is there a need to school if your are a happy hacker

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Daisy2

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As the title. My guys are happy hackers and thats what we love, they are sane and sensible. I do ground work with them and teach voice commands etc but I just feel that its a bit pointless doing circles, transitions etc if all we do is go in straight lines when hacking. I feel I have no cause to do ridden schooling but somehow feel I should..... What are your thoughts
 
You probably don't realise but you will be schooling your horse while you are out hacking. A horse needs schooling so he will accept the aids, know what you want of him & he will do what he is told. You probably leg yield a little when moving out to overtake parked cars & don't realise you are doing it. You don't have to school up to do dressage tests but some schooling will enhance your riding experience & also your horse's.

Above all he is your horse & you enjoy him, don't let people force you into doing things because they think you should.
 
I am a happy hacker these days. I used to do riding club prelim and novice dressage but have no transport now.

I still do the occasional schooling session as I enjoy it. My boy is not so keen. He is 20yrs old so I don't do small circles but lots of transitions and canter work.

I think it helps his fitness and general suppleness, as not very good outriding, mostly roadwork.

As for answering your question whatever feels right for you, if you don't like schooling, and you are happy with the way your horse goes then don't.

Jane
 
Wooo, controversial, let the good times roll........ "going round in circles" I am soo glad I never learned in today's environment, I would have given up, for me it is the freedom and the countryside etc, its all about hacking. :-):
 
It depends what your definition of school is? I school on hacks with the baby, I always make him do the gates even if we are out with experienced horses, we practice halts, i make ppl toot their horn around him, I teach him manners. Yes we do some circular work half heartedly while in the field somewhere, but thats because he needs to learn balance, but I think you can school in many ways xx

Also out hacking I don't nag with my legs, if he doesnt move off the slightest touch he gets a reminder, this is all schooling xx
 
Should you 'school' if you just want to hack? That is the question. lol
I suppose it depends if you want your horse to stop, start, change pace, move off your leg (to avoid a car??) etc. etc. when you ask... or not. :confused:
 
I only hack out too, but if the moment takes me I will do a little of the evil stuff whilst out on a hack. Take for instance if I am on a nice wide track I will sometimes do serpentines, it gets my mare listening and tuned in. Also you can go up and down transitions, leg yeilds. I think sometimes both me and the mare can sometimes switch off and get sloppy, so now and again I belive it helps to improve your riding and make things different for the horse. :)
 
For me to hack out a horse it needs to reverse, go sideways and go forwards when asked.

So if I was a happy hacker I'd school into the horse masters these, would probably only take a few sessions and then after that I wouldn't mind.
 
Living in my little bubble I can't understand how schooling can be boring or even evil, it's essential surely. Apart from having a 'safe' horse good schooling is designed to help a horse carry himself so he can carry a rider better and be supple etc. I am beginning to think there should be a road test for horses and rider like a driving test from all the tales I read of horses who wont move off the leg, are generally uncontrollable and take off regularly. I'm old and value my life as well as the lives of others and tbh wouldn't go out on the road until I had taught a horse to be responsive.
The 'getting a horse on the bit' I've seen is a bit strange to me but I'm an infrequent and 'novice' rider...
 
as others have said ... depends on defintions of schooling ;)

I think that hacking calls for just as much talent as stressage in many ways with regard to ability to do things like:

sidepass ( getting into a small space immediately to the side of you quickly can save your life not just get good marks :D )
turns on quarter and forehand ( doing gates)
lateral moves ( overtaking cars and moving in again)
back up (again sometimes needing quick response to avoid danger)


I do a little bit flexions, serpentines, shoulder in etc going along the roads / tracks sometimes to keep softness and flexibility......... but hacking in intself is to me about relaxation and as long as coblet responds when I ask / need her to then we can pootle along happy in the knowledge that we have the cabability to do the bits we might need as and when :cool:
 
if there is no problem then no. your doing what you love to do and thats why you have a horse. if theres a problem then yes.
 
amandap said:
Should you 'school' if you just want to hack? That is the question. lol
I suppose it depends if you want your horse to stop, start, change pace, move off your leg (to avoid a car??) etc. etc. when you ask... or not.

Living in my little bubble I can't understand how schooling can be boring or even evil, it's essential surely. Apart from having a 'safe' horse good schooling is designed to help a horse carry himself so he can carry a rider better and be supple etc. I am beginning to think there should be a road test for horses and rider like a driving test from all the tales I read of horses who wont move off the leg, are generally uncontrollable and take off regularly. I'm old and value my life as well as the lives of others and tbh wouldn't go out on the road until I had taught a horse to be responsive.
The 'getting a horse on the bit' I've seen is a bit strange to me but I'm an infrequent and 'novice' rider...
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As the OP said though, she does have her horse respnsive to the aids, its not like taking a dangerous horse out on the roads - and some people don't need to go on roads. Schooling may be essential but that doesn't mean it can't be boring. When I was unable to hack due to lack of light and was schooling every day as it was the only way to exercise my horse, I did find it incredibly boring. She did move off my leg, was supple, balanced etc.

