Some helpful advice to get a horse confident out hacking

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mischamoo

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Recently acquired a horse who seems a little nervous out hacking, refuses to go out on her own, will try and nap and spin and head back to the yard, that's all doesnt do anything nasty.

Happy to hack in company doesnt particularly like being up front and if something catches her eye she'll stop dead until another horse will pass and take the lead.

I can put up with the spooky behaviour while we're out in company but it is getting me down that I cannot hack this horse on it's own at the moment a I'm at the yard at different times to anyone else and company is few and far between for us to ride out with. Any advice to help us move forward?

Is it a case of persevering and keep hacking the horse in company so she becomes familiar with her surroundings and the routes we ride on and getting her confidence built up first before trying on her own or are there any solutions that I can work on getting the horse off the yard by herself? By walking her out on her own in hand first and trying that?
 
There are two approaches that i've used in the past & it does rather depend on the sort of rider you are. The first one is for either you, or a more experienced rider to just get after her & make her do it. This might involve a lot of napping & a couple of hard smacks with a stick. The second option is a more softly, softly approach, it often helps a nervous horse and/or rider if they are accompanied by either someone on foot or on a bicycle, you can gradually have your helper drop back as the horse/rider becomes more confident.

It really does depend on a lot of different factors. Will your horse hack alone for someone else? Did she hack alone before you got her? It is a big bug bear for me that people don't always cover this with a young horse.

Hope this helps. Good luck
 
The secret is persistence and hacking out each day. Find a nice safe short route and hack your horse round it each day for about a couple of weeks. Initially your horse may be nappy but eventually should go out quite merrily.
 
several things-if you can long rein that will get her used to being up front and taking responsibility for herself. Better to do this off road on anything other than very quiet lanes.

You can continue to hack in company but get her used to going up front for small periods of time when there's nothing to spook her and then go back behind and try and build her confidence up that way and increase the amount of time spent up front slowly. Remember that just because they've passed a spooky something on the left doesnt mean that they won't find it spooky when coming back the other way.

Walking in hand may help but she might still rely on you as a leader-I have an elderly pony who will even look for the lead off the dog-simply because that part of his training was missing.

set you and her up for success-pick a short, circular route on say a sunday morning and do it while its quiet.While I like to give horses the benefit of the doubt you do sometimes have to be firm!
 
I have one who was a bit like this and noone really to ride out with so I had to take her on her own, there was no option. The key with her (who hacks fine on her own now) is never to give up, even if it meant getting off and walking her in hand and then getting on again. Never get fed up and take the horse back to the yard. I also rode and led (another horse) which is a bit controversial, but it gave her a lot of confidence and has helped, although there were a few sticky moments. Thankfully, there is a lot of off-road hacking where we are.

Good luck.
 
I long reined my nervous nelly first then went hacking with others with him in front, then progressed to hacking alone but OH on foot and then to hacking on our own.

It takes a little time but you'll get there, circular familiar routes are the best place to start - I started in a large paddock first before I went out of the yard :)
 
I bought my trad-cob from a trekking centre and when I got him I don't think he'd ever hacked alone, only followed the bum ahead.

He'd spook, stop, spin, back into hedges, walls & ditches, then threaten to lift up his front feet. A proper nappy little git basically! People said I'd never get him out solo and it was a waste of time trying.

I had to go right back to basics. He was 11 when I had him and had never seen the inside of an arena. So it took a great deal of working in hand, using a pressure halter, and then gradually exposing him to stuff like plastic bags, noisy stuff, all off-road in a "safe" place; then I sent him away for professional schooling so that he knew what he was being asked to do. On his return, we then had to walk him out in hand on the road, and then progressed to leading out (all tacked up) and then very quietly hopping up and riding him home. Then progressing to riding out from the yard. Boy did it feel good to be able to get him out on his own!!!

It IS possible. I had professional help at the stage where we were walking out/riding home stage, which was invaluable as there was still a bit of a "nap" in there somewhere in his psyche ......

But all of the groundwork paid off. My professional helper pointed out that my horse needed to feel "safe" with me as his herd leader; I had to convince him that it was safe away from the security of the other horses, and everything we did had to reinforce this.

You may find the Michael Peace website and/or his books helpful. He has a very practical approach to these sorts of problems and there's a lot of good advice he can give.

