How Much Hacking Do You Actually Do?

I hack at least once a week in the winter and probably 3 x a week in the summer.

I actually think it is pretty essential training for my particular horse and I also like the fitness benefits from a good 2 hour walking hack, up and down hills, without the constant turning you get in an arena.
As he is sharp, a good hack a week tends to settle his brain for the rest of the week while we are schooling in the dark- with the addition of fireworks surrounding us this week! :)
 
I love hacking, though I am lucky to have nice hacking. We only school a couple of times a month and then wonder why our dressage is crap haha.
 
When Herbie comes back into work next week I will start work later once or twice a week so I can hack in the morning and maybe a weekend hack too depending on what competing we are doing. It becomes difficult in the winter trying to fit it in around work and daylight hours. In the summer I hack alot though :)
 
sammiea said:
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?
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I don't think it's a problem if you don't hack out as long as the work is varied and hors kept interested.

Personally, I tend to hack four-five sessions out of six in the summer, and then invert it for the winter, because I ride either in the early morning or evening so winter hacking is limited. I like to hack as much as I can in the summer because I feel it gives them a nice break from competing, and also keeps XC fitness nice and high (I don't do moseying-along type hacks... 1-2 hours of trotting and cantering up and down hills with a warm-up walk and a cool-down walk)

However in winter I use that as my training period, and that's when we come on the most, with lots of lessons and lots of schooling at home.

Personally, my horse loves hacking, and I love hacking, and he needs the fitness, so it works for us. If he didn't hack out alone/wasn't good in traffic then I wouldn't be out a patch on as much as I am now. Plus if you don't have hacking, you don't have hacking - and if their primary purpose is to compete, then it doesn't matter if you don't.

However I train all my youngsters to hack alone or in company from the word go as I think it does affect their value if they can't... unless they are competing at a decent level and doing well, most buyers want something that *can* hack...
 
I hack mine at least once a week....I don't think he 'has' to as such, but I notice the difference when he doesn't. He finds schoolwork, and especially jumping, quite mentally taxing (I'm under no illusions about him not being the sharpest knife...), so hacking keeps him fresh and interested. And the same is probably said for his owner :p
Our hacking is pretty decent, especially for fitness, with gallop tracks and hills galore. But I also make sure he regularly hacks on the roads, goes in company and alone, at different times of the day and in all weathers, because it's important for his all round education and exposure to life. He'd done very little when I got him, and hacking is when I've got to know him the most I think. He is an excellent hack though (yesterday I galloped him across the downs in galeforce winds and he walked on the buckle home :D ) which probably makes it more enjoyable for both of us.
 
Twiglet said:
I hack mine at least once a week....I don't think he 'has' to as such, but I notice the difference when he doesn't. He finds schoolwork, and especially jumping, quite mentally taxing (I'm under no illusions about him not being the sharpest knife...), so hacking keeps him fresh and interested. And the same is probably said for his owner :p
Our hacking is pretty decent, especially for fitness, with gallop tracks and hills galore. But I also make sure he regularly hacks on the roads, goes in company and alone, at different times of the day and in all weathers, because it's important for his all round education and exposure to life. He'd done very little when I got him, and hacking is when I've got to know him the most I think. He is an excellent hack though (yesterday I galloped him across the downs in galeforce winds and he walked on the buckle home :D ) which probably makes it more enjoyable for both of us.
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I think this is so true.
 
I have to do a lot of hacking as I have no facilities at home and I hate it! Mind you I guess being in the same area for 30 years does not help. I am spoilt as have 15 minute box to the beach where I ride a fair bit in the winter as no mud. I have access to lots of hills which are a 15 minute drive and do find them useful for building stamina. But on the upside I have horses who seem to stay sound *touch wood* and no worries about arena surfaces and the damage a bad arena surface can do. Our horses are pretty unflappable and always sell well because they will hack up the A38 and over motorway bridges so can change jobs very easily and have an easier life when no longer suited to competing.
 
My horse could be quite dangerous to hack alone in the beginning, so we went out maybe once a week in company.... Once I got him to "man up" a bit we would hack 2-3 times a week, at the time I was lucky enough to be able to fit in a morning ride if I wished before work. Sometimes a fast paced hack and sometimes a slow one depending on time/workload/daylight. I think in he end he learned to enjoy the sights/sounds, a good blast across a field certainly helped focus when it then came to schooling in the arena.
 
None - I don't want to die! I take her out in hand sometimes but only if it's quiet and she's calm as she really loses the plot. I've got someone coming to try hacking her out for me (they have no fear what so ever) as I really do want her to get out of the arena but unless I drug her I can't see it working. She's happy enough with what we do though.
 
I've never really enjoyed hacking TBH, but feel it important to do with my youngster to give her a break from the school, and to vary her work-load. In the summer I tend to hack x2 a week, usually after work when the evenings are light. Winter is x1, maybe x2 at the weekend. I'm quite lucky that I have plenty of hacking where I am, and my mare enjoys it (can be a little spooky and hot headed at times though, but nothing "off-putting").

If she hated hacking, and/or was dangerous with it, it really would not bother me in the slightest if I didn't have to do it again.
 
Cortez said:
Hacking is a UK thing.
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I often wonder when I'm on the continent, where all the horses are.

When I think of an English village, I think of people riding down country lanes and field after field filled with horses.

