Hmm. Hacking to shows?

Sparkles

Sparkles

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Well. Lost transport,which means unless I can find anything to borrow in 4 days...I won't be able to go to our last show I had planned this month :( Only a little local one, nothing majorly important...but always just a fun day out with the neds.

But. I was thinking,about possibly hacking to it? But, a few snags with that: My lad is barefoot [bay in sig] and it's about 5 miles of roadwork to get there [BUT, there are verges most of the way I think].
Other snag is I wouldn't be able to take baby horse, as the hack there reaaaally would be too much of an ask for him bless him,plus there's one really busy road we have to cross.

What would you do? Would you hack there?

My lad is v.v.fit and would be doing about 3-4 classes there :/
 
I hack to our local show & dressage comps and one of mine is barefoot. The hack over is similar to what you would have to do and is roughly the same distance (well, apart from the dressage which is only 3miles)
 
Binky, if he's fit then he will be fine if you can stick to verges most of the way. Like many people on here, I always hacked to shows/rallies/meets etc. when I was growing up. Not sure exactly what classes you are doing but just keep on eye on how horse is so that you can keep enough in the tank for him to hack home again. If you're doing showing etc. then it will be fine, but if classes are more active, such as jumping, then 3/4 on top of two long hacks might be quite a big ask?

Have fun anyway!
 
Thanks! That's what I was worried about to. We do a couple of 23mile all day rides about 3 times a year, which he's still raring to go somehow all the way round.

The classes I were thinking of were either Open working hunter and 2'6ft SJ....Or Open SJ and Racehorse to riding horse class. Not decided which choice yet!
A young girl who rides him may be doing either the 1ft6 Horse and hound with him if he behaves and my best mate may do a prelim test on him if she can get there.
So definately 2 classes with me....other two aren't definate yet.

Only problem I'm worried about is water, hay etc. Though, I am expecting to see a few friends there, so I'm sure hopefully if I ask nicely I can tie him to their trailers etc and bring spare tack/trug of water/etc in the car and meet me/leave it there for me.
What do you do about hay and water etc when it's an all day show? I tend to get off him and not be on for most of the day where I can to save his back, only get on ten mins before my class, do my class and then get off him and walk round inhand round the show ground and let him stand having a break etc. So wouldn't be sat on my arse on him all day obv! He'll need a break more than me, he comes first! :)
 
I dont hack ti shows personally as I am worried if I fell off my lady would head for home!
I'm sure she wouldn't go anywhere but it's a worry of mine
 
Ah he won't go anywhere lol, only to the nearest horse if anything, can trust him that much at least. :) Plus hopefully don't plan on falling off :p
 
I've hacked to shows that are about a mile or so-- and that's not soooo bad if you can do your class and go. But if you've got to hang about for several classes it can be tiresome for both human and horse. However, if you've got pals there, mabye you can arrange ahead of time for an extra net to be tied on to lorry/trailer and use their water?

Sometimes what we do is even ask a friend with a car to bring down a head collar/lead, net, water etc so that you can get a break from eachother. Also, I always hack with hi vis, so always good to have someone that can hang on to it while showing. And if you've got to go to the loo, get a drink, get your number or whatever, it's even more important (than when you have transport) to have a groom!
 
Thanks :)

I've got a couple of of my mates meeting me there so from that point I'm ok thinking about it as they'll be driving there :)
 
Binky01 said:
Thanks! That's what I was worried about to. We do a couple of 23mile all day rides about 3 times a year, which he's still raring to go somehow all the way round.

The classes I were thinking of were either Open working hunter and 2'6ft SJ....Or Open SJ and Racehorse to riding horse class. Not decided which choice yet!
A young girl who rides him may be doing either the 1ft6 Horse and hound with him if he behaves and my best mate may do a prelim test on him if she can get there.
So definately 2 classes with me....other two aren't definate yet.

Only problem I'm worried about is water, hay etc. Though, I am expecting to see a few friends there, so I'm sure hopefully if I ask nicely I can tie him to their trailers etc and bring spare tack/trug of water/etc in the car and meet me/leave it there for me.
What do you do about hay and water etc when it's an all day show? I tend to get off him and not be on for most of the day where I can to save his back, only get on ten mins before my class, do my class and then get off him and walk round inhand round the show ground and let him stand having a break etc. So wouldn't be sat on my arse on him all day obv! He'll need a break more than me, he comes first! :)
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Could the young girl who is also riding him bring some stuff with her? If she's coming by car, for example, she may be able to bring anything you need with her?
 
I hacked my barefoot mare to a show which was 5.4 miles away on the roads.
She was absolutely fine and seemed to quite enjoy the change of scenery.
I got to the show and did my ridden class and she was mad! Just wanted to bomb around the whole time and ended up racing another horse in it!
So much for thinking she'd be tired!
I hacked back and put her in the field afterwards and she galloped off round the field.
The only drawbacks is not having anywhere to tie the horse when you're there and not having much with you for last minute touch ups and I got really fidgetty and uncomfortable in the saddle at the end of each journey.
 
Yup, we often hack to shows & meets :)

In some ways I prefer it - horse is nicely relaxed & warmed up by the time we get there, no stressing with loading/booting up/traffic jams etc. Just chuck cash & mars bar in pocket & off we go :D

We have a couple of comp venues with 5 miles or so, both have water troughs in the parking field that horse can have a drink from. Usually arrange to meet a friend there (someone to hold horses while we get numbers/go to loo etc) or OH comes over. I don't worry about hay as horses can have a nibble on the grass in the parking field.

Sucks if it's raining though! ;)
 
If you are not too bothered by not being able to take your baby then do it :)
Ask if you could tie your horse to our friends trailers, and see if the girl can bring any water/hay/rugs in her car?

I will hack to some shows if they are only about 5 miles away. A couple of summers I ago I hacked to a fun ride which was about 6/7 miles away, rode about 20 miles whilst there, then hacked back...so long as your horse is fit then should be no worry!

As someone has said, sometimes I prefer to hack there if I can as the horse is nicely warmed up and relaxed.
 
In the very dim and distant past (when only seriously smart people had TRAILERS, never mind lorries!) I often used to hack up to ten miles to a show, but it was generally about five. If I could persuade my father to bring haynets, grooming kit etc in the car, fine.... if not, it was nothing unusual to have rucksack on back, haynet slung over the front, and a steady ride there!. I would find a quiet corner and tree to tie up to, or beg space at the side of trailer or cattle truck! In fact, one of the local farmers did a nice little business by collecting half a dozen ponies on a "round robin" journey and ferrying them all to the show. No partitions, and all the kids shoved up in the luton with the tack behind the gates!!!!! The safety "Elves" would have had heart failure!!! I'm sure you will find somewhere to tie up, and a friend to take your kit now, though. It was brilliant hacking home with ribbons on the bridle,though :)
 
Thankyou :D It does make me think 'well actually.... I hack to and from hunting a few times, so what difference is a show lol'

Thankyou! Put my mind at ease a bit lol. I've sent a few begging texts around to anyyone and everyone...but at the minute looks like the hacking option!
 
I hack 4 miles to our local show once a month with three daughters and their ponies in tow. We spread the extra kit and food between us in ruck sacks and my mum takes everything home when we leave later in the day (mum goes to watch the last class). When my sister takes the box I either try to nick a space for the veterans or throw all our kit in the living before we leave.

Sometimes I don't take my old gal and ride my bike with my sisters baby trailer full of the kit so the girls don't need to carry anything. We also do pleasure rides locally the same way.

We leave in plenty of time to untack and let the ponies munch the grass before the first class and the same when we go home.
 
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