Is there a trade off to be made dressage v hack??

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showqa

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My horse has been quite idle in his schooling, often very frustratingly backward thinking, and yet out hacking been a lovely horse to ride. Indeed, I've done a lot of our schooling out hacking which I why I knew that he had potential to do more in the manege.

Just lately I'm finding that something has clicked and his schooling has come on leaps and bounds. He's very forward and I'm now being given some amazing collection/ elevation in his trot, much bigger canter, some very nice medium trot (even a suggestion of extension) and a reasonable attempt at half pass. BUT he's becoming pretty hot out hacking. Now I don't mind this in the fields, it's not unmanageable, but occasionally we come across traffic and of course it could be a problem.

So I was wondering whether it's not always possible, with some horses, to have the best of both worlds. Is there a choice to be made?

By the way, nothing has changed feed wise/management wise. I think he's probably just had a light bulb moment!!!
 
First you don't mention how old your boy is - may be the fact that he has matured and finally the penny has dropped on what you are asking and to his relief it's not as hard as he first thought. If he can 'play' up and have lots of energy then make use of it and channel into the correct direction. Be firm but fair and when you go into the school ask for correct work and when he gives back that work, pat and put away.

Some horses take a bit of time to gain confidence in their work and yes I believe that you can hack out a dressage horse. (agreed there are one or two top dressage horses that never go out but it's a shame that even these horses cant go for a walk around the edge of a field.) If hacking out dressage horses works for Carl & Charlotte then who am I
to dispute ! These two riders have a beautiful way of riding and treating their horses and the proof is in the pudding !
 
I've always hacked my dressage horses. My life partner mare remained a lovely, level-headed hack no matter how good her dressage got - but the trade off was that she would no longer hunt sensibly! My loan mare is more unpredictable. When she's going well in the school, she's hot to hack; when she's hacking quietly, she goes through an obstinate bag phase in the school. I've found magnesium supplementation takes the worst of the 'silly' out without flattening her work out and that keeping the hacks interesting, preferably fast, or with little bits of schooling movements thrown in at intervals keeps her settled enough that the rest can be done on a loose rein. Maybe worth a try with yours? Good luck.
 
Rhino, don't get me wrong I WANT him to hack out. I wouldn't want him to have one dimensional life at all. The issue is that we seem to get either one thing or the other (great dressage work and a tad too sharp on the roads, or wonderful out hacking but a donkey in the school). In fact, Wyrd Sister, your horse sounds exactly like mine.

I do incorporate some school movements when we're out and try to get a canter/gallop in if the going is ok and we have a decent track.

Just wondering what people think, and whether they've had experience with their horses changing as they improve in their dressage work, and how they deal with it.
 
wyrdsister said:
keeping the hacks interesting, preferably fast, or with little bits of schooling movements thrown in at intervals keeps her settled enough that the rest can be done on a loose rein.
Click to expand...

This is what I have to do with my mare - she's fine with a horse that walks out well and is happy to have a number of reasonable length trots and canters, fine in woods and places where there are hills, but if you try to wander around flat open fields with ponies that don't stride out she invents games to play (mostly involving snorting, leaping, attempted caprioles and blasting off in canter for a few strides). She loves hacking but needs her brain kept busy!
 
I’m sure some horses switch between the two very happily, but others don’t. It’s not surprising really though, I suppose if you are wanting a sharp and reactive horse in the school then this will at times rub off out hacking. What I have tended to find, if you do have one that is being a bit cheeky on the roads, is that if you keep them thinking as much as possible on the road section (playing laterally LY/SI/Trav etc) then allowing them to have a bit of a yee-ha off road, tends to keep them manageable!
 
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