Horse snacking

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Hi! Please can I have advice my horse is a saint in the school, but on hacks just wants to snack alllll the time. Its relentless hacks are just not fun at all. I try to preempt it, kick him on pull up a one rein, use the whip on the shoulder, he knows !! But doesn't care. Just puts me off hacking now which is all I really wanted him for!
He isn't hungry! Well he might want more, but feild has grass and he has hay and breakfast !

Any suggestions please ,

Grass reins?

And/or muzzle

Flash noseband?

Are you hacking with your reins long? You need to ride as you would in the school and punish every time the horse tries to snack.You should be able to physically stop them eating as long as you have a contact. My horse knows he is not allowed to eat with his bit in. I actually take his bridle off before he goes back in his stable and as soon as it comes off he grazes, because he knows the rules.

Reins seems short my hands were aching!! All seems so stressful

Is he grabbing grass or from the hedges? Some horses are just more food motivated and not bothered by being told off! What worked with my fat cob was as soon as he grabbed a snack, asking him to back up for several steps. It's harder work and he hated doing it so stopped grabbing bits of hedge!

One of my kids' ponies is like this and we have balance support reins on him. Doesn't stop him with hedges but he can't get down to grass so gives up

Be firm. Reins short, keep his head up and trot where you can. If on roads keep away from tempting grass verges and hedges. Every time he goes to snack, pull his head up and make him trot or as a pp said, back up. Make it harder work to snack than not to.

This is about making sure he knows you are above him in the pecking order. This is so important as in the wild each horse would know which they were above and which below. For your horse to be happy he needs to know you are in charge and will look after him. Then he can relax and let you deal with tigers, making sure he gets to the watering hole, best grazing etc
You need to be firm and consistent and in no time at all the stress will be gone and he will be following your rules.

Our Highland pony does this. I put side reins on, loose enough that they don't restrict her head but she can't get the grass.

Whipping on shoulder and kicking the horse?? Is this for real that sounds horrific. Leave the poor horse alone

Is he wanting to eat different plants in the hedgerow that he hasn’t got in his field? If he is take him for a walk sometimes so he can graze the verges and hedgerows and he’ll soon learn he gets to eat on a. Walk but not on a ride. I had a mare like this and it did stop her apart from in cow parsley season when even with a flash nose band ( needed for bit evasion) she would be trotting along chewing a length of cow parsley

Yes, I agree with making them trot when they try and eat. Hopefully they'll associate trying to eat with having to work a bit harder, plus once they're trotting it's harder for them to grab snacks.

Agree he will be attracted by all the special plants and fresh grass available on a hack. You don't need to be mean to him. If you teach him from the ground that a hand on the top of his neck means he can eat this can be transferred to when you're on a ride. It takes patience and consistency but is perfectly achievable. You will need to pick a spot on his neck that you won't normally touch by accident, and make it a very definite placing of the hand. Start by giving him a treat when you do that, taking it further down until the placing of the hand means he can have some grass. Then start to do it when you're on him; try to do it in a 'safe' place, i.e. the field or plain grass verge. Obviously you need to be able to pull him up when you've decided he's had enough, I put this on a verbal cue so that (again, starting from the ground) when I say 'enough then' and lift his head he again gets a treat; you can transfer this to from his back. If you use high-quality treat for this bit, I use trebor mints, he should find it rewarding enough. Could you ask a friend to help with tranferring the groundwork to ridden, so that they're walking alongside while you do it? It would take time but once embedded you would have the control you need, because he would be waiting for your cue.

You would have to make sure you catch any 'snatches' early and don't let him eat until you've given him his cue every time. I get my horses to halt, then give them the cue (not every time!) and never let them eat if I haven't.

Balance support or grass reins would be an easy fix. It's an annoying habit for sure.