How important is hacking around livery?

[Ponytale]

Hi everyone

I'm new to horse owning. I've found a reasonably priced yard which is nice and small, had good facilities - sand school with lights, loads of grazing, well fenced fields, owners live on site, plenty of storage and parking

But...

There seems to be fairly limited off road riding in the immediate vicinity. The lanes are very quiet and I would have the use of a horsebox included in the cost of the livery.

Would this be a major faff, or do the pros outweigh the cons?

Thanks in advance.

 

[RockinRudolph]

I guess it depends how important off road hacking is to you. I do far more hacking than schooling and am lucky to have lots of farmers fields to ride around so I don't really need to go near a road. No off road hacking would put me off a yard to be honest. Travelling out to places for a hack is always nice but it's often a whole day job. And dont forget, quiet country lanes are usually the ones were people turn into racing drivers - I often think busier roads are a little safer in that respect!

 

[atropa]

Off road hacking would be one of the most important things I'd look for at a yard, after decent turnout, but then I like to hack. Some people just prefer to school so it wouldn't be a big deal for them. Depends on your preferences really. Boxing up every time you wanted a nice off road hack would be a bit of a faff

 

[Boulty]

I'd do a bit of google mapping / google earthing to see how close the nearest bridleways are. If they're less than a couple of miles away then if the roads are quiet or your horse is good in traffic then I don't see why it should be an issue if you're fine with doing some roadwork and going out in the box to go to more interesting places once in a while. You could also ask if there's any farmers fields or anything that the yard has permission to ride in.

I'm odd in that I do like to have some roadwork thrown in there and I'd be more put off by a lack of roadwork loops than a lack of immediate access onto offroad hacking

 

[daydreamer]

I moved yards in April from a big yard on a huge farm (holds a BE event) where you could hack around all the fields to a small yard. I was told the new yard had good hacking. In reality most of it is roadwork - quiet country lanes. There aren't may different routes unless you go for at least 1 1/2 hours. There are some tracks but they are fairly narrow/hilly and I wouldn't really do much more than walk on them. Unless you want to hack for about 2 hours there is only one obvious place to canter.
After a few other issues at the yard and thinking about hacking I have put my name on the waiting list back at the big yard.

I wouldn't even say I like hacking! But back at the big yard I could have a quick pootle around the fields for however long I wanted, canter if I wanted without it being a big deal in my head and there was usually someone to hack out with.

Check the local OS map in the library to see how many bridle paths there are and see if you can talk to local riders about how many hacks there actually are.

 

[Greylegs]

To me, hacking around a yard is very important as it's mostly what I do. I'm very lucky in that the place where my boy lives is surrounded by hundreds of acres of forestry which is crisis-crossed with very rideable grass tracks, so I never need to go on a road if I don't want to. Having said that, the lanes around us are also very good to hack on and lead to some nice bridle paths too. I moved to another yard too a while ago. The new place was nice and a lot nearer home, but the hacking was not good at all, so I've now gone back. Having to box up to hack makes a simple ride into a full day job, so not a regular option IMO.

 

[Floofball]

Where I am now there is no off road hacking. I do miss decent hacking but I've got into a routine of hacking locally early mornings at the weekend, then boxing up once a week and going off road. It does take up time but I love going off exploring and having a blast. In summer I will venture out on the roads in the evenings if it's not like tractor racing times!! We can also ride around YO fields after they've been cut so can do plenty cardio work.
It's not ideal but I have got used to it and so far haven't found anywhere that would make me even consider moving

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I enjoy hacking round the quiet lanes here. I would want to know if there are busy times of day, or cars to look out for. For example I try to avoid riding at the time the postman comes as they do drive too fast for the road conditions. Also some of the off road riding here is a BOAT, so I avoid the times that the dirt bikes and 4x4s come.

 

[GoldenHours]

Download the Viewranger app. It's free and you also get two free map tiles of your choice to start you off. That will show you where all the bridleways are. (There is an OS app too, but it doesn't let you choose your free map.) Google street is also good for reccying road routes but you do need to have maps first imo.

 

[Steorra]

http://www.bridlewaymap.com/

Take a look at the bridleway map, if you don't already know about it. I thought I knew all the routes local to me until I used it.

All the rides near me are short stretches of bridle paths connected by longer stretches of road. To have a decent canter you have to do a loop of about one and a half hours, or about 1 hour if you don't mind turning around. We have to be inventive with fitness work. There's a great temptation to always canter on certain paths, because they're the only canter opportunity on a particular ride.

However...the roads are quiet and straight (good visibility). The yard isn't on a through route to anywhere important, so most traffic is local. The horses I ride are both good on the roads. These factors make the roadwork okay for me, so might be things to consider.

If hacking was my main interest then I'd get fed up, but I'm more of an all-rounder and enjoy schooling and hacking equally. What do you like to do with your horse? Are you the kind of person who likes routine and would be happy to ride the same routes, or do you get bored and need variety?

 

[Annagain]

My yard sounds just like yours. Lovely yard, and yard owner, good turnout and facilities. We have access to some off road hacking but have to do 20 minutes on narrow lanes that are busier than they were designed to be to get to it. It's not ideal but to get decent access to off road riding I'd have to have my horses a 1/2 hour's drive away rather than 5 minutes. They are fab in traffic and for everyday hacking it's fine. I'd rather pop them in the trailer and drive 1/2 an hour away a couple of times a month for a nicer, longer hack than do that journey twice a day in winter or even once a day if I could find a yard that did one end of the day for me.

 

[Deltaflyer]

Decent hacking is crucial for me. I'd been terribly spoiled being at a yard previously being on the doorstep of Epping Forest.

I'd go mental if I didn't have access to decent hacking. I love hacking and my boy needs the variation or he switches off when he does too many sessions in the school in a row. I like a bit of roadwork too. Luckily the yard I'm at has 500 acres and we have tracks around the edges of fields, some fields we can ride across and track through woods. The downside is that we are bordered by two very busy A roads which means road hacking is very limited and getting to the local bridleways is not an easy task.

I do have a lorry so could take my horse to different places to hack which is great as even with so much private hacking to use it's nice to get off-site.

When I first moved to the area where I live now (1987) the roads were so much quitter and even the A roads weren't an issue.

Too many bridleway seem to be getting lost amongst the morass of house building going on these days

 

[9tails]

For me, I want hacking. I don't mind some roadwork to get to that hacking, but it would be a dealbreaker if hacking was all roadwork.

 

[9tails]

http://www.bridlewaymap.com/

Take a look at the bridleway map, if you don't already know about it. I thought I knew all the routes local to me until I used it.

How do you use this please?

 

[PorkChop]

It wouldn't bother me, because hacking isn't my thing - so it depends how important it is to you.

 

[Steorra]

How do you use this please?

It's just a basic map of the UK with bridleways marked on it. I'm afraid it doesn't do anything fancy - you zoom in on your area to see all the routes available. How useful it is depends on how well you know your area already, but when I looked I found routes that my hacking buddies who've lived locally for years didn't know. Hope that helps!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I zoomed into my area and none of the official bridleways or BOATs are shown (they are on OS maps).