For those of you that don't hack

I think horses are migratory/nomadic animals and it's normal for them to cover long distances in unfamiliar territory.

Just as a point, this isn't really true. Herds live within clearly defined territories, the size of which is determined by geography and resources. They move steadily through this territory and may favour specific areas seasonally, but it would be rare for them to venture into unfamiliar lands, and then only under pressure. These territories might be large by human standards but they are well travelled and familiar to the horses.

Which is no reason not to hack, it's just not something that mimics a natural behaviour. There are plenty of aspects to off road hacking that speak to 'natural' physical development (especially as so few horses are turned out on large areas of varied terrain now) and it's a useful skill because it's what a lot of people like to do.

This is one of those unwinable arguments. There are lots of good, useful things about hacking, if it can be done safely. Equally there are lots of horses that spend most of their 5 ish working hours a week primarily in the school and, contrary to what some people suggest, they aren't all sour, sore, unwilling participants. I don't get bored in the school and I've never had a horse that I've made that's not been able to hack much get 'ring sour' so I guess it all depends on your experience. As many people have said, it often comes down to compromises and that is always going to have a large individual component.
 
My mare can be hacked in company and trot, canter when it is controlled otherwise all the galloping off blows her head and she get's very stressed and bounces then rears. In summer I can get her out on her own and canter about but winter brings out a different horse in her. I want to go up the fields and have a trot but sometimes you have to think what is safe, she is the sweetest mare but can be unpredictable. So in the meantime I will just stick to walk hacks in company.
 
I'm another non-hacker. I've been out maybe 3 times since we bought our mare last September. The main problem I have here in France is "le Chasse" ie the hunt; only this isn't men on horses with dogs, it is men with guns. Basically for 5 months of the year they own the countryside and it isn't safe to go anywhere if they are out and about.

Our previous pony didn't like hacking out alone, and since no-one else at our yard hacks it has always been school work only for us.

I don't think the horse gets stale, we vary our schooling a lot and I strongly believe that our riding improves much more through schooling than hacking. She is always keen to work and we never leave bored.

Saying that there are days when I would love nothing more to hack around the countryside, but alas it is not to be.
 
This is one of those unwinable arguments. There are lots of good, useful things about hacking, if it can be done safely. Equally there are lots of horses that spend most of their 5 ish working hours a week primarily in the school and, contrary to what some people suggest, they aren't all sour, sore, unwilling participants. I don't get bored in the school and I've never had a horse that I've made that's not been able to hack much get 'ring sour' so I guess it all depends on your experience. As many people have said, it often comes down to compromises and that is always going to have a large individual component.

I think it depends a lot on the rider. If a rider really enjoys schooling and does so with a sense of purpose then the horse is likely to be engaged. if the rider finds schooling dull and is going through the motions then the horse is unlikely to muster any enthusiasm.
 
To the people saying there's lots of fun stuff you can do in arena, can you name them for me please? I simply cannot get what could possibly be exciting about riding in an arena for an hour or two every day (and my arena does have loads of things in it to keep someone amused for a bit longer than riding round in circles).

Depends what you are wanting to achieve. For dressage-o-philes it's about the quest for perfection and all the tiny, incremental stages of achieving it and all the varied exercises to reach that goal. For me it's about teaching the next requirement, whatever that may be (and it can be pretty strange/challenging: chopping up melons with a sword, hitting a target with a bow and arrow at the gallop, various jousting skill-at-arms; getting horses used to flags, drums, gunfire, bagpipes, long floppy dresses, etc., etc.). Trail riding is great, and good for the horses, but I actually find it mind-numbing, not to mention dangerous.
 
Depends what you are wanting to achieve. For dressage-o-philes it's about the quest for perfection and all the tiny, incremental stages of achieving it and all the varied exercises to reach that goal. For me it's about teaching the next requirement, whatever that may be (and it can be pretty strange/challenging: chopping up melons with a sword, hitting a target with a bow and arrow at the gallop, various jousting skill-at-arms; getting horses used to flags, drums, gunfire, bagpipes, long floppy dresses, etc., etc.). Trail riding is great, and good for the horses, but I actually find it mind-numbing, not to mention dangerous.

