Strong out hacking

[Rosiepony]

Hello,

New to the forum and hoping someone will be able to give me some advice.

I have had horses all my life but I've never had one quite like my Rosie Pony and I'm stuck. I bought her just over a year ago and she's fab. I wanted something just to hack, have some lessons on and the odd sponsored or beach ride. She does all of this and is as safe as I could hope for... however... she is by far the most forward going little thing I have ever sat on and getting more so. Being a gypsy cob, it's not exactly what I was expecting! She's young and while we get there eventually in the school, out hacking can be a different story. She jogs as soon as she knows she's on the way home and trots and canters like a demon. We've only had the odd occasion where she has actually bombed off and she comes back... ish. I've tried turning her in circles, making her stand, changing her bit, doing a short hack again and again, all to very little avail. I feel like I'm going to pull her back teeth out at times and I hate that. Does anyone have any advice? I've always had horses who I've had to work on making them more forward so I feel like I'm out of my depth here.

Thanks
Holly and Rosie.

 

[skint1]

My horse can be like that, not a mean bone in him but full of...enthusiasm...at times
Have you tried giving her something to distract her? Something like leg yields or getting her to work from behind. I don't know if it will work 100% but it does seem to help my guy if he's not got too silly in advance of that.
I am sure someone will come along with much better advice shortly, good luck!

 

[Rosiepony]

Thank you, I have tried leg yielding but she's young and doesn't really understand those yet. She seems to think my leg going anywhere near her side means "go faster" as opposed to "go over". More schooling is required I think. Really appreciate your reply though.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I wonder if you are 'over-riding' to an extent? If you are used to having to push your horse on strongly, maybe you are finding it feels very odd to ride a more forward-going horse. Perhaps have some lessons on your new girl.

 

[PapaverFollis]

Good schooling will improve hacking obedience. Personally I would stick to walk on hacks for a bit. Asking for halts and rewarding well for doing so. In the school work on lots of halt transitions too and when you trot go slooooooow and put in lots of walk transitions. If she starts to rush go back to walk. If the walk is rushed go back to halt. Introduce lateral work to get away from leg=Go. (We introduced the idea of sideways to my carthorse using counter shoulder in -start on the inner track and ask for shoulder in but with bend to the outside, so shoulder out!- so the school fence was there to stop her going forwards!! It did not come naturally to her at all! ). If they are charging around at top speed it may be because they aren't balanced... definitely was with my mare... and you need to slow everything right down and build strength and balance more slowly.

If you need to pull her back teeth out you've kind of over cooked her in my view. Ideally you would never reach that point. But if you do reach that point just make sure you give a really clear release as soon as you get the response you need.

The first hacks I did on mine were terrifying! Lol. I ended up going the whole way round a 7 mile loop on my first solo hack because so was too scared to turn her around for home! Now she'll do trot to halt transitions on a loose rein while heading home.

 

[Bellaboo18]

I'm thinking is she excitable or is she rushing because she's anxious? Have you hacked out in company or with someone on the ground? I'd be trying to build up her confidence either by hacking out with someone else or taking her out in hand. Also worth looking at her diet. Sitting quietly is a skill and if she's different to your previous horses it will come with time, try and stay relaxed when she does get hot (easier said than done I know)

 

[JFTDWS]

Basically what PF said - schooling, schooling, and more schooling. No horse is ever too young to learn that the leg does not mean go, and that sideways is a "thing" - and until they have learned and understood that, you can't expect them to be a nice, mannerly hack. If they can't be sensible trotting and cantering, stick to walk until they can - and work on their attention span so that they can learn to trot and canter without getting silly. Transitions, lateral work, altering posture / strides - all of which are core skills for a young horse learning to pay attention on hacks and mind their manners.

 

[J&S]

I have found that our new pony will concentrate better and listen better at trot. This is also the pace I would school at. I slow her down by slowing my rises, keep changing the pace with in the pace and throw in halts. Walk work then on the way home when she has used up some of her energy. She now will walk out from home more calmly, perhaps because she realises the alternative is actually harder work!!

 

[blitznbobs]

Gypsy cons have a reputation for being quiet which some are but those that aren’t are hot hot hot... I’ve ridden competition horses for a long time and my show traditional cob is the hottest thing I’ve ever sat on ... he’s spooky and unpredictable. This is the type that tends to win at the shows as you need that ooomph in the ring. They do not translate well to quiet happy hackers however.

My chap is now doing dressage and he’s a whizz in the arena (ad med) so they are good at schooling in the mane (pun and spelling intended) but his hacking is still truly awful the only way we get round is by shoulder inning all the way with some leg yielding etc but he still spooks at every other leaf... it’s stressful to say the least. If this is how your horse is I doubt it’s curable but a lot of schooling does enable the ability to get round safely... otherwise if you want to hack round on the buckle thenperhaps a different horse may be the answer