How well schooled are your happy hackers?

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CobsGalore

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Just wondering how well schooled your happy hackers are?

I mainly hack with the odd sponsored ride or local show, but I have regular lessons and school him in the field or on hacks as much as I can.

However, working full time and not having any facilities limits me to what I can do in the winter, and when it comes to the weekend we both just enjoy a nice relaxed hack. I feel like he's missing out on his schooling a bit at the moment. (Not that he knows or minds in the slightest!)

How important do you think schooling is to a happy hacker?
 
Being well schooled is extremely important for a happy hacker. You have to have lateral movement to be safe on the road! I know lots of people whos horses have no schooling and quite frankly I wouldnt feel safe!! Just wa ted to ad I do most of my schooling on hacks
 
It's really important and hacking is so perfect for schooling. I don't have facilities so I school him out on hacks. He doesn't get bored and he's becoming the perfect happy hacker in just a few short months. I also use hacking to work on my riding, always learning in this game!
 
Mines quite well schooled I would say. Like you I have to make use of schooling on hacks as we have no school, yet she gets stupidly excited on biiiig open spaces so even that's limited. But we have the essentials such as leg yielding, turn on forehand/haunches. Infact I find her a lot better doing these out and about than in a schooling session. I always ensure she is working correctly through her back and do bits of working long and low, then riding her up to the bit. Well schooled, just not always well behaved. She has some fantasic pirouttes and piaffe's on her!!
 
Well he does what I ask & is very responsive & enjoys his work. He will go anywhere & now very little phases him. We do transitions, flexion exercises, collected & long & low out on hacks. Hacking out was the best thing for teaching him transition into canter as more space. He will strike off on which ever leg I ask for & I work him equally on both trot diagonals. I haven't been in a school for over 2 years except in competitions!!!
 
He's not technically well schooled. Stick him in a school and he's nothing special.
I think he's a very good happy hacker though! We have fantastic breaks, he (99% of the time) listens to what I'm asking and is a fast learner :)
 
Mine's not technically well schooled these days. He hates being ridden in the school and never goes on the bit. However he will go anywhere I ask him without complaint, is totally brilliant at gates, will squash right into the hedge in an emergency if need be and always knows what I want from him almost before I do.
 
I never considered my arab to be well schooled, I've only ever done hacking and endurance with him, I've owned him for 16 years and in all that time we've spent a total of about 4 hours in a school and neither of us were very good at 'proper' schooling.

However, there was a small dressage event at our yard recently to raise money for charity (Air Ambulance) so I entered one of the classes with him for a laugh. To my utter amazement we won it. Blimey. I can only think that during all those 100's of miles and 100's of hours we've done together there must have been some inadvertent schooling going on.
 
I was just thinking of this very topic the other evening as my horse and I were hacking back home in the sideways rain, passing flapping inflatable snowmen people have put in their front gardens, as well as Santas on roofs in some precarious position trying to hold on in the wind. Then a wheelie bin blew over in front of us and the contents of number 42's weekly rubbish blew all around us and down the road...Nice! That will teach me for hacking in gale force winds on bin day....We are happy hackers, my mare is 16/17 ish and I have had her 13 months. I ride her everyday even if it's just a 40 minute plod road the block on residential streets. I school her realistically once a month in winter and more often in the summer. We practice leg yield in and out of parked cars on quiet streets and I use the straight roads for shoulder in. We did well in our first dressage test last month.. Albeit a walk and trot test... Came 6th out of a class of 20. I looked at previous score sheets and my percentage would have won it on other occasions but the class were really strong and I was so happy with our result as we have never had a lesson together and most of our schooling is done hacking out or in a field. My mare also has excellent breaks and is very sensible and I realise how lucky I am to be able to hack out, continue her training and maintain her concentration when there are lots of spooky things around. I'm not geldingist but it is indeed true that if you have a mare they will give you their everything if they thinkyou deserve it and you can convince them that what you're asking of them is the right thing to do.
 
