B_2_B
Well-Known Member
never hack on roads but we have the luxury of a great expanse of woods to ride through as opposed to the roads.
Do you think it is acceptable never to hack out on the roads?
- Thread starter ReefurG
- Start date
MagicMelon
Well-Known Member
I dont hack at all. I very occassionally try to take out one of mine because he's still young and I feel I should as part of his education! But I never take out my other horse - he used to be ok to hack but once spooked at some cows, bolted through a barbed wire fence with me and shredded himself nicely so has had a phobia of them every since. I tried to get him over it, but soon after he spooked again and bolted flat out along the road without me. Too dangerous. So I just school. He is fit enough for eventing and BSJA etc. so its not really an issue.
I think its nice if a horse hacks out calmly on roads, but nowadays its dangerous. It never used to be! I remember thinking nothing of pootling along the roads on my own when I was 10! Hate it now!
I think its nice if a horse hacks out calmly on roads, but nowadays its dangerous. It never used to be! I remember thinking nothing of pootling along the roads on my own when I was 10! Hate it now!
JessPickle
Well-Known Member
Well I dont ride on roads, because its near impossible to find a road!!! We have all off road hacking, there is a small lane at the bottom of some hacking but the surface is awful. Aprt from that it would take over 3 hours to do roadwork!
grandmaweloveyou
Well-Known Member
i hack anywhere anytime anyplace but we have a few owners at the yard that never even get their horses out of the field and it just amazes me.
PeterNatt
Well-Known Member
I very much appreciate that there are dangers in riding out on the roads however horses need to be hacked out. It is good for their bodies and minds.
I find it quite strange that people spend a fortune on getting their horses trained in the various equine disciplines but do not put any effort in to training them to behave on the roads. The same goes for riders who should at the very least take their BHS Road Safety Course and Test.
When purchasing a horse I believe one should buy a horse that is going to cope with it's environment. If the yard is on a road then the horse should be able to cope with traffic etc.
When I kept my horse in London the only choice for us was road work and it never did us any harm.
One can minimise the risks by rearing Hi-Viz and never riding out in the dark or when their is bright low sunshine which can blind drivers. Also avoid riding on the roads when their surfaces are wet.
I find it quite strange that people spend a fortune on getting their horses trained in the various equine disciplines but do not put any effort in to training them to behave on the roads. The same goes for riders who should at the very least take their BHS Road Safety Course and Test.
When purchasing a horse I believe one should buy a horse that is going to cope with it's environment. If the yard is on a road then the horse should be able to cope with traffic etc.
When I kept my horse in London the only choice for us was road work and it never did us any harm.
One can minimise the risks by rearing Hi-Viz and never riding out in the dark or when their is bright low sunshine which can blind drivers. Also avoid riding on the roads when their surfaces are wet.
rara007
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
It is good for their bodies and minds.
Are you sure on that!?!?
What part of their body is it good for? People argue it is bad for their legs, and you can do fitness work elsewear.
Mind- No good for their minds if they turn themselves inside out and freak when they see a lorry, and not better for their minds than hacking around the fields, or off-road.
It is good for their bodies and minds.
Are you sure on that!?!?
What part of their body is it good for? People argue it is bad for their legs, and you can do fitness work elsewear.
Mind- No good for their minds if they turn themselves inside out and freak when they see a lorry, and not better for their minds than hacking around the fields, or off-road.
SAMgirl
Well-Known Member
Hi!
I agree with you that you have to take your facillities/location into consideration - this can be the deciding factor as to what you need from a horse.
I hack my horse out occassionally (mainly just for variety), but avoid going on roads (stick to paths and off road), not because he is spooky - he's actually too confident! He sometimes feels like he's going to try and double barrell the cars! I have also had a stallion which was exactly the same way out. Hence I do not like hacking him on the roads (i like xc and the beach etc) but we don't have to, so i won;t! lol
I would much rather ride a horse that goes ballistic when you turn into an open field, than one that is stupid near cars!
I agree with you that you have to take your facillities/location into consideration - this can be the deciding factor as to what you need from a horse.
I hack my horse out occassionally (mainly just for variety), but avoid going on roads (stick to paths and off road), not because he is spooky - he's actually too confident! He sometimes feels like he's going to try and double barrell the cars! I have also had a stallion which was exactly the same way out. Hence I do not like hacking him on the roads (i like xc and the beach etc) but we don't have to, so i won;t! lol
I would much rather ride a horse that goes ballistic when you turn into an open field, than one that is stupid near cars!
Seahorse
Well-Known Member
The roads around my yard are awful, every time I go out we have at least one near miss.
Needless to say we avoid them wherever possible.
I'm moving to Halfpass's yard next week and we can get straight up onto the downs with no roads!!! Yay I can't wait
Needless to say we avoid them wherever possible.
I'm moving to Halfpass's yard next week and we can get straight up onto the downs with no roads!!! Yay I can't wait
Stella
Well-Known Member
I realise this is considered heresy by many in the equestrian community, but I don't like hacking, especailly on the roads, but I'm not a fan period, so we don't do it. My mare lives out day and night (day in one field, night in a different one) and actually enjoys her flatwork and competing (which is all we do)
She is fit for the work she does, because her fitness is built by doing it! and she is a very content girl. As for roads, she has galloped full pelt through traffic when something scared her (fortunately I wasn't riding her as I may not have stayed on as well as the woman who was riding and God knows what would have become of me and her without a rider). She has spun and tried to bugger off in front of vehicles when scared. I was hacking her with only a small amount of roadwork when a loose horse galloped into us as we were approaching said road, and she went to run for home. I was knocked off by the impact and my mare made her way over and up the road to the yard alone - safely thank god.
