8 miles to hack? Too far?

[Sparkles]

Normally my 'normal' hacks are far more than 8 miles each time...however, am going back home for the xmas and new year holidays and was thinking about going to my old yard for a lesson, though have no transport so would have to hack there if I did. It's 8 miles one way to there. Horse is fairly fit TB who's been hunting etc. I could possibly stop and give him a rest for a bit there etc and make a day of it over there.

Would you do it?

 

[YorksG]

The biggest problem I can see is that the daylight goes so quickly in the afternoon, which might mean that you would have to travel home a bit more quickly than you would choose to do with a horse that had had a fairly strenuouse lesson

 

[Rose Folly]

I think its a bit much, both horse energy-wise and light-wise. A 16 mile hack on a fit horse is fine, a lesson is fine. But combine them both, on a winter's day, and I think you're asking quite a bit of your horse. And if anything goes wrong on the way home (loose/lost shoe, slight lameness, whatever, you're up the creek without a paddle). Also, you'd need to check that your old school would be willing to give you a box to bait and rest the horse in for at least an hour after the lesson. and probably a bit of a breather before as well. You've only got 9 hours proper daylight max at this time of year too. Personally, I'd be giving the lesson a miss and just enjoy some good long hacks.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I have to agree above.
It takes me 2 hours to do 8 miles. Add in 1 hour lesson and at least an hours rest between hack to place and lesson and again 1 hour between lesson and hack home.

= 7 hours and its cutting it really fine for it being dark.

your other option if viable is to hack there one ay and have a lesson. Stable him overnight and then maybe have a lesson second day as well or just hack home on second day.

 

[Merry Crisis]

Used to hack about 8 miles to meets, hunt and hack back again years ago. Horses were fit and fed for the job.

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

I think its a bit much, both horse energy-wise and light-wise. A 16 mile hack on a fit horse is fine, a lesson is fine. But combine them both, on a winter's day, and I think you're asking quite a bit of your horse. And if anything goes wrong on the way home (loose/lost shoe, slight lameness, whatever, you're up the creek without a paddle). Also, you'd need to check that your old school would be willing to give you a box to bait and rest the horse in for at least an hour after the lesson. and probably a bit of a breather before as well. You've only got 9 hours proper daylight max at this time of year too. Personally, I'd be giving the lesson a miss and just enjoy some good long hacks.

I have to agree with this. 16 miles plus a lesson for a fit horse even seems rather alot. And you will be against the clock with the lack of daylight hours. I would not do it

 

[monkeybum13]

Posted twice.

 

[monkeybum13]

Personally would I do it? Possibly, I have a very fit horse who could go all day.
Personally I would like to hack a lot more the rallies etc but some of the roads are not worth the risk where I am.

Depends how much time you have in the day and is there much road work? Bearing in mind roads can get icey/slippy this time of the year.

 

[mystiandsunny]

Depends on how fit your horse is, and the ground from you to the other yard. I'll hack that far to a show, but we can go at 6mph on average incl the brideways and verges when the weather is right (so lots of trot and canter off-road, combined with smart speedy walking on the roads) and thus it only takes about an hour and 20mins. So I'll set off at 8am, be there by half 9, have a half hour snooze before the class, then be home by 12 noon. Plenty of light and horses who are still going and happy to do so all the way home. Thing is though, mine are fit enough for that...

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

If you have the daylight hours and time fora breather before and after lesson then why not? 4 miles is an hours ambling hack... so 2hours there.... a rest etc.... you ask much more when you go hunting and people forget a horse travelling in a box is very very tiring and they wouldn't think twice! half an hour in a box is the equiv. of a long hack isnt it!

Tis a horse!! and a fit hunting horse at that!

People often stay out for 5 hours hunting and thats not ambling! + boxing on top!

 

[Lu1]

I'd ask if you could stable overnight..otherwise you would be pushing it timewise before it gets dark

 

[Tnavas]

An 8 mile ride is nothing should take no more than 1 hour at a steady trot. The hunters would do that every day purely for exercise.

Allow an hours rest once you get there and then go straight home after and you should be fine.

 

[Tammytoo]

I would be concerned about running out of daylight on the hack home. Could your horse stay overnight and be hacked home next day? They say that 20 minutes schooling/lesson is the equivalent of an hour's hack, so your horse may need a good rest before setting off home.