Established at Prix St George, and knows all the Grand Prix movements. Slightly overqualified for current happy hacker position, but I live in hope that he will be able to utilise his skills again one day!
 
We too school on our hacks. LOTS of transtitions (keeps him lively !), half halts, circles, etc. I mostly use voice command and seat alone now - really proud of the lad.
 
My happy hacker is perfect. Changes gait and speed and stops on voice command alone, will back through anything, ground ties and moves one step or 20 steps in any direction on a weight shift - and looks pretty, to boot. Couldn't make hacking out any happier!
 
I do similar to a few others... school as i hack. You can still do lots of transitions and lateral movements on the roads (quiet roads) i think its really important to have basic schooling at all levels/ disciplines. I think its the safest way, then you know you can halt or move over safely for traffic or people ect.

I actually love to school, and loath hacking, but as i have no school where i am atm i have no choice, and i know its important to split the schooling work with hacking for my horses sanity.:)
 
Mine is not a 'happy' hacker but he has no choice but to do it in winter. We spend virtually the entire time working laterally, in a reasonably together frame doing transitions within the pace / walk-canter-walk-other leg etc. the alternative is currently a tantrum/ near death experience every time a bird flies up / a dangerous leaf moves. I wouldn't mind but he doesn't get fed, gets plenty of exercise and turnout etc - he is just a knob.

I may be the only adult in the world ever who has over horsed themselves with a highland pony :(
 
JustFinding TheDecorations said:
I may be the only adult in the world ever who has over horsed themselves with a highland pony :(
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no you're not, have met some very spooky and sharp Highlands!

ets that might have sounded rude and I didn't mean to, I doubt you are over horsed seeing as you know how to deal with him :D but have taught some erm, older ladies who have been overhorsed as they don't work them hard enough, are too soft with them and think they must be plods.
 
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My happy hacker is pretty well schooled, she used to compete at BE and BS until a hock injury ended her career, that was before I knew her but you can see she has been very well produced by someone when a skilled rider gets on her! She also does voice commands too which is handy.

I'm not a brilliant rider so I don't really get the best from her, but we have fun in our way. She is 17, arthritic so I don't really school at all but I do try to ride correctly with my seat, I have trouble with a contact though, I tend to ride with "washing line" reins unless we are going to do something fast, sometimes she just runs right through me and I struggle to get her to listen to me.

We do walk, trot and canter on most hacks, using the first and last leg of the ride as a warm up/down session, a bit of hill work, but nothing fancy.

Sometimes I wish I could get her to have a more active walk on the way out, it sometimes feels like she is going to die of exhaustion under you but on the way home it's marching boots all the way :) I think its partly that I am essentially ineffective as a rider and partly because she has spent many years packing novices around and probably thinks "listen, I know best, just sit there and shut up"
 
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Any equine that someone is happy to hack out on, regardless of weather, traffic, random llamas, etc, is to my mind worth its weight in polos...

I share an alleged happy hacker. I don't hack out, but his other rider does, and loves it! I am still building back up to hacking out, so we do lots of schooling. Horse is unfazed by anything: I think he spends half the time thinking about his days as a hunter, and wondering when we will do something remotely challenging with him! He is rather amazing :D
 
Gloi said:
Mine's not technically well schooled these days. He hates being ridden in the school and never goes on the bit. However he will go anywhere I ask him without complaint, is totally brilliant at gates, will squash right into the hedge in an emergency if need be and always knows what I want from him almost before I do.
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You could be describing my mare there. I would have said she was only very basically schooled but is fantastic and obedient out hacking and, I've recently discovered, is quite a dab hand at the PTV section of Trec, so she must be better schooled than I've given her credit for.
 
My first reaction to this question was - oh lord, mine are awful. Put them in anything resembling a manege and they baulk, wander, nap, and generally act clueless. That is of course unless you're really insistent on getting them to do something, when some of them discover better tricks like bucking and bronking ;)

However, although we only do limited schooling on our hacks, they'll do anything we ask of them. Sometimes that's as simple as non-spookiness - ride quietly past that traction engine, or stop on the pavement for a chat with a line of HGV's going right past you, no problem. Gates are opened effortlessly. Carriages brought around in a circle with beautiful lateral movements. We play games with the children to make them control transitions - all the ponies are obedient to the aides. They will all ride away from the others, leg yield, back nicely etc. - just not in a school.

