Do you hack alone?

I always hack alone, I am at my own place with no other horse riders locally so have no choice. I love hacking by myself, I enjoy hacking out with other people too and horse is fine either way, but just dont really have much choice in the matter!
 
I only ever hack alone...nothing better than peace and quiet to do as I please when I please and rely on my own common sense and traffic manners...rather than some other rider causing problems for me and my horse too.
I ride at 5.30am in the summer and there would be no other riders willing to be out at that time around me!!!
My lad was tricky on the roads to begin with and had not seen much traffic, but he soon learn't and is now good for most things...still spooky but at that time in the morning you rarely see much on the roads!
I have tried hacking with others but found it a nightmare with people having no respect for others and wanting to gallop off everywhere or making traffic wait whilst they faf about in the road...not for me! Although I know all riders are not the same!
 
we hack alone a lot of the time mainly beacuse I like me and pony time and like its been said before I like her to depend on me rather than other horses in a state of panic or uncertainty.

Ocassionally I enjoy hacking out with company all depends on how im feeling sometimes its nice to ride out alone and go at your own pace and if you facncy a trot or a gallop you can just do it.
 
Hullabaloo said:
Having hacked with someone from my yard for the first time in ages yesterday I now remember why I usually hack alone!
I like being able to go at the pace I want and for as long as I want and I enjoy the peace and quiet. Also I'm a bit anti-social!
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LOL to the above, I hacked out alone for years now one every so often I hack with a friend.
 
i used to love to hack alone when i was at a yard, however now i have no choice but to hack out alone as i keep him at home and i dont know anyone round here, problem is i dont know wat the new horse is like hacking with company, but he is really rather spooky on his own
:(
 
I've always thought there are more "what ifs" hacking WITH other people.

What if they get hit, how will I manage two horses, helping friend, calling ambulance etc?
What if their horses buggers off with them?
You have the added responsibility of someone else...

:D
 
I love Muffinino's comments! But I am sure you do not smell!
Am another alone person, due to early mornings and the fact that my hacking is my 'me time'. Other people ride far too slowly for my liking. Ocassionally, hubby accompanies me on bike, which i like. Happy hacking peeps!
 
touchstone said:
I do, but I'm not alone, I've got my horse! :D

I enjoy hacking alone, but must admit it's nice to have someone to hack out with sometimes too.
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Haha, when I had a pony on loan when I was 14 I used to come in from the yard and tell my mum "we went here, or we went there..." and she thought I was going out hacking with other kids - when she worked out I meant me and the pony she was worried that I had no friends!!

I hack my boy on his own most of the time as there isn't anyone riding out at the same time as us normally (we did have someone around for his first few hacks). He's only a baby and we have got stuck a couple of times and we had a couple of set backs a couple of weeks ago so we have reverted to our "safe" routes before we tackle the scary route again. Fortunately most of our hacking is off road or on very quiet roads, however to go out for longer than about 45 minutes you have to go through several fields of pigs which are fenced into pens with what I can only describe as electrified cheese wire fencing! We're working on those!! :D
 
I recently bought a Ride Alert package and what they offer is amazing, im not a spooky hacker and always have hacked alone even the first time I ever hacked girilie out was alone but these things are great for extra reassurance, im not so worried about me just about my horse so if she does run off someone will know where to return her to

http://www.ride-alert.co.uk/
 
I hack alone and in company. I love doing both for different reasons, in company it's nice to have someone to talk to (although sometimes we spend so much time gassing that we never break out of walk :o ) but when I'm on my own it's nice just being me and my horse, we go exploring together and generally have a nice peaceful time :)
 
I do, but I prefer to ride with someone, it's just not always possible!

But Ron is good, and is happy to go out on his own and just stroll along until we find somewhere to canter. He can be a bit of a monkey out in company though! I like the fact that he can do just about any gate without me getting off (lazy i know), and I can take him anywhere.
 
I do when I get the chance. Nobody else on my yard likes to hack alone and so if I mention that I'm going out i usually end up attracting a crowd :(

I LOVE hacking alone - even on my spanner of a horse! Sometimes I worry about the 'whatifs,' but they soon fade. When i'm in company i feel pressured to go where they want and what speed they want.

