do you hack?

charlie76

charlie76

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 March 2006
Messages
4,665
Visit site
Just come back from hacking my boys and I Think we are both mote stressed than ever!
The roads by us are so busy you are dicing with death and the woods are thick mud and full of dog walkers with no control.
Seriously contemplating not hacking my horses but I feel it mean.
If you don't hack how to you keep them interested and do You think it makes them more spooky to take out and compete?
They have turn out daily unless the weather is foul.
 
I do nothing but hack atm. I'm supposed to do 30mins in walk as much as possible, but horse not so keen on the just walking bit!

Is it windy near you, probably not helping today :)
 
We're really lucky - very little roadwork (you don't actually have to do any), sandy soil one side, little bit of mud in places the other. Dogs, well, you get stupid people everywhere.
 
I hack but only because the roads are really quite (bar the first 500yds which is quite a fast lane)
I don't actually mind hacking because mine are saints in traffic *touches wood* and I like to go for a good canter round the fields, and it is so good for their fitness. My one boy goes so stale if he doesn't get hacked out!
 
I don't have a choice unless I box somewhere, unfortunately the majority of our drivers have become spectacularly stupid over the last 10 years.
 
Yes I hack, less during the winter (at least once a week, usually twice) and a bit more in the summer (2-3 times).

Current horse is a saint to hack, whatever the weather, traffic etc.
Previous horses have had different quirks but all have regularly hacked and been generally good/safe (bar the odd nap/spin/buck/spook).

I personally wouldn't have a horse that didn't hack, I'm not a 'happy hacker' by any means but do enjoy the odd hack, especially when ground is good for a canter/jump, I think it gives the horses a good mental break, helps with base fitness and balance etc.
 
Yep I hack, once or twice a week in the winter, and 4 times+ in the summer! We are very lucky as don't have to do any road work, so hack around farm land. I feel it's really important for balance, fitness and leg conditioning, and try to do a fair bit of hill work where possible :) My mare used to be a bit of a live wire out hacking, but has got a lot better, and is now lovely to hack on.
 
I hack Millie less now she is not eventing.

She probably goes once every 7-10 days, mostly all off road.

She can be really sharp to hack and does not seem to get sour when schooling (schools about 4 x a week).

I do like to take her for a good canter every 4 weeks or so and she is turned out all day, every day.

It doesn't seem to have made her more or less spooky at venues when competing.


Vinnie hacks 99% of the time, when he is working to make him bolder and get him used to be in unknown territory for eventing.
 
I don't hack in winter, Jack is really spooky and excitable, if i keep on top of his hacking 2-3 times a week then he is fine but in the winter this isn't possible as I work full time. I am usually competing most weekends and I don't like to hack the day before as it winds him up so unfortunately this means I can't hack in winter. I would love to be able to hack out all winter I think its really good for them but it just isn't worth the risk for me. When spring comes I will enjoy taking him out again although the first hack is usually a bit hairy!! It makes no difference to him at all when I go to a show he is no more excited if he hasn't been out hacking. He is more fresh at shows in winter but I think its due to the cold weather, in the heat he can't be bothered to waste energy.
 
I cover myself and the horse in every piece of reflective/hi viz clothing I can find and venture out. Roads round us are busy - we are on the edge of a village close to a big town and as soon as they are outside the billiage limits drivers seem to view the derestriction signs as an order not a limit!!
 
rhino said:
Hack out pretty much daily, helps that stables are in a 46,000 private estate so you can be out all day without seeing a road!
Click to expand...

That sounds like my dream! I have one that hacks out a lot, but the other has never been a happy hacker and despite the best efforts of behavioural specialists will only go out happily with at least two other horses. She really doesn't enjoy hacking on her own or with just one horse and will come back drenched in sweat, heart racing. I feel bad that she doesn't do more (difficult to arrange two other people for hacks), but she seems just as happy not going. I make sure she has plenty of turnout, we do free work (tricks etc.), spookbusting sessions, polework, lungeing, treadmill, walker and competitions, so it's rare that she'll go in the school two days in a row.
 
We box out twice a week, or go hacking once and hunting once.

I think it's really important that they get a variety of work. One of the horses is a 15yr old advanced dressage stallion ( should I mention that he's barefoot too ;)) and he goes hacking/hunting just the same as the others.
 
nope! our yard is straight onto a bend and a 60mph road.... combine that with a rather spooky horse and that would be a total disaster.

