scared stiff!!!!

[ridelikethewind]

hi everyone i usually use my aunties account but i made my own. i was on horseygirl123. i went out on a 2 hour hack today.it was my thrid time on ahorse and he spooked and started off into a gallop.it was really fast and scary.the horse wud not stop as he was racing a riderless one.i went into forward seat and just rode it out but instead of being scared i got really into it and got him to gallop faster which i new i shudnt have but it managed to stop him in the end.has this ever happend to anyone else? please write back

[julia gulia]

Are you taking horseback riding lessons at the moment?

Welcome to New Rider!!!

[ridelikethewind]

yes i am taking lessons in essex but i am going home to great yarmouth and having lesson sthere can you give me any advise on riding thankyou.:eek:

[annelise]

Hi and welcome

Was this your third time ever on a horse? If so a 2 hour hack was a bit ambitious. In ye olden days when I learnt we weren't aloud on a hack unless we could canter round the school without stirrups and stop as anything can happen on a hack. Sitting down and being very heavy often works.

Hacking is the best bit of riding but it sounds like you need a bit more lessons first

[Tommy Matterson]

Um. It doesn't sound like you had much control there which is OK until the unexpected happens. I've witnessed a few close shaves on hacks where people can't/do not have control of their horse. I remember once cantering along a bridleway and rounding a corner to see a family group with little 'uns on a quiet stroll. There was plenty of time to stop (which I did) only for the horse behind to go careering past. Luckily the family pressed themselves into the hedge and no collision occurred. However, it could have been messy. As the previous poster says, I wasn't allowed to hack out in public areas until I could comfortably canter in the school without stirrups and perform walk/canter/trot transitions on a variety of horses.

Sometimes there IS very little you can do if another horse is out of control and hairs past you. Well done for being brave but keep up the lessons.

[Tommy Matterson]

Oh yeah. And gently squeezing the reins on and off (like half halts) rather than pulling like hell helps, as does locking your back and sitting with your weight right back in the saddle. Panicking is a recipe for disaster which it sounds like you didn't do - in fact quite the opposite.

[Trio]

well done for stopping him without falling off!! it is scary when it happens but looks like you handled it ok- maybe stopping him immediately next time may be a bit more sensible !!:D :rolleyes:

[Fancy_mover23]

Wow!! That has happened to me before, but only in the arena. But ET spooked, and went out into a full hand gallop.....and my coach told me to work with it, and ride. So I got into half seat and rode with it!!! That was really fun. But I would say to slow him down and stop him next time.

[ridelikethewind]

thankyou for your replies i will do this in the future.i tried to stop him straight away but it didnt work even half halting i just had to bring him into a tight circle to slow him down which helped.thankyou for your tips they are much apreciated.

[Fillygal]

thankyou for your replies i will do this in the future.i tried to stop him straight away but it didnt work even half halting i just had to bring him into a tight circle to slow him down which helped.thankyou for your tips they are much apreciated.


Awwww well done you - but some of the extra school lessons will be of additional help and I don't know about you but you just never seem to stop learning.

I've recently had my first two hour hack but only after 7 years of riding :D :D :D - but then hacking was always a particular problem to me - but you just feel like a million dollars when you've cracked it:D :D

[stormy's mum]

well done to you for staying on but more lessons would be helpful until you get a good seat and learn to control the horse better. makes riding easier and not so scary

[ridelikethewind]

yeh i am goin on another hack but on with a lesson. i will be having a lesson while hacking. how long have you all been riding then? xx

[mayoguinness]

Yeah when I had conventional riding lessons for 6months I had to be able to jump, canter and trot without styrups beofer I was alowed to hack out!! Now I do natural Horsemanship I know how much of a risk I was taking!! I couldn't flex a horse, I couldn't yield and I would of just been yanking on the mouth if the horse had bolted and they were quite unpridictable!! Now with Mayo I've trained him to listen to me using Natural Horsemanship and never ride with a bit, the only time hes ever bolted was when I was hacking out and there was electric fences either side and his best friend had been following us in the field. She was trying to get to Mayo and touched the electric fence, got a shock and then with about ten other horses started to charge off round the field. Mayo of course spooked and started to run back the other way, if it hadn't been that I could flex and yield him and he was well trained using NH and trusted me having built up a relationship on the ground well I proberly would of ended up in a hedge!!

Good Luck with your hack. One bit of advice, in a conventional riding lesson you only get to bond with a horse when riding and I would never ride a horse that I hadn't got a good relationship with on the ground and that was trained using NH but if you can learn to flex and yield properly it will help a lot!!;)