Post by chunky monkey on Aug 9, 2005 13:58:03 GMT 1
My horse, Archie has always been a nervous hacker, and I am quite a nervous rider, though we are both getting loads better - I'm throwing everything i can at conquering our hacking nerves, taking every opportunity to get out there and get more miles on both of our clocks, so to speak!
We went out today with my other pony and his loaner, and the hack was fraught from the word go....scary ducks coming in to land on a pond, noisy cars zooming past, people walking dogs, horses cantering over to fences to say hello, you name it, we faced it! Archie was a nervous wreck by the time we had to pass a pile of housebricks and white 'builders' bags, wheelie bins, and a man on a drive-on lawnmower. He was a horse 'on the edge'.
Then we rounded the corner to see........two tractors baling haylege on a field we had to cross! They weren't just baling it though, they were wrapping it in black plastic....it was fascinating to watch for us riders, but the horses weren't too impressed with these huge shiny black things spinning round being wrapped on the back of a tractor! We managed to get them past (we had to take a very wide berth!), and then they spooked at every single black bale in the field! After that, we had to pass horses going in the opposite direction, more cars on the road, and past a boarding kennels with all the dogs barking! Not to mention the disused drive through car-wash machine abandoned at the side of the bridle path (with huge orange and red brushes to boot!)
I don't know who's nerves were more frazzled by now - the horses' or ours!
The final leg of the hack wasn't too bad, we had a moment when some horses in the distance disappeared around a bend in the road, and Archie thought he'd be safer in their company, and jogged a little way to try to catch up, but it was nothing i couldn't handle, and he settled pretty much straight away.
Phew, we got back home and all in one piece! Writing this post now, the whole hack sounds horrendous, and i have to admit it wasn't the best I've ever had, but it made me realise how far Archie and i have come!
6 months ago, Archie would have definately tanked off with me, no doubt about it, he would have turned and run for home, and i would have been powerless to stop him, as he has done a few times before. However, he went forwards all the way round the hack, sometimes a bit reluctantly, and, though i did have to use my leg pretty much constantly, at no time did i have to get really tough with him, I just stayed positive and rode him calmly forward, even though I was a nervous wreck (and so was he)! He just seemed to have put loads more trust in me.
I rode back onto the yard a bit depressed at such a 'bad' hack, but really, it was a great hack, and a real learning experience for both of us!
He was a very brave boy, and i am very proud of him!
We went out today with my other pony and his loaner, and the hack was fraught from the word go....scary ducks coming in to land on a pond, noisy cars zooming past, people walking dogs, horses cantering over to fences to say hello, you name it, we faced it! Archie was a nervous wreck by the time we had to pass a pile of housebricks and white 'builders' bags, wheelie bins, and a man on a drive-on lawnmower. He was a horse 'on the edge'.
Then we rounded the corner to see........two tractors baling haylege on a field we had to cross! They weren't just baling it though, they were wrapping it in black plastic....it was fascinating to watch for us riders, but the horses weren't too impressed with these huge shiny black things spinning round being wrapped on the back of a tractor! We managed to get them past (we had to take a very wide berth!), and then they spooked at every single black bale in the field! After that, we had to pass horses going in the opposite direction, more cars on the road, and past a boarding kennels with all the dogs barking! Not to mention the disused drive through car-wash machine abandoned at the side of the bridle path (with huge orange and red brushes to boot!)
I don't know who's nerves were more frazzled by now - the horses' or ours!
The final leg of the hack wasn't too bad, we had a moment when some horses in the distance disappeared around a bend in the road, and Archie thought he'd be safer in their company, and jogged a little way to try to catch up, but it was nothing i couldn't handle, and he settled pretty much straight away.
Phew, we got back home and all in one piece! Writing this post now, the whole hack sounds horrendous, and i have to admit it wasn't the best I've ever had, but it made me realise how far Archie and i have come!
6 months ago, Archie would have definately tanked off with me, no doubt about it, he would have turned and run for home, and i would have been powerless to stop him, as he has done a few times before. However, he went forwards all the way round the hack, sometimes a bit reluctantly, and, though i did have to use my leg pretty much constantly, at no time did i have to get really tough with him, I just stayed positive and rode him calmly forward, even though I was a nervous wreck (and so was he)! He just seemed to have put loads more trust in me.
I rode back onto the yard a bit depressed at such a 'bad' hack, but really, it was a great hack, and a real learning experience for both of us!
He was a very brave boy, and i am very proud of him!
