Horse getting over-exited during hacks :) (beginner rider)

[Redqueenheart]

I did my first ever proper hack in the woods yesterday just with an instructor and everything went well.

Today I was in a bigger group, two horses in front of me (instructor and another learner), and one behind (instructor). The instructors only asked us to walk for the entire ride.

The school horse I was on was fine and careful in the woods but when we got to an open field she started getting annoyed that we were just walking and not trotting...especially as we passed a field with other horses (maybe she wanted to show off...). Anyway I kept having to pull her back and at some point had to put her in a circle to stop her from taking off and overtaking the other horses. She kept trying to speed up until we got back to the stables.

I guess I wanted to hear is that is just normal behaviour and what the best way to handle it would have been.

The instructor said afterwards that they usually trot when they get to that field so that is why my horse was getting impatient and that they could not put her in front because she is known to kick if another horse get too close to her backside!

This is all new to me so this is more a little rant than anything else but any advice on sorting out impatient horses in open fields would be good!

I have spent the afternoon grooming that horse and trying to get to know her better. she is a slightly grumpy mare and seems to be quite a character :) but I want to learn to handle her better.

If she trots every time and isn’t allowed to she’s just confused. That’s on them really for doing that in the first place.

Id focus on sitting deep and keeping your weight back, making sure you aren’t tipping forward or perching, which a lot of people do, or getting into a tug of war with them, they weigh 500kg, you won’t win and can just make them worse as they get pissed off having their mouths hung off.

Quite normal for some horses. Sit up deep and straight, good contact at mouth so she knows you know what you are doing, squeeze and release reins to slow down.

That's why you should never trot/canter a horse in the same place every time and it is not a good reflection of the school if they do that.
It is counter intuitive but the tighter you hold a horse then the more you give them to pull against. If you sit deep but keep a relaxed rein they have nothing to pull against however I appreciate this can be unsettling for novice riders. You can also ask the school to show you how to bridge your reins, an extremely useful skill that sadly not many people are taught nowadays. As the owner of many ex-racers it is an essential skill to have.

That's why you should never trot/canter a horse in the same place every time and it is not a good reflection of the school if they do that.
It is counter intuitive but the tighter you hold a horse then the more you give them to pull against. If you sit deep but keep a relaxed rein they have nothing to pull against however I appreciate this can be unsettling for novice riders. You can also ask the school to show you how to bridge your reins, an extremely useful skill that sadly not many people are taught nowadays. As the owner of many ex-racers it is an essential skill to have.

Very common with school horses unfortunately- they will be used to "we trot here/we stop here/we turn here for home" etc. it can make it uncomfortable if you / your ride break the routine.

But the thing to remember is she still must do what you tell her regardless of her expectations. Keep her walking when you want to walk, you're still the boss even though it's not always pleasant sitting on a jigging horse.

Great advice from everyone. Which really makes sense if you are used to hacking/more experienced. When I was learning I found this really tricky to ride.

It's disconcerting for them and you when they want to go faster because it's what they are used to and you are saying no.

They are not being naughty- they are doing what they've essentially been taught.

As a learner your every instinct screams hold tighter on the reins, tense up and stop them. The absolute bugger is that your instinct is wrong.

This is one great instance of where in riding our instincts can be wrong.

For most horses, taking a firmer hold of their mouths (contact - it's more complicated than this but I'm keeping it simple) means going up a pace. And if you are tense and tipping forward, that's also the aid to "go".

So you need to do the opposite.

Breathe. Really slow and deep. Think about breathing down into your bum. You are trying to make it heavier. You want to have your reins short enough that you can feel their month but not tight and bracing against them - and then gently squeeze and release the reins.

You are saying I'm here, and I say stay at this pace.

It takes quite a lot of confidence to do this. Which is not much help when you are learning! But once you try it you'll realise it is more effective than getting into a pulling match.

The most important thing is to think about making your body heavy while sitting up at the same time - with a relaxed hand.

And turning a circle is fine - indeed a very sensible thing to do.

Think breathe deep and full and relax relax. Much easier said than done I know.

Dos that make sense? I can try to explain it differently.

