# Problems out hacking. help please!



## KawaiiCharlie (Nov 17, 2010)

So i enjoy hacking out, 
but Charlie makes it a living nightmare. he gets way over excited & jogs sideways down the roads with his head right up in the air & no matter what i try he WILL NOT walk. Ive taken him on a hack to a big hill near me before, and theres a long path through a forest before you get to the hill, and he always canters sideways down there & trys to bolt off. he makes grunting noises & strikes out when i try to stand him still to let a car or a person past us, and a few times when ive tried to stand him at the side of the road so a car can get past, hes backed up into the cars & spins round. he honestly acts like a colt straight of the racetrack...but hes 20 years old. i always come back from hacks with red raw sore hands & my body aches for days after. its sooo frustrating. i would just still to flatwork & stuff with him in the paddock, but we both get so bored of it. i enjoy hacking..but not when hes like that...what can i do to stop him? help please!


----------



## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

Just learn to ride with it  You want to come and ride Nelson in a Fox Hunt?! LOL - try riding that! We do phenominal Piaffe's, and Tempi Changes and Nelson can sure put those Lip's to shame with his feats of "Airs Above The Ground". He can even do a damned good Micheal Jackson Moon Walk. And his Jigging for the whole ride, meh.....

Guess what - it is what it is. I used to fight Nelson, and made the ride miserable, but nothing I did, would correct it. I would hold him until he walked, but the moment I let go he'd trot again and I would repeat it 10,000X but still, nothing. 

So, one day, while out on a Fox Hunt, the Hunts Master, an exceptional rider and well into his 70's told me "Go with him, not against him" and I learnt to just ride him the way he was out on Hunts.

I'll tell you what, I've obtained an amazing sitting trot seat! lol. To learn to sit quietly and softly on his back while he jigged, took time, but when I mastered it, I now just go with the flow. Doesn't bother me. 

They get excited, and just want to go, go, go. So, I put a 3 Ring Elevator on Nelson, and our Figure 8 Nose Band when we Fox Hunt - so he can be as silly as he wants, and I am still in control, preventing us from passing a Hunt Member and from disrespecting anyone who is out there with us. 

Guess what - Nelson is 21!!! TB's are TB's  My advice, is just learn to go with him, instead of fighting against him. Nelson is not like this at all when we are at home, working in the arena, out hacking at home or even at HT's - the only time he acts this silly, is when we are on Fox Hunts. It's because he LOOOOOOVES it so much. I let him enjoy himself and I just learnt to laugh.

Everyone who rides with us on Hunts, who are behind us, just laugh and hoot and whistle at us when we are going - because he's a blast to watch. One member, is a PSG Dressage Competator and she could not believe that he is 21 and she couldn't believe the movements he was doing, lol. I told her "Yeah, too bad I can't get this out of him in the arena!" lol.

It is what it is, I say - relax, gear up to stay safe, learn to go with the flow isntead of against it.


----------



## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

^^ i cant believe they would tell you that MIE, you would be excused from my hunt if your horse behaved like that !! (not anything against you, but that is how my hunt is)

i would work him hard in the arena and then take him out for a short hack every day so it turns into no big deal. backing into traffic is dangerous so you need to nip this behavior before it gets worse.


----------



## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I agree that you need to burn off some of the energy before you take him out on a hack. (And this is coming from a person that hops on and rides because I have no arena or round pen). 

But if he is backing into traffic that is not something you can just accept, because you can both get seriously hurt or killed if that happens. 

I would do as gypsygirl suggests and make a habit of hacking. Ride him in his usual area, and then when he is calm (and hopefully slightly tired) hack him out on a short ride. Do that as often as you can until it is hopefully no big deal. It won't change the first ride or two, but if you make a habit of it, they generally get better with more hacking.

My Fox Trotter is a bit like that, but luckily I ride on a dirt road until I reach a forest, so I don't encounter much traffic. Sometimes she is so calm, but once she gets excited about something, like a bird flying out of a bush, other horses in pasture, or just simply going home, she turns into a snorty prancy mess. Luckily she has no buck or rear, it's just prancing, wanting to go faster than I want her to, and being silly. The only thing I have found that helps is just getting her out and riding her A LOT. Which works pretty good for me, because I bought her to hack out, so she will get all that nonsense worked off in the summer. But in the winter, if I can't ride for a week or two, then it's like we are starting all over again. So I know how you feel! And my girl is 16, so it's not like it's a young horse thing either.