Some of them have an excuse (soundness issues), but mostly it seems just can't see the point!
 
I was once loaned a big cob mare as my own horse was out of action. She was a total dobbin to ride, 100% bombproof, but I hated hacking her out as she was completely dead to the leg and had no idea about moving sideways. She bumbled along near the middle of the road in her own sweet fashion and could not be persuaded to move across to the side! I was a lot more confident on my own spooky prat of a horse who did at least understand the aids.
 
I think you could call my happy hacker fairly well trained, Lol - she competed to Inter I and could do all the GP work when she went off to stud at 16yo to be covered for her first foal - I had to make the choice of foal or GP.
Damaged a front tendon badly in the field at the age of 22yo but against all predictions came sound and turns 25yo in the spring. I don't school her now but she can still do all the 'tricks' when she is being 'lively' :D
 
I mostly just hack and have a saint of a pony. We occasionally hire the school down the road but 99% of our schooling is hacking in winter as out schooling field is out of action until it drys out.
She goes anywhere I tell her too and works nicely in walk and trot. Her canter is very green big and unbalanced but we do a lot of hill work and transitions so she is getting better.
I love it. I had a very nappy tb mare who's trick was to rear and spin if she was put in front or asked to leave the yard first she destroyed my confidence (not that I didn't adore her :) ) and to now have a young mare who doesn't even flinch when you ask something new of her.... Well it's rather nice.
 
Mine aren't schooled at all, it doesn't interest me, i do loads of hacking/pleasure rides/jumping they behave perfectly for me, so im happy with them.
 
she moves away from the leg when needed to give space for traffic to pass, can open and close a gate by turning on the forehand, halts or slows when asked and moves faster when asked-she has never been in a school to be worked under saddle but does all that is needed which is more than I can say for some of the horses I have ridden over the years that have spent their whole life being 'schooled' so in answer to your question OP I would say mine is fairly well schooled.
 
Quite well schooled......we do a lot of schooling round the fields, leg yield round patches of different coloured grass, half pass from one bush to the next, extended walk, trot and canter, medium trot, walk/halt to walk, trot and canter, turn on the forehand comes in handy for gates......sometimes it surprises me how many happy hackers don't know even half of that and it does come in useful getting round objects
 
Buds plenty responsive and has been down graded from his weekly competitions and mock hunting to the odd local show, occasionally going in the school when the girls aren't about and mainly hacking. He will work in an outline, use his behind, do direct transitions, lots of lateral work and flying changes when asked. However due to having loads on I haven't ridden for 3 weeks. Took him out tonight, lovely and responsive and behaving himself until I decided to canter through the rather large puddle. He decided it would be more fun to jump in it and then bomb up the hill after before coming back to a sedate walk on a long rein for the last 10 minutes. So as my jeans, bodywarmer and hoodie are plastered in mud im going to say he isn't schooled at all but after 3 weeks off I think he's a lot better schooled than some!
 
Traddie cob went from ex-trekking horse, nappy little git who knew all the tricks and had never seen the inside of a school, to smooth-as-silk well-schooled and responsive ride -courtesy of being sent on working livery at equestrian college!!!!

Loan Welsh D mare is polite to a fault (thanks to her owner making sure all her horses are!!!) and is a nicely schooled, responsive, forward-going ride.

Both horses are regularly expected to cope with spooks such as: tractors (routine!); artic lorries, quad bikes, buses, cyclists, rat-run delivery drivers and psycho-mothers-on-school run, runners, military aircraft of all sorts, civilian aircraft (we are right in the landing/take off path); going over and under road-bridges, hacking right beside a busy dual carriageway........ not to mention the normal sort of stuff like plastic bags, machines starting up behind hedges, pressure-washers etc etc.
 
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