what can i do to help my horse enjoy hacking on his own

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scobie

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I have a new horse who is not keen on hacking out on his own. He will go out with others or if someone walks by his side. Tonight he refused to go out of teh gate and was spinning round back towards the gate and his head was up which is very unlike him, he has a braest plate and running martingale. He is ridden in a egg snaffle bit.

I do get tense when i go out as i have only just got him, but he had not been turned out today due to flooded fields. could he have too much energy?

Is it worth schooling him the school before we go out to lose some energy?

Does anyone have any suggestions that i can use to get him to enjoy hacking out on his own. In the school he is great on own
 
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Go out with other horses on the usual routes untill your horse is relaxed and has learnt them. He will then know that he won't come under attack and that there are no monsters and ghosties.

Get him long lining in the school. This will give him the confidence to move forward, with you still on the ground to drive him forward. You will not transmit tension because you are not onboard.

Then long rein him round the hacking routes. Get a mate to walk at his head to start off with. When he is relaxed about all this, get the mate to drop back, ultimately so they are walking with you, but tehy are still there to go to his head if he gets a wobble on.

When the horse is confidently going forward on the long reins without someone needing to go to his head... ride the route.

It is vitaly important that you always go on a circular route so that home is always forward. Hacking down a route and then turning back on yourself is a good way to train a horse to nap.

If you have no circular routes don't turn back on yourself! Stop, get off, phone a mate... do whatever you want, but wait 5 minuites or so before re-mounting. That way the horse thinks there is a point to the ride.... you have hacked down the lane to do something... even if it is to just get off and chat to a friend.

I break to drive, and I use long lines to get the horses moving forward independently without napping. The mate at the horses shoulder, who drops back as the horse gets confident works a treat with outgrown leadrein ponies, some of whom have never gone anywhere without being led and are hellish nappy.

If the horse is new to you and the yard he might well be lacking in confidence and is unsure whether you are worthy to be his leader. He will also be testing you to discover where he stands in the order of things. He is trying to work out whether he is above you in the order of things. A firm, but understanding aproach is the way forward.
 
Our horse when we got him as a 4 yo he had only ever hacked out with others and only every behind so was used to seeing a horse's backside. If we tried to put him to the front he would just spin round and panic (no confidence basically). we worked with walking him beside the other horse and gradually encouraged him to go infront for periods of time once he had got to know the rides. He is pretty much ok now (he is 8) and confident on his own save for a few wobbles. I did however have a 'disagreement' last year with him when trying to take him on his own (i think eh was feeling that way out) and, as he is my sister's horse i do not know him so well (and vice versa). I was not getting anywhere trying to turn him round so i ended up getting off, leading him a certain distance and then quickly getting on (holding his head round in the direction I wanted to go) and set him of trotting as he can't/won't spin at a trot.

Once far enough away he was not a problem apart from a few babyish whinnies. I think however that particular time his problem was increased due to oats in his feed - his brain just cannot cope with them. Once off them his argumentative streak goes!

I think persistance is the key, the horse is more than likely lacking confidence so the trick is stay calm but firm, do not expect the horse to misbehave, they pick up on your lack of confidence in them. I used to find concentrating on something else rather than what the horse might do helps whether it be work, a song or 'that cow in the field over there' as I think a lot of the time horses just pick up on a vibe from us and they need to trust you as a rider.
 
It's early days yet, so don't panic. Lots of good advice above, so try what has been suggested. He hasn't got a relationship with you yet, so give him time to trust you, he is probably just as worried about having a new rider as you are having a new horse. Let him get to know the local area with another horse, or if that's not possible, as you have found, someone on foot will give him confidence and you can build on that.

Don't go down the line of belting him because that will only confirm his worst fears (hacking alone is scary cos I get beaten!) especially if he hasn't been hacked alone before, and don't pick a battle you can't win. If he is spinning, then he has found an effective way to evade going out and if you keep trying to hack alone without building up his confidence, then he will just get better at spinning, not hacking out!

You don't say how old he is - is he still young? Also bear in mind some horses are never really happy on their own hacking, just depends on their nature, but hopefully you will get there in time.
 
HI, We used to take all our youngsters out with a push bike, push bikes don't spook, run off, or anything else.

The learnt to follow, then take the lead.
obviously you need time, patience and someone to ride the pushbike!

Lot's of good advice here from posters, good luck!
 
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