How far do you hack, at what pace, how long does it take you?

[MDB]

Hello all,
As I am trying to get my horse fit for a 20km organised ride in a few months (after a winter of barely any riding) and hopefully a summer of lots of long hacks, I am wondering if our pace is very slow for our distance covered.
Tried out a new app so I can keep tabs of our progress, and today's ride was 6.4km in one hour. Three quarters at a walk, the rest a mix of trot and canter. Our terrain is very hilly, lots of steep up and down and we always walk down the hills, trot or canter on the flat and the same on some gentler uphills. The really steep hills we walk, stopping every now and then to catch breath, as some are very steep. It feels like we always went with purpose, never dawdled, but it doesn't seem like we covered much ground.
So just wondering how far everyone else rides, how long it takes you, over what terrain and how much is walk, trot and canter?
Thanks

 

[{97702}]

Unfortunately I usually have to ride on quiet lanes so I am restricted to walk and trot - I trot most of the way though, so 5 miles takes me an hour? When I go a longer route where I can go on bridleways I cover 8 miles in an hour and a half - I canter most of the time on the bridleways, other users permitting

When I've been on a 10 mile fun ride it took me less than 2 hours (can't remember exactly how long) - that was 80% off road I would say, over undulating grass land

 

[be positive]

That is not far in 1 hour, working on the normal speed a horse will walk at around 4 miles per hour, 6.4km is about 4 miles so I expect the steep hills are pulling the time back a fair bit, until he is fitter continue to allow him to pace himself up the hills and to increase fitness gradually increase the time you are out for as well as the amount of trotting and cantering you do.

 

[Gloi]

We tend to average about 4mph on a chilled out hack mainly walking and trotting. Can do faster if we put our minds to it but usually aren't in any hurry. We quite often do two hour rides of eight miles or so. 20km is only 12.5 miles so would expect to be able to do that easily without any special training.

 

[spugs]

We’re doing lots of pleasure rides and starting endurance this year. Our short hacks are about 10km, mix of walk and trot and we aim for 10kmph min. Long hacks 20km+ 8kmph min

 

[MDB]

That is not far in 1 hour, working on the normal speed a horse will walk at around 4 miles per hour, 6.4km is about 4 miles so I expect the steep hills are pulling the time back a fair bit, until he is fitter continue to allow him to pace himself up the hills and to increase fitness gradually increase the time you are out for as well as the amount of trotting and cantering you do.

Yes, the hills definitely slow us down, both up and down. I think only 15% is flat, the rest is up and down, one very steep hill that as a person you are almost scrambling up. We also have to walk down the hills, ecause the terrain is either difficult or wet and slippy right now.
Perhaps I should try a different route, somewhere flatter and see how far we get.
She was pretty sweaty at the end, and breathing hard, so not a slow, gentle ride by my means.

 

[be positive]

Yes, the hills definitely slow us down, both up and down. I think only 15% is flat, the rest is up and down, one very steep hill that as a person you are almost scrambling up. We also have to walk down the hills, ecause the terrain is either difficult or wet and slippy right now.
Perhaps I should try a different route, somewhere flatter and see how far we get.
She was pretty sweaty at the end, and breathing hard, so not a slow, gentle ride by my means.

I would try a variety of routes if you can to mix up what you can do, hillwork is good but yours sound almost too demanding for a not very fit horse, some flatter terrain would allow more sustained trot or canter work.

 

[DirectorFury]

When M was super fit we'd do approx 14 miles in 2hr30. 90% off road but some of that was stony paths so we'd walk - if the ground was suitable she'd either be trotting or cantering. The loop on the common was ~ 6 miles and all on ground suitable for faster than a walk but very hilly - I think our PB for that was around 50 minutes.
She was doing work like this 6 times a week and it's the fittest she's ever been, one day I hope to get both of us fit enough to do it again .

 

[zaminda]

Most of my riding is fairly fast and we do a lot of canter work. We usually go at an average of 16k an hour but some rides are quicker if we are prepping for a ride. I don't cover the distances I'm competing at at home but also do canter track training. I would be looking for somewhere to do sustained canter work you might find your horse is fitter than you think!

 

[coss]

With your hacking being so hilly I wouldn't be worried about the time taken. Also depends on size of horse - both of my horses are smaller (barely more than a pony) so average walking speed for them is under 4mph - more like 3-3.5 and they aren't dawdling at that. The hillwork will really build up the back muscles and hindquarters but as suggested by others, may be worth finding some flatter routes as well so that you work different muscle groups to help with fitness.
I am mainly restricted to road hacking or forest hacking on rough stoney tracks so don't get nearly enough fast work done to be able to do the mileage that others are suggesting in such short times - I wish I could. Yesterday I did about 3 miles in 50mins - partly because pony was spooking and had to pull in for traffic a fair amount

 

[cold_feet]

I’m in East Anglia so very flat. Hacks at home 6-8 kph, but fun rides don’t usually have much road work so able to be much faster. 8-12 kph. But you won’t be alone at slower speeds, just ask for an early start time.

 

[Follysmum]

I have always done lots of hacking in walk Using hills especially over the winter and then when the season is about to start I introduce interval trotting and a small amount of canter work . I then use social and sponsored rides for more fittening Walking is a great way for fittening and is very under rated imo . My horse is in his 18th season this year and it’s always worked well for him , he has never struggled with the distances , speed is usually the biggest problem not distance

 

[JFTDWS]

When the going is decent, I aim for 10km/h + - but I need to trot and canter all the way to get over that (ponies!), and our land is pretty flat for the most part. A slow, winter (all in mud and on the road so walk/trot) hack might be 6-7km/h.

I wouldn't worry too much about pushing the speed for now - I'd work at the speed you feel comfortable and up the distance a bit, and as you progress in fitness you'll cover more ground more quickly.