How Much Hacking Do You Actually Do?

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sammiea

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Good Afternoon All,

I have posted in here regarding this as its aimed at those with competition horses :)

I keep my horses on my in laws farm, I'm very lucky to have lovely stables, grazing & menage but the hacking is awful! When its dry I can hack round the edge of the fields but now we are into the wet weather its totally impossibly as it would do too much damage to the crops. Due to this my horses are rarely hacked out as to do so I have to box up and travel to get to somewhere safer which is not always viable timewise (with a fulltime job & a 4yr old son) not to mention I am not a fan of hacking solo following many close calls and the thought of it now fightens me to death.

I must stress my horses seem very happy with there lifestyle and have been kept in this way for 18 months now. They get a mixed week of lunging, flat work, pole work, jumping (either a show or at home), time off & time out grazing.

Are there any others that dont hack out regularly? What do you do to ensure your horses dont get bored?
 
In the winter i find hacking nigh on impossible. I have to ride before or after work and its dark so i have to go in the arena under the lights. I am usually competing one day at the weekend and i will hack the other day if weather permits - but at this time of year its often blowing a gale or chucking it down, which doesn't make for safe hacking. Therefore, i will often go for weeks without hacking. One of my horses is also simply not safe to hack. I will ride her round the fields a lot in the summer but often the ground doesn't allow for it in the winter.

Provided that there is variety in your work i.e. pole work, lunging, time off, time out etc as you say, then i really do not think it matters as much as is often implied.
 
I am very lucky that I can start work any time up to 1030am, so I often have time for quick hacks of a weekday morning, does mean an early start though, and by time I muck out I have just enough time to get to work, have a quick spruce up in the ladies toilets and get to my desk, around 10
 
I always make sure to hack out as much as possible; however, in winter when I'm riding in the school much more, I make sure I have a really clear and variable programme - so for example, if I'm going to be in the school four evenings in a week, I'd do one day lunging, one day more collected 'dressage' work, one day of more canter/forward/stretching type work (e.g. lots of walk to canter, stretching out down long side, concentrating most on forwardness) and then maybe poles or something on the last day. I find this works as long as I'm clear in my mind.

My horse isn't the brightest though and quite likes routine so I don't think he's mine THAT much if it was more repetitive than this ;-).
 
In summer I usually hack at least 4 times a week. Mostly week days before work so need to be on board by 5am ish. In winter I am only able to hack at weekends. Sometimes it's just on a Saturday as we would usually compete on a sunday. The rest of the week we are confined to the school under lights which isn't a bad thing as I can jump off and get inside quick if weather changes! I don't usually lunge as I don't think it helps his joints but we do pole work and sometimes just go in school and do exercises in walk. He has daily turnout, usually 8 hours or more. I just do what I can when I can.
 
I am really lucky to be in an area where there is a variety of different kinds of routes to hack.. lovely countryside.. farm lands and even sand gallops, the roads are mainly quiet too. I find in winter i hack at weekends if im not competing and try and do the schooling etc in the week if i can by flood light as obviously hacking is impossible then in the pitch black. In summer i mix it up and do a variety of schooling jumping and hacking as i'm competing more and need to then put the schooling in. I do believe hacking is very relaxing for you and your horse and important to do when you can.
 
I know it's not what you asked but this feeling that horses 'have' to hack and will suffer in their work otherwise is a very UK perspective. There are lots of places where doing more than a walk around the fields without having to travel is impossible and everyone survives. :)

Also, the school is just a place. There is no reason for a horse to get bored there unless you're making it boring for the horse.
 
I have the opposite problem, no school so have to hack! Hack about 3 times a week, hire local school 1 time (have to hack to it though!) and compete/clinic once a week/fortnight. We are at Elementary level and manage fine. So I probably hack more than I would if I had a school on site however I would always aim to take him out a couple of times a week as I feel exposing us to a wide variety of stimuli has done wonders for our bond and bravery, plus it gives us much needed down time to relax. I was also told many years ago that subjecting your horse to a variety of surfaces is better for keeping them strong and level which make sense to me so I keep that in mind too, but everyone has their own circumstances to deal with and dare say if my only choice was hacking on fast roads I wouldn't bother!
 