I have to say, I'm with you. I've lived in areas where they hacking was great (often over forestry or private land) and so I've hack a lot. (Contrary to SF's report, there are lots of places in Canada where hacking on major roads would be a Bad Idea for all sorts of reasons!) Other times, I've had no hacking, so I haven't. More often, I've had limited access, like around planted fields, or needed to travel, so I've done some but not lots. Obviously, you like to have the best facilities possible but for me things like good footing and safe jumps are important too. Overall though, I like TRAINING horses to hack but just going out to ride around is more business than pleasure.

(I used to live in the Rockies and all we did was ride on the trails, so maybe my perspective is off. ;))
 
I dont hack. The only time I had a bit of an issue was when I had to do roads & tracks a few years ago at the RC horse trial champs! Horse obviously wasnt used to hacking so that was quite erm... fun! But we got round. Never had a problem otherwise, taken horses out competing including cross country many a time and they're never cared. They soon know their job like anything else, hacking doesn't help as such. Obviously its very handy for fittening work to hack but as long as you have a hilly field then thats not much of a problem either.
 
Contrary to SF's report, there are lots of places in Canada where hacking on major roads would be a Bad Idea for all sorts of reasons!

Yes you've mentioned this numerous times now that your experience of living in Canada and riding in Canadian equestrian centres is different from my experiences. Just to clarify, although not sure why anyone wouldn't pick up on this, I am talking about the area of Canada where I live. I am giving my experiences and how things are done in my small corner of this country. It's a pain having to continually say 'the area of the country I live in' and beat around so many bushes to get over the point that it is like whatever where I live. I am quite obviously not talking about the whole country lol! Just as any British person telling their stories about how things are where they live don't have to explain they are not talking about the whole country; I'd expect most people are smart enough to figure that out.
 
I find hacking a great way to gain a trusting relationship between horse and rider and it's a not expectations activity- I like to hack out once a week. I don't think I personally could cope just schooling even if there are poles etc because I think no matter what you set out to do you always aim to improve on something rather than just enjoying each other's company.
 
If you can hack and have decent hacking then hack and enjoy, if your horse is not a happy hacker and it is safer to stay indoors well stay in doors at least then everyone is safe and at the end of the day that is what matters. Happy riding
 
Yes you've mentioned this numerous times now that your experience of living in Canada and riding in Canadian equestrian centres is different from my experiences. Just to clarify, although not sure why anyone wouldn't pick up on this, I am talking about the area of Canada where I live. I am giving my experiences and how things are done in my small corner of this country. It's a pain having to continually say 'the area of the country I live in' and beat around so many bushes to get over the point that it is like whatever where I live. I am quite obviously not talking about the whole country lol! Just as any British person telling their stories about how things are where they live don't have to explain they are not talking about the whole country; I'd expect most people are smart enough to figure that out.

Duly noted and sorry I offended you. My only point was there are lots of places in the world where good hacking on the doorstep is not a common reality and people cope. I'd say the ability to hack on public land is STILL much more accessible in the urban and semi-urban UK than in most areas, even in less built up parts of the world, especially now. I have noticed quite a judgemental attitude on here towards people who feel it's not safe to hack where they live - people telling them to move, or that they shouldn't have horses if they can't hack, or that they are definitely souring/soring/boring their horses if they have to work primarily in the school. As if people can just magic up safe, interesting hacking anywhere they happen to live. It's not an option for many people now so they have to deal with the reality of that situation and I can't see it's helped by continually being told they are doing their horses harm by even having them in that environment. It's simply not true. It may be YOUR reality ("all of my horses become incredibly stale going in my arena all the time"), that horses can riders cannot live decent, fulfilled lives without hacking, but it's not everyones'.

Considering how many people here seem to assume that Canada is full of nothing but open places to ride, I think a lot of people DO see the lack of it as a particularly British problem. 20 years ago, I used to hack down Hwy 48 going out of Stouffville but there is no way I'd risk that now. Plus sa change, alas. I think more and more owners in the modern world will have to think how they can do the sorts of work that has traditionally been done here with roadwork/hacking without it.
 
