How good is your horse to hack ?

[Lill]

On his own?

On the roads, in fields, woods, etc?

Has he always been good or have you had to work on it?

If you have, how have you worked on it?

Just interested

Blue is 100% to hack everywhere on his own. But i think thats because for the first 6 - 12months of his ridden life as a 3yo he was hacked out nearly every day on his own down the road.

(had no arena then!)

Although he doesn't go out that much anymore he is still good

 

[BobbyMondeo]

My mare is excellent , really bold nothing phases her. she is just not the spooky type. My two geldings however are a different story, they wont hack on there on but are improving and spook at everything that might eat them

 

[Wigglypigs]

Sh!te lol
Last owner warned me she had stopped ahacking due to napping
I took him on and had him out a few times. only a little napping but somewhere along the line he has turned into the spookiest horse ive even had the misfortune to meet. In the arena he is hellish so theres no way id attempt to hack him out. Begining to think im going to get vet out for full check including eyesight as he is a bloody nightmare.

 

[Eira]

She is excellent .
When she was backed her 3rd hack was by herself.
She's naturally very confident though .

 

[dixie]

Fantastic! I've had him from birth and I've mostly ridden him out on his own. He's always been good, right from the start once he learnt to go out of the yard. I particulary enjoy riding him on the moors.

BUT and this is a big but, he is bad with fast or heavy traffic. He panics if they go faster than about 25miles ph towards him. Again he's always been like this. When he was a youngster he was always the one who would run away from the quadbike, whereas his mate would chase the quadbike!

I don't know where he's got this from (not his mother) but I'm sure he'll never accept fast vehicles.

 

[catdragon]

With company she is excellent, on her own another story...spooks at everything, when eventually I get her to go forward she's brill but then something goes "click"in her brain and we go home, fast

So I would rather just go with someone else than risk either of us getting hurt.....plus it's more fun to hack with a friend

 

[stencilface]

He is good, not a novice hack (esp if he's on his own) but doesn't do anything drastic. He can spin at scary leaves etc, but not generally bothered by traffic. Unless its a double decker school bus and all the kids are screaming and banging on the windows

He was pretty rubbish when we first got him as a four year old though, had been hacked out, but had onyl ever seen a horses bottom. When we first started making him be the 'leader' he was very nervous and wouldn't go further than about 100m without spinning. As it was just a confidence issue, persistence and reassurance let him know that it was ok, and now he is fine on his own or in company (apart form the odd on to keep me on my toes

)

 

[Damnation]

A complete tw@t.
In company she gets excited and jogs sideways everywhere.
On her own you have a hope in hell of getting her down the road... She naps badly, spins, canters in little circles, anything to get home really.
I can only hack her with one other horse.

Izzi

 

[Sarahgema]

fab - when i need him to be - we do have silly days but thats both of us! he never does anything dangerous! just fun! and when i need him to behave hes fab!

 

[Lill]

Haha i'm sure mine would be the one to chase the quadbike! He chases the tractor - ESPECIALLY if its got a bale of hay on the spike!

Merlin (nearly 2yo) who i will be breaking in next summer, is pretty good, already used to tractors, JCB's, cars and lorries (horse box) so i plan to try and do a LOT of hacking with him too when the time comes.

 

[Faro]

1. Pharaoh - Endurance horse. Absolutely fantastic to hack on his own (has to be as we do all of our fittening work alone), except for the first canter when he has to have a few minutes of wild head tossing which can be a bit unnerving, then he settles. Gets more of a handful when there's other horses about because he thinks he's at a competitive ride and always wants to be in front of them.

2. Miri. A nightmare on his own. Lacks confidence and will nap and bolt. Absolutely perfect though when ridden out with others.

3. Warrior - the greenest of the three - great both alone and in company. A gentleman (or should I say gentlehorse?).

 

[ester]

welsh!

100% down main road all big traffic, car wash etc etc, gets bored down lanes and can get a little spooky, flowers, pigeons, weeds, shadow etc etc are very scary. Depends who is riding him, if a nervous friend actually very good.

normally issue is he is just very very slow but can be a little jekyll and hydeish

fab in fields etc, canter down the track and turn round and walk back. Only place he is still silly is the beach very joggy and won't stand and chat but working on it.

