Is there anything wrong with producing just a happy hacker?

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zeuscleoharmony

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Hi all, just feeling a bit guilty and thought I would share things with you. I bought my boy just over 3 years ago as a newly broken 4 year old. He is a 16.2hh piebald ID x cob. My intention was and has been to hopefully achieve the goal of having a quiet, safe, reliable steady plod for me to enjoy, one I can pop a complete novice on and know they are safe. I'm really laid back and my criteria was simple, so long as he is the above, goes forward, backwards, left and right, goes anywhere I want him to (sometimes through dense terrain) and was safe on the ground I would be a happy bunny. I have achieved all of this, he is fabulous. However, due to my shoulder injury I have had several people ticking him over. He is perfect for me but when someone rode him last evening who has regular lessons, gets the horse to work in an outline, and this and that it made me realise how little he knows. My life is never going to change with him in that we just poodle around the countryside, taking in the scenery, stopping for a picnic or a rest and generally taking things easy but do I owe it to him to do more? To be honest, schooling isn't my thing so I would have to get a more experienced person to do this and whilst I am sure I could find one am not sure if this is at all necessary and at the end of the day he is seems really happy and content with what we do. He is so funny, we are so on the same wavelength, I talk to him a lot and say 'Archie, shall we have a canter along here?' and he puts his ears back, listening and we both 'connect' and I say 'nah, can't be bothered', so we poodle along to our hearts content and have really fabulous rides.

To be honest, I suppose I am embarassed that it was/is up to me to educate him and I haven't really bothered with the schooling thing as, in circles and transitions (whats one of them again?) though I suppose at grass roots level I have schooled him to be the honest, reliable plod he is.

Am I beating myself up or should I get my finger out a bit more? I do worry about what people think, can't help it.

Edited:
Oh, and I ride him in a bitless, crossunder bridle
xxx
 
As long as you both are happy with being happy hackers there is nothing wrong with it at all!
I myself have always been a hunting/cross country gal and in my mind, if the horse can go at 4 good paces and jump, then who needs to know how to leg yield, shoulder in, half pass or rein back?!?!?
As someone on here once said, the horse doesn't know that it has the potential to do more, nobody goes up to it and whispers in his ear "you should really be a competition horse you know..."
So yes, stop feeling guilty!
 
I really dont think there is anything wrong with what you do with him, if that is all you want then im sure its fine, the only time it may become a problem is if anything ever happened that meant you needed to sell him!
 
TOC, TME thank you for your encouraging posts. Not sure about the four great paces, walk fab, trot fab, canter, bit lollopy in all honesty, gallop ... was fab, last time we did it from what I can remember! Jumping, although never formally trained, he will pop a log in the forest with enthusiasm so fine in that department.

I have already thought about if I ever had to sell him and whilst I pray this will never have to happen I have to be realistic. In the event I had to rehome him I would approach the Riding for the Disabled or similar as he is a true gem and would, I believe be ideal for them.

xxx
 
Nothing wrong at all with having produced a happy hacker I don't think. In fact to produce a horse who is happy and relaxed out hacking is something to be proud of.
 
Awww he sounds so lovely, just the sorta thing i'm after. How did you know he'd be reliable and safe, did you just take a chance?
I don't see anything wrong with him just being a happy hacker, like you said if you sold him he could go to riding for the disabled or something.
Get someone to school him if you think it'd be worthwhile in the long run but if not then i'd say he's fine as he is, so long as you're both happy that's all that matters!
 
could you clone him and let me have the clone?

Thats all I really want to do, but trying to find a safe, sane and happy ned is eluding me at the moment. If you were selling I would bite your hand off!
 
Never mind what other people think, he is your horse and who says you have to produce him for anything, as long as your happy and safe with him, you have a one to one with you horse ( nobody can teach that, its a gift ) how many times do you see on here "where have all the sane happy hackers gone", they are like hens teath and worth the weight in gold, so what if you go hacking and stop to look at veiws, I would rather do this than gallop my horse at a solid fence, again horses for courses, enjoy your horse and happy hacking if thats what you want to do, its you who pays the bills.
 
Nope nothing wrong with producing a happy hacker! I'm sure he does not miss being schooled etc. and just enjoys his long hacks!

