Hiya, I'm new here so I guess at some point I'll have to introduce myself properly!
But for now I could really do with some advice...
I ride a ten year old thoroughbred for his owner, and have been doing so for about a year now. We get on really well with schooling and have done a bit of jumping, and we used to get on well out hacking too. However we had a few incidents last summer which knocked my confidence and now I don't want to hack him at all :/
The first thing was that I was on the road with him when he jumped out in front of a van and then proceeded to spook at the van sideways down the road. The driver was very unhelpful and got so close; in the end I managed to steer him out of the road but I was shaking by that point. He normally spooks at lorries/buses/tractors so I turn him to face them, however I wasn't expecting him to be silly over a van! It made me feel like I hadn't got as much control as I thought and I think he sensed that because he started to act up with cars on the way home as well.
I decided then not to take him through the village any more but continued hacking him on quieter roads... This was until I unwittingly rode near a pig farm (didn't know it was there) and lost control, he started spinning and backing up - the only reason I got home ok was because some people nearby came to help me. After they left me I couldn't get him to walk so I put up with him prancing and bouncing about all the way home.
From this point onwards I stuck to schooling in the field, but when autumn came and it got to wet to ride in I had to start hacking again. I managed a couple of times but in the end I used to just get on him and walk/trot near the field for a few minutes and then get off.
Yesterday I attempted to go for the first hack since his winter break (his owner had already brought him back into work and he'd done a lot so wasn't at all fresh). I took rescue remedy as someone said it might help; can't say I noticed any change but it was worth a try! We got about fifty metres from the field and discovered that the ditches round the back have been scraped out, leaving very deep mud all over the path. I thought we could still get through but he started worrying and I felt my control slipping again, so we turned back. I trotted him up and down next to the field a couple of times and then got off in tears (not really because I was scared but because I want to be able to ride him so badly and then when it comes to it I am a nervous wreck).
I am hoping to get him to a school next weekend so I can do that instead, but clearly that will just be a one off and I need to get over this! Sorry for such a long block of text but if anyone has any advice I would grateful. I have thought also that I might ask my friend to bring her horse and hack out with me, as that might give me a bit of confidence if I'm not on my own...
But for now I could really do with some advice...
I ride a ten year old thoroughbred for his owner, and have been doing so for about a year now. We get on really well with schooling and have done a bit of jumping, and we used to get on well out hacking too. However we had a few incidents last summer which knocked my confidence and now I don't want to hack him at all :/
The first thing was that I was on the road with him when he jumped out in front of a van and then proceeded to spook at the van sideways down the road. The driver was very unhelpful and got so close; in the end I managed to steer him out of the road but I was shaking by that point. He normally spooks at lorries/buses/tractors so I turn him to face them, however I wasn't expecting him to be silly over a van! It made me feel like I hadn't got as much control as I thought and I think he sensed that because he started to act up with cars on the way home as well.
I decided then not to take him through the village any more but continued hacking him on quieter roads... This was until I unwittingly rode near a pig farm (didn't know it was there) and lost control, he started spinning and backing up - the only reason I got home ok was because some people nearby came to help me. After they left me I couldn't get him to walk so I put up with him prancing and bouncing about all the way home.
From this point onwards I stuck to schooling in the field, but when autumn came and it got to wet to ride in I had to start hacking again. I managed a couple of times but in the end I used to just get on him and walk/trot near the field for a few minutes and then get off.
Yesterday I attempted to go for the first hack since his winter break (his owner had already brought him back into work and he'd done a lot so wasn't at all fresh). I took rescue remedy as someone said it might help; can't say I noticed any change but it was worth a try! We got about fifty metres from the field and discovered that the ditches round the back have been scraped out, leaving very deep mud all over the path. I thought we could still get through but he started worrying and I felt my control slipping again, so we turned back. I trotted him up and down next to the field a couple of times and then got off in tears (not really because I was scared but because I want to be able to ride him so badly and then when it comes to it I am a nervous wreck).
I am hoping to get him to a school next weekend so I can do that instead, but clearly that will just be a one off and I need to get over this! Sorry for such a long block of text but if anyone has any advice I would grateful. I have thought also that I might ask my friend to bring her horse and hack out with me, as that might give me a bit of confidence if I'm not on my own...