tips for getting newly broken mare to hack alone

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Brambridge04

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She is fine in company.

Alone or with some one on ground for first quarter of hack she grabs bit n shoves head to floor or turns for home and i physically cannot turn her without dismounting!
 
Hacking alone is desirable of course but a big ask. How old is she and how long has she been backed?

If she is that strong and determined, I would forget it for a while and concentrate on building up a relationship with her so she has more confidence alone.

When she is more confident, how about taking someone on a bike - half way between a horse and just a person! Or try what my friend did. She used to hack her 4yr old across the moors with her horse attached to the end of a lunge line and her 22 stone husband attached to the other end. I jest not - and it worked. Need a fairly meaty OH for that though.
 
My mare went through a stage of 'rushing' for home. - not too bad.
I tried being stern - I tried a new bit - I even tried boxing her out and hacking in a new place (So she didnt know the way home).
One massive help - a good bond! - Make sure she is listening and behaving at home 1st.
Make sure she is brave out hacking in company 1st - You cant expect any horse to venture out on a hack alone to begin with!

Actually, with My mare - the thing that worked best, was Hunting - Meeting new people, hacking to and from Meets - Gave her a love of hacking!!!!
Not everyones cup of tea, I understand, and wont help you till Sept time anyways!

Perseverance works!

Does the walker leave you after 1/4 of the ride? or does she decide "thats enough!"
Have you ridden these routes before with a equine companion?
Could you even try ride and lead for company?? (mind you, if she still buggers off for home - it will be a handful!!!)
 
Ditto above, giving her time to build confidence out hacking with others before expecting her to hack alone.

Once she is, you could try hacking out with another horse and at an appropriate moment the other horse can turn for home and you continue on with her.
 
She is 5. Been backed for.last couple months. Walker stays for whole hack and after around halfway mare will happily go it alone or she will be in front if hacking with others x
 
Mine did this as a 4 y.o so what I did was turn her head round as far as I could and just sit there. After a short while she found this uncomfortable so she turned back the other way. It took about a month before she realised I wasn't going to give in but now as a 5 y.o she doesn't try it at all.
 
All our horses start to 'speed walk' once they hit the halfway mark! :)
My friend has an 11yo mare who didn't like hacking much, but we just persevered and now she loves it!
The mare I p/l was a bad napper at first, but we just kept trying and now she is really good - I find what works best with her is to stop her, stand her still for a moment and start again from the beginning.
This is what I would do - I'd hack a bit longer with company and build up a very good bond out with her hacking, then start with a walker and company, then just the walker until she is settled and very happy - then get someone to drive out and wait at the halfway mark, just in case they need to walk back with you. It seemed to work for a friend of ours doing it this way :)
good luck
K x
 
She is only a 14.1 NF! yet she literally sets herself, she will not stop, and regardless of how much strength i use, i cannot turn her b*oody head!
 
I have a 14.2hh New Forest gelding. I got him at 5, and although he had done some work, he had spent 6 months at a yard where he almost never left the school (and by the feel of him was only ridden on the right rein).

He was very nappy and used to plant, reverse or spin. I'm a strong guy, but your not going to win a fight against 420 kilos of frightened pony.

First thing we did, was plenty of hacking in company, establishing several very familiar routes. Then we started a combination of riding and walking in hand, at one point I could not even ride him away from the field, but he would happily follow me leading him in hand. I would walk to a safe spot, then mount and we would ride on. When he planted, I would sit quiet and talk to him letting him settle and we would then ride on some more, if we got to a point he simply could not pass, then I would dismount and walking him past the 'scary thing' allowing him time to take a look.

I tried to ride him every single evening, even if it was only half an hour around the village and gradually we increased the distance until after about 6 months I could pretty much take him anywhere.

After that we introduced FUN RIDES :eek: and then XC training, where I had to walk him in hand into the water, to convince him there were no crocodiles.

Slow, patient steady progress, with a clear goal of what it is you want to achive and also the resilience to accept that things will go backwards as well as forwards, like the night the man asked me when the next bus was coming, just as I was trying to coax H past a T junction that was at the time his boundary, beyond which he just would not go. All I could do on that occasion was to get H to take three more paces, make a big fuss of him and turn left at the T instead of going straight on as planned. (As if I would know the bus timetable, can't you see I'm on a horse mate?).