He is the sort I will take anywhere and actually a lot less spooky somewhere he doesn't know.

 

[Beccaeve]

It depends what mood shes in, we can either plod or we bounce and jog!! She's pretty laid back, big scary things dont bother her but big leaves or any slight change to where we regularly go, we cant cope with that

Overall shes pretty good, (lets me text etc) but I don't trust her to hack with anyone else.

 

[sidesaddlegirl]

Hattie can be a bit sharp but is not unsafe but DEFINITELY not a novice ride. She can get strong in the canter so I don't canter out anymore for the moment as my instructor and I are working on getting her confidence back by schooling her properly.

 

[mattilda]

Depends on his mood! Sometimes he is the most chilled out fella, he's lovely. Other times he turns into devil horse. I have been known to stop traffic in both directions, Fortunately I live in a quiet village, and have given the one local single decker bus an interesting variation on a passage/levade/half pass!!

 

[TheresaW]

Both are fine. Mac can be a little lazy when he's on his own though. Doll used to nap when I first got her if we were on our own, but once she realised she wasn't going to get away with it, she gave up. She does still try it on occasionally, especially if we go somewhere she hasn't been before.

 

[horseywelsh]

Fantastic now, used to be naughty with buses/tractors etc but now he doesn't bother. His confidence has grown over time. Gets a bit nervy in enclosed woods, jumps at himself snapping the branches under his hooves. Fine to gallop in fields etc.

 

[Birker2020]

The day after my new horse arrived I went out for a hack on my own with him. I told the Y.O I was only going to be half an hour but ended up being away for over an hour and getting lost exploring all the bridlepaths and lanes in the area and he was no problem at all. However after a few weeks he started really playing up and would rear and spin round. I started losing my confidence with him but perservered but it seemed to make little if any difference which was such a shame as i used to hack out both Bailey and my previous horses for hours at a time both winter and summer and really enjoyed it. Now I find I can only take Bails so far down the lane without any problems and he walks really fast - its what i describe as his panicky walk. When he spooks he stops dead and spins (always to the left) and he gives no warning, he doesn't tense up or do anything with his ears before. I don't push the matter as he is over 17hh and if he slipped on the road on top of me I would be no more so its really not worth the hassle. A staff member from our livery yard tried to outwit him once and he was crouching by the floor spinning and rearing and she was smacking him with the whip but it made no difference. I genuinely don't think he is being naughty as one hack we went on when I pushed him over his comfort zone, he came back really panicky and two seperate people commented that he was breathing funny and looked anxious. Incidentally he is great with other horses and will go first or last in a group without a problem. He came over from Holland in 2004 and someone I know has a friend who lives over there and says all the horses that hack over there do is ride through foresty areas as the area is dense with forests and they do very little road work. On pleasure rides he used to be a bit of a nightmare but he is okay to cope with now although I usually ride on my own and not in company. Edited to say that when a car tries to pass from behind us and we stand on the verge Bailey waits until the car is parallel and then swings his quarters out towards the car. Someone said this is a defence attitude because he is scared and I genuinely think he is whcih is why I don't push hacking out.

 

[dawnpetenathshir]

My boy has always been good to hack out alone or in company. He gave me confidence and now I am more confident he is up for practically anything the cheeky monkey

 

[algy666]

Great, if a bit spooky. Better on his own than in company (tends to get excited if there's more than a couple of horses), and can be a bit fizzy in fields. But I quite like it.

 

[Hullabaloo]

Boo is forward going, can be spooky and is a bit cheeky but he's brilliant in traffic and never naps. He's great fun most of the time but wouldn't make a good hack for a novice or for a nervous rider. He tends to be competitive in company but we don't have many people to ride out with so that's not really an issue. Fun rides are a bit of an ordeal though - he got an ASBO last time I took him, so I tend not to bother any more. He better when he's hacked regularly and tends to be a bit of a nightmare if he hasn't been out for a couple of weeks - which means we're going to have fun this weekend

He can get a bit silly when his feet touch grass - he's not strong but tends to leap around squealing. He used to try to take off with me whenever he fancied a blast, so we had to work on our discipline, walking or trotting in places where we usually canter. To be fair though that was a bad habit he got from me blasting around everywhere at my old yard.

