Hacking

[Agent XXX999]

Sorry for posting AGAIN but I am ill in bed and very bored...just thinking....

I went hacking with a girl from our yard over Christmas - I usually go on my own at weekends (our yard is very quiet and the only person I usually ride out with is YO)

I dont tend to walk when hacking - I do for the first 1o mins at the start and end of a hack but aside from that it is trot and canter. When I went out with said girl she nearly had a heart attack....went bright red...and told me she usually walked and had a few trots. So thats what we did - Me and pony nealrly died of bordeom! Soooooo in light of my very boring hack, and now thinking I am mad for trotting....

please can you complete my poll!

 

[Madam_max]

I know what you mean I like to trot/canter. I have ridden with far too many boring people. I don't go mad, but I do like to be getting on with something.

 

[welshpony]

I usually trot/canter, I can't really see the point of walking, especially if I'm trying to get the horses fit.

 

[JACQSZOO]

Totally depends. If its road work, mainly walking, if however I had lots of offroad hacking things would probably liven up a bit!

 

[Dogbetty141]

i tend not to canter as it is mainly roads that i am on he is a bit daft on the bridles so we tend to walk and trot on the roads good road work and the trotting keeps him fit too!!

 

[MillionDollar]

It really depends, if im hacking around my land then lots of canter/gallop! lol, but if on the roads then walk with some trot of course.

 

[CSYMolly]

We have quite a bit of road work to get anywhere so have to walk that but sometimes add a little trot in if I am getting too cold or bored. As soon as I hit the woods it is trot and canter. I like a bit of both, not a mad one but can't bear just plodding either.

 

[fairhill]

I have to do a lot of road work before we get onto a bridlepath, so most of my time is spent walking down the hills and trotting up the other side.

 

[sloulou]

I had a similar experience when I lived in Edinburgh - I went out with a couple of other people on a hack where I usually trotted and cantered most of the way - they kept having to ask me to walk as they were tired!

I like to trot quite alot normally - unless i have specific reason to go slow (horse not fit enough/ youngster etc.)

 

[Chex]

I tend to mostly walk, but I hack just for fun, not for fitness or anything else. I usually have a couple of good gallops, but mostly out to enjoy the scenery and fresh air!

 

[Salcey]

We don't have a menage, so we usually school as we do roadwork (ie walk trot trasitions, leg yield etc) and then have a burn when we get to a bridleway. We too have been on a yard where noone did anything but walk/trot, indeed I was there 2 years and never saw one person canter even in the school.
Quite odd really

 

[Halfstep]

I don't trot on the roads unless I absolutely have to (horse has splints already), and at the moment the ground is extremely boggy - so I walk, trot a bit where the ground allows. I'll canter more when the ground firms up a wee bit. Rarely gallop, don't think its necessary. I tend to do some leg yield/shoulder in/travers in walk/trot to keep things interesting. But mine is a dressage horse and I think we dressagey types tend to be more anal than normal folks!

 

[UKa]

Must admit that I always do a lot more faster work when I am out alone than with other people, guess I feel a bit more in control on my own and can get a quick canter in where for two it would not be feasible somehow; however, we have quite a lot of roadwork around us and I prefer to do good long sections of walk there and a bit of trot -

 

[Twiglet]

It totally depends - I didn't answer the second poll because I don't hack for any of those reasons, or we do it for a mixture of them!

We tend to do different speeds depending on time of year (ground conditions), weather, who we're hacking with, the mood the monster's in, the mood I'm in, whether I'm hungover or not (trotting with queasy stomach is no fun), the route we're hacking etc etc!

If we're out with another 'hot' horse, then we'll probably walk most of the way, whereas if we're on our own, we'll do the majority in trot and canter.

 

[spotty_pony]

I mainly walk but we have some good trots and canter where the ground is good.