Actually, I had an Arabian gelding one time that I just adored. He was very forward and always had energy. Unfortunately he died of colic at the age of 24. But up until the time he got sick, he was always full of energy and wanting to go fast. I think it's kind of a fallacy that horses get calmer as they age. Better trained, hopefully, but their personality really doesn't seem to change.


----------



## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

PS. In many ways I do agree with MIEVenter's ride-it-out theory as well, because when my horse(s) get excited like that, I have never got anywhere by fighting with them. 

I think fighting with them and trying to "control" them only makes it worse. So in a sense, you do need to "ride it out." Sometimes it's all you can do just to hang on and make it from point A to point B safely. But you shouldn't settle for that. Ride out the excitement and don't fight with him when he is like that, but work towards the goal of him being calm and that trail riding is no big deal, because we do it so darn often, lol! :lol:


----------



## Romantic Lyric (Dec 31, 2009)

Good advice.

I'd also say don't do the same thing every time. Don't hack out for exactly one hour, always walking in the same spots, trotting in the same spots, cantering in the same spots. Make it hard to predict for him because maybe some of his energy comes from him anticipating what you're going to ask of him. I know my girl gets a lot harder to control if I always ask her to do the same things in the same spots or always end with jumping. Switch up the routine!


----------



## Sarahandlola (Dec 16, 2010)

I also agree with riding him before a hack. Make him reaaally tired. I have only ever brought my TB out on a hack once and I was not even one her XD She was really excited! Snorting and jogging but on the way back she was like 'yeah I have seen all this before I am gonna calm down now!' I think she was just keeping an eye on everything as it was her first time in a new place. She was supposed to be used as a trek horse so I am guessing she should act ok XD I will see next time I bring her out!


----------



## MIEventer (Feb 15, 2009)

See, some TB's are just like that, their mentallity is "Frizzled" in exciteable situations. If Nelson were 10, maybe I'd beable to work with it, but he's 21 and I've come to accept that it is, what it is with him .. but we don't ride on the side of the road where traffic is.

Most TB's I've ridden, were like that though, the more I fought it, the worse it got. 

And my Hunt would never ask me to leave, they are very traditional, but I've been a part of their hunt for a long time, they accept Nelson for who he is. The Hunts Master who gave me that advice, is he would say that to me is very knowledgeable and experienced enough with horses like him - the more you fight, the worse it gets. And he's right.

Sometimes doing it constantly works, but it depends on the horse. I say, if he is 20, he is who he is - but you never know until you try. I've been hunting Nelson for 3+ years, and his previous owner hunted him for 6 with the same group...and Nelson is never going to change. 



> Ride out the excitement and don't fight with him when he is like that, but work towards the goal of him being calm and that trail riding is no big deal, because we do it so darn often, lol! :lol:


Well said, better than what I was trying to convey.


----------



## Amir (Nov 18, 2009)

MIEventer said:


> He can even do a damned good Micheal Jackson Moon Walk.


I want a video of this!!! :lol:


There's a difference between riding it out like MIEventer says and just plain letting him get away with his crap, which is what I think some people may have gotten confused with.
You can ride him out and not let him get away with backing into traffic. I agree with everyone that is totally unacceptable and needs to stop.
An old friends mare used to jig the WHOLE trail. And we would go out for 6 or so HOURS. She would never listen to me and would just fight with her mare the entire ride. I rode her for one ride and she stopped jigging after a while. If your horse wants to jig and play up, then MAKE HIM TROT. Not for a few minutes or anything, until he thinks it's his idea to walk. When he wants to walk, make him keep trotting until YOU decide it's time to walk. This could take hours so be prepared to be completely pooped once you're done. If he trots the whole ride, then so be it. He'll loose interest in it after a while. Don't let him canter though. Trotting is work, if he wants to jig then he will work.
As for him trying to back into traffic. Instead of trying to make him just stop and stand to wait to cross the road. Circle him. Another friends mare used to rear and leap around if she made her stand to cross a road. I told her to just turn her in circles, do things like yielding the hind end and such. Small things to keep his mind occupied.
This is why I started teaching my horse to halt patiently at the side of the road since he was 3.5yrs. I know that was probably not an option for you though.
I hope that I helped you a bit.