 

[Jazzy B]

depends on how fit your horse is, and what time your lesson is, personally, if I had a mid morning lesson, I wouldn't think twice about hacking my horse that far and having a lesson. When I was younger I used to hack my pony to hunter trials do a couple of classes and hack back she may have had the next day off but it was never a problem.

 

[Mince Pie]

Used to hack about 8 miles to meets, hunt and hack back again years ago. Horses were fit and fed for the job.

Agree, OP says the horse has hunted and would have done more strenuous exercise in a days hunting!

 

[Sparkles]

Thanks for the feedback! He's fit as a flea and been used to go drag hunting on this year. He's schooled once or twice a week, then the rest is hacking for 2 hours at least most the time. Regarding shoes being pulled etc - he's not shod so chance of that happening luckily. The 8 miles are a mixture of flat fields and roads, no hillwork. I've hacked that way before and normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour one way. Lesson would be 45 minutes and I'd try an aim to have a mid morning one, stick around a bit after, and then hack about early afternoon.

I couldn't leave there overnight as wouldn't have any rugs/feed/etc for him with me plus have no transport for myself I'm afraid.

So far split half and half....I shall see what the weather is like at the time and go from there I think!

 

[JFTDWS]

I've hacked further to compete. If the horse is fit, 8 miles really shouldn't take long - no more than an hour at a steady, forward pace, surely? Provided you leave plenty of time (i.e. don't start an hour lesson at 2pm!) I don't see why it wouldn't be easily do-able.

 

[dominobrown]

My event horse can walk 7 miles in an hour and quarter, pointers will walk it in an hour. I am sorry, but I disagree with a lot of you, 8 miles is not that for a horse, especially a fit horse, which could easily travel 20+ miles a day, proper endurance horses go way more than that.
What I would do is... go a bit high viz crazy, and use a high viz exercise sheet, if your horse is getting too hot fold it back and sit on it, securing the sides under your stirrup leathers. Walk for most of the way and have a couple of short trots in the latter stages so by the time you come for your lessons your horse is more or less fully warmed up, you can also play with some long and low etc on the hack, so by the time you get there your horse is ready to go. (I would take exercise sheet off for lesson)
coming back, let your horse walk quietly on a loose rein for a bit, with the exercise sheet back on, but if very hot and sweaty fold it up, after about 15 mins your horse should of started to cool off so put exericise sheet back down. I wouldn't trot the last couple of miles, so if you time it right you will arrive home with a nice dry cooled off horse.

 

[4x4]

I agree with Merry Crisis!

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

My event horse can walk 7 miles in an hour and quarter, pointers will walk it in an hour. I am sorry, but I disagree with a lot of you, 8 miles is not that for a horse, especially a fit horse, which could easily travel 20+ miles a day, proper endurance horses go way more than that.
What I would do is... go a bit high viz crazy, and use a high viz exercise sheet, if your horse is getting too hot fold it back and sit on it, securing the sides under your stirrup leathers. Walk for most of the way and have a couple of short trots in the latter stages so by the time you come for your lessons your horse is more or less fully warmed up, you can also play with some long and low etc on the hack, so by the time you get there your horse is ready to go. (I would take exercise sheet off for lesson)
coming back, let your horse walk quietly on a loose rein for a bit, with the exercise sheet back on, but if very hot and sweaty fold it up, after about 15 mins your horse should of started to cool off so put exericise sheet back down. I wouldn't trot the last couple of miles, so if you time it right you will arrive home with a nice dry cooled off horse.

Totally agree!!!!

 

[Pale Rider]

My event horse can walk 7 miles in an hour and quarter, pointers will walk it in an hour. I am sorry, but I disagree with a lot of you, 8 miles is not that for a horse, especially a fit horse, which could easily travel 20+ miles a day, proper endurance horses go way more than that.
What I would do is... go a bit high viz crazy, and use a high viz exercise sheet, if your horse is getting too hot fold it back and sit on it, securing the sides under your stirrup leathers. Walk for most of the way and have a couple of short trots in the latter stages so by the time you come for your lessons your horse is more or less fully warmed up, you can also play with some long and low etc on the hack, so by the time you get there your horse is ready to go. (I would take exercise sheet off for lesson)
coming back, let your horse walk quietly on a loose rein for a bit, with the exercise sheet back on, but if very hot and sweaty fold it up, after about 15 mins your horse should of started to cool off so put exericise sheet back down. I wouldn't trot the last couple of miles, so if you time it right you will arrive home with a nice dry cooled off horse.

