Hacking out in Company - Am I being daft?

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judeoak22

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Hi all - Is anyone else under the same opinion as me or am I being daft. When hacking out in company I do not like being behind others, reason? because the people in front dictate the pace & rhythm. Unfortunately my horse thinks its his duty to stay as close as possible and therefore i have no say in the matter. I always find that people either trot too fast on the roads or canter at a fast pace which although I am a confident rider and enjoy the odd blast i much prefer a pace that is dictated by me and set by me. Selfish i know!

If i ask to go in front, i then have to put up with others that come past or ride up too close again pushing us out of our rhythm. I honestly prefer to ride alone, but do miss the social aspect of riding with others......have tried riding along side but again because my horse is buzzy he thinks its a race?

I think its from having years of experience taking rides out when i worked at a riding school - as leader you had to look after others & ensure that an orderly line was kept at all times, any likely hood of ponies/horses coming past always lead to us stopping and regaining an orderely fashion....

Any suggestions? should i just go with the flow or any help to steady my ole boy and see if we can retain our pace regardless of the others? He is ridden in a happy mouth eggbutt snaffle. He tends to sit behind the bit so a stronger bit really just makes him come short & very bouncy if brakes are applied
 
My only suggestion is to hack out on your own then you can please yourself. I keep my horse at home so I don't have anyone to hack with. Once a week I box to my friend's and that's the only time I hack with any company.
 
I've never really thought about it but the more I do, the more I realise that I am quite like this!

No suggestions, I just hope you find what suits you best.
 
I like hacking out with people and where I ride I have to hack with at least one other. 90% of the time - no prob but I have had a couple of occasions where the person in front has teared of in canter with no warning and left me hanging on for dear life behind as my horse races to keep up, it generally turns into a race and can be dangerous. Its just courtesy as the leader to turn around and check people are happy to move up a gear and once in that gear that all followers are happy and comfortable
 
I like to go fast but sometimes get stuck behind slower people! I'm not saying I bomb about everywhere - I exercise some caution of course and only go fast where it's safe and not if there's people about or other horses who aren't with me. But ocassionally I like to have a blast.
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But having an arab, she's pretty fast and some of the others find it hard to keep up so we end up hanging back to keep pace. Sometimes it's difficult to hold her back though and she gets so worked up it becomes dangerous. Going out with another arab however, is a totally different story.
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I would usually ride out in a pair, so i'm beside someone and always ask if we could have a little canter etc.I would never just canter off. I would be mortified if i made someone feel unsafe.
 
I think you have to decide which you prefer, being on your own and doing what you want, or having company and not doing what you want. Whichever makes you happiest.
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I like riding out with others, but I think I must be lucky in that no one would dream of heading off into trot or canter without okaying it with the rest of the ride. I don't feel forced to ride at a faster pace, if I want to canter slower, or trot at my horses normal speed, I do so, and then catch up when they come back to walk. If your horse doesn't listen to you, but blindly follows the horse in front, you need to work on it, making him listen to you dictate the pace, distance from the horse in front etc. I would never dream of overtaking someone while hacking with a group. We normally sort ourselves out by pace, so the faster ones are at the front, and can extend out in the canters, and if we have someone who doesn't want to canter, we either let them go on ahead, and canter to catch up, or take a detour and meet back up. We always leave 2 horse lengths between the horses when cantering, a horses length in trot - just safety, plus I would rather see the ground I am heading on to than another horses bum! The only time I far prefer to be at the front / on my own, is when we are cantering on muddy ground, even at a couple of lengths you get mud splattered all over you!

I had one ride out a couple of years ago, when the person at the front was an imbecile, and decided the entire ride was going over a 4' log across a very narrow path - without telling anyone first. I was on a new horse I had never jumped, or even seen jumped, so I sure as heck wouldn't have jumped it in any case, I would have slammed on the breaks (I had a couple of lengths between me and the one in front, so would have been able to stop) and a knew the horse behind very well, as did the horse I was on, so knew we were ok on that front. First rider went over log, second rider went over log, third rider, not that experienced, fell off over log, so it was a darn good thing I was a couple of lengths back, otherwise we would have had a serious accident. I spent the ride home leading an injured rider on her horse, and telling the person who had been in front exactly what I thought of his behaviour. So I guess, if you had the misfortune of riding with someone like him, I would prefer to ride alone!
 
I used to own a bit of a crazy coblet and i much prefered riding out on my own because it meant i could bomb about rather than fight to contain the craziness lol. Not with current baby though, besides i've got too wussy
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I have this problem, hacking on my own his lordship is a gem and will go anywhere and do anything, one handed cantering across open fields steady as you like, add one other sensible
horse/person and still really good, but he likes to be in front and will go steady as I ask, add 3 more and go either in the middle or behind and it's nose right up the backside of the one in front, swish of a tail or leg and I get jarred and squished nuts as he avoids possible kick, cantering it's head down and stuff what dad wants, fast canter and he doesn't want to stop and we skid right up behind others last second stopping slewing sideways, phewwwwwwwm, pulled a shoe off last time, I like going out with others but it's not an easy ride and have to "up for it" myself.
 
Choose your hacking company well and you will enjoy it more.

My older pony wants to be at the front whereas my hacking partner prefers to be at the back so it works out quite well.

New pony doesn't really mind where he is - it's a bit of a novelty for me cantering at the back with loose reins
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However new pony is a bit green and impressionable so I prefer hacking out with 'sensible' people/horses who don't feel the need anymore to canter at every strip of grass
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My advice is to choose your hacking companions carefully. I am only happy to ride with like-minded people who ride responsibly, ensuring that all members of the ride are safe. This is sometimes an issue in our RC and some members find that if they organise a group hack, very few people want to join because they know that horses will be allowed to race, trotting on the roads will be far too fast for the horses to be properly balanced and the pace will be changed without consultation or even notice. These members really don't understand why they get very few members joining them.
 
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