Hacking with Spooky Horse.... (not mine...other rider!)

iluvhorses28

iluvhorses28

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Jul 29, 2005
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Has anyone got any thoughts on hacking out with someone with a spooky (ish) horse?
My Ri wants to ride along with me , since she is working on me hacking out more with my new horse.... so far so good, as she walks with me.... BUT now she got the idea of riding one of her horses, who happen to be the spookiest of them all...! This one spooks at a rock, a tree, a sign, a dog, well..pretty much ANYTHING and EVERYTHING along the trails.....even when they are non moving objects!:eek:
RI seems to think she can control her horse, either way, BUT my concern is that if HER horse spooks, wouldn't MINE, inadverdently (sp) follow? maybe...maybe not...but do I wanna risk that thought???
I would hate to offend her by not wanting to go, and telling her it's coz I'm nervous about her spooky horse....
For one thing that she may take offense, thinking SHE is able to handle HER horse, regardless....
Any ideas??? Should I 'postpone' the hack??
I suppose whether I ride that day at lessons or not...I still will do it the following week anyway!
This horse is very nice, except she is a 12 on the spook level of 1-10! She spooks at her shadow! minor unusual sounds...ANYTHING! She got so bad that one time something fell out of my RI's hand and she BOLTED off..injuring herself badly with major scrapes, since then RI's been trying to ride her as she became skiddish and frightened even more after that.... personally I just dont think the horse is ready or in the right mindframe to escort a novic(ish) rider like me out on a hack.... I feel that a more reliable lead horse should be best.... at this point..MY horse should lead, not hers!
:(
 
Hi,

I personally think you should voice your concerns to your RI, I don't think it is a good idea if you are only just starting to hack out.

My horse is very safe out and quiet, but if she is with a spooky horse she spooks as well, even though I know she is not frightened, hence I always ride out on my own.

She may think yours will calm hers down, but it is you that is learning, please be kind but firm and never be pushed into something that does not feel right to you.

Good luck and happy hacking


Regards,

Beverley
 
Some horses totally ignore other spooky horses but some can't resist jumping on the band wagon and copy-spook when they normally wouldn't.

I think you should be totally honest right from the start with your RI as I have had to be when taking out my young horse. People have sometimes asked me if I would like to go on a hack with them and I have had to say "I'd love to in time but I know so-and-so (their horse) can be a little spooky and I don't think we're quite ready yet".

Your relationship with your horse is far too important to spoil it by not being able to say no.
 
I really think it depends on what your horse is like...I could hack Bry out with anything and I am confident that she would be fine.
Grady on the other hand...any excuse to turn round and head home.

Talk to your RI about your concerns and if she's worth her salt she'll understand maybe use something a bit more suitable untill you are confident.
 
If you are having these concerns you should tell your RI otherwise you will just get nervous and wont enjoy it.

I dont think a spooky horse will be a problem if he is behind you, mine normally spooks at everything and when I go out hacking with my mate her horse dosnt feel phazed at all by his farting around :D She sometimes looks around and you can see her teling heim off, "what the hell is your problem??!!" :D
 
Well I hack out w/ a friend on her youngster (4). The horse I ride is safe as houses and while she might look at the odd thing, seems to take the 4-year-olds nonsense perfectly in stride.

I think it depends on the horse . . . if yours is truly sane it probably won't spook just because your RI's horse is being silly. Question is, will your RI's horse's pratting about upset YOU because if you're tense, you might give your horse the idea that there's something to be worried about . . .

N
 
whatever u do, dont postpone. because if its not this week, then its the next. if not the next, then the nextest next, etc.

Tell her that you are concerned. I realized that you said 'one of her horses', so she has others. why dont u tell her to take a less-spooky horse; i think she wouldnt be offended that way.
 
This is one big problem for RS riders. I hack alone with just one instructor. The instructors ride horses learning to get used to the trail. So, yes, I do have rules about it and in one case refused to ride out if the instructor rode one particular horse (since regarded as incurable and has left).

Another tactic of mine is to avoid hacking out with "senior" instructors who get allocated the "difficult" horses. Sometimes they deliberately ride near spooky dogs etc, to teach the horse. And I object to the spinning and dancing about which results.

However, it is difficult to protest in advance of anything happening. I would talk to the RI about your worrying, and maybe get some agreement that if your horse does become unsettled you will turn back? And that for the time being she will not deliberately ride so as to encounter spooky situations?

My experience is that a horse that is used to the trail and does not spook at the normal environment - trees, deer, fallen logs etc, is unlikely to spook when out with a horse that does spook at them.
I also know that if the non-spooky horse leads past a scarry object (that is I offer to lead) the spooking horse will than agree to follow.

