Hacking alone question

I would never be able to hack if I didn't go alone! So for me, it would be a deal breaker if the horse could not hack alone.

In your shoes OP, I would wonder why the seller hasn't tried the horse alone. I would also walk away, as this is a key thing for you and you don't know if the horse will be okay. Bide your time, the right horse is out there.

ETA, it's one thing taking a horse for a wonder down the road on its own. But there is so much more it would need to cope with to be a solid solo hacker. And some people may have the time and brave pants to get the horse to that stage, but given your recent experiences, I think you deserve to just get out and enjoy riding.
 
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My mare had never hacked alone when I got her , she went from feral forest pony to RS. When I tried her she was so laid back in company that I didn't even think about it.

She was quite nappy to start off but we worked on it, I'd often lead her out in hand and then get on half way round and ride home (on routes we knew). I think since 2015 we have only hacked in company a couple of times now. If the general nature of the horse is quiet, I don't see why they couldn't learn, if they can lead out hacking, they can be ridden alone (probably!). My mare loves to follow but in company, if there is something the other horses won't pass (bird scarer, tractor, burst water pipe shooting water 10ft in the air) I can push her to the front of the ride and lead the others past. She is also happy coming in/out to the field without others.
 
Waxwing said:
Hi all

I am still tentatively horse searching and saw an advert yesterday that ticked all the boxes, right age and experience and on sales livery with someone with a good reputation. I have messaged the seller and horse does sound potentially suitable, but has limited experience of hacking alone. According the seller the horse has been a family home for the past five years and two family members always rode together. One of my bottom lines is being able to hack alone, I like riding with other people but equally if the work day allows I like to be able to have an impromptu hack around the village without needing to find someone to go with. Tbh if I haven't got that flexibility a lot of the benefit of horse ownership for me isn't there. I think I shall be regretfully passing.

I just thought I would seek other people's opinions before saying an absolute no. The horse is in the UK but some hours from me.

The seller says that they don't see any reason she couldn't but she obviously hasn't had recent experience of this.
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Waxwing said:
Hi all

I am still tentatively horse searching and saw an advert yesterday that ticked all the boxes, right age and experience and on sales livery with someone with a good reputation. I have messaged the seller and horse does sound potentially suitable, but has limited experience of hacking alone. According the seller the horse has been a family home for the past five years and two family members always rode together. One of my bottom lines is being able to hack alone, I like riding with other people but equally if the work day allows I like to be able to have an impromptu hack around the village without needing to find someone to go with. Tbh if I haven't got that flexibility a lot of the benefit of horse ownership for me isn't there. I think I shall be regretfully passing.

I just thought I would seek other people's opinions before saying an absolute no. The horse is in the UK but some hours from me.

The seller says that they don't see any reason she couldn't but she obviously hasn't had recent experience of this.
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If that’s your ‘bottom line’, and you need absolute clarification rather than prepared to work on this with a horse that may well become fine, then you should turn it down.
Reasoning : riding out without company is actually quite a selling point these days (times past, we just assumed horses would do this, and insisted they did when they were a bit iffy, but there’s a lot more road traffic and people about, generally, now!) - the sellers would be likely to at least try, and then highlight this attribute if the horse is confident in that respect.
Doesn’t mean the horse wouldn’t become so, but maybe you’d have to input more than the purchase price is worth to you. Hope you get sorted.
 
I find it slightly suspicious that in 5 years they have never needed or wanted to hack alone. Maybe that's the case but it's probably more likely the horse doesn't so it's just easy to say they've never had to so he's untried...

You say he ticks all the boxes but he doesn't if he doesn't hack, which sounds very high on your priority list. Are you willing to spend a month training him to go alone and then being consistent with it so he doesn't go backwards if you have to drop him off for a few weeks?
 
They don't say that he won't hack on his own, but has never been asked to. If he ticks all the other boxes and you have no other misgivings, then I would go and see him to see if you like him in person. You may find that the process of teaching him to hack on his own might build up just the sort of relationship you want, as well as being an enjoyable process.
 
GoldenWillow said:
If he is on sales livery I would have expected them to have hacked him alone, if not before advertising him, I would expect them to find out if he is happy to when they are asked about it. He may or may not be ok to hack alone but the fact that they are not prepared, as a professional sales livery yard to "try" this would be a red flag to me. It's a lot easier to say they don't know when in fact he is does not hack alone.

When I was looking I found the hardest bit of my criteria was a horse that was good in all traffic and happy to hack alone, in fact that was about the only thing I would not move on. In the end I bought a 4 yr old who I'd seen was solid in heavy traffic and who had done some solo hacks. I tried him on a Feb afternoon in dreadful weather, went down the road on him, was passed by a tractor carrying silage bales and also rode him past his yard entrance, none of which bothered him. It was that 15 minute hack which decided me that unless something horrendous showed up on vetting he was coming home with me.
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I bought a 4yo as my first horse based on temperament alone - we went out for a hack, the lady selling her got run off with and the sweet little mare I was on didn’t even try to go too. I was sold then and there!
 
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You can get any horse to hack alone with enough calm persistence, but there is always the minority that just dont take to it. Those horses are no fun to ride if you enjoy hacking. I'd be deeply suspicious of any professional selling yard that didnt check this. I'm with everyone else that thinks they are hiding an issue. If they arent then they have done a very lax job of prepping the horse for sale which is a red flag anyway. I wouldnt bother viewing.
 