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Duly noted and sorry I offended you. My only point was there are lots of places in the world where good hacking on the doorstep is not a common reality and people cope. I'd say the ability to hack on public land is STILL much more accessible in the urban and semi-urban UK than on most areas, even in less built up parts of the world.
I'm not offended, but I do find it a bit tedious having to use loads of needless words. I don't know about the riding availability in urban areas as I've only ever lived in semi-rural areas and we have been very lucky about the places we've chosen to live in. The riding where I lived in Hampshire was superb, as it is where I live now. I do know however that if we had chosen a farm a mere 4 or 5 miles away in mostly any other direction we would not have been so lucky to have the huge network of trails that we are strategically placed in order for us to enjoy them to their full.
 
It may be YOUR reality ("all of my horses become incredibly stale going in my arena all the time"), that horses can riders cannot live decent, fulfilled lives without hacking, but it's not everyones'.
Yes well that's not MY reality and it's not something I've ever said because it's not something I have ever done. I strongly suspect most of my horses, having been raised in a trail riding environment, would probably become arena sour. I can, for certain, say that I would most definitely become arena sour if I rode in it for 2 hours every day, and that's with lots of things to do. I personally wouldn't have horses if I had no option but to ride in an arena, you obviously enjoy it, and that's fine. Horses for courses and if you believe that only good riders can enjoy arenas then that's fine too; you're certainly entitled to your opinion.
 
I wouldn't stable my horse somewhere where there wasn't reasonable hacking out. It's more important to me than a school. Where I am now, it is all on roads, but they aren't too bad and most of the drivers are fine We do have a school, but I don't use it that often - I've used it a couple of times recently for lunging but I haven't actually ridden in there since early December as it's quite flooded. I would hate to ride in an arena day in, day out.
 
Horses for courses and if you believe that only good riders can enjoy arenas then that's fine too; you're certainly entitled to your opinion.

Not at all and I certainly didn't mean to give that impression. Skill level is immaterial. We actually agree that there are MANY ways to enjoy riding and make good horses and it may very well be the OPs that he/she will be fine without hacking, especially if other aspects of the horse's care and safety are amongst the things that might have to be compromised.
 
I have decent hacking at the moment and really, really wish I had an arena, but I could never be at a yard with no hacking.

I enjoy hacking generally, sometimes I love hacking - weather & time dependant.

My horses really enjoy hacking, they are positively enthusiastic when they are going off the yard. They like their 'usual' routes and they also really like exploring. I think hacking is really good for them physically and mentally, and school work isn't a substitute for much of the fun stuff you can do.
 
To be honest I really don't know how I would not get really bored if I never hacked out. I probably wouldn't have horses at all to be honest. Yes I like competing and do the odd bit of schooling but, in reality most of my 'schooling' is out and about hacking.

The thread is horrible and very upsetting and shows just how things can change in a matter of seconds. A friend of mine's horse was killed by a car many years ago, she was also hit by a car on her other horse (neither badly injured thankfully). It does make me more aware of things and I know the dangers and lessen them where possible.

People have car accidents every day, some fatal but that doesn't stop me driving my car so, as horrible as it is to hear these horrid things happen, it won't stop me hacking mine out.

Agree with this.
I don't hack and I keep my horse interested by learning new things and making sure he is rewarded when he gets it right. He is so enthusiastic quite often he offers way more than I am asking, it isn't easy to sort out and reward the bit I want. He has never known any different - why would a horse "enjoy" trundling around the countryside any more than trundling around a field or a manege. He gets what he wants out of it - approval and rewards.

Well mine definitely enjoy hacking over schooling....without a doubt.
 
Hate hacking, I find it boring aswell as stressful...

We have no off road hacking, So I'm constantly worrying about what the next idiot car driver is going to do...

Far nicer to box up and rent some gallops or XC course :-)
 
I have to say I find 90% of hacking tedious in the extreme .
Training in the school now I love that and would happily ride in there all day if my body would take it .
 
I used to school a lot and hack a little when my horse was younger and I was working towards competition goals. Hacking was OK but limited and a bit precarious as went directly onto a steep busy hill or to go further afield you had to cross busy main roads so it was always a bit stressful.

