Suggestions for youngster getting silly in traffic

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Polos Mum

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Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions.

I've a 5.5 year old, broken over the school summer holidays and had been doing really well in all regards. He's for me to keep, no rush or agenda with him at all.

He had a fright about 3 weeks ago with a bus, air brakes (nobodies fault) and a spooky companion (in hindsight not my best choice). Since then with weather and daylight his work hasn't been as consistent as I'd like, getting out hacking perhaps once or twice a week. And he's getting sillier with traffic. We're now at the point with even transits that he's shooting forward / sideways and today when I stopped him running off he started to bunny hop ! The Christmas
deliveries were mad so I got off as there were vans flying everywhere. No alternative quite place to hack sadly.


I think my options are (but I could well have missed some)
  1. Persevere and keep ignoring the silliness - hope it doesn't keep getting worse - it has been getting worse to date
  2. Quit now and give him the rest of the winter off, hope he forgets this last couple of weeks - in the spring daylight will mean I can hack at quieter times of the traffic day and more consistently every day
  3. Send him off to reputable person I know who brings them on in a very busy village
  4. Step back and just lead him in hand for 3-4 weeks until the end of the Xmas holidays - which is when I'd give him a few months off anyway. He's chilled in hand
  5. Something I've not thought of?
He's fine in the school but i don't want to knacker his joints by going round in circles more than once a week - so just schooling not a plan for me.
He's very clever and quick to learn

Really welcome your thoughts.
 
Can you have a friend driving and do some work that way going past you?
Speeding up etc, you can start this on the yard with revving up a bit, toot of the horn etc,
Same with somebody on a bike
Quad bike around the field..tractors.

I'd always started my youngster off at home like this.

Then move it to a quiet road.
 
I'd say 4 would be my option. I'm much happier on the ground when mine are having a moment and they also take confidence from me being at their heads. Maybe a ride out with a very reliable buddy in the xmas break.

Have you got someone with a horsebox with air breaks that you can mill around with him while they take the hand break on and off and rev the engine etc? some desensitising work so he gets used to the noise.
 
sport horse said:
If you can find a reliable companion, hack him out tucked well to the inside of the safe horse. If you cannot do this then send him away to the reputable person.
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He had a solid babysitter today - he's never hacked on his own.
He is better with a companion in front and another behind - but to arrange that it's really only once in every couple of weeks I'd be able to get him out, which isn't consistent enough for him to get better.
 
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Polos Mum said:
He had a sold babysitter today - he's never hacked on his own.
He is better with a companion in front and another behind - but to arrange that it's really only once in every couple of weeks I'd be able to get him out, which isn't consistent enough for him to get better.
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I would go back to where he is comfortable, even if that means only hacking out every couple of weeks with a babysitter behind and a babysitter in front. Quality over quantity. That way when he is out hacking he's learning to behave in the way you want as opposed to getting into the habit of spooking. In between, lead out in hand as he's chilled. Any possibility of recruiting a leader or a rider other than yourself so he can be lead and ridden at the same time?
 
Hard one. To teach him that vans aren't really scary you need vans to reliably not actually be scary and at this time of year that is a tall ask. I am scared of how delivery vans are behaving atm!

Personally I would go out in hand so you can easily reward calm behaviour, mine is also very good in hand. Sometimes I think you get even less respect from drivers if you aren't on top though, so that's something to be considered.

I don't know if a break would work for forgetting entirely about the bad experience but it might let all the leftover adrenaline fade. Every time he goes out and has a little panic the fear response is getting a top up and probably never getting back down to zero in between, if you know what I mean, so it's all compounding on itself?
 
I had a horse who started to get a bit worried in traffic (his field was a fair way from the nearest road so he didn't see traffic). I ended up moving him to a new yard where the field was right next to a busy road. After a week or so he was so used to traffic that it didn't worry him when out hacking.

In your case I would go for option 2 or 4.
 
We had a 4 turning 5yo last winter at the same stage you are. Was broke to drive at 3 briefly (with previous owner) and identified traffic issues then. As is consistent with my experience, turning a horse away when they show traffic issues does nothing to fix them. They remember just fine!

What we did:
- led her from another horse to build confidence and also in hand.
- got a stronger, confident rider on her (who wouldn’t worry themselves if she had a moment) and took her down the road with a reliable friend, then in front of the friend, then alone. We got her good enough for everything but super main roads, but we did do this 4 times a week for months until she was safe enough. Ours is a large pony - she needed to be safe enough for a competent child. I rode her out and so did my professional friend.

In your situation I would lead out in hand if you can hold him, so he isn’t reacting to anything. Then send to a pro for a few weeks to fix the ridden issue. After that, turn away until you have the light you need to work with him yourself.
 
Is it possible that you're getting worried about the traffic too? If the whole thing is becoming tense then I might have a confident pro hack him out and see what they think.

If it is the horse alone, and it was my horse, I'd turn away over winter and pick up in spring when there is more light, the roads are quieter and he's had a chance to decompress. But that's just me.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Is it possible that you're getting worried about the traffic too? If the whole thing is becoming tense then I might have a confident pro hack him out and see what they think.

If it is the horse alone, and it was my horse, I'd turn away over winter and pick up in spring when there is more light, the roads are quieter and he's had a chance to decompress. But that's just me.
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I'm sure I am worrying about it more too - more about not wanting to make it a long term habit.

I've been avoiding rain / wind / school run / me rushing to try and set us both up for success. He'll get there eventually, he's only a baby who's been hacking for four months only.
Just want to make it as easy as possible for him

I think the lack of consistency might be more of a issue than I'd realised. he probably needs to go twice a day for 3 weeks and he'd be fine - at once a week it's too exciting.
It is hard for anyone / any horse to learn anything doing it 25 minutes a week!

