Happy hacking

[Olderrider73]

I love hacking it’s my favourite thing to do, and really not fussed about chasing rosettes “winning” currently I’m sharing my friends horse until I get my own and she likes to go to shows and get ribbons every time, I go too but for me I find it exhausting and stressful and she’s obsessing about how her horse will go in the ring, looking right etc etc and then there’s the endless schooling to do in between and it’s really taking the enjoyment out horses that sometimes I feel like giving up riding as all I want to do is go hacking. Hacking steadily around the country lanes also suits my illness better. Sometimes I feel miserable when she mentions the next show and training schedule we have to do. Once I get my own I can’t wait to be able to do my own thing. Sorry to mean but needed to get it off my chest.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Do you have to go with her every time?

 

[Olderrider73]

No I don’t think so so I may give some a miss

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Hacking out either on your own or in company is fine, we do that with our horses. The horses also spend time in the school doing flatwork & occasionally jumping. Until the pandemic our horses were all affiliated to BS & BD but we've let it all lapse until we feel happy going out to shows. Some don't want to spend time schooling their horses & just want to hack out, others school whilst hacking out, leg yielding & shoulder fore etc. It keeps the horse thinking & listening to the aids. As a result of the schooling we get good results when we go out. We were mainly showjumpers but we did plenty of ground work. We then went to dressage competitions & compared our results with previous results & we could see how the horses improved. Main thing is that when you have your own horse you can decide what you want to do with the animal, the decision is totally yours.