So no. I dont hack - i plan to get her out next year (spring) tho


but in answer to your question OP - yes.... shes VERY spooky when taken out, but nothing dangerous!!, just reversing :D but nothing thats un-sittable! however id rather put with this and have to hire more places etc than risk it on the roads!!! really not worth it!

:)
 
Yes I do with mine. Usually 1-2 a week in winter at weekends with a third 20 min walk round the village after a schooling session in the week.
If I can't get him out hacking for whatever reason then I at least take him round some big fields we have at the farm for a wander or a canter somewhere different than the school. I often school in the big fields as well which has helped our dressage eventing massively.

I know why you mean though sometimes out hacking it can feel like everything is going on! We have been nearly attached by vicious dogs, knocked into by cars going too fast, rode past a house being demolished, the road being dug up with a drill ect ect. I wouldn't say my horse is a perfect hack, he's a young TB so we do have the odd hairy moment but he is pretty good most of the
time and he does really enjoy it.
We try and do a longer hack (2hrs plus) everynow and again even in winter just to keep them sane.
I hack more in company than I do alone as my horse is sharper alone but I still hack him alone regularly as well.
I do think hacking is very important especially for horses that are used for XC or jumping on different surfaces. Also I like hacking!! Some of my best memories are out hacking my horse.

If I had a dressage horse that was a very good BD horse and that was it's sole job or a really quirky SJer that all it really does is jump, jump, jump and the horse was really horrid to hack maybe I wouldn't. We've had dressage horses on my yard that have reared out hacking and been horrible so the owners just take them round the village once a week behind a safe escort and that's it. I don't see anything wrong with that if the horse is happy which usually they are! I don't think affects them a dressage comps as it's just more of what they are used too, safe arenas with other horses about.

I used to keep my horse next to an int SJer yard and they hacked out all their nutty showjumpers. I would come across them frequently, horse would be spinning or rearing and the grooms would be riding with no hat and chatting on the phone! Beautiful riders, they didn't care, they just sat there on their phones waited until the horse stopped doing whatever airs above the ground they were doing and just carried on! It did make me chuckle but they did only ride in tracks around the field and a lane which was very quiet :).
 
We hack, but I can't say I enjoy it. The road in front of my house could theoretically be quite nice to hack down, but unfortunately people drive like ****s.

I used to hack 2 days during the week & a long one at the w'end when mine lived on my grandad's farm, where I had loads of offroad hacking. I think I would hack more if I could get straight out without going a mile up a fast road.

I would prefer not to bother as I always feel that I'm dicing with death, & we only venture out in full hi-viz & with o/h in front on his bike, but I would feel bad about Trev never leaving the school. Esp since I am currently transportless so we don't even get the variation of lessons & comps.

I am always pleased to make it back alive.
 
I increasingly enjoy hacking as I become more decrepit and less competitive. We have some great hacks, we still have to run the gauntlett in places, with moronic drivers and dogs throwing themselves at the horses as we ride past - but I would move if I couldn't hack. (I appreciate not everyone has that luxury)
 
I do hack but luckily it's off road

It's only this past year I've had a yard with off road hacking tho and I've had my fair share of horrible encounters with people just not thinking :( I've always had to do it though cos I've always had a horse that needed the variety, I just religiously decked myself and the horse out in hi viz
 
Yes! I enjoy hacking much more than schooling at home, I find it hard to concentrate and put 100% effort in if not having a lesson! :o In the summer I hack much more than I school, probably about 4 times a week with competition/lessons at weekends and one schooling session through the week if dressage test on the horizon.

In the winter I am stuck to only hacking at weekends due to lack of daylight and it is rubbish. :( My hacking is a mix of on-road and off-road, mostly quiet roads but one busy national speed limit road where you will get the odd idiot zooming past too fast plus buses etc. Hopalong is keen although mostly well behaved to hack both alone and in company. We have a good few places that are suitable for fast work which is essential for me to get her/keep her fit for competing. :)

ETA- we go out looking like a hi-viz Christmas tree with saddlecloth or exercise sheet, boots and breastplate for her plus vest or jacket for me and a wee flashing red light on the back of my hat! :) No excuses for not seeing us. ;) We are lucky that most drivers are pretty good, the bad ones tend to be the exception.
 
Yes, am fortunate that a lot of off road hacking. The roads we do have to go on are country lanes but do get used by some artics that go to various farms and industrial units.