Which does lead me to the wait until ice is gone and daylight means I have more options of when to go.
 
Can you walk out in hand with a friend? My husband and I used to walk our young horses out one horse at a time but together, so two people walking one horse. Then I used to hop on and he'd keep walking next to the horse until the horse seemed confident enough to hack alone or to go out with another horse. I think it's useful for teaching them to hack alone and to take confidence from people rather than other horses.

Do you think you could get someone to walk with you?
 
My old now retired horse, who was 100% in traffic, was scared shitless by a chap pulling up alongside us and wheel spinning the loose chippings up at us. After that every time he heard a vehicle I could literally feel him hold his breath and start to slow down ready to spin if anything came near. As I usually hacked alone I needed to sort it. Every time we heard a vehicle I would ask him to stand and gave him a treat. Then as the car passed I would give him a treat. After a while he associated the noise of a vehicle with a treat and would pull over and stand himself!! Gradually I stopped the treats and he was fine in traffic again until he retired.
 
I think you're right about your lack of consistency. The worry with doing as and when possible is that you could easily have a few bad experiences in a row when if it was twice a day you'd be very unlucky to have more bad than good.

I think I'd lead out when possible if you're positive that will ensure good experiences and otherwise give up hacking until spring.
 
I'm up for the in hand work, wearing plenty of hi-viz (mine is "Pony in Training - please slow down") followed by ride & lead, which we do loads of. Do understand the problems as my last NF baby was never happy with anything bigger than a van. Chief, so far 🤞 🙏 possibly because he's forest bred and has seen it all before, is far more interested in possible snacks within reach than anything we have met on the roads.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Can you walk out in hand with a friend? My husband and I used to walk our young horses out one horse at a time but together, so two people walking one horse. Then I used to hop on and he'd keep walking next to the horse until the horse seemed confident enough to hack alone or to go out with another horse. I think it's useful for teaching them to hack alone and to take confidence from people rather than other horses.

Do you think you could get someone to walk with you?
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I drafted in my OH to do this when the hooligan was a baby. He had a lead rope so could clip it on if I was on board and the pony got anxious.

OH has a full bright yellow high viz outfit which no driver can say they haven't seen.
 
Sandstone1 said:
I would not say he is "being silly" myself, more like scared . Roads are so dangerous these days.
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I do agree - and more dangerous when your throwing yourself sideways into oncoming traffic because your baby brain has melted !

He has to get used to it - so he has to be out there, finding the right path to do that safely for him, me, pedestrians and drivers is my top priority
 
Flowerofthefen said:
Every time we heard a vehicle I would ask him to stand and gave him a treat. Then as the car passed I would give him a treat. After a while he associated the noise of a vehicle with a treat and would pull over and stand himself!! Gradually I stopped the treats and he was fine in traffic again until he retired.
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I started doing this with my lassy but with eating the grass on the verge.
Plastic blowing on the fence? You can eat the grass next to it
Car coming? You can have a munch.

It worked a little too well though as at the first sound of a car she would pull to the grass. She would beeline for plastic or anything that used to be scary so she could eat 😂

I now only treat her if we pass a bus, tractor or something big. She still tenses up a bit but her focus is definitely on her treat 🙄
 
Peglo said:
I started doing this with my lassy but with eating the grass on the verge.
Plastic blowing on the fence? You can eat the grass next to it
Car coming? You can have a munch.

It worked a little too well though as at the first sound of a car she would pull to the grass. She would beeline for plastic or anything that used to be scary so she could eat 😂

I now only treat her if we pass a bus, tractor or something big. She still tenses up a bit but her focus is definitely on her treat 🙄
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Same, I am fairly deaf so pony very insistently moving in to the verge for snackies is sometimes how I know there is a quiet car coming from behind 😂
 
Peglo said:
I started doing this with my lassy but with eating the grass on the verge.
Plastic blowing on the fence? You can eat the grass next to it
Car coming? You can have a munch.

It worked a little too well though as at the first sound of a car she would pull to the grass. She would beeline for plastic or anything that used to be scary so she could eat 😂

I now only treat her if we pass a bus, tractor or something big. She still tenses up a bit but her focus is definitely on her treat 🙄
Click to expand...

I taught my very impatient horse to hack out politely using this method too. Waiting at a junction? Get a treat. Waiting for a car to pass? Get a treat. Waiting for our slow hacking buddy to catch up with us? Get a treat. Only problem is every time I put my hand in my pocket on a hack now he screeches to a halt and waits for his sweetie 😆
 
eggs said:
I had a horse who started to get a bit worried in traffic (his field was a fair way from the nearest road so he didn't see traffic). I ended up moving him to a new yard where the field was right next to a busy road. After a week or so he was so used to traffic that it didn't worry him when out hacking.

In your case I would go for option 2 or 4.
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I agree with you.

Mine are turned out in a field that runs along side one of only two major trunk road through Dorset (we don't have any motorways in Dorset) so they see the works, even part built sun-seeker boats on low loaders. They love watching the police closing the roads for large vehicles and they see a few accidents on the cross roads next to us. My youngsters are well accustomed to traffic once they go out on the roads. It's a brilliant and natural way to get them used to traffic.

My older one wouldn't load coming back from some grazing up the road a few months back, so I walked him home in hand. The last 100 yards was down the trunk/A road. We trotted in hand on a headcollar down the middle/filter lane (we have a shared entrance and so a filter lane for safety) and into our gateway with out the blink of an eye. This horse prior to being with me had only seen rural Derbyshire from his field and is really just a field potato.
 
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