Is it ok to 'just' be a happy hacker?

Foxy girl

Foxy girl

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I'm struggling a bit with what I want to do with my horse versus what those I ride with or know do with their horses. I have young children and a job and riding is my down time - I get very stressed travelling my horse and enjoy 'just' hacking out locally, having the odd lesson and going to our local show once a year. I've just bought a pony for my kids to ride out on and my aim is to be able to ride with them. I suppose my question is - is that enough? My friends are off doing fun rides and shows and stuff and although I like the sound of it and am slightly envious, I am also more than happy just doing what I'm doing.

Any other people out here who are 'just' happy hackers?
 
You're not alone and being a happy hacker is fine. You should do whatever you enjoy doing. your horse doesn't know that there are other things he might be doing.

i share a horse with my daughter. i hack him out during the week and she hunts him on Saturdays and in the summer she does a bit of SJ.

i love to hack out and often get my map out and plan routes to go on, varying where we go.

just enjoy your horse in the way that you want to.
 
No, you should be ashamed of yourself. Your poor horse will be lying in his stable at night crying himself to sleep, dreaming about how he could be going round Badminton :mad:

Of course there's nothing wrong with just enjoying hacking! There's no reason why you can't change your mind in the future when you have more freedom if you wanted to anyway. Hacking is a very under-rated "discipline", in my humble opinion :)
 
There is nothing "just" about hacking in my opinion. You open yourself up to meeting goodness knows what when you are out, a lot braver than schooling etc.

If you are happy doing what you do then you are doing the right thing! I also use riding as my "me" time and hacking is so enjoyable, my husband can tell if I have been out just by looking at me.
 
For me thats what I bought a horse for!! Tacking up, and riding out across dartmoor , wouldnt have it any other way :)
Yes I have a lesson once every 2 weeks, and also go to the odd local show but for me nothing beats this :)

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My smile says it all :)

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Do whatever makes you happy. They're very expensive animals to keep if you don't enjoy what you do with them! And who knows, 6 months, a year down the line you might decide you would like to do more. Better to enjoy it, keep at it and be confident than push yourself and give up all together. Enjoy your horses and the time you spend with them and your children :)
 
Wow katie southwest that looks amazing! Sadly just quiet lanes for us, no off road riding without getting in an trailer :o but it's still lovely riding.

Thank you everyone for making me feel normal! I am getting my confidence back after a bad fall eighteen months ago so I think we're doing good for now...
 
They're your horses, you enjoy them in whatever way you want. Whether that's going out to shows every weekend etc, or just happy hacking, as long as you and the horses are happy and healthy, don't let anyone else matter. If all you want to do is a bit of hacking etc, nobody else should care whether or not you're doing the same as them :)
 
JFTD said:
Hacking is a very under-rated "discipline", in my humble opinion :)
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This ^

I have been having a ball for the last 18 months.......

HACKING :D

Ok, I've been & done a lot in previous years, but now am enjoying riding the same horse (who has a similar wacky sense of humour to me) & we just get out and about :)
Ok, we did do one pleasure ride - thats cos I got bullied into it ;) and it was pretty local.

Enjoy what you have & enjoy what many others are not able to - there will be a lot of envious people (even on here) who are not lucky enough to have a horse at all to ride.

Please post write ups from hacks :)
 
I ended up being just a happy hacker after my old horse could no longer do dressage due to his arthritis - I really enjoyed it. I found it took the pressure off. Although I enjoyed doing the actual dressage, I hated getting ready, driving there for a certain time etc. I enjoyed owning him more when the pressure was taken off - I didn't compete because I didn't want to, I didn't compete because I couldn't. I then bought a mare who was going to be a nice dressage horse. She has lameness problems which means that at the moment she can't be ridden at all, and if she ever comes back into work, it will only be as a leisurely hack. To be honest I am actually glad that all she will ever be able to do is hack. Nobody can say that I am wasting her as she won't be physically capable of doing any more. I've also got a two and a half year old who I will be breaking in next year. When she is broken in, the main thing she will be doing for the first year will be hacking. It teaches them forwardness, not to be spooky and independence. Don't ever be ashamed of being a "happy hacker" - it doesn't make you a lesser rider or a lesser horseperson. :)
 