Horse is good to hack. I like to canter him through the fields to try to give him the opportunity canter more forwards though sometimes I do wonder if the giraffe impression whilst cantering is beneficial to his flat work.

Do tend to work on the basis that whatever he meets out hacking is less scary than a lot of the things he meets on the county show circuit and vice versa the hacking out keeps him seeing things so helps the showing.

Last yard I was at, had a horrid experience with a boy racer nearly taking out two of us on a corner. If he met a lorry round the corner it would have definitely ended badly
 
I feel your pain - I do hack, but as little as possible.

I don't have to go on roads luckily, but I do think it is good for them, probably go out once a week.
 
We have pretty pants hacking, our lane is supposed to be gated, however the gate is now welded open (by the council, why the bothered gating the lane in the first place I have no idea!!) and everyone uses it as a short cut. It is also part of the national cycle route and we get herds of rude, arrogant cyclists sneaking up behind you and scaring the beejesus out of the horses! Plus there is the Clay Shoot that operate 5ft from the road!
Then the other way is busy-ish roads and no bridlepaths for miles!

However I hack at least once a week :D Mally is a daft loon at times but she is pretty much bomb-proof (certainly bike, speeding car and gunshot proof anyway!). I don't think going round the school everyday is good for their bodies, even if their brains don't mind! :D
 
I hack but this time of year its twice a week max. There isn't great hacking where I am as like you it means going on very busy roads which I don't feel safe to ride on in order to get on the really nice rides. I am very fortunate though as we have our own fields just down the road that we can use so I can pop in there for a nice safe plod or go a bit faster if the mood takes me.

I tend to keep hacking to a minimum in winter and then get back into it a bit more in the summer when the weather is better and i'm not having to rush around before it gets dark. My horse also tends to be a bit of a monkey hacking in winter and is an absolute gem in summer so thats another reason for not hacking so much over the winter. I think its nice for them to unwind though and I do enjoy a hack. Though if you feel it unsafe to do so then I would put a stop to it. Or maybe try hacking at a different time? See if theres less dog walkers about at set times maybe?
 
Unless a horse needs to be fit enough to event/hunt/compete, I don't feel hacking is vital - as long as the horse has plenty of turn-out.

It seems that a lot of people think hacking is as important for the horses state of mind/relaxation than it is for fitness, but I've always kept mine out as much as possible (24/7 with free access to a stable is my preference) so relaxation has never been a problem - quite the opposite in fact!

I don't enjoy hacking particularly - many years of doing hours of roadwork to get eventers fit rather took the fun out of it for me. I like the occasional blast, but I'm really not bothered about doing it regularly. The horses can let off steam in the field if they're that way inclined, and I can spend my precious hour playing poncy dressage games in the school.
 
All ours hack regularly, but we are lucky to have this sort of hacking country on our doorstep:

DSC_0655.jpg


I think it definitely help them adapt to the unexpected when competing, and helps keep ours sweet - my daughter's horse particulary would get fed up if he was schooled everyday (despite the fact that he lives out most of the time)!
 
brighthair said:
of a fashion.... I hate it at the moment, used to really enjoy it but whilst I'm getting over my nerves in the school, hacking is another thing!
I tend to spend the whole hack in foetal position clinging on for dear life and am happy when I get back home ;-)
Click to expand...

Sounds like me! My pony gets hacked 3 times a week, by a wonderful girl on the yard, but I am yet to venture out. I have owned him 7 weeks, and I am planning on going out for a short hack tomorrow with someone walking, and just hacking as and when I feel like it.
I don't feel pressure though, as I know he is getting hacked regularly :) I can only ride in the evenings anyway, so it's the best solution, and means I can hack IF I want to, not because I need to.
 
TGM said:
All ours hack regularly, but we are lucky to have this sort of hacking country on our doorstep:

DSC_0655.jpg


I think it definitely help them adapt to the unexpected when competing, and helps keep ours sweet - my daughter's horse particulary would get fed up if he was schooled everyday (despite the fact that he lives out most of the time)!
Click to expand...

I think I would be more enthused about hacking if mine looked like that! I should have said that I was thinking about the roads/manky bridlepaths that most of us have to put up with!!
 
There is no school at our yard and we only get two days turnout a week (weather permitting) so I have to hack out every day in all weathers. I actually go out with someone in the winter months as for me it is the safest option. Wish we had a school to ride in or lunge for the really nasty weather days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top