Now my horse is 19 and our competition goals are few and far between I mainly hack and rarely school even though I used to really enjoy it. Having access to the most fabulous off-road riding has changed that as much as the fact my horse is older. He would absolutely prefer to go for a hack than go in the school. When I do head towards the school he does a big double take and suggests that we are heading in the wrong direction :D

When I first moved to the yard it took a lot of effort just to get him out of the yard let alone go on our now regular two hour stress-busting solo hacks. I wouldn't go anywhere now that didn't have at least some decent off-road hacking and I'm thoroughly spoilt where I am.
 
My horses hack at least twice a week, in the summer we go out for three or four hrs, they are dressage horses and its been the making of them, fitted, stronger and much less spooky. We have amazing hacking, you can go for hours and hours and only go on minor roads with next to no traffic. The rest is by ways, bridleways , woods and fields.
 
Hacking is fantastic for fitness and brilliant for a horses mental well being. My little mare is very nervous and jumpy by nature but since I have made a point of hack 2+ times a week she has massively chilled. I have to go out on to main roads for about 2 miles and then have woods and country parks. I also have no school which makes me hack
 
I LOVE hacking BUT my horse isnt great at going out - one day she will be absolutely fine and the next she spins at the slightest thing and it makes me wary of taking her out and I would hate to fall of her out on a hack as she isnt the sort of horse that stays to find out if you are ok, she runs! Also, we have to do road work to get to places to ride and a good few years ago, someone fell of their horse as it spooked and didnt make it unfortunately and that is always at the back of my mind.

Instead of me riding her out on a hack, I have seen us go for ages long reining. Other horses will get ridden and I will long rein, it helps her confidence not having me on board waiting for her to spook and we have a bit of fun with it.

I have a youngster that is rising 2, and I want to get her as bombproof as possible so I can enjoy hacking again - she is proving bold at her yound age, so here is hoping that I will be back out in the next few years.
 
Very rare I will go out for a hack on current yard, no off road riding, and the drivers are lunatics.

Coupled with the fact that my horse totally freaked out last time I took her out for an in hand walk, I'm very reluctant to go out hacking on my own with her.

If we had direct access to off road riding, or someone to go out with, I would probably have taken her. If I was still at my previous yard we would have been out hacking loads; sometimes you just have to make the best of what you've got.

And as for being "boring" in the school if that's all you do; shouldn't be so. I go to the gym to keep fit, and generally have a set of things I do every week. I don't get bored, nor do I feel that I need to be out running in the countryside

Well maybe you don't get bored in the gym but there are many that do. I personally can't hack more than 10 minutes in a gym but give me a bike in the open countryside or a mountain to travers and I love it.

Your gym analogy is a bit off the mark I think, you go to the gym because you want to get fit which is great but horses don't think 'yes we're schooling again, I'm going to have a well svelt body' lol
 
i couldnt live without a school or reasonably decent hacking. (well, i could, but id go to lengths to find them) My 4 yr old would get bored just in the arena every day and since dressage is my main aim for her, i want her to enjoy her flatwork and not think of it as yet another day of going round in circles.

For his reason, weather permitting, I do a lot of my schooling out hacking as i find her more forward going and receptive. She adores exploring and is a naturally brave horse so perhaps im lucky. There's nothing like a good canter up the sides of fields for fittening or just blowing the cobwebs away. i think its also good for them to learn to balance over different terrain, gradients and different going. Hacking is also a good preperation if you intent to hunt, if you very rarely hack, you would probably run into problems.
 
I stopped hacking properly for a while as I was at a yard which only had hacking on very busy, fast roads (basically a constant stream of people passing at min of 40mph) and it used to upset my pony...She wasn't bad but just jogged and got very tense so it wasn't fun for either of us.

Luckily they had a 7 furlong canter track so I used to ride round that a couple of times a few times a week for a chill out change of scenary.

I wouldn't of stayed there long term though, I 'made do' because I had a short term job in the area and the yard was the best I could find (and perfect in every other way).

I don't have horses to hack but I do enjoy it.
 
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