The Fuzzy Furry - I also did a local fun ride and didn't sleep a wink the night before! It was actually ok, but I don't enjoy making myself ill even if it is disguised as 'challenging myself'! We love exploring and having cheeky grass verge canters and stopping and looking at the lambs etc etc. And I do think while I'm out how luck we are :)
 
My intentions with my horse are exactly the same as yours. I have stresses in my work life, so my riding is for what I enjoy... and that's hacking :)

It's better for me to be a happy hacker :D than a stressy show jumper :eek:
 
Foxy girl said:
Wow katie southwest that looks amazing! Sadly just quiet lanes for us, no off road riding without getting in an trailer :o but it's still lovely riding.

Thank you everyone for making me feel normal! I am getting my confidence back after a bad fall eighteen months ago so I think we're doing good for now...
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It is amazing, literally up one lane and were onto the moor , miles and miles, no wonder Im just a happy hacker :D

As long as you and your horse are happy thats all that matters :)
 
I am mostly a happy hacker.

Riding is about having fun and enjoying yourself, if you enjoy just hacking there's nothing wrong with that.

The main thing is you enjoy it :)
 
If thats what makes you happy then theres no problem with it. As long as your horse is looked after then they really dont care what they do. If in the future you want to do more than hack then you can but there is no pressure to do it if you dont want to.
 
Foxy girl said:
The Fuzzy Furry - I also did a local fun ride and didn't sleep a wink the night before! It was actually ok, but I don't enjoy making myself ill even if it is disguised as 'challenging myself'! We love exploring and having cheeky grass verge canters and stopping and looking at the lambs etc etc. And I do think while I'm out how luck we are :)
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Lol at the getting worried bit - I was as bad about that fun ride as I was taking something to HOYS in the past! :D

I'm so enjoying just "me & my 'orse" am planning doing a short stay away later on this year with a friend (met through this forum) - taking our big fuzzies away for 3 nights - to go hacking! :D Luckily child has left home these days so pennies are a little easier, but I am already getting excited about a trip away :D its all the thought of getting a box & getting there etc, as I no longer have my own transport (through choice as I don't want to get caught up in the must use it/must compete again etc)

Sorry, rambling on a bit :o

One thing I do love to look at when out is the changing seasons & the colours etc - big Fuzzy does too - we like a nature ramble, tho sometimes it can all be a bit of a blur - or a tigger-type blur :D
 
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I certainly hope so as I have no aspirations to do anything else... Too little confidence and too darn old to go throwing myself around these days...

Pootling about the local lanes and forestry commission - which has a lovely pit stop at a pub with a fab view and is horse friendly :) - is all I want to do... Watching the world go by...

Fingers crossed I might have found an old gal of a horse for loan who'll be the other half of my potentially perfect parnership... :D
 
Of course it's fine just get on and enjoy it I don't have any kids but I am always slightly envious when I see the mums hacking out with there kids.
It's also ok ( says she slightly defensively ) to buy a seriously lovely horse spent loads of money and time training it going to good trainers etc and then think I love this but can't be bothered to leave my Oh at weekends ( he works away all week ) to go to competions .
I been getting a bit of stick recently for never going to comps and he is a lovely horse and I can see why they think he's wasted with a granny who does not go to shows but does it matter I've been there got the teeshirt and seem to have run out of energy.
 
I love hacking lost my confidence with my previous horse as he was no good on the roads an took off a couple of times. My new horse is bombproof and my confidence for hacking has returned in just a few rides. We give up a lot to keep our horses so should do whatever makes us and them happy. If that is hacking then so be it.
 
well if it isn't ok then there's an awful lot of us who are very naughty;) i love hacking, i have 2 kids and a husband (and we all know who is harder work:rolleyes: ) i work and have 3 dogs and 5 horses, my horse time is 'my time' just me and the horse pootling along looking over hedges(the advantage of a 17hh horse lol) for me it is the perfect way to destress:D yes i get friends saying oh come hunting ( yeah right) do this show do that show but i'm just not interested, other advantage of big horse is she can't fit in anyones trailer;)
my horses paid for with my money so i will do as I please:D;)
 
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