I do agree that no horse should go out until it is taught the aids and is responsive but after this, it's up to the rider.

I have seen far too many riders force their horse "on the bit" and perfer to use no gadgets and although it is inconsistant, when mine is on the bit I know it's because she is working correctly :)

I am mainly a happy hacker and I do some schooling out on hacks. What I found was that my horse wasn't as supple and easy as she should be, and when trotting on hacks I'm on the same diagonal so I have started schooling so that I get her supple, flexing and moving freely.

It's all about what is safe and what works for you and your horse.
 
Years ago when we rode our horses straight from the field which they shared with the cows as we had no manege or stabling or transport all we could do was hack. But we would go for miles and have to open and shut gates and jump logs and paddle through streams etc yet we still went to shows and pony club rallies etc

Too many people get locked into only riding in a manege and schooling. You don't need a manege to school and just because you only hack also doesn't mean that you can't have a well schooled horse.

To hack out your horse it doesn't need to be able to do extended trot, renvers or half pass etc but I feel that you do need to have the basics in place from a safety point of view!

Hacking is great and really good excercise for both horse and rider. I am now proud to be a member of the hacking only clique and my mare seems happy too :-)
 
My horse cannot go in the school (legs can't cope with sharp turns and circling) but she must do as she's told, for our safety. As long as she can stop, go, move backwards (well actually she doesn't walk backwards, she strops and "piaffes" (shuffles) backwards as she is very weak behind - we're working on it!) and sideways, turns, half halts, does all the things that would make hacking safer and more fun, then fine. I "school" her on a hack by stopping occasionally to test the brakes, and because the parking brake doesn't work very well we'll sometimes just stop and admire the scenery until she stops being a stroppy madam :)

She must also learn to carry herself properly, as her front legs are dodgy and she can't be left to bumble along with all her weight over them. She MUST half halt and stop quickly too, as if we hit a patch of rough ground or the mud is deeper or more slippy than I thought, I need to be able to slow her down so she doesn't put her feet in silly places and tweak her tendons.

So yes, "schooling" is important for my happy hacker, but not IN a school! I think once the basics have been established when they are babies, they are far better off learning out and about throughout their lives :)
 
Ahh I feel better thanks for your replies you are all so right we do school without realising out hacking, I am now thinking of all the things we do to complete our routes, negotiate traffic, stop, slow down, speed up, controlled trot or canter and not tank off, turn left and right, back up, not great at gates so perhaps thats something we need to work on, pass scary things, stand for grooming and feet picking. :)
 
TicTac said:
Years ago when we rode our horses straight from the field which they shared with the cows as we had no manege or stabling or transport all we could do was hack. But we would go for miles and have to open and shut gates and jump logs and paddle through streams etc yet we still went to shows and pony club rallies etc

Too many people get locked into only riding in a manege and schooling. You don't need a manege to school and just because you only hack also doesn't mean that you can't have a well schooled horse.

To hack out your horse it doesn't need to be able to do extended trot, renvers or half pass etc but I feel that you do need to have the basics in place from a safety point of view!

Hacking is great and really good excercise for both horse and rider. I am now proud to be a member of the hacking only clique and my mare seems happy too :-)
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Agree absolutely and I wish people would go out for a hack with their menage only horses..I think they should be advertised as menage only. There are still plenty of places to ride without going on the roads but I think its what a horse gets use to. I would practice reinforce the aids whilst I was out hacking to make sure I was being listened to. I remember being told by a riding instructor(who was heavily into dressage) that I was a happy hacker as if I didnt have her finesse & excellence of riding skill. Interesting she was not happy to go out hacking and seemed fearful/nervous. I like the freedom of hacking and of course the unexpected. I think hacking is a skill. Its probably not a lot of youngsters fault if they go to a riding school as due to lititgation cant take them hacking etc so it has bred this type of menage rider!
 
As several people have said, you don't need a school to school! A well-schooled horse (responsive, balanced, obedient) is a pleasure to ride, and that can only make hacking nicer for all concerned!
 