But a safe student horse may well spook (be prompted to spook) if the nervy horse reacts to anything less familiar, like the noisy building machines working on one site at the moment. My "safe" horses will also spook if the instructor's horse alongside spooks across their path or barges into them, as they are naturally spooking at the other horse.
Yes, horses do pick up on the other horse. I had one of my rare falls on a very windy day when the RI's horse bucked about from the very start and 45 minutes later, nearing the end of the ride my solid pony had picked up on his excitement and bucked me off.
But if you are sure of your horse and particularly if your horse will lead the other one to teach it, you may have a happy ride.
So these are all things to talk over with your RI. So that you have some sort of working plan and are satisfied before you set out.
And at the end of the day, if you are not happy. Dont go. That is the most important safety rule there is.
 
Yeah, I would definitely voice your concerns - if you're not happy then say something - too late when you're out there and your horse picks up on the spooking and you're hitting the tarmac!
 
It totally depends on your horse. My mare is fine hacking on her own but if we go out with another horse who is spooky, she acts the same way. It can be a nightmare. I'd voice your concerns and see what your RI says.
 
If you're not entirely happy with the situation then I wouldn't go. Your horse might be an absolute angel and not be affected by the other horse spooking, but in your mind you're going to be subconsciously worried about the other horse playing up and this could affect your horse. I'd have a quiet word with your RI and explain that whilst you know she can handle her horse, you're not entirely confident with what your horse will do if hers plays up, and would rather hack out with a safe sensible horse until both you and your horse have built up your confidence.
 
If the purpose of hacking together is to increase *your* confidence, then no, her riding a problematical horse really isn't fair to you. She needs to be there to support *you*, not focusing on what her ride is doing. If, on the other hand, your horse is steady and she wants a hacking partner to be a good example for her spooky horse...then that's totally different.

Trying to do both at once...efficient...but probably not the best idea ever.
 
I agree with you all, and thank you for all your advice...

Frankly I am new to hacking out and around the barn..... I've gone on mini rides just out the gates, around and back...but not really the routes my RI will take me... so #1, I am scared as it is, and nervous on my own....I think looking at HER horse to see whether she'll be okay would be an added distraction to me as a rider learning to be confortable....
Problem here is, RI is somewhat of a bigger lady, and this horse may be the only one suited for her size. Her other horses are little dainty little Arabians...this one is half QH, and thus have a bit more sunstance to carry her. And it's her own personal horse.

We are suppose to have it planned to go into new areas...and I just can't imagine worrying about another horse apart from mine. In comparisson, my horse really hardly gets phased by the notion of things out there. BUT she does have a tendency to ofcourse FOLLOW other horses, as yesterday when I rode out w/ my daughter...a dog came barging at a fence unexpectedly..my daughters horse spooked a bit...and a second later, mine followed. Well that spook was a minor side jump...no biggie...this horse my RI has is notorious for running away..and RUNNING away like a mad horse! :eek:

RI KNOWS for a fact that I am in general a nervous nellie.... and I cant imagine WHY she would want to use a spooky horse around me, other than she has really no choice of horses to ride. In the past few weeks she's 'walked' along side me.... but I thik now she wants to actually ride along with me... but THAT horse? OH NO!:eek:

I will try and discuss that with her, and just say, I am not very comfortable at the idea , since she tends to be spooky. At this point I can trust my daughter's 4 yo mare more than that 12 yo spooky horse any day!

** ONe thing that got me started thinking was through the ride last week, she mentioned ALL the little spots her horse spooked at comparing that my horse is really well behaved and is very brave..... well... every 2 steps we did she mentioned SOMETHING she spooked at.. the Barn sign, the big rock, the tree, the dogs at the corner house, OH MY! I'm no instructor by far, but that does not seem like a good idea to have around a student! If I were comfortable myself and experienced, I may not care as much... but being fairly new at hacking.... it's pretty scary a thought!
 
spooking doesn't seem to bother me so i don't really care if the horse i am riding with is spooky but i am also one of those people that will ride with anyone because i get board riding alone. If you feel that it could get bad maybe you should tell your instructor that maybe once i know my horse better and/or ask her if she would ride a different horse. i am also one of those people that just ok i am going to have to do it some day so just suck it up and i also have a very young horse that thinks string is out to get her but not a semi truck speeding past her. but if your horse is not very spooky and you have seen horses in the field spook but your horse doesn't spook when they do then i would say go for it.
 
if your horse is not the spooky sort, it might help the other one :) but then, if you havent had your horse for long, it might not be such a great idea - monkey see, monkey do!

pony and i accidentally (ie. nobody mentioned this to me before ...) hacked out with the worst horse on the yard last summer (i was told afterwards that he kicked out sideways if he felt like it and had a habit of tanking off for no apparent reason ...). nothing happened :) phew!

Julia
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