Hacking out - horse is becoming less brave :(

[Bertie]

Last year my horse was brilliant at hacking out, would go past anything and everything I asked her to but recently I have been doing less and less hacking alone and more and more in company and my horse is becoming less and less brave when encountering slightly scary things.

She has taken to spinning at the slightest thing, running backwards into her hacking mate and basically using her as a way to stop her going forward.

We went out alone this weekend and everything she didn't like or tried to spin at she was stopped from spinning (far easier then when she in company) pushed on and went past these supposedly scary things with ease and confidence.

How can I get her confident in me all the time again whether we are in company or not and get confidence from her hacking mate??

 

[Dizzy Woo]

When I got my Daisy in March I went out on my own with her all the time and she was really solid, a great confidence giver, I had had a bad experience with my other pony and was really quite scared to ride any more but Daisy helped me to overcome all my fears, she never spooked, just stopped and stared a couple of times, she was brilliant (she still is) but lately I have been riding out more with a companion , and less on my own.
I really love being on my own with Daisy - you can chat and sing etc but the other day she spooked at IMO absolutely nothing and off I came Daisy and I dont do that !! lol - that has knocked my confidence and I can see that not only does Daisy seem to prefer riding out in company but my loss of confidence definately transfers on to her, but I dont want to lose what we had, so for a while I am trying to ride alone more and have introduced more schooling again, she really seems to respond to more structure - a bit like a child
So after that long load of blurb yes I can relate to horse becoming less brave too - basically I think they get their confidence from us, so am hoping she will benefit from a bit more individual work and attention - a bit like a child

 

[Guest 2]

Sounds like my horse too!

I am seeing if its feed related and changing feeds soon - I think the baileys topline and conditioning may be adding to the problem.
She used to be brilliant but now as you both can relate to, my horse is getting spooky at stupid things too.

I think the only way to resolve it is to hack out as much as possible and being the "boss" and giving your horse a lot of reassurance and confidence.
If the problem is really bad maybe you could consider a calming supplement?

 

[Ruskii]

Is it worth perhaps going back to step one and hack out in hand with her ? Or perhaps tack her up, but walk her part way and when you have a nice clear stretch, hop on for a little while and just walk her ?

We have recently found that the older horse is getting a little less brave recently, wont go under bridges, through narrow gaps, although he did a not so great spook yesterday, he was concentrating on having a nosey in someone's garden, my horse farted and he jumped 3 feet sideways

My horses bottom is not THAT scary !