^^agree^^

 

[spookypony]

I'd totally do it.

As dominobrown suggests, I'd take it fairly easy on the way there, and crank up the tempo over the last mile or two, with some quick transitions thrown in. Just make sure everyone knows when to expect you where, and have your mobile and whatever emergency things you'd usually take on a long hack!

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

I don't have any transport so this summer, I decided to hack the 7 miles to the nearest local show. My horse is a 15 year old TB and she was perfectly fine doing the 14 mile round trip + showing all day. We did this all through the summer and won or placed very well in everything so it didn't have any negative affect, in fact, the judges remarked how well and fit my mare was!
My lovely photo to the left, was taken after hacking 6 miles to another local show.

If you plan for your lesson to be mid day, about 11 or 12, that will give you enough daylight in the morning to get there and enough in the afternoon. Also wear lots of hi-viz to be on the safe side in case it's a dark cloudy day.

 

[JenHunt]

if he's hunting fit(ish) then I see no problem with it - especially if you are able to make a day of it!

set of early, let him have a half hour or an hour of rest before your lesson, left him have a bit of time after and then hack home. wear plenty of hi vis for the hacking, and take a phone and a set of bicycle lights and have a good day!

 

[Rose Folly]

I think I've been showing my total ignorance here.

I quite agree on the hunting and LDR side. I hunted for years and we expected our horses to do up to 60 miles per day, and likewise for endurance.

But I've never ever schooled in my life. The way my schooling friends talk makes it appear that your horse should be really fresh and alert for it (the stuff they do sounds quite demanding) and that an 8-mile trot/canter to the venue might take them over that 'up for it' state of mind. Anyway, let us know what you decided to do.

 

[EstherYoung]

Thanks for the feedback! He's fit as a flea and been used to go drag hunting on this year. He's schooled once or twice a week, then the rest is hacking for 2 hours at least most the time. Regarding shoes being pulled etc - he's not shod so chance of that happening luckily. The 8 miles are a mixture of flat fields and roads, no hillwork. I've hacked that way before and normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour one way. Lesson would be 45 minutes and I'd try an aim to have a mid morning one, stick around a bit after, and then hack about early afternoon.

I couldn't leave there overnight as wouldn't have any rugs/feed/etc for him with me plus have no transport for myself I'm afraid.

So far split half and half....I shall see what the weather is like at the time and go from there I think!

In that case, go for it. The things that would slow you down are a) getting lost (which isn't going to happen if you know where you're going) and b) rocky going that would make you have to walk the whole way. 8 miles on good going isn't a long way, particularly not for a fit horse.

I think you do right looking at the weather forecast though - if you have to wait around anywhere it's no fun if it's peeing it down.

 

[Moggy in Manolos]

Perhaps I am too soft then, really does depend on what the horse is used to i suppose. My old girl could be as fit as a fiddle but I would not do such a long round trip plus a lesson, but that is just me. I tend to prefer heavier set and heavier coated animal whom are not bred for endurance as such (though pretty capable ofcourse before anyone thinks I am saying they are not good at it) but arabs are built for endurance and hence dominate the sport.

Anyway, it seems that alot of people do alot of mileage with their horses including hard work, I did not think about a hunting scenario, probably because it is not something I have ever done...

As others have said, I think it would be nice to allow your horse a break inbetween the hack and lesson

 

[DragonSlayer]

The only worry I would have would be the getting dark factor.

If your horse is fit I see no worries.

I used to hack 10 miles to a show as a kid, do about 2 jumping classes, and all the games, then hack home again!

Those were the days when you fed your horses straights, rode them every minute you could, and didn't worry if other people were thinking you were cruel..

I used to hack about 6-7 miles to the hunt meet, then hunt most of the day and come home again the same distance. We never worried about such things then, the horses and ponies were always fit enough!

If you could get going early, have lesson...then come home again PROVIDING you think your horse is fit enough, then I wouldn't worry.