I don't have a menage so can only hack in winter as the fields are too wet to ride in. I hate it as the hacking isn't great, either one off road hack or have to use roads which are busy in the week and it gets really repetitive. Currently saving for a menage!
 
What TS said :)

Mine didn't hack for nearly 2 years as such a pillock. He's done a bit this summer, maybe once a fortnight, but will maybe do once a month if that over winter as he's worse when it's cold or windy and no one wants him rearing and rodeo broncing all over the road!
He does walk only normally as so easily wound up.

I wouldn't worry.
 
For the initial stages of fittening work then I hack every day.

Once part fit I start adding in a couple of schooling sessions a week then this increases as the horse gets fitter. I would always hack at least twice a week but that's as much for my benefit as the horse. I don't really have off road hacking either, I can box to the beach or to the local trekking centre to use their tracks but otherwise I'm on the roads. I have made very sure that my youngster is happy in most traffic.
 
Also, the school is just a place. There is no reason for a horse to get bored there unless you're making it boring for the horse.[/QUOTE]


This is so true, if the horse is kept interested and challenged both physically and mentally why should schooling for 1 out of 24 hours be boring, hacking can be boring as can being turned out in a small field for 24 hours a day , horses generally thrive on routine if that routine means schooling each day and being stimulated doing so most will be happy enough.
 
I don't currently enjoy hacking my horse, he's feeling very full of it and it puts me on edge, so I pay for the yard to hack him twice a week. He's been out of work so we are trying to build his fitness and I know how important hacking can be for this, besides I want him to settle out hacking so I can then take him out myself.
 
be positive said:
Also, the school is just a place. There is no reason for a horse to get bored there unless you're making it boring for the horse.
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This is so true, if the horse is kept interested and challenged both physically and mentally why should schooling for 1 out of 24 hours be boring, hacking can be boring as can being turned out in a small field for 24 hours a day , horses generally thrive on routine if that routine means schooling each day and being stimulated doing so most will be happy enough.
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In many parts of the world you're stuck INDOORS (which, btw, I didn't truly appreciate until I lost it!!) for almost half the year. There might be a few nice days when you could putter around in the snow (or lack thereof) but you could probably count them on your fingers most years! As above, it's a few hours a week, hardly mind numbing tedium. Even within that space, there are all sorts of things you can do. (I will admit this last one is limited if you don't have good footing and/or lights.) Plus, you'd die if you tried to hack on the roads!
 
Hacking isn't a big thing here either. My horse is stabled on a 600 hectare game farm, so have access to pretty near unlimited hacking. Yet...I don't. I walk out along the fields and up the road of the farm probably once every 3 weeks/a month but honestly he is awful even in places he knows very well, and I have little patience for it. Fighting with a horse who just wants to rear and leap around for the entire duration of the hack doesn't do it for me, I'm afraid, so he pretty much just works in the school with a bit of lunging and the occasional small free jump in the ring.

He hasn't even jumped much at all the last 8 months or so as he was diagnosed with KS, but it doesn't mean that our flatwork is boring.
 
I hack mine pretty much every day, and to be honest he needs it as is prone to being backwards/upwards(!!) thinking, and we don't really jump so I worry about him getting stale.

Our younger horse does get hacked a fair bit, but he's got such a good attitude that to be honest I don't think it would make any difference if he wasn't hacked at all.

You should see if there's a little bit of land you could have as a canter track :) Would only need to be about 5' wide.
 
Ahh, so nice to hear this! The hacking around me is cr*p and having just installed a rather lovely 22x42m arena, I am pretty keen to ride in it as much as possible, but was feeling guilty if I didn't hack out at least twice a week. Saying that, the whole point of the school was to keep them going through the winter, so I was getting my head around it!

