Solo hacking nerves

Lottie86

Active Member
Aug 6, 2012
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North Aberdeenshire
As a child the riding school always drilled into us that you never ride alone in case of an accident so I've now got a big fear of solo hacking that I *NEED* to get over so we can do the amount of training we need to do next year and so we don't always need a ride partner.

Magic and I managed my first couple of km solo a couple of months back (I know it's a teeny insignificant amount but it was a huge mental thing for me) but tomorrow I need to solo hack 7.5km each way to meet a friend for a hack and I'm having a bit of a panic in case Magic plays up as he hasn't been out for nearly a month, in case he won't stand still for me to remount after I've got off to unlock/relock gates etc etc.

What do you find are the best ways to keep your nerves under control?
Does solo hacking get easier/less scary the more you do it?
 
I actually feel qualified too answer this :D I conquered my solo hacking fears this spring and summer on Eva. Yes it does get easier the more you do it. It was very scary for me as I had to do busy main road too... I find if I hum and sing it relax's me and Eva... though she is a saint of a pony she really is.

Make sure you maybe put a tag with your phone number and your partners/yard number on your pony and carry a mobile just incase

but good luck and enjoy ..... I do now.... since it was 3 years to get me solo hacking :D
 
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i solo hack pretty much all the time. they only time my confidence was really knocked was after he bucked me off and I was out cold. But the more you do the easier it definitely gets. Just go out and enjoy.
 
I have no choice but to solo hack. Although I actually enjoy it for the most part, occasionally a hacking buddy would be great, just to calm my nerves on windy days or something.

I lost my confidence hacking solo badly a couple of years back before I had Dolly....I enlisted foot soldiers, drowned myself in Pax, OD'ed on Rescue Remedy, walked a mile or so, rode a mile or so, walked a mile or so, etc. I also sing a lot of traditional Irish songs - their melancholy rhythm seems to help lull me and the horse into semi slumber.

When I am very nervous ten green bottles is a must. If you are singing you are breathing. If you are very nervous and not singing you stop breathing, your horse knows when you stop breathing and starts to get worried he has lost his leader.;) Take deep and long breaths and sink deep into the saddle evertime you exhale loudly, without fail Dolly always sighs after a few times of doing this and goes from stomping high head to steady and low.

Can you tell I have a lot of experience with solo hacking nerves? The locals think I am certifiable - and not a very good singer either!:p

Good luck, try anything and everything until you know what works for you and Magic. There is no shame in getting off and walking for a bit until you both recover your equilibrium - make note of all good remounting spots for future reference.;)
 
I'm sure it will fine, be brave and strong :)

I hack solo fairly frequently, though the last two times I've been a bit nervous as Moët has been sensitive and over-reactive, not much fun!
 
Yes it does get easier, but I also still struggle with it. My biggest bit of advice is that you need to work with your nerves, acknowledge them and don't try and fight them. Give yourself permission to get off and lead Magic if you feel that you are more confident doing this. Stand still and stop if you need to - or (and this helps me) trot past anything scary and keep him moving forward. There are no rules and no right or wrongs. If you end up leading him the whole way it really doesn't matter. Don't put too much pressure on yourself and just do what feels right.
 
I'm with MP, acknowledge your nerves, but don't let them over take you. I had really bad hacking confidence issues last winter. I basically never rode as we didn't have a school. But on New Years day I decded I needed to do something about it if I was going to be able to enjoy him come the lighter nights. So I planned every ride I did. Started small, 20 mins, on rides we both knew really well and that didn't take us far from the yard. I dd nothing but walk initially. And every time I felt something went wrong I turned it round into 'wasn't it great when he did xyz and I dd abc' (eg, he spooked but I kept him going forward, which over time turned into he spooked but I stayed calm and he calmed really quickly)

I still get a bit nervous if we haven't hacked out solo/ ridden in a while, but usually after about 10 - 20 mins we both relax and start to enjoy ourselves!

So in summery (!) it is possible, just take things in your own time. Hacking to meet someone is a great idea as you know there is someone who is waiting on your arrival!
 
