Help with leaping pony!!!

[cath42]

I backed my 4yr old mare earlier this year. She has been shown a lot in hand and has been all over with me to shows and training venues. She has always taken everything in her stride.

Anyway, she is a dream to ride in the arena, I have been for lessons on her and even taken her in a few small ridden classes. I started hacking her out with other quiet horses and that's when the problems started. She will be fine for a few weeks and hack quiet happily with a friend. Then, seemingly out of nowhere she will explode with no warnings. When she does this she is obviously not safe out on the road, so I then have to bring her home which makes it even more daunting next time I have to take her out - and so the vicious circle begins!

I don't know how to break the cycle because I want her to hack out on, not just to use in the school.

When she explodes she kicks out and leaps about indiscriminently - I am worried about her hitting cars/pedestrians etc. I have tried distracting her which works immediately and she will appear to calm down for a bit and then explode again.

Any ideas would be more than welcome.

[alonerawnut]

Could it be that she's not quite got enough confidence hacking out yet? She sounds very used to arenas and the kinds of distractions you'll get at shows, but there's a whole world of scary things out there when you're hacking.
How is she if you lead her? We've done a lot of in-hand hacks with our anxious cob and we've built up to riding where he feels safe and then getting off and leading a little further down the road / bridlepath each time, so that you build his confidence little by little and hopefully don't get to the stage where he might panic.

[Deleted]

have you any idea what triggers the explosions? does she settle as soon as you turn her towards home? how long have you been hacking her out for.

Depending how busy the roads are and how explosive she is you could try getting off and leading her until she settles. also have you done pressure/release etc work to build her trust and respect in you? if not it could help

good luck, she's very young and green so I would expect there will be hiccups as you build her education

another thought as well, if she's been shown a lot etc, maybe she needs a bit of a break as well?

[rosemaryhannah]

I would never take a youngster onto a road or out hacking until I had first walked many miles and I really mean many miles, beside it, with it in hand in a head collar, so as to minimise risk of damage to the mouth. Then I would long rein out, also many miles. Once this was OK then I would ride short distances. I would not consider riding your youngster on a hack until you had this in place, for fear of her getting into bad habits. The old instruction still applies: sort out all the problems in hand, and then consider riding.

[cath42]

Thanks so much for all your help and advice. I definitely think it must be a confidence issue.

I have done lots of in hand work down the road with her - it is only a quiet village. I have also had her out leading her off another pony.

No apparent triggers, although I obviously try to minimise risks by not taking her out when it's windy or when the school bus is due!

Maybe I sometimes expect too much and look too deeply into things.... I am going to give her a few months off over the winter turned out with the youngsters, and then begin with a fresh head on.

Thank you again for taking the time to read and reply

[specialized]

Might pay to get the saddle checked in case it is discomfort after a longer period of riding.

[outoftheblue]

I would never ever lead any horse out on the road in a head collar. You need a bridle on all the time! Agree that the saddle should be checked. I had a similar problem with a pony (who incidentally had been shown in hand a lot) - he just exploded sometimes. Something seemed to be hurting him and after treatement from the osteopath (although he couldn't find anything too much) it stopped. It might be worth a treatment?