If you ever feel really bad you could always get a nice sharer to school him etc.

But TBH sounds like you are both happy to me!
 
Nothing wrong with producting a "quiet, safe, reliable steady plod"..... infact a lot of people would probably pay a lot of money for one of these, as in my mind they are worth their weight in gold.
 
In all honesty I think too many people undervalue the importance of having a horse that is great to hack. It is much easier (IMO) to school a horse and have it doing fantastic movements BUT to bring a horse on to be reliable, safe and happy out hacking alone or in company, to know that you can ask it to go where you want to go at what pace you want to go at is as much an achievement as say doing a perfect half pass!

As far as selling on is concerned anyway, I think it is far easier to sell a horse who is a safe hack and maybe a bit rusty on the old schooling, than a very well schooled one who isn't reliable out hacking! In reality I think you'll find the majority of horses owners hack more than ride competitively/spend hours schooling - to have a horse that enjoys what you enjoy and makes you happy is what it's all about surely?

You certainly should not feel guilty for being happy with your horse!
 
A young horse should be a Happy Hacker before he is anything else to my way of thinking. It is the simple essential basics of a horses schooling. If you cannot do the things you are doing then you have nothing.
Your horse is obviously beautifully schooled for the job you have trained him to do.
My cob is the same as well, and these horses are worth a lot of money because of it.
When I get my youngster next spring she will be trained western/australian style and must be a safe hack before she moves on to anything else. There are so many people who cannot do hacking with their horses because fundamentally their horses are unschooled in hacking and are potentially dangerous.
Many hours weeks and months go into making a horse safe for hacking out alone in all conditions.
With the state of our roads it is definitely not a soft option.

If you dont fancy schooling in a school thats absolutely fine itsjust the same way that I dont fancy doing show jumping.

You have not missed out on part of his education!. A horse is not a person he does not need to have a broad based education unless you think you may have to sell him on!!
He is trained for the job you want him to do and he sounds a straight A student.

Good luck and stop worying about what others think.
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If you and he are happy then that is all that matters to my mind. As others have said, he doesn't know there is more stuff to learn, he does what you ask him too and does it very well by the sounds of things. I do exactly the same as you, me and Che hack out through the fields and woods, often stopping for a rest or to appreciate a view or chat to a walker, he seems to much prefer this to his previous racing career, he was always at the back anyway!! My idea of schooling is to ride round the fields at our livery yard, just practising gate opening and closing and half halts and stuff, things that are helpful on our hacks. I have been having a few lessons on him but these are aimed at improving my position and abilities and are all done at walk and trot, no fancy stuff. Stop worrying and carry on enjoying him
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QR

I think if you are happy, and he is happy, then you are doing the right thing. Even if you did ever want to sell him, there are people out there who DO want a happy uncomplicated hacker.

I bought my boy when he was 3 weeks old, and he came home to me when he was weaned at 6/7 months. The FIRST question everybody asks me is 'What are your plans for him'. My answer has always been the same - it depends on his strengths.. for instance if he turns out to have a good jump, I'll give jumping a go. I competed a lot in my teens and have no real ambition for it anymore, so I'm easy. I started riding him last week (He's 4 now) and my answer is still the same. I expect we will just get out and about hacking for the rest of the year.

I think the only responsibility you have to your horse is to keep him happy.
 
There was a letter in H&H the other week titles "Where have all the normal horses gone?" and was very to the point.
Most people dont want or need a future star,but DO want a safe horse to have fun with and enjoy.
Maybe your lad has never been taught to do school movements or to jump in a formal situation,but I very much doubt it hinders your enjoyment of eachother!

If you ever did have to sell him,I am pretty sure you wouldnt have trouble finding someone who would be willing to put the work in to teach him what they wanted him to do,he is safe and pleasent to have about,which is the most important thing.
 
I'm with everyone else on this
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To me a sane happy hacker is worth its weight in gold. I've got a 10 month old filly and am introducing her to traffic now so by the time it comes to back her traffic will NOT be a problem. All I really want is for a safe horse to do a bit of whatever takes my fancy. Be it stressage or (very small) jumping but above all else to enjoy hacking on.

Well done to you I say for producing just such a horse
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Enjoy what you have
 
Hell no nothing wrong with it at all.