Foresters are bright and bold, your mare will soon get the hang of things, you just need to be brave for her sometimes.
 
Tried again this eve. She does it in same hill/track every time, take her past that track, leading her and get on she is fine!

She turned for home, and the more i tried to slow her or turn her the more she ignored and faster she went.

Someone suggested a flash but i do not think this will help, would it?!
 
When she turns her head can you pull it more round, so she can only walk in a circle? Or will that teach her to spin? I have a newfie, not backed yet and he takes off sometimes when being led, amazingly strong and I do sympathise.
 
If its just the one track can a friend completely block the entrance with their car, so she can't even see up it?
 
if i try the keeping her head round she just fights it and rips reins straight outta my hands, even with gloves on holding as tight as i can :(
 
I would take her back to basics, try and get a good bond established between you and make sure you have respect on the ground from her, lots of groundwork to reinforce it.
Then take her out for a few weeks with another horse, gradually get other horse to go a different way (split off) near home (on way back) then keep doing this alittle bit furthur from home (on way back) everyday, until shes eventually out on her own :)
Good luck.
 
Why dont you try long reining your mare. Get profficient in the school first (oops, if you have one) then take her where you would normally hack. It will give her loads of confidence and it will be good fun for you as well. Most youngsters I've had have beeen long reined before sat on and have been perfectly willing to hack out alone from being backed.

Good luck
 
Brambridge04 said:
She is 5. Been backed for.last couple months. Walker stays for whole hack and after around halfway mare will happily go it alone or she will be in front if hacking with others x
Click to expand...

A couple of months is no time at all.

You need to give her several months of hacking with a good equine partner to educate her and build up her confidence.
 
I am starting to do this with my 5 year old. He has hacked out on his own when I first got him home but was on full alert and worried the entire time round, so I went back to hacking out in company. He will lead or go behind in company and is now more relaxed about his hacking. I did hack out and then head home on a shorter route which he did for me - again on full equine alert with me chatting all the way back. So (as I am lucky enough to have a school) I have decided that I will start increasing the schooling sessions and then go for a cool off solo hack- keeping it short and sweet. Mine has done nothing wrong but I know he is worried and want to find a way of reducing his stress! I am lucky in that we have extensive hacking where the yard is so I can - literally - take him out for 5, 10 minutes or 3 hours. After nearly 10 years on this yard, I am still highly appreciative of how nice that is!
 
I disagree that it is a big ask of a youngster to hack out alone!!! She should be relying on you for confidence, not another horse. If she is always nannyed by another horse she will always rely on another horse. And what about if you wanted to compete and all off a sudden its just you and the horse - she needs to get her confidence from you, and listen to you first and foremost. Long rein her out on her own if you are struggling aboard.. or seek help from a professional to get her going and advice from someone who has actually seen the mare and what exactly happens. Very hard to get useful help of the internet as there could be something really basic going wrong.
 
Rubbish. Have been part of many young horses education. None have developed a tendency to rely on another horse.

Quit frankly you'd be mad to expect them to be happy to rely on you only during thier initial hacking education. Perhaps even suicidal.....
 
Ours do... the latest broken hacked once with another horse since then has hacked alone 90% of the time since. Definitely not suicidal!
 
I also don't think it is suicidal to expect a newly backed horse to hack alone.

Mine actually hack alone for a good few weeks before going out with an equine nanny.

I do long rein extensively and sometimes have a walker behind us if it is a particularly tricky horse but I do expect them to go out alone from day dot.

Never had an issue doing it that way and equally have no problem if people feel they need a nanny for months- it depends largely on what your prep work was before you actually got on board; my horse's find it a seemless transition due to all of the long reining.

(obviously I am not therefore saying that OP is on the right track by going out alone as clearly the horse is having issues)

OP, if I were you I would get someone to come out on foot with you, or you get off and lead if she starts to play up as the last thing you want to teach her is how to fight with you.
 
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