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GoldenWillow said:
If he is on sales livery I would have expected them to have hacked him alone, if not before advertising him, I would expect them to find out if he is happy to when they are asked about it. He may or may not be ok to hack alone but the fact that they are not prepared, as a professional sales livery yard to "try" this would be a red flag to me. It's a lot easier to say they don't know when in fact he is does not hack alone.

When I was looking I found the hardest bit of my criteria was a horse that was good in all traffic and happy to hack alone, in fact that was about the only thing I would not move on. In the end I bought a 4 yr old who I'd seen was solid in heavy traffic and who had done some solo hacks. I tried him on a Feb afternoon in dreadful weather, went down the road on him, was passed by a tractor carrying silage bales and also rode him past his yard entrance, none of which bothered him. It was that 15 minute hack which decided me that unless something horrendous showed up on vetting he was coming home with me.
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Yep, if that’s what you like doing, it’s more important than having four legs on today’s highways.
 
Thank you for all the responses. When we bought our last horse I had a video of her hacking alone prior to viewing and rode her out alone for fifteen minutes after trying her in the school. I needed to be sure I felt confident riding her on the road and have the opportunity to go past a few vehicles. I wanted to be sure she didn't nap and also didn't want to significantly increase speed when I turned for home. She was fine and I hacked her alone round the village on a regular basis in the time I owned her.

I need a horse that is already hacking out on their own regularly. There are other areas I am happy to get help on, for example additional schooling if they are green in that area.

This thread has been really helpful thank you. :)
 
Waxwing said:
Thank you for all the responses. When we bought our last horse I had a video of her hacking alone prior to viewing and rode her out alone for fifteen minutes after trying her in the school. I needed to be sure I felt confident riding her on the road and have the opportunity to go past a few vehicles. I wanted to be sure she didn't nap and also didn't want to significantly increase speed when I turned for home. She was fine and I hacked her alone round the village on a regular basis in the time I owned her.

I need a horse that is already hacking out on their own regularly. There are other areas I am happy to get help on, for example additional schooling if they are green in that area.

This thread has been really helpful thank you. :)
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I think I you’ve made the right decision 😊

I would be very suspicious of a seller that had not tried to hack the horse alone as it is a key criteria for a lot of people…it either suggests they’ve tried and it doesn’t like it or has issues alone OR it’s literally just arrived which makes me wonder what else they don’t know about him/her x
 
Definitely made the right decision.
Having made the rookie error years ago of taking the owners word for it that the horse hacked alone and then just taking it up and down a lane solo. I found out the hard way that the horse had a severe nap hacking out alone.
 
Waxwing said:
Thank you for all the responses. When we bought our last horse I had a video of her hacking alone prior to viewing and rode her out alone for fifteen minutes after trying her in the school. I needed to be sure I felt confident riding her on the road and have the opportunity to go past a few vehicles. I wanted to be sure she didn't nap and also didn't want to significantly increase speed when I turned for home. She was fine and I hacked her alone round the village on a regular basis in the time I owned her.

I need a horse that is already hacking out on their own regularly. There are other areas I am happy to get help on, for example additional schooling if they are green in that area.

This thread has been really helpful thank you. :)
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I think you are wise.
 
Waxwing is probably right to turn this horse down. If you don’t want to produce a horse or see if its idiosyncrasies are fixable, then buy the one that’s doing the job you want it to do.

To all those who think any horse can be taught to hack alone, please come to Glasgow for a few weeks and see if you can do better with Fin on that front than I have. I’ll buy you an expensive bottle of whisky if you win.
 
Caol Ila said:
Waxwing is probably right to turn this horse down. If you don’t want to produce a horse or see if its idiosyncrasies are fixable, then buy the one that’s doing the job you want it to do.

To all those who think any horse can be taught to hack alone, please come to Glasgow for a few weeks and see if you can do better with Fin on that front than I have. I’ll buy you an expensive bottle of whisky if you win.
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"A few weeks" is funny 😂 Been a few years and if I don't hack out alone for 2 weeks we are back to square one.
 
I think hacking alone is always a “test of your competence / relationship.
You may have a horse which has always hacked alone - but if you don’t give it good vibes it will go wrong in a new home / relationship.
I feel with any new horse, whether hacking alone is its norm or not, give it time to trust you before venturing out alone.
 
Hi I absolutel
canteron said:
I think hacking alone is always a “test of your competence / relationship.
You may have a horse which has always hacked alone - but if you don’t give it good vibes it will go wrong in a new home / relationship.
I feel with any new horse, whether hacking alone is its norm or not, give it time to trust you before venturing out alone.
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I definitely agree with this, and with our last horse hacked out in company for the first few months, or with someone on foot. However I do want a horse that is accustomed to going out alone in their current home.
 
My pony hacks out on his own and always has done, but he seems to be just as anxious about the big bad world, with or without company! It is as though he feels that he cannot delegate his safety to anyone else other than himself, rider or horse. A strange little pony :rolleyes:
So, can he hack alone? Yes, ticks that box.
Is he a safe ride? Not really, that is definitely work in progress, and I am in it for the long haul.
 
Birker2020 said:
The trouble with them sending a video of a horse being ridden alone means that by definition they are not actually alone!

A horse will get confidence by someone walking in front/behind it. I've often seen adverts of someone stood nearby taking a video of the horse walking 'alone' and thought that proves naff all 🤣
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Good point.
 
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