Hacking alone for the first time

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Fraggle

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Mar 25, 2002
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Hello

I've had my Dales pony Sam 4 months. He's 5 years old and very green. I've been fortunate enough to have him stabled at my riding instructors (Emma) yard so I've had a lot of good advice.

Sam had never seen a road until about a month ago and he's now hacking out in company quite happily although he doesn't like motorbikes and big lorries. (Who does!)

He's being shoed tomorrow morning at 8.30am and since Emma thinks he's ready to go out alone, I thought I'd take a deep breath and go for a hack around the block as the traffic should be quiet.

Does anyone have any tips or words of wisdom as I'm feeling pretty nervious but need to show a confident front to Sam or he'll feel nervous too.

Any words of advice would be much appreciated.
 
talk to him constantly - it'll keep you breathing and stop you getting tense. by constantly, i mean really all the time. last weekend i took petal's little sister dinky out as lead ride, the first time she'd been out in front. "right then dinky, can you see that shadow? that's a leaf, and it's going to blow around and make a noise, and it's going to be ok. you aren't goign to shy because you're a grownup pony now. well done dear. and ooh look, there's a dog over there, i wonder if it's going to bark, oh yes, i see it is, and that's ok as well, what a clever girl" i wittered on for the whole hour. it really works - it gets you looking for potential hazards like the horse-killing leaves, so you aren't taken by surprise, and you also keep breathing while you're talking, so tension doesn't build up in your upper body and transmit to him. you'll also feel like a bit of a fool, so you'll probably (if you're anything like me) be trying not to laugh at yourself, again good for keeping things relaxed and stress-free.
and enjoy it! it's a milestone for you and your baby!
 
One trick I tend to do first time out alone is to leave the company after about 20 mins. outbound. Let them go on ahead while I turn for home alone at walk all the way.

The horse is inclined to go home even though he's leaving his friends, then as ES says talk about the price of eggs and nutty slack in the outer Hebrides!! He'll be facinated and you'll forget all that is happening.

Once you have your confidence then you can go it alone big timie.
 
When I went for my first ride alone (I know Carrie had not been hacked alone previously for at least two years and probably not at all). She stopped dead at one point and tried to turn round instead of going ahead. I ended up sitting it out for about fifteen minutes, giving her a squeeze every few minutes to see if she was ready to move forward yet. Eventually she must have got bored or forgotten why she stopped so we went forward again. The other thing I have noticed is that she weaves a bit from side to side for the first few minutes as if she is looking for the other horses! She definitely seems to like me singing (usually Kylie Minogue's "Can't get you out of my head" for some reason!) whether it is because I am breathing and more relaxed or whether because it is distraction from all the scary noises I don't know. She is also speeds up to an incredibly fast walk as soon as her sense of direction tells her we are heading for home!
 
I had my first ever fall!

First, I'd like to say that Sam and I were fine on our own and we'd been round the block with only a couple of small spooky moments so I was quite proud and heading back towards the yard.

A lady exercising her horse in a menage close to the road asked if she could join me and go round the block again. I thought "well, it can't hurt!"

We were going along the road when Sam slipped. He went right down and I sailed over his head, did a somersault and landed on my back in the road. I came down heavily on my back and also knocked my head.

My body protector took most of the impact and I'm convinced that I'd be in hospital with serious back problems if I hadn't been wearing it, also my hat .

I got back on and we made it back to the yard but my back has pretty much seized up tonight.

Anyway, I'm ok and as soon as my back loosens up I'll back in the saddle, maybe tomorrow if I'm not stiff as a board.

Motto of this story.......

Wear a body protector and a hrlmet and put knee boots on your pony when you go on the roads. i was very lucky that Sam wasn't injured.
 
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I can't stand riding Henry when he's shod, even with road nails in he slips. The first time I rode him unshod it was brilliant, he could really walk out and I didn't feel as though I was on an ice rink.
I think youngsters/green horses find it much more difficult to keep their balance on the tarmac.
 
Well done Fraggle. I am still trying to pluck up the courage to go out alone. I think I would have been going round the fields at my old yard by now but as I have to go on the roads I am unsure as Rhi can be a bit of a non-stopper if she wants to be (If she wants to walk across the road with traffic coming so what she thinks). We are practcing stopping and starting in the manage. I am hoping to take her round mine one day whilst the kids are at school as it is pretty quiet then and too far from teh stables.
 
Well done you for hacking out on your own adn for getting back on :) Hope your back is better by tomorrow and the little incident hasn't put you off at all. sounds like Sam done you proud on his own :)
 
I've had to re-register for some reason!

Anyway,

I'm laid up at home as I had to go to casualty the next morning. It turns out I've got a trapped siatic (don't know how you spell it) nerve and a fair bit of bruising.

Look like I'm laid up and out of the saddle for 1-2 weeks. I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself but hopefully I'll be back in the saddle soon and Sam and I can continue our training on the roads.

:D
 
hi fraggle

am so sorry and glad nothing broken. i've had the exact same injury, i'm 38 and heavy (we're talking earth moving impact), and this is my third week of no riding, but i'm hoping to be back in the saddle at the weekend. i couldn't believe how long it takes to heal (and how irritating it is not to be able to put your socks on easily) i'd agree with the arnica, also v hot baths/showers, lots of painkillers and if you keep moving (slowly!) its better than keeping still. i confess i didn't have a body protector and am going to buy one when i next get paid.
 
I'm back in the saddle

I ended up having 2 weeks off work with a trapped nerve but I've been back in the saddle about a week now.

I work full time so it's now too dark to ride during the week. I finish early on Fridays so I'm hoping I'll be able to ride Friday and the weekends (weather permitting.) I haven't been back on the road yet though as my back has still been a bit twitchy.

I'm hoping the weather is good at the weekend as another pony owner at the yard has offered to ride out with me.

Must admit, I hated going on the roads even before I had the accident but I need to get back out there I Suppose. The only way to get to any off-road hacking is to go along the road for about 15 minutes so I'll have to try to be brave or I'll end up only riding in the arena all the time which is quite boring if that's all you do.

I'll definately put knee boots on Sam when I go on the roads now.

Wish me luck!

:D
 
I went back on the roads today

I went out with another pony owner from the yard.

It didn't start out well...

We'd just got out of the yard when a bus sped past and let off it's air brakes. Sam freaked, leapt on to the pavement and tried to head for home. I nearly got off and walked home but Heather, the other pony owner encouraged me to keep on board. We managed a further 15 minutes and then we got to the off road common gound.

Sam was wonderful from then on. We were out for over 2 hours, trekking up and down and cantering out in the fields.
Sam was too tired on the roads back to react to anything too.

From a rotten start we managed to salavage a great ride.


:D
 
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