Teaching horse to hack alone

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

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Have had Belle for just over a year now, she was sold to us as hacking fine alone but her confidence crumbled after the move and we live in a very busy village. She is brave in traffic.

I tried once to hack her alone and she was quite sensible but would just not pass certain things, she utterly refused. This seemed to knock her confidence more and she started doing it even when someone was walking/cycling with us, though she would always go eventually with some encouragement. She would just stop at scary things (skips, playing field etc.) and nothing would make her go past. Sometimes she would turn around for home, though she wouldn't move in that direction.

In the past month or two we have had a real turn around and patience has paid off - she has settled right down (in all aspects) and will pass pretty much anything with someone on foot, bike or horse with us. We have a new horse arriving on Wednesday so we will be able to hack out together, but I don't want Belle to get in the habit of always needing another horse, I want to teach her to go alone.

I was thinking that I might start taking her out and riding just 5 mins up the road, giving her a big pat and then taking her home again. Then slowly going a little further and seeing how it works out. What do you think? We also have lessons about a 5 min hack away so I thought I could start walking back from those alone as we will be in the home direction. :)

I don't want to destroy her confidence.

Thank you. :)
 
If you can do a short circuit on your own, that is fine, but I would absolutely not - ride down the road for a mile and then turn around and come home. That will encourage napping behaviour.

I think you are better off getting the new horse, hacking out together and getting her good and relaxed and then try some short routes solo.
 
Heya, yes I mean that I would make some sort of short circuit out of it rather than just stop and turn around. When I did try her alone the once and she wouldn't go past something, I went up a nearby road to make a different route rather than just turn for home.

We have been out with another horse a few times and she has sometimes been better than them actually (and they hack alone) so I just wondered if I am being overly cautious... though I'm not sure you can ever be that way with horses. :)
 
A good way to start would be for you and Belle to take the lead ALL the time when you are out with another horse or a bike. Only let them give you a lead past something scary if the alternative is dangerous. Going side by side is also ok past scary things and if someone is on foot, get them to walk slowly and gradually you will leave them behind.

Sounds daft but imagining there is another horse up the track ahead of you also helps you to focus on where you want to go, rather than whatever it is that is causing the problem.
 
When you say she refuses to go past, what do you do and what does she do? DOes she just plant and refuse to move? Or does she try to turn round/nap/rear/leao into the road etc?

How have you tried to deal with it? Do you stop and let her have a look, then try to go past, or give her a smack, or something else? Do you get worried when she refuses to go past things?

What is her temperament like in general? Is she flighty/sensitive or stubborn/thick skinned?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a feel for what's happening :)
 
Wobblywibble said:
A good way to start would be for you and Belle to take the lead ALL the time when you are out with another horse or a bike. Only let them give you a lead past something scary if the alternative is dangerous. Going side by side is also ok past scary things and if someone is on foot, get them to walk slowly and gradually you will leave them behind.

Sounds daft but imagining there is another horse up the track ahead of you also helps you to focus on where you want to go, rather than whatever it is that is causing the problem.
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THIS.

Last Summer I went out with a friend (my farrier passed her details to me as she wanted to hack but her horse was not good alone). Her horse was spooky, nappy, would rear etc with her and she ended up walking more often than riding to get him past anything.
We set off and after a few months, her horse would stride out in front BUT if there was something scary, without making a fuss I allowed my horse to overtake hers and once passed the scary object, he would take the lead.

Over Winter, neither horse was ridden much (they were also kept on different yards so weren't field buddies etc) and I took him out on a few rides. He was marvellous by himself and the one issue I had with him was where he was unsure of going passed a field full of calves that came running to greet him, he balked and planted. I'd have persevered but a tractor came up behind with a trailer (and this was a very narrow single track road) so I got off and led him passed which he did.

The confidence from having the other horse there and us making no fuss helped him no end, I believe.


In response to JumpTheMoons post to give you an idea of the horse we dealt with: The horse would have been described as below:

When you say he refuses to go past, what do you do and what does she do?
He would try to turn round and nap and rear into the road etc. If this didn't work, he planted and would physically shake

How have you tried to deal with it?
He was allowed to stop and have a look, then try to go past. Giving him a smack would just wind him up and make him 10 times worse. My friend admitted that when he went into the higher stages, she did get anxious ESPECIALLY because she was by herself. She got of and lead him.

What is his temperament like in general?
He is flighty/sensitive.
 
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mishaspey's post definitely makes sense if the horse is genuinely a flightly/nervous type. I would agree with this course of action to gently build up confidence.

My experience is with the stubborn type ;)
 
I have been posting here on this problem previously. The last two weeks we have been managing to go further away from home without planting. I have been sitting it out till he got fed up and it does seem to be working. We still have a lot of stops but they are short, and we managed to get past a pig today ! I would not turn round on a hack u nless unavoidable. I have been walking out in hand and getting on nearer and nearer the yard, and actually got out the gate alone last week. I have had to be patient and Im not a patient person but it has definitely paid off.
 
