how long is too long

weesophz

weesophz

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in terms of hacks?

just thinking really. i remember with my old pony i would be out literally all day on him. would always stop and get off to have a break every so often, but he would just get antsy anyway!

longest hack ive been with fox i think was about 5/6 hours when we went across the moors and had so much fun, and he barely broke a sweat. he was about 8 at the time i think.

hes only 12 now but definitely looks and acts older bless him. dont think id take him out for more than a couple of hours now
 
Me and the other livery both have 6 year olds, my ex racer and her little QH.. At weekends we try and get out for a good 3 hours both days but i swear its still never enough for those two!
 
Depends how fit your horse is I guess... When I was 14 or 15 a friend and I would hack out from 9am to 6pm easy. We had a few good gallops and got off at regular intervals but our ponies were fit as fiddles all year round. Ponies were relentless and we never objected! These days I'm falling apart after an hour!
 
Well me and dafthoss did an epic 8 and a half hour mid winter hack last year in the snow. I love epic hacks, used to do 5 hours regularly of a weekend day. Less so now as don't have a hacking buddy often and pony can be a bit daft on his own (we hack solo a lot just not that far away!) but this summer will be different :cool: I don't go slow either - any excuse for a blast! Provided they're fit enough...

Heck my in-his-twenties-cob still does 3 hours when he's fit in summer.
 
12, and getting on :O Reg is 12 and is ridiculously well.

Heck, the 18yo hunter (who has hunted every season since he was a youngster) still happily does a full day out hunting, which is essentially extreme hacking...
 
haha lolo my boys had a tough life. was a racer then had an idiot owner who was clueless who eventually left him starving in a stable for months before i got him. he suffered with bad gastric ulcers, gubbed his back legs i dont know how many times and fractured his radius 2 years ago. i feel bad if i think im asking too much of him haha :o
 
We took daughter and pony to the beach (on the one sunny day this year!) and she rode for 3 hours practically non stop. Did them both the world if good since pony isn't out in the field much at the mo.
 
My 24 year old is still perfectly happy doing half day hacks at a reasonably steady speed. He's doesn't feel at all tired after it or on the next day so I'm sure he'd quite happily still do longer rides if asked. The limiting factor seems to be what my back can handle these days, 20 miles is okay but any more and I'm hobbling when I get back. He lives out all the time and is ridden 3-4 days a week.
 
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