Yep, as others have said, you don't need a school to school but you do need a schooled horse to hack in safety and comfort:)

Ah gates - I used to have epic gate battles with the pony I rode in London. I knew he would be retiring to be a hacker one day, so I decided he should learn how to open and shut the school gate with me on board. Some schooling sessions were composed only of doing the gate because by the time we were in the school, I had to go to work and we only had time to walk round a couple of times then start the whole process again to get out:rolleyes: Although somehow getting out of the school never seemed to cause him quite so much trauma:D
 
amandap said:
Living in my little bubble I can't understand how schooling can be boring or even evil, it's essential surely. Apart from having a 'safe' horse good schooling is designed to help a horse carry himself so he can carry a rider better and be supple etc. I am beginning to think there should be a road test for horses and rider like a driving test from all the tales I read of horses who wont move off the leg, are generally uncontrollable and take off regularly. I'm old and value my life as well as the lives of others and tbh wouldn't go out on the road until I had taught a horse to be responsive.
The 'getting a horse on the bit' I've seen is a bit strange to me but I'm an infrequent and 'novice' rider...
Click to expand...
I hope you are joking about "road tests for riders", put most riding school kids on my boy without instruction, and they would soon be in trouble, it would be like these BHS tests, they select the horses for the riders before the tests.

I would not expose any horse of mine to the main roads round here, far too dangerous.

I think you would find that if no manege was available people would be forced to learn how to control their horse otherwise they would not make it back from their hack! I understand that some horses may benefit from "going round in circles", but if we look at all the ailments that horses have nowadays, things I had never heard of when I was younger ... kissing spines, hind ligaments, check ligaments, OCD, arthritis in six year olds [yes, we started riding him when he was two, he was so quiet!], non specific lameness, bilateral lameness, 2/tenth lameness, pedal bone rotation, it goes on and on. I have to wonder if we are progressing or regressing.

Yes it is nice to see a well balanced horse, and if he is bred for dressage he will naturally start off with a good frame and good carriage [for dressage, but not always for other disciplines], but it seems he will have to be bandaged from day one to "support the ligaments", darnit, my boy supports his own ligaments, he can open gates, stop at cross roads or on command if required, jumps logs and ditches, and watches where he is placing his feet, and maybe he is not the best behaved, but he walks, trots and canters on command, he learned most of this while out hacking, though he did get three weeks schooling when he was younger, and he did look a better shape and was better balanced, so I am not saying no schooling, just that it is not essential for me, it is part of his education, but I find it boring , so after I have done a little grid work and stuff, I am ready to go out in the fresh air [even in a manege I feel restricted]
 
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fidleyspromise said:
As the OP said though, she does have her horse respnsive to the aids, its not like taking a dangerous horse out on the roads - and some people don't need to go on roads. Schooling may be essential but that doesn't mean it can't be boring.
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I went off on one a bit I admit lol but it is only boring if you let it be surely? Schooling doesn't have to be hours a week slogging round a school does it? In fact I agree with other posters that only schooling or only arena work isn't perhaps the best for a horse or rider. Once the basic safety/control aids are in place and well established surely you can do a bit of work anywhere and whenever. I actually think having little goals to work towards and improve help keep boredom away, so long as it doesn't become the be all and end all and therefore stressful.
 
MrsD123 said:
I hope you are joking about "road tests for riders", put most riding school kids on my boy without instruction, and they would soon be in trouble, it would be like these BHS tests, they select the horses for the riders before the tests.
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It was tongue in cheek but I do think that safety goes out of the window a bit (in the area of being in reasonable control) where riding on roads is concerned where it wouldn't in other potentially dangerous activities like driving and even crossing a road. Riders are taught road rules but not taught, in my experience, when to question if it's safe to go on a road on a particular horse...

I've watched people get on horses they met two minutes before, and what they know of the horse is heresay from a previous owner, and go off out (alone!) onto a busy road. Perhaps it's a sign of my age that I think this is risky?
 
I am essentially a happy hacker (i think i want to set up the International Consortium of British Hacking so it can get a better name but that is another subject lol!) but have regular lessons with a really good trainer. As a result, my horse is now far better to hack and we do school when we are out, we move laterally on and off the verge and we shoulder in past scary items, so on and so forth.

My confidence has rocketed and I now love every aspect of riding as does my horse so it is win win all round :D
 
I think there definitely is a need to school, even if you are a happy hacker but schooling doesn't necessarily mean that is has to be in a menage. Things what you could do whilst out on a hack to improve your horses' acceptance, suppleness and responses could be to extend and collect on gallops, leg yielding, changing your diagonal every few strides. There's lots!
Another good exercise what I like to do to improve my contact and my horses response to the contact is to slow the trot right down, just so the horse is barely even trotting and keep the pace constant, it means I have a consistent contact and the horse softens the contact as you are 'playing' with your leg aids and your aids from the hand, it all sounds a bit confusing but try it :D
 