Early morning / late evening summer hacks alone are honestly unbeatable :)
 
Apart from the odd occasion mostly yes when on last yard no one hacked out but looking back was a good thing spent nearly a year hacking for thirty min hacks 40 at most with my three year old was lonely- moved yards and hack out now and then with company which is lovely when we do , but i think that time by ourselves was best it gave me the push to do so-if id bought him and went on a hacking yard i might have had no confidence, and hacked out with people and then maybe not had confidence to go solo
 
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Echo most other people, I hack alone most of the time. There are plenty of people that hack at our yard but I like to set my own pace and decide my own route depending on how my horse feels on the hack. Hate being constrained by time and distance :s plus my horse isn't great in company, she's fine on the roads going away from home. If you hit soft ground or turn to head home she turns into a hell demon. Will try to bite, kick, shoulder barge the lots, which means I spend more than half the hack shouting at her and smacking her :(
 
I've pretty much always hacked alone. I do go out in company but in the evenings after work i just want time on my own to wind down. Plus my new girly is only just coming back into work so we are only walking at the mo. I like going out on my own and exploring though.
 
With my previous horse i 95% of the time hacked alone.
He was a bit of a solitary thing, he would only live on his own, he really liked 1 to 1 contact with humans. If i hacked him with others he just got ridiculously silly and would try and kick, buck out at and barge any other horse. It was hard work.
But i loved hacking alone so it never mattered. We would go out for hours and hours, on the roads, on the common, in the woods. I loved every second of hacking alone with him.

With my new horse....he is a nappy so and so...so i have done a lot of riding out with others. But i do find it hard as alot of the time they only want to go down the road and back. But...fingers crossed things are getting better with my new horse and i am getting him out on his own alot more now. Hopefully by the end of the summer we will be well away and hacking all over the place on our own.

I dont think you can beat a nice evening ride with just you and your horse to unwind and enjoy exploring the countryside.
 
Hullabaloo said:
Having hacked with someone from my yard for the first time in ages yesterday I now remember why I usually hack alone!
I like being able to go at the pace I want and for as long as I want and I enjoy the peace and quiet. Also I'm a bit anti-social!
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Ditto,and there aren't to many other mules around
4thjune10077.jpg
 
I do because no one will get up at 4.30am to go with me. I do ride with OH on a weekend. I enjoy going on my own at that time as there is no traffic and the dog can come as well
 
I mostlly hack with 2 others form my yard but if they aren't there we will go on our own. I love it, I chat away to her and sing songs. She used to be terribly nappy but I just persevered and got off and led her if she stuck, then back on until she stopped again, then rode all the way home. It was better than an argument and both of us getting in a tizz.
Now she is fine and it is a great feeling.
 
No - I usually take my horse with me:D:D:D













sorry if someone has already said that - I haven't read all the posts but couldn't resist:D
 
nickijem said:
No - I usually take my horse with me:D:D:D

sorry if someone has already said that - I haven't read all the posts but couldn't resist:D
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Hahahaha :D

I normally hack out on my own, with horse obv :D but sometimes I go with one of the other liveries or my OH brings the kids and the dog along
 
I havnt done it yet but would like to for the days that there isnt anyone to go with,even if its just a small circit-I go out with 1other and am usually at the front so I dont just follow but think I get alot of confidence just knowing someone else is there. :)
 
Have to as she lives at home and I don't know anyone else around here with horses.

I prefer it though as I would really struggle chatting to someone unless I knew them very well, I'd also panic they were thinking how bad my riding is! :D

I always tell OH were I'm going and have my phone with me just in case.
 
I tend to hack alone 98% of the time, I much prefer it!
I'm able to set my own route, speed and am able to conduct great conversations with my mare (well, myself!) while we're out!
And agreed with fatpiggy, we seem to miss the disasters that other people experience!
I just make sure I always have my mobile phone with me (it has been used before when we were out alone!) :)
Gotta admit though I do enjoy the odd bit of company at times (mainly with the other mare, as Kelly doesn't take kindly to strangers joining us on our journeys!)
 
I hack on my own all the time. I am a plod and feel I hold people back when they ride with me as others tend to want to get in a few trots and canters and I tend to poodle along and if I feel like it I will, if I don't I don't. Archie is fab on his own and in company. I have found when I do ride out with someone, because he is such a plod we get left behind. I also feel, when I ride with someone, that I want to please them rather than please myself.

No, I much prefer just me and my boy, ambling along taking in the scenery, stopping where we want to and at a pace we want.
 
I hack a lot on my own. I hack with my mum once or twice a week and sometime hack with a friend but I hack on my own on average 3-4 times per week. Sometimes for up to three hours at a time! :eek: It's good because I can choose the pace and where we go. Sometimes we explore new bridleways and we have been known to get lost lol but I find hacking on my own really relaxing... it also means I can talk to my pony! :)
 
Over the years I have hacked out alone more than in company by a long way.
I have not done it much for various reasons in the last two years, horse soundness issues, confidence issues and most recently time issues.
I pray that if my horse is going to be ok that I can hack out alone again. It was my plan to do it more again as I always enjoyed it so much, just me and my girl.
I used to prefer it alone, but as I have not done it much I am out of the habit.
 
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