What did the two instructors on the hack say?

In there defence there may only be a few hacking routes they can use so they have no choice but to take you where the horses normally go faster.

It's a vital skill to learn have as you progress to riding other horses at all paces. How to make sure it's you dictating the pace, whatever else is going on. And you are never going to achieve that by hanging on grimly for dear life.

If someone could have a word with my mare who often disregards all my lovely sensitive riding... that would be great.

Totally normal with riding school horses. They are used to doing set hacks with trots and canters in more or less the same places everytime. There may well be only a few places which are appropriate for a group to trot or canter available - plus lots of riders like recalling 'there is a really great canter coming up' as well. By the time I stopped riding I could probably have shown you every hack my school did, including where to trot, canter, where there was a jump, and so on.

Add that they need to order you so the horse that kicks is at the back, the least experienced person is at the front etc etc none of the horses is actually where they would choose to be in the row.

It sounds like you managed it brilliantly.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to post and for the really good advice and I feel a bit better now!

She was really good yesterday when we did the first hack but I was allowed to trot in the woods for that one.

I will remember what everyone has suggested (seat deep, breathe, squeeze and release, don't tip forward...) for the next hack.

Well done, hacking is great fun but can also be a bit nerve-wracking. One thing I suggest is thinking about the speed of the walk. If the optimal speed is say 5/10, if your horse speeds up, even to 5.5, try a little squeeze and release to slow down. Don't let the walk get to 9/10 before you take action. You need to be in control all the time and stay focused so that you don't feel the horse is suddenly going to trot, start to get a bit more in tune with your horse. Start to learn about relaxation - is he tense/ relaxed, flowing along? Rhythm- is the walk moving along in a good rhythm like a clock ticking. You can't really just switch off and slope along if the horses are used to trotting/ cantering as they might get tense at these places. Think about your breathing too, and keeping a soft focus with your eyes to be aware of what's going on around you. Hacking is often great because a horse who can be a bit slow in the school can become more animated outside which is fun but can be a bit stressful to start with. Enjoy, you'll soon be wanting to canter outside!

As above, but also, pay attention to where you are looking. If the horse is getting excited because he is looking at the horses in the next field, or the nasty tractor to the left, make sure you look somewhere else as, crazy as it sounds, they absolutely KNOW where you're looking.

Also, besides the breathing, use "soft eyes". It will help calm you, and this will come through, via your seat and legs, to the horse.

My visualisation for sitting deep, straight and relaxed is telling yourself you have a very heavy bum and heavy, relaxed legs... all the while an elastic attached to the top of your hat is pulling your upper body straight up.

Check you have relaxed your shoulders too! Up, back and down again to make sure you are not tensing up where you shouldn't.

Thank you everyone for all your great advice.

I had quieter horses yesterday and today who had no issues when we came across cars, loose dogs, bridges and tractors and other horses grazing in fields, so everything went fine.

The only naughty behaviour I had to deal with on was an attempt to chomp on branches but that was quickly corrected. I thought about the advice given every time I got tense and that definitely helped!!

Pleased to hear it!

Great advice so far. I d add - be conscious of your knees. Try to keep them loose and relaxed. Often when we try to hold back a horse, we grip with our knees, which may actually be telling the horse to move on. And try not to pull (pulse rather than pull). The moment you feel the horse responding to the pulse, give a bit and if they speed up pulse again. They should get a release when they respond. If you get in a fight with the contact, you ll lose. And talk - 'steady, woah, that's it...' etc.

If all else fails.... sing! A little crazy, but helps when you feel you are sitting on a ticking bomb.

Also - defo to the tipping forward. I have a tendency to do this. I have a young horse, so don t want to be too hard on his mouth... if he pulls I tip. Im getting over it, but I ve learned the hard way. If you are tipped forward, and the horse pulls more / spooks / takes off, theres no where for you to go except out of the saddle.

The old shoulders back 'tits out' tip is right. Doesn't necessarily mean more contact, just positioning yourself so you have more control over the contact. And thumbs on top of reins, and two fingers looser, but ready to pulse and release - so its not pulling with your arms, but pulsing with those two fingers, if that makes sense.