Silmarillion said:
My horse cannot go in the school (legs can't cope with sharp turns and circling) but she must do as she's told, for our safety. As long as she can stop, go, move backwards (well actually she doesn't walk backwards, she strops and "piaffes" (shuffles) backwards as she is very weak behind - we're working on it!) and sideways, turns, half halts, does all the things that would make hacking safer and more fun, then fine. I "school" her on a hack by stopping occasionally to test the brakes, and because the parking brake doesn't work very well we'll sometimes just stop and admire the scenery until she stops being a stroppy madam :)

She must also learn to carry herself properly, as her front legs are dodgy and she can't be left to bumble along with all her weight over them. She MUST half halt and stop quickly too, as if we hit a patch of rough ground or the mud is deeper or more slippy than I thought, I need to be able to slow her down so she doesn't put her feet in silly places and tweak her tendons.

So yes, "schooling" is important for my happy hacker, but not IN a school! I think once the basics have been established when they are babies, they are far better off learning out and about throughout their lives :)
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This is exactly where i am with my mare, weak behind due to an old pedal bone fracture i thought that she would benefit from doing some schooling sessions in the indoor school, doing some lateral movements etc, i have now come to the conclusion that she is just not up to it and i will continue to school whilst on a hack. She is well mannered, will do gates, halt at junctions, leg yield etc etc all the things needed for a enjoyable ride out.

It was me that tried to move the goalposts (in the hope of helping her) and i have listened to the signs she was telling me that she was not comfortable, so have gone back to what she does best. Shame really as i have recently moved to a fantastic yard with indoor school which i won't now be using as much as i had intended, but the out riding is fab so everyone's a winner.
 
minkymoo said:
I am essentially a happy hacker (i think i want to set up the International Consortium of British Hacking so it can get a better name but that is another subject lol!) but have regular lessons with a really good trainer. As a result, my horse is now far better to hack and we do school when we are out, we move laterally on and off the verge and we shoulder in past scary items, so on and so forth.

My confidence has rocketed and I now love every aspect of riding as does my horse so it is win win all round :D
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This is my ideal vision. :D :D Good control, from schooling and lessons = increased confidence and enjoyment. :D

I'm another who thinks training a horse to be a good safe hack is very skillful.

Mta... apologies to op for 'going off on one' it wasn't aimed at you or anyone in particular.
 
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I had years of lessons in the arena to make us safe out hacking because I had no brakes. We'd practise my stopping techniques in the school and it worked. I don't see that a happy hacker needs to school provided the horse is safe and responsive out and about tho, if he/she didn't really want to. Only other benefit I can see is that correctly worked horses have a longer working life, but as others have said there's nothing to stop you achieving that out and about, you don't need to be in an arena to do it.
 
minkymoo said:
I am essentially a happy hacker (i think i want to set up the International Consortium of British Hacking so it can get a better name but that is another subject lol!) but have regular lessons with a really good trainer. As a result, my horse is now far better to hack and we do school when we are out, we move laterally on and off the verge and we shoulder in past scary items, so on and so forth.
My confidence has rocketed and I now love every aspect of riding as does my horse so it is win win all round :D
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Not one to hi-jack postings, but feel free to join my ladies-only organisation:
British and International Triumphant and Consenting Hackers {*****es}
 
I hack, and I school whilst out hacking. I also show and do dressage.

Lessons in a school are very infrequent. We work on self carriage (leaning can be tiring), up and downwards transitions, especially the downwards. (Brakes can be an issue LOL), suppleness - both lengthways and laterally. Transitions within the pace... (again-helps with braking :D) Turns on the forehand (gates)
I have my infrequent lessons in a field, so that we get used to riding over uneven ground, up and downhill.

The only time we really see the inside of a school is when we do a dressage test - and then I warm her up on grass, spend 5 minutes practising with markers then we are in. Last time - we got 75% for P7 and a recommendation to move up to Novice.....

Why do people get hung up about 'schooling'?
 
one thing i really hate is the phrase'onlya happy hacker' like it's somehow an inferior type of riding!!! hacking takes as much skill as any other form of riding if you think about it, all the potential dangers that we encounter, if road hacking, and have to deal with, even off road hacking can throw some surprises at you in the form of unexpected birds/ animals appearing ,scary trees and horse eating alpacas!!:eek: Us happy hackers need to stop putting ourselves down by saying only hacking when asked what we do!!!!!!!!!!
ahhh rant over lol back to the original question, do i school, yes a little, just some warm up work on both reins ,either in the field or on the farm before i go out actually hacking. I find it helps big girl listen to me which means when we meet the scary alpacas the high speed reverse only lasts for a few strides rather then the length of the field:rolleyes::D With a bit of schooling first she's awake and responsive and does her fair share of the work rather than me doing it all;)
 
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