Do you box your horse to hack out?

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Patchworkpony

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Just curious - how many of you put your horse or pony in a trailer or lorry to hack out somewhere safe? Or do you just brave busy roads and hope for the best?
 
Not necessarily to go somewhere safe, but I do like to box up to hack out in different places & also to get a good 3rd gear.

I am very lucky that I do have hacking straight out of the yard, but being so close to a town its full of dog walkers & cyclists (nothing against them!) but it does mean that unless I am out there around 6 in the morning, I am usually restricted to walk & trot only across the commons.
 
If I want to go off road I have to box up & go at least 6 miles. Groan !! Our roads are fairly quiet here but cantering/galloping I have to travel for.
 
We box up to get a good hack. There is a large forest which is great for hacking about 15 mins away. we can do short hacks from home but the forest is far better if you want to ride for a few hours. We are in a routine for going now so it is not really a hassle.
 
We have hacking on site, As in we have a lot of fields to hack in, and we also are straight on bridle ways with some road work in between, but we do also box to go different places. We have always been stabled in a different area to where we are now & have been for the past 3 years. Unfortunately my favourite hacking is where I used to be stabled but unfortunately yards in that area don't offer all year turnout so we're closer to home now with hacking but it's not the best.
 
Merlin how often do you box up to your forest?

Your right it is all about routine, I need to make more of an effort to get mine out to better hacking!
 
Used to box up twice a week until we moved yards . Now only if we want to do a specific ride . It took an extra 2 hours to fetch trailer , go to yard , drive out , hack etc so it saves a massive amount of time and is worth the higher prices we pay for great riding
 
My friend and I have recently been doing 12-15 mile hacks of a saturday, and my daughter wanted to come on the little pony who has been out of work, so we boxed the pony about 5 miles in, so she didn't have so far to go :-):D Was all off road riding, and we rode them like we stole them, by the time we got home, they were all beaming, so made it worth while the pony could come x
 
Yes. Hate hacking from home as takes 40 mins to an hour to get off roads (although can get onto small lanes in 2 minutes but it's still roadwork which I really don't enjoy due to other road users). Only downside of where we are.

Would love to have off-road hacking on the doorstep, however that would mean other compromises to lifestyle.
 
3Beasties said:
Merlin how often do you box up to your forest?

Your right it is all about routine, I need to make more of an effort to get mine out to better hacking!
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Once or twice a week. OH also rides and drives the trailer which also helps! I just have to get all their stuff organised but am in a routine now so doesn't take much time.
 
We have a small amount of hacking on the farm which is useful when time is right after work but can get dull after a while. We have some hacking on the roads but hardly anyone on my yard hacks out so its difficult to find a hacking buddy. My previous horse was killed in a road accident so prefer not to go out solo since that happened. So sometimes just for a change of scenery from the farm I will box up and go somewhere off road to make sure my girls get a break from schooling.
 
I box to the beach which is about 4 miles away. Sometimes I ride out from there and box back, sometimes I get dropped off and hack back.
 
We box up a couple of times a month. Can hack from yard and do, but quite a bit of road/lane work before bridleways, whereas can travel about 5 miles and be straight off road.
 
I don't because from my yard I can go through a field straight onto the trans pennine trails and we have a long stretch of canal, I can go miles without touching a road :)
There's a few places I would like to box to but I just don't know where to park.
 
We box 3 miles down the road to hack off-road in gorgeous deer forest/mountain scenery. We travel them tacked up, so once you're in the routine of it, it probably only adds 20 minutes to your hacking time, and it's well worth it. I do wish I could hack out from here but I'm not prepared to risk it on these roads.
 
Yes, at the week-ends generally. That way we enjoy a change of scenery, it expands the horses experiences and it teaches them to enjoy going in the lorry or trailer because there's no pressure or stress at the other end.

We travel them tacked up on the way out, and untacked on the way back.
 
Wonderful number of replies - thank you all so much. I think these days I prefer to box up to go somewhere safe (we are near Dartmoor) than risk the roads or constantly worry about lunatic traffic. Does anyone just ride round their own paddock to keep horses exercised when they can't get out too often? Oh for childhood days when you were lucky if you saw a car an hour!
 
I'm lucky that we don't have to go on busy yards to hack out at our yard. We are surrounded by fields and quiet country lanes! :) It is nice to box up and go for a hack in a different area sometimes though.
 
Yes, I do, bought myself a little 3.5t earlier this year as the roads have become so dangerous near our yard it was really only safe to venture out Sat/Sun mornings before 10am. The yard suits me in all other respects and the next nearest is a good 15 miles each way so lesser of 2 evils cost wise. We now go out at least 3 or 4 times a week to our local woods where there is a lorry park and lots of options for off road hacking with no road work. I tack up when we arrive, fortunately M is quite well behaved and happy to stand tied up with a hay net. He seems to love his trips out as much as I do.
 
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