My main reason is to keep my pony fit. x

 

[Murphs_Mum]

That's a bit like me, If I'm out with someone else I go slower on my own I trot and canter most of the bridleways as I feel in control. I also do trot on roads but not excessively. My old yard (big huntin yard) when I had my Welshie trotted cantered and galloped everywhere - but then again I've never been so fit in my life - think it would kill me now!

 

[lillie]

voted:
<font color="red">
walk

Because I cant be bothered to school my horse

To get my horse fit
</font>

i tend to only hack on weekends so i do it instead of schooling which i try to do during the week. We usually walk for the first 1/2 &amp; then trot to the common &amp; have a canter then walk back, we go out with a small pony some times so we go slower when he's with us because he's only got lil legs.

i grew up with people who use to hack out for 3/4 hours each sat &amp; sun galloping 3/4 of the ride &amp; i dont like that hacking is a time for linx to take in new things &amp; i try to vary where i trot/canter so he respects me

 

[tabithakat64]

I mostly walk and trot on the roads and busier bridleways, but am happy to go faster on my own and canter when the grounds good

 

[Weezy]

We just dont have enough offroad hacking to go round at a trot/canter and be out an hour, so I walk, trot AND canter - vary where I do it so horse never prempts what is about to happen - I dont find walking on hacks boring at all, walk is the pace that is thoroughly under worked on and I use my walk hacking to do lots of bending and lateral work

 

[PapaFrita]

I hack to relax PF, or when school is very wet. Sometimes I just amble along, other times we do lots of hillwork, other times schooling....

 

[ThomasTank]

my horse is too old for a yee haa he is in his 30s lol

 

[Forget_Me_Not]

I ride mainly youngsters... or problem horses so i walk around the tracks, roads, paths etc... Have a trot in good places and when every things right a canter.... I'm one those people woh can never stop schooling, teaching and training.... Never canter in same place and often after cantering it walk it... because there younge horses i don't wont to ruin the ed by galloping everywere. I hate horses who think "this is were i canter" etc etc.

 

[TheresaW]

I hack a lot. Got the whole of Epping Forest. I do some schooling whilst out. Sometimes plod around, sometimes have really fast rides. In the summer we go exploring off of the paths. Have great fun.

 

[Mid]

I hack because I enjoy it, the horse usually enjoys it, and to keep the horse fit. It really depends where I'm going, and on the weather conditions. If it's really windy or wet, I'll mostly walk and trot on the lanes, if it's nice weather I'll go for a long canter or gallop

 

[PoppyPony]

Mainly walk but I gallop around where the ground is good. Had to do a lot of re-schooling recently because i realised I had taught my horse to bomb off in certain places

We are both way too lazy to trot around everywhere

 

[JessPickle]

trot/canter along the fields but mainly walk!

I take pickle out hacking otherwise he loses concentration schooling and gets very bored. Kind of in a strop until he goes on a hack

 

[Macha]

Walk bit of trot on road and mostly trot and canter off road, having got a school so do a lot when hacking.

 

[teapot]

Depends why I'm hacking - when I was one of the lead escorts at work - what we did was dictated by a.) who was riding (always suited hack to least experienced person) and b.) what ponies we had.

I never cantered them unless they had done so with an instructor. So did mainly walk &amp; trot.

Hacks I've gone on via yard - trot &amp; canter mainly

And the couple I've had recently - walk and a little bit of trot primarily because the ground's so boggy at the mo.

 

[piaffe]

I dont hack much but we boxed the horses a week or so go to a big forrest. It was fab we had lots of canters ect but it really was dependant on the type of ground etc.
On the roads, though, mainly walking with a short trot.

 

[bellgave]

*I love hacking out. Not only is it great to get the horses to see things and get used to diffrent sights and sounds, I think it st be 1000 times more enjoyable for them than beingin the school!! I also choose routes with lots of hills to make them work.I never allow my horses never slop along on the roads either, they are always working and going well!! I think the horses like it and I do to!!