When will it stop being a struggle?

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Simbacat

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So i have got a hold on the head tossing, by either making her go first, or riding her into the bottom of Hubby's horse, while he makes Dotto (his lovely brave safe horse)walk slower and slower, until she finally gets the message that rushing and head shaking will get her no where. And she is cantering much more softly and not pulling when first. BUT.. she is such a big wuss, shying at big leaves, or small rocks or even refusing to walk past random people. She is fine following, ( well almost - she did jump today when a kid literally jumped out of a bush at us) but nearly always pulls and going first I can never really relax. I have to wrap my legs round and be prepared for anything - week 7 of hacking out... will it get better. Every ride is a heady mix of stress mixed in with a good argument with my husband for good measure. Help... will it get better????
 
Just replying to bump your thread- as you know I have no idea how to help your horse relax. I t is a shame- the hacking is loverly and shoould be relaxing as we have so much off road. Maybe your horse is suitable for another job, and you would have better hacks putting your saddle on another horse- but that is negative and I am sure that there are people out there who could give much better advise- may be speak to Avril at mysafecobs as she specialises in producing and training hacking horses - there is a lot of info on her site. Also have you read all of Cathy Sirrets blogs?The weather has not helped, lots of spooky wind . Best wishes.
 
PS yes Dotto is beautiful, he makes me smile every time I see him. And you and hubby are great- you take your horses out every time and the routes must all be new to them . And it is a busy area at the weekend with lots of people out enjoying the countryside. It always amazes me how quiet the surrey countryside is when you are 2 miles or more from a car park but as you know there are car parks near us and 3 on St Marthas and then Newlands corner is also busy .
 
What sort of horse do you have? Things do improve, with plenty of practise. I had similar issues when riding with my ex, the horses wouldn't behave, and we would have screaming rows. I would try a calmer for the horse, possibly top spec, and some de sensitising work at home. I would also use rescue remedy for the rider, as it helps with the stress.
 
Just a thought - if you are "wrapping" your legs in anticipation of a problem when you are in front the horse could see that as a signal that you think there is something to be wary of and she won't be helped if she thinks you are anxious too. I have always been taught to be really loose and relaxed on a spooky horse and that it is "balance" that keeps you in the saddle - not "grip".
 
just a thought, do you have her on a magnesium supplement?? If not it may well be worth doing. I have used it in the past not so much for a calmer, but because I find in certain areas there IS a lack of it in grazing and oddly it doesn't affect every horse on the same grazing.

It makes the horses nervy, can't concentrate and almost lack confidence
The difference feeding it can range from mild to really quite dramatic and starts improving in less than a week

I buy mine from her, I have NOTHING to do with the company, just a customer

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magnesium..._Equipment&hash=item3f18b2ed1f#ht_2036wt_1171
 
In year five of this behaviour with my chap :(

On Saturday it was a bunch of dockins that sparked a fit!
A good gallop can help him sometimes, else it's just lots of walking and really riding him strongly. Not strong with legs, just your mind and engaging his brain.
Really just learnt to get on with it now. (Dont think hes safe to sell to anyone). Singing sometimes helps and he can be great some days..the rest of the time he spends wired to the moon...
 
Yep, five years in & my mare is still the same, have learnt to just try & relax with it, this is how she is & i have accepted it.

Yesterday was a flow of water across a wooded path, been across many times before but yesterday it was going to 'attack' her and had to be avoided at all costs :-)
 
My daughter & I were asked to exercise a 'head shaker' a year ago. After a few rides of driving her forward etc etc etc and nothing happening we had a bit of a 'aha' moment. I had my daughter ride and not put any contact on the reins what so ever and I lead the horse on foot. She shook her head for a good 45 minutes then the horse did a big sigh and stopped shaking her head. I 'think' once she realised she had nothing to fight against (and this mare liked a battle!) she just gave up. A few more rides in a similar manner and then riding with an incredibly light hand stopped it in the end....
 
