Does anybody NOT want hacking buddies?

R

ridefast

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I feel like a right grinchy person sometimes, but I actually really enjoy riding alone, and I always have people wanting to ride with me! I don't mind the odd ride out in company but I'm much happier alone, I can do what I like and talk nonsense to my pony. Am I a horrible ungrateful person? I know lots of people are desperate to have people to ride with
 
I prefer to ride in company but do a lot on my own. I do get really miffed if someone asks to ride with me, I wait for them fannying about for ages then as we set off they say they've got to be back in an hour. Grrrrrr.
 
Ive only ever ridden aline bar a couple of times. My first hack last year had my bf walking along side but other than that it's been just ne and Red, I love it. Don't have to make conversation and can chat as much as I like to him!

He did decide he was going to join another horse and rider Saturday though, wouldn't relax until he'd caught up with them!
 
At one point I used to go once a week to a forest about twenty minutes by lorry away with one of the horses and my dogs I loved it I don't go now but I did love it .
Generally I hack out with the grooms I prefer that it's safer for them .
 
I prefer going alone ( mum usually cycles with us to keep fit) means I can have a canter when I want, trot when I want etc without having to ask others. We do sometimes go out with a friend who has another sensible cob but I also like going alone.
 
I do quite like hacking with people but I struggle with what others deem acceptable whilst hacking. I've had to stop riding with some people because they feel it's ok to canter on fields because a gate is open etc
 
I don't have anyone to hack with (my best hacking buddy has been constantly poorly :( , get well soon R ) except on a Sunday morning with a happy hacker friend and her old quarter horse who is actually really annoying. Side by side he takes swipes at my boy with his teeth, to the tunes of 'Oh Harry don't do that', she rides on the buckle so he constantly grabs mouthfuls of grass and then as he sometimes jogs she then roars off in trot with his hind feet clapping his toes as he goes. More annoyingly, he doesn't grow any winter coat so is always a lovely smooth golden buckskin and doesn't get sweaty while my little muck magnet is fluffy with growing out clip and is generally pooey coloured somewhere!
 
I like hacking in company, only if I know the people and their horses well. I've allowed myself being talked into hacks with people I really don't know too well before, and those generally turned out to be very poor situations, so I don't do that anymore - better be alone and safe.
 
I really liked hacking with a few people at my old yard. They seemed to know exactly what I was thinking! Where to go, how fast etc...and it was fab, because at that time, Ned couldn't go alone.

Now I have no one. I love going for walks with Mum, especially since Ned can't go too far or fast yet. I have to wait until April/May before my best friend comes home and we can do horsey things together :(
That said...the new manfriend has a horse :D I'm hoping when he's back in a week or so, he'll come and do horsey things with me :D
 
I very rarely ride in company, and just find now that either me or my mare get annoyed by others - either they go too fast, too slow, take to long to tack up, want to fanny around doing something or another lol. So yep - we're better off alone ;)
 
Me, I generally prefer to hack by myself, if not with just my OH. My horsey neighbour can't seem to fathom this though and keeps trying to set me up with hacking buddies, which I always decline. It's not that I DON'T have anyone to hack with if I wanted to hack in a group, I just choose not to.
 
I used to like hacking out with people until...

One horse took of on a hack and rider started screaming.. great! off we all went no control girl still screaming as we went galloping around... then finally she stopped screaming and horses stop... still wonder to this day why should thought shrill screaming would help... but hey that's the past

(Don't ride currently) but i would always be funny about who i hacked out with, as i didn't appreciate horses galloping off into the distance before they asked if i wanted to go faster, ect..

Hacking alone was great i'd sing to him to help myself settle, then i'd tell him all my problems ect whilst out on a hack with a nice canter to clear my head! But I used to hack out with his owner and we were the same about hacking out with people but we had some of the funniest hacks!
Miss those days!
 
I always hack alone and much prefer it. I can go where I want at what speed I want, and not feel pressured to canter through feet of mud or walk up a field because my horse can't canter slow enough to stay behind a small pony. He is brilliant alone but naps badly if in company and refuses to go in front.
And with a busy schedule and work I need to go out when I can too not wait and fit in with others.

I sound like a right old grumpy cow now!
 
I pretty much always hack alone and always have. I love just being able to talk rubbish to my horse, sing a song and go at whatever pace I choose. I do sometimes meet people out hacking and we'll ride along for a while before going our different ways, plus I very occasionally hack with someone from the livery yard up the road. I tend to ride when everyone else is at work though as I work late shifts so have the whole morning. I would love to have a keen hacking partner to go and explore other parts of the country though, like the long distance paths, but everyone I know thinks 5 miles is a long way!!!
 
I tend to hack out by myself as no one else enjoys going out for long gentle hacks. I can be out for up to 7 hours at a time!
 
I don't have anyone to hack with! all my friends are at the old yard which isn't close by and If I'm brutally honest with myself I'm rubbish meeting new people in the horsey world and think oh no it would just be awkward with someone I don't know and I'd just think they were judging my ugly horse :(

I love to hack alone anyway as I enjoy our chats and he's not surefooted on rough ground or down hill so I'd end up holding the other rider up until we had a gallop then Mr would leave them in the dust as he's too fast for a lot of people and very competitive (loves to try and race quad bikes up ahead!)
 
I prefer going out on my own, 99.9% of my riding at home was done on my own as I had no alternative.

Them I had a loan pony who had a somewhat detrimental effect on my solo hacking confidence. now I want something nice to restore it!
 
For years and years and years I hacked solo simply because I always seemed to be working when other people weren't, and vice versa, so never had any hacking companions purely because of that fact.

I've always loved hacking solo though; IMO there's nothing quite like being on a big powerful thing like a horse and being able to totally lose oneself in the wild, deserted places of the earth...........
 
I tend to hack alone as there is no one to go with! It's incredibly boring usually but good because you can dictate where you go and what you do-plus its really good for horses to do it imo. I feel sorry for people with horses who wont go alone.
 
Hippocob and I are happy to hack out by ourselves (sometimes not being left for dust feels good) but on the whole, I like riding with company and also think it's a good education for them to go out and behave well in company, particularly if you aim to do things like go hunting and out on sponsored rides.
 
I always hack out alone on Jock. I like choosing what pace I want to go at and having long conversations with Jock. It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of a busy yard and to have some time for just me and him. I'm quite a solitary person so don't really know anyone on the yard that well anyway. As a riding school pony Jock spends enough time as it is staring at the backside of another horse, so I reckon it's good for him to go it alone every once in a while (although I do enjoy the more forward-going Jock that emerges as soon as I point him in the direct of another horse's bum! :)).
If someone offers I'll happily go hacking with them, and enjoy it too. It makes a nice change and it means there's someone I can talk to about horses (other than the horses themselves!), but I wouldn't actively look for hacking buddies.
 
I have a fab hacking buddy cos we have the same approach to hacking - like long hacks with some fast work were we can. Plus our horses are best mates! But I love hacking out on my own. Its then me and scarlet against the world!!! However I do feel safer with a buddy so longer ones are in company and others are on my own!
 
I will usually have a hacking buddy (My other horse) but sometimes i think it's best if your horse goes out on it's own - Learns to trust you and traffic more.
 
I prefer to go alone. I can go at my pace (not pressured into going fast or guilt-tripped into going too slow) and I can talk nonsense to my horse. Sometimes I like to have the headspace to think and have a cry and dream if things aren't going well, and a nice hack on my best boy always makes me feel better. If I've planned to go alone and someone muscles in and just assumes it's okay to come and then dictate what they want to do I get in a right strop!
 
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