The secret with getting them good at going out by themselves is to ride them each and every day out by themselves.
That way they will get used to everything.
 
Thanks for all your replies.

jumpthemoon said:
When you say she refuses to go past, what do you do and what does she do? DOes she just plant and refuse to move? Or does she try to turn round/nap/rear/leao into the road etc?

How have you tried to deal with it? Do you stop and let her have a look, then try to go past, or give her a smack, or something else? Do you get worried when she refuses to go past things?

What is her temperament like in general? Is she flighty/sensitive or stubborn/thick skinned?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get a feel for what's happening :)
Click to expand...

Refusing to move (she appears to have stopped this now but might do it if alone) - she stops and refuses to move then sometimes turns in the road to point herself in the direction of home. It's not really what I would call spinning as it's not fast but can't stop her when she does it. However, she turns and then stops and you can turn her back again. When she has done it then I have done my best to encourage her forward, praise when she moves forward, and this has usually worked. One time it didn't and I had to get off in the road as she was being silly (my instructor was there and advised me to do so) but we were headed for a lesson so I just led her to the menage and got back on. The only other time she did it (when I couldn't get her to go with some patience) was when I tried to take her out alone and I had no option but to take her down another road instead.

I have tapped her with the stick once when she was being unusually silly and I needed to move her out of the way of traffic, but I refuse to do this for normal planting etc. because she tenses up and is clearly afraid.

She doesn't seem to do it anymore, though we do always have a walker or cyclist and sometimes another horse - when we encounter something which I think might worry her, I make sure to keep my leg on and give her a lot of verbal praise. Nowadays she seems to just walk right past, though she might curve around the scary object or look at it.

I don't get worried as such because she is not nasty or silly, though it is a busy road and not all drivers pay too much attention (though we are decked out in high vis) and my one concern is that she might step sideways, though she doesn't really do this. The 'scariest' part of the road is 20mph with speed bumps and it is quite easy for drivers to see us.

I can't really sit and wait it out because we would hold up traffic.

Temperament - she is quite flighty and sensitive. She used to panic a lot and break free whilst tied and I'm fairly sure she has had some rough treatment in the past. She is from Ireland and can sometimes be headshy. I have worked really hard to be patient with her and now we seem to have overcome almost everything.

Basically, she seems to be fine out hacking now (in company, obviously) BUT I am worried that by trying to take her out alone, it will shatter her confidence and take us back several steps. If she won't hack alone then it's not the end of the world, but it would give me a lot more freedom to ride her when I choose. I'm just not sure what to do because she seems so much braver and confident now that I feel like she could do it.

Maybe riding back from our lessons alone would be a good start. We have done this before and there is nothing scary to encounter, it is just 5 mins (probably less). This might just break the habit of having someone with us?

ETA: Sorry for the extreme length!
 
Wobblywibble said:
A good way to start would be for you and Belle to take the lead ALL the time when you are out with another horse or a bike. Only let them give you a lead past something scary if the alternative is dangerous. Going side by side is also ok past scary things and if someone is on foot, get them to walk slowly and gradually you will leave them behind.

Sounds daft but imagining there is another horse up the track ahead of you also helps you to focus on where you want to go, rather than whatever it is that is causing the problem.
Click to expand...

This sounds like a good idea. Thanks. :)
 
I've got/had a few nappy ones.

My youngster was a nappy little monkey and would stop dead and try and spin round. I wouldn't let him turn around and kept him facing the 'monster' and gave him a pat and kept gently encouraging to go forward. I occasionally would give him a tap to go forward but he is the type of horse that just reacts to it and it would wind the situation up. Every step forward he got a pat and I spoke to him the whole time and I made him hack out at least every other day.. don't get too shirty if they stop because you'll start making the hack even more unpleasant.

Serious encouragement and as little reprimanding as possible along with consistency has generally worked on any difficult hackers I've had.

Good luck
 
When I'm taking a new horse out for the first time I usually get someone to follow me in a car. (mainly because my partner is lazy and wouldn't want to walk with me!) but this might work in your case because this way you will get reassurance that somebody is there if you need help, but your horse wont know this.

I think walking her back to the yard from the lesson is an idea, but just make sure she doesn't rush home, as that becomes a hard habit to break.
 
I had a horse that would plant himself, rock solid. The best way we tackled it was to back him past his monster then we'd ride back past it again, turm around and carry on. Worked every time with him, so much so that he stopped even thinking about planting unless it was something completely new. Highest counts of going backward on one ride was ten but I was determined I was going on the route I had planned and I don't think he thought I'd be so bloody minded!
 
Hi everyone, can you give me some advice? I have a mare who we bred and backed ourselves shes now 7 and is so good in company I could put a toddler on her but I really struggle to take her out alone, she refuses to move then when she does its to buck rear bolt, do I have to ride her through this and try get her to trust in me when we're alone or is there something else I can do? She is a clever thinker she does nothing without plotting if I lead her to gain confidence she runs at the end of the rope and kicks- this is generally only in winter, but in summer I tend to ride in the field or in company
I would be really greatful for any advice as its impacting on our bond
 
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