I'm doing more solo hacking, it is difficult not to get tense and pass it onto my pony. He is a very experienced pony and is a super guy, I have to do him a favour and relax more to make it enjoyable for him too.
 
I think I'm glad I never learned to ride at a riding school if that was what they were teaching kids :(

You just need to get out and do it. Charge your phone fully, put your headpiece in one ear and the phone in your inside pocket so that its protected and useable. Clip a lead rope onto the saddle and dress yourselves up in hi viz and plan yor route and just go.

Other than doing it there is no way of getting over nerves.
 
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Singing (humming, talking to yourself) is a great trick for calming nerves as it does force you to breathe which is one thing we tend to stop doing when nervous and it upsets horses and physically makes our bodies go tense. The more you do it the easier it will get and as others have said, get off if you need to, walk a bit if you need to and don't bully yourself into doing things because you think you should be able to, it will all come in time.
 
. I also sing a lot of traditional Irish songs
There is no shame in getting off and walking for a bit until you both recover your equilibrium - make note of all good remounting spots for future reference.;)
Singing (humming, talking to yourself) is a great trick for calming nerves as it does force you to breathe which is one thing we tend to stop doing when nervous and it upsets horses and physically makes our bodies go tense


I have no choice except to ride alone. There are no other horses near me>
Singing can also help even if your not alone and there may be issues going on with other horses to keep your nerves in check.

Some people say they would never get off for any reason "ride it out".
Alone or in company I would never feel embarrassed about getting off - I would totally rather be "safe than sorry".

I get off on once in a while for no other reason than to change things up a bit. I use it as a challenge = what can I use to mount.
I am short and Sonny is big so I "always" need somthing to mount from. I have used fire hydrants - guard rails along the road
a" frisby golf goal" at Borderland Park, a light pole base , a big rock, a stone wall - something will turn up.
I also feel if I do get off and walk a bit sometimes and not wait for the OMG I need to get off- It is not a big deal for Sonny-" whats up" its
just part of our rides.

Sometimes a strech or two of the legs "just feels good" too~:D
 
I also hack out alone quite alot. Nobody around at the same time to ride. Becca doesn't like it much,really depends on where she is with her cycle (seasons) . If she's being crabby I'll still go out but mebby only for a short ride, and she's nearly learnt all the words to summer of 69 !!! Deep breathing and yawning work extremely well also, and if I ever had to get off I would, when I first started riding her,I battled on through and ended up being galloped off with,I just couldn't stop. She tends to work herself up and scare herself daft. Well she used to, doesn't do it much now, a scoop of calmer in the night feed works wonders. But keep persevering each time a little further and you'll soon settle down. [emoji4]
 
I feel your pain I'm in a similar predicament myself at the moment, had some great advice on here, I set a goal to walk out on foot we done that, I then set a goal to walk the route we where going to go on foot, we done that, today I managed to find someone to accompany me on foot whilst I was in the saddle on the same route and I was fine in just 3 days my fears are starting to slip away my next goal is to walk out as far as I can before I get nervous solo which is tomorrow after schooling im starting replace that fear with excitment of what we can do next time, start small, maybe pick a particular tree or gate to be your goal and focus on it whilst heading toward it talk to your horse and tell him/her you both can do it im sure my horse thinks I'm nuts but its working for me still early days but I'm a lot more hopeful now than I was a week ago good luck
 
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Singing all the way (I do Elton's back catalogue, candle in the wind is the punishment for unjustified spooking). And if things get exciting as people have already said pick something up ahead and just think about getting to that point, then the next point and so on, same as if you were on foot running but on behalf of your horse. I also talk to anyone on bikes, walking and wave madly at cars to keep myself calm. Am a nervous hacker, and not normally that friendly!
 
