busy street-scene, he will accept the quieter roads much more easily.

This exactly the sort of place I take mine a housing estate narrow roads parked cars fires builders ,everything going on .
I also used to send the young ones to a friend who son had a contracting buisiness on the farm the stables saw all sorts going past all day .
My other thing is the go on the roads lots at least every other day even if it's a ten minute walk before of after the school so it's normal for them and they never get a chance to get rusty with wants required .

 

[canteron]

You can work on your horses confidence in you all the time. This to me means never over facing them with anything. You want your horse to learn to trust you so for example, the first time walking past something scary, put yourself between the scary thing and your horse, its you way of explaining you are trustworthy and going to look after it.

The second thing, which again is part of the first, is always know exactly where you are going - if the horse believe you know where you are going, it is more likely to trust you. By this I mean focus on a point about 50-100 yards ahead (a branch, a gate, whatever) and ride towards that with no deviation. If you let your horse wander, it is going to believe it has to make the decisions!

To illustrate this, think of a top cross country rider, they are always 100% focussed on the next fence and ride Straight towards it. The horse is also then 100% focused on that and doesn't spook at the sea of umbrellas, yapping dogs, crazy people as it goes past. I bet if you asked the same horse just to wander aimlessly past that it would be off! The difference is the rider is so focussed on where they are going, the horse trusts them.