I think on the odd sunny afternoon I will head out and about, but other than that, the school it is - hurray!
 
pootleperkin said:
Ahh, so nice to hear this! The hacking around me is cr*p and having just installed a rather lovely 22x42m arena, I am pretty keen to ride in it as much as possible, but was feeling guilty if I didn't hack out at least twice a week. Saying that, the whole point of the school was to keep them going through the winter, so I was getting my head around it!

I think on the odd sunny afternoon I will head out and about, but other than that, the school it is - hurray!
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You will survive. :) I used to work for someone who made very nice event horses with almost no hacking (we did have a canter track, to be fair) and we were pretty much stuck in the small indoor from November to March/April. Not at all uncommon.
 
While I accept the school is as boring as you make it I do feel that hacking is very important I don't hack my horses to give them excitement I hack them for them to have down time so they can enjoy moving and exploring with out the mental effort that training entails .
In summer I do lots of hill work crossing rough country doing this they gain strength and develop the ability to work out where to put their feet .
For the dressage horse I can see you can get away without it if you had too.
Often I am preparing hunters and it's vital for them to hack to develop the skills they will use out hunting.
We go to the beach we go to the hills we go to the forest .
I like to lead horses from other horses if they have been under pressure in their work .
I did ride abroad where there was really no hacking ( showjumpers ) I did not like it .
I will admit often I school and make the grooms do the hacking.
 
I find hacking is really beneficial for us. It depends what you hack for, boring plods along the same lane would be the same as using the school for repetitive unimaginative work. Ridden work, -hacking out or using the arena, has to be thoughtful and purposeful.

Apart from the obvious bomb proofing, hacking is great for building fitness, training a horse to cover all types of ground, trust the rider and work together in decision making. I often let the horse pick the path through boggy ground or get us out of tricky situations. Problems arise that can't be replicated on the XC course or dressage arena.

No school can recreate a wooded lane canter, dodging over hanging branches, jumping fallen logs, teaching a young horse to safely go down a steep hill side with loose rocks or pace itself cantering a sheer uphill climb.

No school can match riding across a meadow as the sun sets. Moments of stillness standing on a ridge and scanning the horizon. Hacking gives me the opportunity to ride by feel and not my mind. It satisfies the horse's instinct to roam and to know the geography of its location.
It refreshes us so that work remains a pleasure and ensures that when competition life is over, they still have a future as a good hacking horse.
 
We have no hacking so try to get each horse out on the lorry 2 or 3 times a week. Usually one longer slower hack and one cantering on the downs or gallops.

In the summer I ride round our grazing fields and woods before and after schooling. In the winter the fields are too wet so I 'hack' round the schools and yard.
 
dogatemysalad said:
I find hacking is really beneficial for us. It depends what you hack for, boring plods along the same lane would be the same as using the school for repetitive unimaginative work. Ridden work, -hacking out or using the arena, has to be thoughtful and purposeful.

Apart from the obvious bomb proofing, hacking is great for building fitness, training a horse to cover all types of ground, trust the rider and work together in decision making. I often let the horse pick the path through boggy ground or get us out of tricky situations. Problems arise that can't be replicated on the XC course or dressage arena.

No school can recreate a wooded lane canter, dodging over hanging branches, jumping fallen logs, teaching a young horse to safely go down a steep hill side with loose rocks or pace itself cantering a sheer uphill climb.

No school can match riding across a meadow as the sun sets. Moments of stillness standing on a ridge and scanning the horizon. Hacking gives me the opportunity to ride by feel and not my mind. It satisfies the horse's instinct to roam and to know the geography of its location.
It refreshes us so that work remains a pleasure and ensures that when competition life is over, they still have a future as a good hacking horse.
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Lovely post.

Just because other countries don't have the benefit of hacking doesn't mean that there aren't advantages to doing it. The UK traditionally has used hacking for fittening work, be that racehorses or hunters, and it is only recently that schools have become more common. They both have their place and for me hacking is just as beneficial for my mental well being as it is for my horses.
 