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One is taught (as kids) it is dangerous alone, just as mountaineering and hill walking are. It is in case something happens to you. But as an adult, if you hack out alone it simply means having a charged up phone, someone to ring and letting someone know your route or expected time of return.
I dont totally agree with the nerves side. I was scared to canter in the school - till I was taught how to do it in tiny incremental stages. Both horses and people need lessons in how to hack and it is best for the rider, I think, if you learn on horses that are used to hacking. And if you learn to hack riding first, i.e. being lead horse, in company. That feels quite like riding alone. Especially if you are trussed into a bp like I am and find it hard to turn and look back.
It is true the horse is a herd animal and needs teaching to go out alone - but there are benefits of riding first or riding solo - Your horse is picking up the cues from you the rider and not getting excited by following or challenging the horse ahead. The other benefit for me as an adult, is that I like to control my own vehicle - eml has written about her qualms when being lunged by someone. I dont like handing over control, so I always preferred leading the ride. I used to lead for a purpose, to introduce new horses the routes, or since I was on a safeish horse, to lead if we rode past spooky objects and the other horse hesitated.
Anyone scared of going alone, I really recommend setting out with another rider, but asking your horse to lead the ride. The worst that can happen if you are leading, is the horse can spook and you can pretty much watch for warning signs of that - head position, and half halt and in canter using more leg.
And if you are leading or alone, you set the safety margins. I never trot or canter when loose dogs are around. Nor if a stag is close to the track - Allow horses to take time to observe and accept half hidden animals or unfamiliar objects.
I find it much easier to use riding to reassure myself than to mess with psychology. I fall off a lot - and want to minimise that. I expect any horse I hack to transition in and out of canter at 20 strides, exactly. Plus never to transition up or down (down is important) unless I ask. Rashid has this great thing about knowing where your destination is. When you cue the trot or canter your mind should be clear how far you are going in that gait. That's why I (now) like dressage tests so much - there is no open ended charging about.
If you calm your nerves, the danger is that you wont be riding with full care and attention. Driving a car does get easier with practice, but you still need to give it your full attention and concentrate. My last fall from Maisie was because we were idling along in walk, chatting and the horses took exception to a yellow dredger. She had passed similar before, but I would have been riding her more positively. My recent falls have come because I wasnt paying 100% attention. Relax too much and it is easy for hacking to seem simple. You dont ride round a course of jumps or a dressage test chatting to someone and abdicating control. Same goes for hacking.
And then there is the other thing. If you dont like jumping or hacking or whatever, simply dont do it. There is no moral obligation to risk your neck doing something you dont like. OH doesnt much care for hacking. The reason I tackled my fear of canter in the school was I need to canter horses that I am looking to buy or share.
If like many of us and Owned by Chanter, you think hacking is good for horses that's fine. But you could always find a sharer to do the hacking for you or pay someone. If your horse hacks regularly on its own ridden by someone else, then it will be easier for you to take over and even enjoy it yourself.
 
Singing (humming, talking to yourself) is a great trick for calming nerves as it does force you to breathe which is one thing we tend to stop doing when nervous and it upsets horses and physically makes our bodies go tense. The more you do it the easier it will get and as others have said, get off if you need to, walk a bit if you need to and don't bully yourself into doing things because you think you should be able to, it will all come in time.

Yes I make lots of silly ditties up if I feel nervous!
 
I really recommend setting out with another rider, but asking your horse to lead the ride.

I think its good for the horses to be able to ride in any position.

If you can get out with others "leap frog" is a good exercise . It can be done in a ring or a trail or along a road if its a safe road.
One person is in front then the last person trots past everyone and is now the Leader. then again last moves to the front and on and on.
It gives every person/horse a chance to be in every position. It can be lots of fun.
 
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I don't hack out solo at the moment, and it's not something I feel I massively need to do, but the more Roxy and I trust one another, the less I think it will be any kind of big deal if we do decide to ride off the yard on our own. I think it's important for horses to hack out, as it's my opinion that the more used they are to all sorts of sights and scenarios, the calmer they are more likely to be - and it's good exercise of course. Roxy and I just both prefer company!
 
You can download apps on your phone that can track where you are when riding out alone and of course its always ideal to tell someone :)
 
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