----------



## Astrid01 (Mar 4, 2011)

*Congrats I know that horse*

25 years ago we have had the same horse (must be reborn):lol:

It took us approx 1year of hard work to get rid of these behaviour.
After that we have had a beautiful horse.
With him we have won several western riding performances up to professional level.

My advice that I can give you is as follow:

- Never let him rise his head try it with soft pulsing on the rains with really deep maybe you have to bring your hands down to your knees.
When the head comes down stop pulsing immediately.
As soon he starts rising the head again start pulsing again.
So that he will learn that a high head is uncomfortable and a low head is nice and comfortable.
- Get him into a circle.
make sure he bend also the head into it.
Reduce the diameter of the circle slowly until he calms down and maybe stops.When he stops have a rest before you move on.
- Train the horse to stop hard and quick with out using the rains and when ever and were ever you want to do it.
-learn to control the side movements by using half and full traverse.

I hope that will help a bit.

Please let me know.
Talk to you soon 
Astrid01



KawaiiCharlie said:


> So i enjoy hacking out,
> but Charlie makes it a living nightmare. he gets way over excited & jogs sideways down the roads with his head right up in the air & no matter what i try he WILL NOT walk. Ive taken him on a hack to a big hill near me before, and theres a long path through a forest before you get to the hill, and he always canters sideways down there & trys to bolt off. he makes grunting noises & strikes out when i try to stand him still to let a car or a person past us, and a few times when ive tried to stand him at the side of the road so a car can get past, hes backed up into the cars & spins round. he honestly acts like a colt straight of the racetrack...but hes 20 years old. i always come back from hacks with red raw sore hands & my body aches for days after. its sooo frustrating. i would just still to flatwork & stuff with him in the paddock, but we both get so bored of it. i enjoy hacking..but not when hes like that...what can i do to stop him? help please!


----------



## Deerly (Apr 18, 2010)

trailhorserider said:


> But if he is backing into traffic that is not something you can just accept, because you can both get seriously hurt or killed if that happens.


THIS THIS THIS. That's really all I was thinking reading the 2nd post on this thread :shock: 

Yeah to some degree you gotta go with them because the more you fight or hold them back the worse they can get and they feel trapped but that doesn't make it acceptable or safe behavior in the least! 

I'm not a horse trainer but that is exactly who I would seek out -- even if it's just for a crash course! Granted, I might be a more nervous nelly but when you are out on the trail and dealing with traffic and other people and cars and who knows what else you need your horse to be under control and safe because if he gets away or you come off it could be so much worse than in the arena.

Good luck!


----------



## christopher (Feb 11, 2011)

either become a rough rider and just deal with anything the horse can throw up at you or do some good preperation in an arena or safe environment. and by preperation i don't mean mindlessly lunging to wear them down, i mean work on sensitivity to slowing, sensitivity to lateral flexion and all the basic safety stuff, as well as building a mutual understanding with your horse.


----------



## phoenix (Jun 7, 2010)

I agree that fighting him won't make it better. I took my horse out on trail last September for the first time. I was trying to hold him back at the start of the trail because he was jigging and being silly, well my holding him back caused him to buck. Once he stopped i tried to give him a little more space to jig if he wanted as long as he wasn't trying to thrown in a buck or rushing too badly.


----------



## azhorseluvr1222 (Dec 4, 2010)

So glad to OP started this thread : ) I have a 9ye old TB and he is the same way. Haven't taken him on the trail yet but now I have some idea of what to do because I know he will want to go go go. Very useful info from everyone.


----------



## KawaiiCharlie (Nov 17, 2010)

old thread, i dont have charlie anymore so its not my problem lol his owners selling him as she doesnt have the time.


----------



## Marte Huggard (Mar 15, 2011)

hi 
i use clicker training and would give him something good to do insted of all the bad things that gets him all worked up. would train targeting to give him a job and head lowering to calm down. look up irishclickercentre.com  hope it works out and you can enjoy your hacking out


----------