I hack all the time - I dont have an arena.
I do have a grassy paddock I might use when going is good in summer (perhaps for popping poles/grids etc) but otherwise, all my work is done whilst out as I am lucky enough to be able to go out the yard gate & not 'have' to go on any tarmac roads.

My schooling work is done whilst out, perhaps in a natural sandy area, or along tracks or in the woods etc.
Transitions, bending, outline work, all done on the move without a fence.

However, if I was doing stressage I would be trying to spend more time IN an arena as I find for me that its more helpful for accuracy :) I dont tho, so what I do, suits me fine :)

The only time I'd have liked my own arena was with the last horse, as I was boxing him up to travel the 2/3 miles to a decent outdoor school...........
 
If you have the available hacking, a horse that liked it, and time to do it, it's fantastic. The hacking in the new area I've moved to is dreadful. There's no off road hacking, and busy roads through the village are used as eat runs, and no real chance of getting to anywhere either quieter or bridle ways. Still able to go for a potter around some housing estates which is better than nothing.
 
TarrSteps said:
I know it's not what you asked but this feeling that horses 'have' to hack and will suffer in their work otherwise is a very UK perspective. There are lots of places where doing more than a walk around the fields without having to travel is impossible and everyone survives. :)

Also, the school is just a place. There is no reason for a horse to get bored there unless you're making it boring for the horse.
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reassuring point. As another who is confined to floodlights 5 days a week i too am limited to how much i have time to hack in the winter and though my horse does not seem to mind (I actually don't think she much likes hacking anyway - slight separation anxiety) i always feel guilty about it. Time to stop the guilt perhaps
 
Don't get me wrong, I completely see the benefits of hacking and, given the opportunity, I want horses to do it for all the reasons mentioned. For hunters, it's essential training.

But the original question was pretty much is it 'okay' not to hack if it's not really an option anyway. My point was that there are lots of horses that don't hack in the way that people here mean it and, contrary to popular belief, they are absolutely fine. Even where, I'm based, in suburban Surrey, it's not really an option for everyone. We would all love to canter along wooded paths and sunlit fields - some of my best memories are ones like that - but if your 'hacking' is dangerous or unpleasant, your horse can still live a full life without it.

These things are very cultural. I think young horses benefit hugely from growing up in groups in huge fields with rough ground. But I realise this is not always an option for people here/now and there is no point to feeling guilty if you can't offer it. If you can hack safely and enjoyably, brilliant. But I don't necessarily think it's something to feel guilty about if you can't.

I DO think, if you are stuck in the school, you have to be a bit more creative and aware that you are addressing different needs. But that's another conversation.
 
I never used to hack but I have moved and now have my own yard with a fab 20x60 arena, that was the main reason for the move as where I was before the arena was always flooded or over crowded!
However, we have the most amazing hacking with miles and miles off off road hacking, woods, fields, tracks, streams, up hills and down, jumps and ditches. You can go for hours and hours and after 18 months we haven't seen half of it.
My dressage horses( advanced medium) school two days running then hack on the third. In a Saturday we try and go out for three or more hours.
Since hacking more both horses are much less spooky, much more confident, much more foot sure, straighter in the contact and have transformed in their muscle tone and ability to use their hind leg. They are also much more willing to work on the days they are schooled. I also have more of a bond with them as they trust me to go anywhere.
I was always anti hacking but its so beneficial
 
I don't hack; havn't done it for nigh on 20 years, I find it boring as all getout and around here the roads are death traps. Horses are poddled around the fields every now and again when it's dry enough as a sort of duty but I don't really see much of a point to it other than that. 5 circuits of the arena is 1 Kilometre, so a good 45 minute schooling session is easily over 10 kms and no-one is close to being bored, all are fit and well and work in a variety of settings over the summer. Hacking is a UK thing.
 
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