How far do you hack?

[Mule]

I see a few have said that they find hacking boring. A friend of mine said the same thing, she says it’s pointless.

I on the other hand think (personal opinion) that hacking in the woods, beach, tracks and open fields is what it’s all about and is the basis for all disciplines. I can’t think of anything more boring than going round an arena most days (for me or my horse)

Welcome to hear views

What I like about hacking is being out in the open countryside. I like strolling about looking at things on a hack and letting the beast graze.
I suppose we don't get much fitness work done in walk but we do have very steep hills. I find it relaxing. I always hack alone so it's a way of spending time with the horse without schooling. Although I'm a big fan of the odd bit of shoulder in and leg yield on straight lanes. I also vary my hacking routes to keep it interesting.

 

[scruffyponies]

Our regular hacks are around 10-12 miles. It's a good mix of fast tracks, lanes, and the odd open area where we can really go for it. How long it takes varies enormously. One of our standard hacks can be done in less than an hour, or nearer 3... depends whether we have any beginners with us.

 

[Merrymoles]

Rubbish hacking here - mostly roads - so usually somewhere between 2.5 and 6 miles. We do box out occasionally but the lack of hacking at home means the horses aren't that fit so we tend to do about 10 miles but slowly.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

I had a app on my phone years ago when I was still at college and had longer to ride plus nicer hacking, I use to regularly do 4 hour hacks on my own which was about 10 miles. We use to go out in a group and do a good 5 hour hack occasionally, never been on a all day hack though. Did box out once to a lovely location years ago where we stopped for a picnic half way which was really nice.

We box out to hack mostly now as where I am the hacking isn't amazing.
I live for hacking, absolutely love it. Funrides are lovely too. A friend loves schooling and hates being out of the arena, I personally can't see the fun of being in a 20x60 space all the time.

 

[sportsmansB]

My current horse doesn't love hacking, and in NI we have few bridleways, so its more of a 45 min stretch just to be out of the arena doing something different. He appears to find it more stressful than relaxing so I have learnt not to project my view on how nice it should be onto him!!

My last mare loved hacking and was completely reliable in all situations so we used to head off for miles on a Sunday morning (where I could nip up a busier stretch of road to get to a longer quiet route) - I would have happily been out for 3 hours on her, long rein, ears pricked, loving it

 

[Tarragon]

I had a horseless gap for about 15 years but I got plenty of riding in by offering to hack out other people's horses for them, those that either did not have the time or found it boring. It was a win-win situation as I would get lovely horses to ride and they would get their horses exercised for them.
Now I have my own ponies i hack all the time. I work full time so ride early in the morning before work and only have an hour for riding and I have a choice of 3 or 4 hacks between 3 to 4 miles each. At the weekend I ride as long as I have time allowed (busy family life and non horsey OH) so anything between 1 hour and 3-4 hours hacks. All the hacks are hilly and involve some road and most of it done at a trot.
Over the years though I have organised about 10 long distance rides where we have ridden over 4 days and 3 nights and cover about 80 miles and these are my absolute idea of heaven. These have included the Mary Towneley Loop, the Pedders Way, the Peak Horse Power Northern and Southern loops in the Peak District and one in the Brecon Beacons.

 

[JFTDWS]

I hate hacking when it's pissing down / freezing cold. Even in summer I don't particularly enjoy it if the ground isn't good, and you can't get moving on a bit. When the ground's good, the weather's nice and the hacking is interesting, however, I think it's a terrific way to spend a day.

I do think that it's hugely important for horses to hack over varying terrain and up and down hills as part of their work and development. I'd rather have good hacking than an arena (if I can't have both!), because I think it's generally better for the horse. That said, I enjoy arena work, schooling, jumping etc too. Everything in it's place.

 

[Leo Walker]

I find it boring as I'm driving not riding so I'm much more limited by where I can go. I dont ever find off road driving boring, so really its road work that bores me.

 

[Palindrome]

My horse is young so we are still building up the distance. We are doing a 7 km ride on Saturday, following a friend with a 20 years old ex-endurance rocket (connie).

We otherwise go for about 2 hours but it isn't very fast, mix of walk and trot with a little bit of canter. We are very spoiled with the hacking at the new yard.

 

[rosiesowner]

I make sure I hack Chilli a couple of times per week, but it's nothing too exciting-usually to just stretch her legs with a canter one of our longer fields. We're usually out for anywhere in between 20-40 minutes. If we had better hacking and Chilli enjoyed hacking alone more I'd do more! But as it is we're happy just bobbling along. I use an app and we go for about 1.9 miles on average.

We do enjoy beach trips though-must get one of those in soon!

 

[Casey76]

I used to always hack for at least 45 mins, more usually 1-2hours depending on speed. At my old yard you could go for miles and miles and only see paved and unsaved farm roads, so very, very little traffic. I. Just tracked one of my old hacks and it was just under 9km, which I would do in about 45-60mins


I often see friends posting their phone-tracked hacks on FB, and they are doing 1-2 miles in an hour, and I’m wondering how on earth you can actually ride that slowly?