My ISH is very much like this, he is amazing at hunting, team chasing, xc, sj, dressage etc but hacking is sooooo stressful!! His usual trick is to rear, spin and buck before we've even left the yard so to overcome that i used to walk him 50 yards up the road and then he'd be fine. As for the spooking, he'd spook at leaves moving, a stone, muck etc and would freeze, leap about, rear and spin and it could take 20 minutes to get past a stone or a moving leaf (just had to prey it didnt blow towards us!! :D) Then i found by wandering down the road long and low, he was more relaxed, probably as i 'rode more relaxed' he's hardly spook at all. Maybe worth a go? Make sure you have hold of the reins on a slight contact still though in case you need to pick them back up quickly!! :rolleyes: x
 
Hi all and thank you all so much for your support
Yes it is week 7 of Yuta's ( my mare) new life she is ex polo and polocrosse and I don't know if she was hacked out much before I bought her. I've has her for a year and prior to moving we only hacked out a handful of times. ( we played polox and I spent ages calming her in the menage - there was nowhere to go really) She wasn't so bad in Kent - but then again I didn't make her go first much and that is when she is so wussy
I will try not "wrapping" my legs so much - I don't do it to stay on - just to try and keep her going forward positively. I have a stock saddle and don't fear falling off - but I do fear her spinning me into a tree or barbed wire or - very worse - a random member of the public, but I agree maybe that is winding her a little. One of my problems is that I am a first time horse owner and so don't really know what is realistic and what isn't. Maybe I am just asking too much of her expecting her to be calm and go for ling hacks ( well 2 hours really max) I thought the more she does the better she would be - but maybe I am taking it too fast?? Just trying to do my best and not give up on her. Its great to know I'm not alone though!
 
i really wouldnt worry about the head shaking, you just need to relax, i know easeier said than done, try listening to some music, just in one ear and really quiet so you can hear around you but have something toi listen to in your ear, sometimes a companion hacker just isnt enough... it workes for me, i have recently bought a 6yo mare tb, i know i must be mad, was told she was fine out on hacks, even hacked her out when i viewed her ans she was fine, brought her back to my yard and she was a total nightmare, was on the right hand side of the road, leg yeilding ( not on purpose) with cars coming from the front and behind, rearing, refusing to go foward, kicking out, now ive learned to relax and give her the reins, she is improving, slowly, but any improvement is a good one, if she shakes her head and fights for her reins, you are defo having too much contact on the reins, she obviusly feels restricted, sounds odd but the more reins you give her, the less she will fight for her head, just stay calm, relax, pretened your on a reaslly old horse that is a bit exited, i sometimes pretend im on my old horse and my whole attitude changes. the more you relax, the more you will feed her relaxation, horses are good a knowing hwen your trying to hide fear and when your pretending to be relaxed. sounds to me you need to just chill out and stop anticipating. try walking side by side with another horse, instead of frint and behind. preferably with a good role model horse, she will feel the energy off the other horse and calm down too...hope this helps
 
I would try a complete calmer in the first instance, like Steady up from Feedmark, feed the full recommended amount for three weeks, to see if it works, maybe ask another experienced rider to hack her out and comment. If you are tense, it will not help at all. Try to find a nice short circular hack, rather than new ones every day.
Carry a light schooling whip and give her a little tap if she needs it.
If the grass is very lush and green it will be full of sugars, which is the worse thing.
 
I bought my horse in October and he was fine hacking out on his own to start with. He then started getting super stressed and hollered non stop. It made me really stressed and hacks became really unenjoyable. What worked for us was taking things back a bit. We stopped hacking out on our own, went out with a friend for shortish calm hacks. He prefers being in the lead so that's where we let him be. After a few weeks I took him out on a super short hack on his own. Just walk on a long rein and me singing to keep calm. We then slowly built it up and he's been great since. Can still be a plumb but no more hollering and hacks almost like a normal horse on his own. We are now slowly trying to get him better behaved when he is second.

So I suppose my advice is don't try and do too much at once and only try and address one problem at a time. And don't be suprised that something that you'd fixed comes back again weeks later, only to disappear again.

And don't give up, the hard work is repaid when they do something right and you simply can't believe it!
 
I went out today with hubby with everyone's kind words in my mind and I implemented lots of the advice I have had here.
Firstly I decided to go back a couple of steps - as suggested - and just let her relax behind hubby's horse not making her go first and voilà no spooking!
Of course the pay off from that is that she can pull, head toss, jump and even buck, but on the way out was pretty good - just did a little bit of all that on the way back. Only 1 snake stick moment! I tried not wrapping legs around so much and the lightest rein I could manage. On the way back that is a challenge - if I let go at all when cantering we would be completely off - But holding on I know I am annoying her mouth any thoughts? I really found just stopping and standing for ages and ages on the way back did help with the head shaking.Thanks everyone for all the advice, I think I'll take it a bit slower from here, for me as much as her!
 
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