Not worth the risks anymore to me. If I loved hacking like so many others seem to, maybe I'd persevere, but since we are both happy not doing it, we're not going to anymore.
She is fit for the work she does, because her fitness is built by doing it! and she is a very content girl. As for roads, she has galloped full pelt through traffic when something scared her (fortunately I wasn't riding her as I may not have stayed on as well as the woman who was riding and God knows what would have become of me and her without a rider). She has spun and tried to bugger off in front of vehicles when scared. I was hacking her with only a small amount of roadwork when a loose horse galloped into us as we were approaching said road, and she went to run for home. I was knocked off by the impact and my mare made her way over and up the road to the yard alone - safely thank god.
Not worth the risks anymore to me. If I loved hacking like so many others seem to, maybe I'd persevere, but since we are both happy not doing it, we're not going to anymore.
PeterNatt
Well-Known Member
In reply to rara007's comments.
Having owned a horse from age 8 for 18 years which was only ridden on the raods of London I can assure you that it did no damage to it's legs as he remained sound until his last day and only suffered from about 5 days of lameness in his entire working life with me.
In fact a horse ridden on the roads will have tuffer legs than that spending most of it's time ridden on the soft surface of a menage.
A horse that is happy to be ridden in traffic has another life skill. I would agree that todays motorists are driving more powerfull vehicles at greater speeds and are less understanding of horses. However I would estimate that a good 40% of accidents involving horses on the roads is as a result of them being ridden in bright and low sunshine which blinds the drivers vision. I would re-state that riders should spend more time learning the skills to ride on the roads and on training their horses to be ridden on the roads and a little less time spent in the confines of a menage.
Riding off road is obviously the ultimate solution but very few horse riders have direct access to a large enough network of off road riding tracks.
I have seen far too many horses that are not regularly excercised enough and by that I mean gently hacked out. Horses should not be scared of being ridden out on the roads and in the vast majority of cases where they are this is because they where not educated at a younger age.
Having owned a horse from age 8 for 18 years which was only ridden on the raods of London I can assure you that it did no damage to it's legs as he remained sound until his last day and only suffered from about 5 days of lameness in his entire working life with me.
In fact a horse ridden on the roads will have tuffer legs than that spending most of it's time ridden on the soft surface of a menage.
A horse that is happy to be ridden in traffic has another life skill. I would agree that todays motorists are driving more powerfull vehicles at greater speeds and are less understanding of horses. However I would estimate that a good 40% of accidents involving horses on the roads is as a result of them being ridden in bright and low sunshine which blinds the drivers vision. I would re-state that riders should spend more time learning the skills to ride on the roads and on training their horses to be ridden on the roads and a little less time spent in the confines of a menage.
Riding off road is obviously the ultimate solution but very few horse riders have direct access to a large enough network of off road riding tracks.
I have seen far too many horses that are not regularly excercised enough and by that I mean gently hacked out. Horses should not be scared of being ridden out on the roads and in the vast majority of cases where they are this is because they where not educated at a younger age.
ISHmad
Well-Known Member
We ride round a local village, hi viz'd to the eyeballs. But I won't go on all the country lanes near us. Too many boy racers using them as speed track, racing round blind bends, over hump back bridges and the like...
My horses are too precious to me to be killed by a lunatic.
So we either go down a track from our yard, or box up to go to lots of local bridleways. Still wear hi viz just in case we come off, but not quite as much as we wear round the village.
My horses are too precious to me to be killed by a lunatic.
So we either go down a track from our yard, or box up to go to lots of local bridleways. Still wear hi viz just in case we come off, but not quite as much as we wear round the village.
Grumpy Herbert
Well-Known Member
I agree that in an ideal world we would all hack out on the roads to get our horses used to all sorts of traffic from an early age. I was able to do this with one of my horses, and she is happy to go past pretty much anything. However, having moved to a less horse friendly part of the country, I wouldn't venture out now. I walked out with a friend when she was trying to get her youngster used to hacking on the road, and each time she was out there was an incident with a driver, including one time when her horse was hit (thankfully she wasn't injured). Until drivers accept that horses have as much right to be on the roads as they do, drive sensibly and courteously past them and wait if there's a problem, then I feel it is too dangerous to hack out.
OWLIE185
Well-Known Member
I would never ask anyone to put themselves in danger but
If horses hack out regularly on local roads at sensible times then motorists get used to seeing them.
I also found when hacking in London that it also gave members of the public the opportunity of seeing horses and talking to me as you would be amazed how divorced people are from horses these days and how ignorant they are about them. You would be amazed at the questions I got asked.
Once one starts talking to people in a civil manner most of them respond very positively when meeting horses on future occasions.
As horseriders we are in many ways divorcing our selves from the public and riding out does help.
If horses hack out regularly on local roads at sensible times then motorists get used to seeing them.
I also found when hacking in London that it also gave members of the public the opportunity of seeing horses and talking to me as you would be amazed how divorced people are from horses these days and how ignorant they are about them. You would be amazed at the questions I got asked.
Once one starts talking to people in a civil manner most of them respond very positively when meeting horses on future occasions.
As horseriders we are in many ways divorcing our selves from the public and riding out does help.
__Annie__
Well-Known Member
I soooooo prefer off road hacking
Just a shame not all drivers have my mares good road sense
Just a shame not all drivers have my mares good road sense