Good luck. Yes as others have said you might have to get off and walk to give the horse confidence; this is NOT a weakness, it is actually showing your horse that you take his fears seriously but are committed to being the herd leader he can trust - so trust your own judgement in this and not other people's!

Also: believe that you WILL achieve it. Because you will.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
I bought my trad-cob from a trekking centre and when I got him I don't think he'd ever hacked alone, only followed the bum ahead.

He'd spook, stop, spin, back into hedges, walls & ditches, then threaten to lift up his front feet. A proper nappy little git basically! People said I'd never get him out solo and it was a waste of time trying.

I had to go right back to basics. He was 11 when I had him and had never seen the inside of an arena. So it took a great deal of working in hand, using a pressure halter, and then gradually exposing him to stuff like plastic bags, noisy stuff, all off-road in a "safe" place; then I sent him away for professional schooling so that he knew what he was being asked to do. On his return, we then had to walk him out in hand on the road, and then progressed to leading out (all tacked up) and then very quietly hopping up and riding him home. Then progressing to riding out from the yard. Boy did it feel good to be able to get him out on his own!!!

It IS possible. I had professional help at the stage where we were walking out/riding home stage, which was invaluable as there was still a bit of a "nap" in there somewhere in his psyche ......

But all of the groundwork paid off. My professional helper pointed out that my horse needed to feel "safe" with me as his herd leader; I had to convince him that it was safe away from the security of the other horses, and everything we did had to reinforce this.

You may find the Michael Peace website and/or his books helpful. He has a very practical approach to these sorts of problems and there's a lot of good advice he can give.

Good luck. Yes as others have said you might have to get off and walk to give the horse confidence; this is NOT a weakness, it is actually showing your horse that you take his fears seriously but are committed to being the herd leader he can trust - so trust your own judgement in this and not other people's!

Also: believe that you WILL achieve it. Because you will.
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Very good post.

Solo hacking is missing from a surprising number of horses' repertoires, even ones that are quite advanced in other areas. As above, it's training like any other - break it down into manageable stages and take the time it takes. Don't let people push you into doing things you feel are unsafe but keep pushing the boundaries with supportive help. You'll get there.
 
Good advice. One last thing, practice getting off and on your horse in lots of different situations - and maybe even have a special word before you dismount or give him a treat when you get off.

The reason is that they if you go out, the situation gets out of hand, you can get off calmly if you have trained for it. If you haven't practiced and decide to get off when the horse is getting more and more upset the horse may well think you are abandoning it and turn another tricky situation into a disaster …. just another thing to practice, as tarrsteps says its all about breaking it down into manageable chunks and taking it slowly.
 
I had the nappiest TB in the world, when I first had him refused to leave the yard, and had done so with previous owners.

Started by taking him for walks in hand, progressed to long reining, sporadic rides with others but not too many or he reverted...he would buck, bronc spin, freeze on the spot and after advice from Michael Peace, he advised to not make a fuss, just dismount continue, not say a word, dont reprimand etc, get back on once he was moving forward again.....I did this for six months and he was still a sod leaving the yard but we just used to canter out at speed the minute I could get him forward and continue trotting for half a mile before walking!!! - just forward forward forward...

Eventually he would still have odd issues out and about and I simply sat and waited it out, sometimes 40 mins just standing there, didnt push him, hit him or anything, he would get bored and eventually these little "moments" would last just a few minutes. That is as good as he ever got but would STILL nap towards other horses on XC course!! Another story that one. Also taking them out ride and lead can help!!

Just confidence building and sometimes a calmer can help. I found the feedmark calmer was fabulous and he was on this the first time he hacked solo in several years!!
 
canteron said:
Good advice. One last thing, practice getting off and on your horse in lots of different situations - and maybe even have a special word before you dismount or give him a treat when you get off.

The reason is that they if you go out, the situation gets out of hand, you can get off calmly if you have trained for it. If you haven't practiced and decide to get off when the horse is getting more and more upset the horse may well think you are abandoning it and turn another tricky situation into a disaster …. just another thing to practice, as tarrsteps says its all about breaking it down into manageable chunks and taking it slowly.
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Definitely!! The first thing I install doing hacking training is that the horse will stand for me to get on from gates, car bumpers, verges etc and will stand still until I'm ready. This is one of the skills I use treats to encourage and I practice it regularly, even if the horse gives me no reason to get off.
 
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