How long are you hacks? (time wise)

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Alphamare

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Just curious how long people hack out for and what you consider a long hack is?

Our shortest hack is an hour and Everything else is two hours plus. We could go much longer but the horses are not yet fit enough for more than about three hours currently thanks to the rubbish weather and of course winter lack of day light.

Some people hack for 20min? That's barely warmed up surely?
 
Shortest one is about 30 minutes.Longest so far 1 1/2 hours but i have only had him 3 weeks and were both a bit unfit.
 
I could be out all day as I'm on dartmoor :)
Realistically I have a dodgy back so tend to be an hour ish, Plus I have an oldie companion who I don't like to leave for too long. I'd happily leave him a couple hours but no longer, any more and I'd be a cripple anyway with my back.
If I'm in a rush I'll whip up around the moor for half an hour or so, doesn't feel pointless as such , I just enjoy getting out and pootling around :)
 
Anything from an hour (if I'm short of time) to 6 hours plus. Will sometimes walk on a long rein for 30 mins or so after schooling, but I don't really count that as hacking :)
 
I know it's very odd. At our yard most people hack for about 20mins. Hardly worth tacking up imo. My horse would wonder what the hell was going on if I took him back after 20mins.

I like to go for anything to 1 - 3 hours. Anything longer would have to involve a pub. :)
 
I do understand that there may be reasons for shorter hacks :-) but I have heard people talk of their 20min hacks like that's all they do and as far as they go.

We are building up fitness so we can hack even further at this rate maybe I should consider endurance :-)

I have no idea how far we are actually going though I can't judge distance do I just go by building up the time and the speed of a hack.
 
Shortest is around 20 mins but can usually hack for as long as I have really as we have great hacking usually go out for about three hours at the weekend. :)
 
My yard doesn't have much hacking And is in the middle of two main roads so I'm limited to that, takes about half an hour, so with a nappy horse it's difficult to go round and round, the longest I've had is an hour and ten mins :( I would prefer to go much longer!!
 
shortest is around 30 minutes in winter when light's limited post work etc. Anything from there up to our current record of over 7 hours :p Normally out for a few hours for a "real" hack, or an hour or so for a play during the week.
 
Alphamare said:
I do understand that there may be reasons for shorter hacks :-) but I have heard people talk of their 20min hacks like that's all they do and as far as they go.

We are building up fitness so we can hack even further at this rate maybe I should consider endurance :-)

I have no idea how far we are actually going though I can't judge distance do I just go by building up the time and the speed of a hack.
Click to expand...

I use MapmyRun to plot my rides. It's excellent for planning your routes and gives a very accurate guide to how much mileage you're actually doing. :)
 
I do 20 min hacks but it is a specific hill and usually a semi day off and we just walk, just going for a quick poddle, wouldn't really call it a hack. It is our 'coming back from being lame hack' (i have done it often enough that it has a name.

My shortest proper hack is an hour, usually 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours though I am on a veteran and my friend on a baby so we don't push it much further yet.
 
Shortest is 20-30 minutes depending on how fast you go, normal hacks are 1-2 hours but have been known to go out for up to 4 hours depending on the weather and what we feel like doing :p.
 
Anything from an hour to 3. Would do longer but with 7 yr old in tow I feel 3 is enough. In vile weather, lack of time we have a 30 minute route but I tend to call it whizzing round the block rather than a hack. Regularly did 6+ pre child. Plus an epic 11 hr one in my teens when we got lost.
 
It's very hilly where we are and shortest is 30 mins and longest for me personally is just over two hours. I've never been one for hacking for hours although it's possible round here.
 
If I'm trying to squeeze a hack in the shortest one is about half an hour - on average, hacks are probably 2hrs - 2/12 hrs long where I live now. Where I used to live we had hacking for miles (moorland!) and we could be out there ALL day - was incredible and the horses were MUCH fitter back then ;)
 
Shortest is about 40 minutes and longest I have done is about 3 hours - although you could go for longer round here (with a pub break in the middle! ;) )

I wish there was a 20 minute (circular) route I could do, as I want to build up slowly to going on our own. I think 40 minutes might be too much for H at first, but I don't want to go out and turn round after 10 minutes either :p
 
Depends on where you're based I guess, when I've had little off road hacking shortest has been around 20 mins (defined by where the nearest natural 'loop' was in the road!) and longest 1hr in order to get to some where to have a canter.

nowdays I'm lucky enough to have brilliant hacking but it needs 15 mins to get there so currently 1hr is a short hack and 2+ a longer one.
 
Hi,

Where we are it's very hilly/woodland with lots of off-the-beaten-tracks rides. A quick hack would be 30/40 mins with a little gallop thrown in (the yard is in the middle of a country park so hacking on doorstep), a long one would be 2 hours atm as ponio isn't as fit as i'd like him and besides he has to carry my lard-arse.

We're working towards longer once I find my way around - only been there since Jan.

Very jealous of those with the moors on the doorstep. :D
 
Shortest is about 30mins, then anything up to 2hrs. We're restricted in that there are certain times when we're not allowed to cross the road at the front. But have plenty of options which is fantastic
 
I think I'm known as the professional hacker! During the week our hacks are around hour and half to 2 hours, but at weekends, days off work, I'm known to be out anywhere from 4 to 6 hours.
 
My shortest is about 40 minutes, I wouldn't bother for less, I'd just school. You can do one that would take me about 15 minutes at certain times when on access route is open but I don't.

Average hacks for me are about 1.5 - 2 hours although we have done some that are about 3.5, last time we did a long one horse was still full of energy though.....
 
Pack lunch sounds like a great idea! How do you carry it? We want to start going further as I said but I do have one question for those that do four hours plus, what about water for the horses?
 
Im very jealous of all of you. I love hacking for hours but where I live has got more and more busy and dangerous on the roads, and the only good hacking has major roads cutting across them. We now have a wind farm being built on the other side so lots of massive construction traffic to come. My little horse isn't very brave alone and his hacking buddy has been injured for a year so I darent risk taking him out when there is a lot on the roads, so I have to ride at 6am just to get to the tracks.

I am saving hard for a place of my own somewhere with safe off road hacking where we can go for miles, then he and I would be out for hours.

At the moment its an hour loop if I walk it but try to trot and canter most of the way, and then I double back and repeat the (very slightly!) uphill sections with interval training, canter up, trot back, repeat. Its very boring for us though.

Where do all of you with great off road hacking live??!!
 
40 minutes upwards,rarely out for longer than 3hrs unless competing. However I go fast, so longer is unrealistic without a pit stop.
 
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