Do the French and Germans hack on a regular basis ?
Perhaps they have more formal off road riding arrangements ?
 
I used to hack 3x per week in England. Here in California the hacking is amazing but from most yards you have to box to it as people don't tend to ride on the roads here..too dangerous.
They either box or ride on their own land if they are lucky to have it.
I wouldn't say it's just a UK thing as people love their 'trail' riding here but it's more seperate. People tend to go trail riding or they aren't interested in that and have 'show' horses which work mostly in the arena.
I'll be hacking much less here until I get a trailer. Sure my horse will survive. I'm going to mix it up with flatwork, jumping, lunging, loose jumping and riding around the fields. :)
 
dogatemysalad said:
I often wonder when I'm on the continent, where all the horses are.

When I think of an English village, I think of people riding down country lanes and field after field filled with horses.

Do the French and Germans hack on a regular basis ?
Perhaps they have more formal off road riding arrangements ?
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It is quintessentially English. In this part of America it is popular, but it varies town by town, and takes a lot of effort and co-operation on the behalf of private landowners. The trails cut through woods and fields, so once you box up to your destination, there is zero road riding involved.

The trails in this area are second-to-none: well-groomed, lots of jumps etc. http://www.themarthablog.com/2011/11/another-great-horseback-ride-in-north-salem-ny.html

Bedford NY also has an amazing trail system http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/nyregion/westchester/12horsewe.html?_r=0, as does Greenwich CT:

Where I live in Connecticut, my house backs up to a 250-acre wood that's got bridle trails, but I would have to box up and drive ten minutes for other trails (one is a 3000-acre nature preserve and the other is 1000 acres of open fields and woods, with lots of places to canter and jump).
 
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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Couldn't agree more.
 
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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I agree with all this too, I can't imagine not hacking event horses, they need to have that dimension to their work. In any case it is fun and relaxing for horse and rider.

Re. the continent, I lived in Switzerland as a teenager for a year, and we hacked out all the time, on quiet roads mainly, along farm tracks through vinyards and over stubble fields in autumn.
 
I gave up hacking years ago when my competition horse basically bolted with me for the second time down the road after spooking at cows. It was just too dangerous and it had ruined my confidence hacking. I basically hadn't hacked for the past 9 years (VERY occassionally I'd go down the road and back on other youngsters just to say I'd done it). I dont think my horse has missed out (I still have the one who put me off!) as I did try taking him out in-hand down the road a few times a couple of years ago to see if he had grown up enough (he's 15 now!) to perhaps think about hacking again but nope, he leapt all over the place and found it mind blowing. I competed him to a decent level, and also had youngsters who I competed - I just schooled or lunged in the field most days (weather dependent). I would love to hack, but its so much more dangerous nowadays than it used to be!

It is handy to be able to hack for eventing obviously as its easier to get them fit. But mine was fit enough from the work I did with him, and he still galloped round XC courses no problem (that was not nearly as spooky as just walking down the road!). He did very nearly have me off twice on the roads & tracks at the RC horse trial champs a few years ago however...
 
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AnShanDan said:
Re. the continent, I lived in Switzerland as a teenager for a year, and we hacked out all the time, on quiet roads mainly, along farm tracks through vinyards and over stubble fields in autumn.
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Yes when I went to Germany a few times as a teenager, I went out from a riding school type place for hacks in the forests. A work colleague is from Poland and she tells me they ride out a lot there around forests and off road tracks so don't think it can really be classed as a uk only thing
 
My Connemara hacks 2-3 times a week and he loves it. I'm not a big hacker, not very confident but I make sure he always gets at least 2 hacks a week as I think it's important to break up schooling with some fun :)
 
Our nearest bridle way is over 2 miles away so we do very little hacking anyway. The second to last time we went hacking my horse was stressed the entire time and the canter nearly turned into a bolt and overtaking horses that are a full hand taller! Neither of us could wait to get back home. The last time we went out for a hack we met an idiot in a car whole decided to drive just behind my horses hocks and rev the engine. We then met a crop sprayer and then we a peleton of about 30 cyclists. Oh! and this was in the space of less than 10 minutes. Fortunately, although she spooked, danced on the spot and spun in a circle she very quickly came back to me and for that I am so proud of her. I just don't want to go out hacking anymore.
 
WOW what a response!

It appears that hacking opinions vary vastly though its nice to hear that there are many out there that do cope well like me without the hacking.
 
I try to hack out once a week. I have two horses; the first is a 6yr old that I have been bringing on. Sometimes with him, I feel he needs to get out of the school and go for a good long canter and I also use hacking to get his strength up behind by trotting him up hills and getting him used to non-surface terrain as I think it will really help if I want to do a bit of eventing next season. Some people swear that hacking prevents lameness by getting a horse used to a hard surface. I am not so sure. Sometimes it is great to get out and give the horse some schooling when you're out, and giving them a bit of a different environment that is less formal/tough on their brain. My second horse is 5, but really has only just been broken in and going forward. I think hacking will be really useful for her to get used to a different/changing environment that she doesn't have to be panicked by, and of course when she starts going to shows, competitions will help her with this a bit more.

I think it's really up to you and your horses. I would enjoy hacking more if I wasn't riding on my own and had a lot more time! But there is so much to do, once a week will have to do.. I shouldn't worry if you don't hack out. A lot of competition horses don't get hacked out or turned out.
 
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