First proper hack in 2 years

[janwilky]

... and I'm a very happy bunny ;D

Lucas has been back from Amanda Seater's, where he went for schooling/bringing back into work, for two weeks now but I haven't been able to do much with him as I've been really busy planning hubbie's birthday party amongst other things. He did really well at Amanda's but we didn't do much hacking out, although we did go round her gallop track with increasing confidence and had a couple of gallops up the hay fields. We also did a little ride round the village with Amanda on her bike and he was a good boy.

But being back home is another matter - no contained gallop track, just open fields, roads, steep banks and lots and lots of gates. We haven't hacked out at home for two years, since everything fell apart for us with physical and behaviour problems, none of which helped my confidence at all.

So it was a lovely morning today and I recruited my OH as a foot soldier and off we went 'round the block', which involves going down our rough farm track, along a mile of lane, up a bridleway, over stubble fields, through a farmyard and back along a fairly wild, rough bank and weaving through dense trees at the end. He was a bit 'on his toes' at first but he was SUCH a good boy, he listened and he didn't put a foot wrong. We passed a tractor ploughing, were overtaken by a middling size lorry on the road (he doesn't have a great track record in traffic), met the gamekeeper on his quad bike, and a bunch of kids at the farm. We had a couple of canters on the stubble fields, and he only did a 'little' buck , we had a big spook and spin at the gate by the concrete ford but he came back and let me open the gate, and he stood politely while the farm kids crowded round him asking why I was riding such a big horse and is he a Shire? ;D We managed the weaving through the bushes quite well but he got a bit excited and strong as we were nearly home, so I dismounted for the last downhill bit through the fields to home - I didn't fancy rushing headlong down there.

But considering neither of us have hacked out properly for 2 years I was over the moon with him, and I realised that I felt able to use some of the tools Amanda taught me for dealing with situations - we did lots of bending, half-halts, moving sideways, anything to keep him listening and it worked ;D.

Next challenge is to try it alone, without a foot soldier, which is quite a big ask for both of us but we'll get there.

[chloe]

Sounds brilliant, well done you! ;D

[curlytobiano]

That's brilliant Janwilky! Well done. I don't think you need to be in a huge hurry to do it on your own though .... just let it happen when you feel the time is right. good luck

[ladyndibs]

Great news, well done.............and Lucas too of course!

[janwilky]

Thanks folks ;D. You're right, I'm not in too much hurry to go it alone, though it's a bit tricky as I don't have anyone who can come out with me regularly. Amanda's going to come up one day next week, then perhaps Ru will do it again next weekend, and I have a lesson booked for Friday so that's this week sorted. I've spent three years getting to this positive point, so I do feel that getting it right and building up the good experiences is more important than how quickly we get there.

I've discovered there's a lady who lives 4 miles away and has an older, steadier version of Lucas and is keen to find a hacking buddy - going to box him over there and try out hacking on the roads with sensible company. Just what we need to build up his (and my) confidence.

[rowanrachel]

Well done you janwilky.!! Keep it up, it feels amazing being able to hack out together I imagine. X

[rosief]

I'm so pleased for you, you must be over the moon. I can still remember how I felt the first time William and I hacked out together, alone(as in without another horse!) for the first time. I had the biggest smile ever, and still feel thrilled and excited when I think about it now, even though my "special one" has gone to Rainbow Bridge. Take it at your own pace, as you're obviously doing, you know when the time is right.

[sarahlev]

Well done!

[nomdeac]

Excellent stuff Janwilky. Your first post is inspirational. I'm going to copy and paste if to a word document so I can look at it when ever I feel that I will never get riding properly again.
A huge well done to you

[janwilky]

aww thanks Nomdeac, glad you enjoyed it and hope you manage to get riding yourself soon .

He's still being very good, but I haven't done much because I've been really busy. Got more time now but the grass must be putting in a last spurt as I took him out the other day and he was decidedly footy - very frustrating! We'll get there, just need winter now

[janwilky]

Well, having decided the footiness was a bit of thrush I've been tackling it like a demon all week and he's much better, so we went out again today with hubbie and spaniel on foot. He was such a good boy most of the time, you'd never think he's hardly been ridden for weeks. He was listening to me and sensible on the roads, ignored the pheasants and we were all enjoying strolling in the sun.

Then we came round a corner of the bridlepath and there was a girl leading two horses towards us, coming in from the field. We stopped and waited as she needed to come towards us and then turn off to the right into their yard, and Lucas felt very anxious and/or excited. I thought he'd be fine once they'd gone off, but no, his brain completely left his body and he started doing little rears and bucks and prancing on the spot. I stayed on for a bit but ended up getting off as I still don't entirely trust him when he's very wound up, but a bit further on I felt able to climb back on him and he gradually, very gradually, calmed down. Ironically he felt much safer walking across the open fields than he did on the track past the house with the horses. Not sure why he got wound up though, he's fine with other horses in a schooling situation - I think he probably just needs to get out and about a lot so that meeting other horses just becomes 'normal' and not over-stimulating.

But by the time we got back home he was really calm and relaxed again and I felt we'd handled a big 'moment' quite well. I hadn't panicked, and although I did jump off that was because in that moment I thought it was the safest and most sensible thing to do. And I got back on again on the edge of a stubble field!

The best thing was that I remembered at least some of the things that Amanda taught me for dealing with his more excitable moments - trying to keep my back soft, keep breathing, don't pull on the reins, lots of half halts, keep his mind busy, don't try to make him stand still when he can't.... and OH could see that he was at least trying to listen to me and he didn't take charge - I know he didn't cos he'd have tanked off with me if he thought he could get away with it . And being so busy dealing with the situation meant I didn't have time to get too worried myself. Overall I was quite pleased with myself because a year ago I would have panicked and frozen, and that would have been disastrous.

I guess we just need to keep doing lots of the same - it's going to be a while before I can completely relax with him out hacking, but hopefully the more 'situations' we encounter and survive the more confidence we'll build in each other.

But I was relieved to get home in one piece - phew ;D

Oh, and his feet were fine ;D ;D