When I first got him he always used to jog on the way home, so we had a few sessions of turning him away from home until he walked then turning him back again. He soon got the message.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Very good - his first owner had him from a youngster, and he was long reined a lot on the roads, and as she was on her own, he has always been hacked alone. Doesn't care about any traffic, even clanky trailers and tractors flailing hedges, we've ridden through towns and many many times over dual carriageway bridges. He goes through water up to his belly, he is spooky, but just a case of looking, he doesn't nap. But, he doesn't 'do' pigs, although he will follow me if I get off and lead him!

 

[merlinsquest]

Great alone and just a tad strong in small numbers..... but a night mare in a crowd

He has to be infront or will jig jog everywhere at a pace slower than a slow walk!!

 

[CracklinRosie]

TBx great in company as long as she's in front. Copes alone but is getting more stresed the older she gets, which is weird.

TB has been out alone and in company, in front and behind and prefers company and being in behind. Has now got a major problem with anything coing up behind her.

 

[Chumsmum]

Chum is fab to hack anywhere, doesn't spook at things and though he may look at strange things he keeps going if I keep my leg on and gives everyone a lead. I love hacking him and would take him anywhere, whatever the weather.

He's not keen on tractors coming up behind him but if I turn him to face it or find a pull-in he is fine. I always say that Chum is bothered by the things that could actually kill him not leaves, bags etc.

He was about 13yo when I had him so someone else had done all the hard work. We have had to work on the tractor issue a bit but that included building my confidence up too, I now know that though he might jog on the spot he is not going to do anything silly.

And when I look back at how much of a novice rider I was when I had him, and how he looked after me, I am so proud of him

Edited to say he is more lively to canter in company

 

[Vikki89]

I dont try hacking alone anymore. My mare goes on strike or decides to walk backwards, sometimes i have not been able to get her out of the yard if were on our own.
Yet in company she is really good, doesnt spook at anything.

 

[amandaco2]

my older mare is great
On his own?
always been great on her own since she was bought as a 5yo just backed.she gets wound up if out with others unless shes allowed to walk in the front at her own fast speed and they have to stay at least 3 horses length behind or she jogs and bounces.if she doesnt like the horse or never met them/doesntlike them, they have to be further away but sometimes she just ends up doing collected canter anyway!
horses cab gallop past on the beach and shes fine.
but horses coming out with us or horses in fields...............

On the roads, in fields, woods, etc?great everywhere.

Has he always been good or have you had to work on it?she did used to be a tiny bit spooky with skips.and she used to jog all the way home at one stage.

If you have, how have you worked on it?
spookiness was sorted by giving a bucket of food by the skip
jogging-i used to make her really work and be really round if she jogged, then ask her to walk again on a loose rein.works great, although she has the occassional relapse or day when she jogs the whole time.


the 5yo is very spooky on her own but shes not been out much

 

[arwenplusone]

QR - a total fruitcake and a big girl's blouse.

We are taking remedial hacking classes....

 

[jinxy]

He's fine, its me thats the problem!

 

[_April_]

Tara is brilliant to hack both in company and alone.
The last horse I owned was a nightmare so I made it one of my top priorites when horse hunting.

She's a fast and strong horse (typical TB!), has the odd look at things and minor spooks but at the same time is extremely sensible and good in heavy traffic.

On my first ever solo hack with her we had to go past donkeys and alpacas and she didn't bat an eye.
Even at our new yard she just gets on with it and strides out through the scary places - ahead of the others who have been there for ages lol

If I hack out in a group I can leave them all part way and go off on my own which is really quite amazing!

If we meet friends she will wait patiently whilst we have a chat etc.

When we did the hacking shoot for Horse mag she was so well behaved all day, I was so proud

Sorry for the gushing

but, having had a silly fruitloop, I really appreciate a well mannered hacker lol x