To be honest I think it's harder job to produce horse thats calm and sane to hack with all the modern distractions that it is to produce one that will do nice 20 meter circles in a safe enclosed arena.
 
He is worth his weight in gold i bet!! It sounds like you have done a fab job with him, as long as he ticks all your boxes then why worry? My friend has a cob that she bought as she was told she was stuffed and on castors!! She really is a lovely happy hack my friend searched far and wide to find her, horses like that are like gold dust.
Keep doing what your doing and have fun!
 
Do you know what....if you ever had to put your horse on the market there would be a queue of potential buyers lined up fighting over your horse.

Dont forget......MOST people and horses in this country are not competition horses and MOST people want a quiet calm and steady friend that they can enjoy spending time with.

Well done you on producing a very nice, safe and well mannered gentleman....I think you should be proud of yourself.
 
Our young lad is just 5.....he is hacked out alone and in company with just a tiny bit of schooling to get him responsive.....my aim with this pony is for him to be a safe/fun/sensible ride for my daughter so that when she is out riding him I know they will be safe. Thats worth more to me than his ability to work in an outline......

I do showing, but I'm a very happy solo hacker and a horse you can safely hack about and have fun on is an absolute treasure....some people on my yard do nothing but schooling, mainly because they cant get their horse to leave the yard or the horse is too demented to hack out alone.

Good on you
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Certainly not! Safe hacks are worth more than rubies. A good quiet horse who will go anywhere will always find a home. He sounds brilliant. Well done in producing a happy confident horse.

I spent months looking for a decent horse for daughter and I to share - all those with "wonderful lateral work" took one look at a sheep, cow, tractor and had screaming conniptions.

I now have one who will never be the greatest at dressage, thinks 3'6" is quite big enough thank you, but is equally happy working in an outline for the daughter (posh child) or pottering about with me gawping over hedges, nattering to friends, or having a quick blast up a bridleway - all with no contact and usually very little concentration from the rider!

OK she's long enough for a catholic family outing and won't win a beauty contest but she is as honest as the day, comes to a mounting block, and stands whilst I crawl off like an elderly sloth. (And frankly I couldn't care if she didn't have any lateral work at all - although I do like walk/canter transitions - beats the Heck out of bouncing the arthritis:))
 
I wish my horse was a happy hacker, he will go in a lovely outline, but hack out on his own no way!! he needs a bold lead horse, we are working on this. So I would say have done a great job with your horse.
 
OMG - I am overwhelmed by your kind words and thoughts. Honestly, I feel so incredibly lucky to have him and you lot have endorsed this even more.

In answer to several posts about how I came about him, my instinct really took over, honestly. I'm no great horsewoman but generally go on instinct. Its quite funny cos I could so easily have not had him. My brain/heart was saying no cos he wasn't particularly my type, looks wise, build wise and he was young too, but my mouth was saying yes and here's the deposit. I think I paid top wack for him considering he was just broken, no roadwork experience, not even had any shoes on, no jumping, no hunting, but I saw this as a blank canvas - he still is to a large degree - a work in progress (at 7).

I'm up for trying things too, like changing him from bitted to bitless, trying barefoot, though he is best with fronts only now, keeping things natural, he lives out 24/7/365, feeding mostly forage during the winter.

Oh, and taking things slowly. He's not going anywhere, nor am I, so it doesn't matter if things don't get done today, there is always tomorrow and the day after. And due to my lifestyle, busy working mum and wifey, his routine, or rather lack of it, fits around me, not me around him.

For us, this works extremely well but I know this wouldn't suit all.
 
In my opinion your horse has already achieved one of the hardest things - safe hacking.

I bought my horse 18 months ago from a lady who freely admitted all she had done was hack, that's all she wanted to do. He had never done any real schooling. But schooling is easy compared to training a horse to be safe out and about. I would genuinely say my boy is 110% to hack out, he is not bothered about any traffic and is not spooky about plastic bags, horse eating monsters etc. To me this was priceless, as where I keep him I cannot avoid the main road (we have miles of nice hacking, but you have to do a short stint on the main road to get there).

I'm sure if you were to put your beastie up for sale there would be people falling over themselves to buy him. Not everyone wants a grand prix dressage horse!
 
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