tips for over excitable horse out hacking

[sophiebailey]

Dear All,

I was after some 'top tips' and advice. My new loan horse (15.1 welsh section D 16yo - hunted all of his life, had 2 years off with tendon injury and i have brought him back into work) can often get very excited whilst out hacking, and it's usually when we see other horses in the distance. He begins to jog and canter on the spot, and once he's seen the other horses and began prancing there is nothing I can seem to do to calm him and bring him back to walk. This happens both in company and when riding alone. If we dont see another horse then generally he is very good.

Very rarely i can come back to walk if I try and ask him to bend/yield and push him onto a contact,but 90% of the time we end up jogging back home. I believe there may be an element of napping involved as a few times the jogging has ceased when i've taken us off the 'route home' and looped back on myself, repeating parts of the hack we've already done.

Any advice on methods of bringing him back to me once we've seen other horses?

Thanks in advance

 

[Silmarillion]

Clicker training has really helped with my horse - he gets SO excited sometimes and it's all I can do to hold on! Luckily for me he does it on the spot, too. I've taught him "aaaaaaaand stand" means he gets a click and a treat if he does it immediately, so I can now get him from piaffe to a solid halt without taking my hands off the neckstrap. Very useful! He is very bright and very treat- and attention-orientated though, which has undoubtedly helped speed the learning process. I find distraction works wonders, too - lots of transitions, and if he didn't have a dodgy back I'd be doing lateral work too.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Mmmm mebbe its a Welshie D thing. My loan mare has done a lot of endurance riding, yet when she sees horses ahead of her she tends to dance and prance around.

Her owner is also my trainer; and the way I deal with it is to drop the reins, yes, I mean literally. She's the sort of mare who, if you hold on to her head, will go up - and her owner (who is also my trainer) has said not to grip the reins when she does this. I rode her on some open/common land a while back, and of course as soon as her feet hit the turf that was it, she started dancing and chucking her head around and I thought this is it, she's just going to tank and there's nothing I'm gonna be able to do. I was riding in company at the time and they wanted to canter on, but even in trot she was being a total loon. I really had to force myself, grit my teeth and just bleddi do it, but what I did was to literally drop the reins and take them hold by the buckle. She stopped fighting me almost immediately, probably feeling herself rudderless in effect, made her think. Her head dropped, her pace steadied, and within a couple of miles she was cantering on across open common really nicely and sensibly. It was really remarkable - but not easy to do! A case of go for ***** or bust basically.

Of course, when the horse is all prancy and fizzy we get tense, and stiffen in the saddle, which makes the whole thing a lot worse and its self-perpetuating, its a case of somehow breaking that cycle.

Try breathing long and deep, and on the out breath just let yourself relax into the horse. You may find a Yoga tutor helpful with this as it is something that needs to be learnt, and practised.

I use visualisation techniques, i.e. thinking of a colour, a tranquil place, thinking of a joke or something that has made me laugh, or singing. All of which will relax you the rider and help the horse to calm down.

You also might find NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) useful - it teaches the mind to be focussed and has some very helpful techniques. Some of the top riders use it.

Also...... have a look at the Michael Peace website, he gives some really useful practical tips for dealing with these sorts of problems.

Finally, don't be afraid to seek professional help with this one: it may be that you need an instructor to ride out alongside you when your horse is actually doing it, i.e. let some horses get ahead of you but your instructor stay with you, and give you practical advice of how to deal with the situation. I think that would be invaluable for you, if you could do this, and would improve your confidence no end.

 

[sophiebailey]

Thanks both, very useful ideas i will get looking into

 

[PollyP99]

I second the 'it's a D thing!' My usually lazy mare gets mega excited when we see others out, I too would love to be able to 'deflate' her and I love the posts above, really good ideas to try!

 

[sophiebailey]

Get a Welsh they said ...... they're easy to do they said ..... lol

 

[Auslander]

I have one (not a D though) who screws himself up and canters on the spot when his mind is completely blown. I let go of his head, lighten my leg and sit like a cowboy - very deep and relaxed. He doesn't go anywhere - it's all about the up and down, but he will start leaping if I give him the excuse to - holding the front end, or using my leg! I keep one hand close to my leg, so that I can stick it behind my knee if it turns into a code red situation!