'Just' a happy hacker??

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Lollydog

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So I've posted a few times about some baby issues with my young horse.

I, obviously, want to do what's best for him, give him the best food & best tack I can afford, making sure his back ect are good.

But today I got told to 'calm it all down, your just happy hackers' and I'm worrying way too much about something that doesn't compete!!

I'm a fully grown nearly 40 yr old woman, and i was gobsmacked!

So just because I'm not competitive I can't do the best for my horse?! Yes maybe next year we'll do some fun rides but for now we are happy.

Please tell me this a ignorant attitude!
 
Of course it's an ignorant attitude....most horses that people do a bit of competing on arent competition horses, but they still want the best for them.

My horses are just glorified, expensive pets, as are many people's, but it doesn't stop me wanting the best for them. Enjoy your hacking
 
What an awful attitude (theirs, not yours). It's wonderful that you take such enormous pride in the wellbeing of your horse.

As Ihatework says 'tell them where to go'!
 
Ignore.

My horse is verging on retirement (we are currently light hacking and in hand showing) and she still has the best I can give her. Supplements, physio/back lady every couple of months, regular cartrophen injections , arc equine sessions daily, she will be having a spa session soon too.

My job is to keep her happy, comfortable and above all thriving, end of. She owes me nothing, I get so much enjoyment from her and the fact that she allows me to be her human :)
 
Lollydog said:
So I've posted a few times about some baby issues with my young horse.

I, obviously, want to do what's best for him, give him the best food & best tack I can afford, making sure his back ect are good.

But today I got told to 'calm it all down, your just happy hackers' and I'm worrying way too much about something that doesn't compete!!

I'm a fully grown nearly 40 yr old woman, and i was gobsmacked!

So just because I'm not competitive I can't do the best for my horse?! Yes maybe next year we'll do some fun rides but for now we are happy.

Please tell me this a ignorant attitude!
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What a load of hogwash, we should all try to do our best for our horses.

Anyway, what's the difference between a 'competition horse' or a 'happy hacker'? They are both ridden, they are both trained to do movements and get over obstacles at the request of the rider. And those actions ain't that different - a leg yield is still that whether it's in a school or round a parked car, a halt whether its at a road junction or X, a jump over a stream or a water tray etc, etc, etc............
 
catkin said:
What a load of hogwash, we should all try to do our best for our horses.

Anyway, what's the difference between a 'competition horse' or a 'happy hacker'? They are both ridden, they are both trained to do movements and get over obstacles at the request of the rider. And those actions ain't that different - a leg yield is still that whether it's in a school or round a parked car, a halt whether its at a road junction or X, a jump over a stream or a water tray etc, etc, etc............
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I love this reply!

And the 'happy hacker' has to do all that with the added hazards of vehicles ranging from farm machinery and buses, through quad bikes to a group of Primary school children taking their cycling proficiency test (or whatever it's called these days), with goats leaping up walls, dogs barking from above or below, children screaming on bouncy castles.
 
Wow, some horse people talk real rubbish don't they!
Your horse's welfare and comfort should be a priority regardless of what you use them for.
Plus, happy hackers probably spend more hours under saddle than a lot of competition horses!
 
Take no notice. I would (and, most likely, so would the person who made this comment) love to be a happy hacker - I'm trying but suffer with confidence issues after a fall hacking.
 
A "happy hacker" in my world is a horse worth its own weight in gold and more. He is a sensible, sensitive and intelligent beast, bold and inquisitive, trusting and a puzzle solver. He will readily go in any gait over all terrains, will be able to do any elements from a leg-yield to a sidewalk to backing up and jumping over obstacles, will be brave in any situations a village or a city or any animals or vehicles could put him into. A "happy hacker", in my world, again, is so much happier than a horse who is forced to endure the repetitiveness of a stable-arena-stable routine every day, over and over again, and his rider is more often a bold, relaxed and friendly, outgoing type than not.

So, kudos to you for being a happy hacker, and know that you will always be welcome among your kind! ;)
 
There will always be people who think that a horse's right to be cared for with consideration for its health and comfort is in direct proportion to its financial value and/or how competitively successful it is.

That's a very different value set from mine, where a horse is a living creature entitled to proper care and consideration regardless of whether it's a grand prix horse, a heinz 57 that only hacks, or a field ornament.

People have made 'but it's only a...' comments to me before now, usually about other people's horses. But they only do it once.
 
Thank know you all for your replies. Micropony, think you hit the nail, their horses are machines, it breaks, you buy a new one. I've been criticised for wanting to get a back person out as well as a saddler after some canter problems and falling off, to rule any pain out, I shouldn't be throwing money away to just plod round the fields....!!!

I am of course doing it anyway ��

I also suffer with confidence, and its something I've struggled with for years. But we do it, I even fall off in canter and get back on!
 
I wonder where the phrase came from. It wasn't around when I was a teen, but when I returned to horses 30 years later I discovered that I was now called a "happy hacker." The first time I heard myself described like that I was struck by the slightly patronizing sound of it, and that's never left me. I have heard lots of people describing themselves as "just" a happy hacker, I may even have done so myself. Why happy??? And why not an exuberant eventer, or a delirious dressage rider?
I do think that people who compete often tend to feel a little superior in the riding sense, but as has been said above, hacking out needs a good and well trained horse and a skillful rider, and I consider hacking just as mentally and physically taxing as other horse sports - or it certainly can be.
So I actually question the continued use of this phrase, especially with the "just" prefix. Hackers unite! Or maybe we should come up with a new title - suggestions anyone?
 
Supposedly mine is just a field ornament, he's not that he's very very much more to me and to the many others he gives pleasure, happiness & joy too.

Just ignore them!!
 
This has riled me for last 5 years.

When i was offered ny mare to buy i seeked other peoples opinion on her price as i didnt have a clue. I had her on loan at time so knew her. One livery exclaimed she was "just a happy hacker" and wasnt worth anything.

Well i paid good money for her and took pride in fact that i could "just" pop on her from field and go for a lovely mooch and blast when i wanted. In my eyes i was the lucky one. Shes still "just a happy hacker" and wants for nothing and i wouldnt consider compromising on that, she is fit and happy and i intend to keep her that way.
 
Landcruiser said:
I wonder where the phrase came from. It wasn't around when I was a teen, but when I returned to horses 30 years later I discovered that I was now called a "happy hacker."


So I actually question the continued use of this phrase, especially with the "just" prefix. Hackers unite! Or maybe we should come up with a new title - suggestions anyone?
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In my young day, which admittedly is a long time ago, all horses hacked, they hacked to shows, to meets and to get fit for comps, hacking was an integral part of owning a horse, no matter what you did with it. IMO, it is those riders who lack the confidence to hack who have started this attitude that if you don't compete, your horse is not so good as theirs. Interestingly many of those that do compete, even without hacking, do so at a very low level. That is entirely up to them but it certainly does not give them the right to look down on others.
 
I'm aspiring to get my mare to happy hacker stage - at the moment she's very much the unhappy hacker (& that's when she's not broken) - & I think a horse that can hack safely and happily is worth it's weight in gold.

Plus what's wrong with spending money to keep your horse happy and comfortable? My companion horse gets the back lady when he needs it, joint supplements, danilon, the vet etc. I chose to have him in my life and I have a responsibility to make sure he's cared for.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
In my young day, which admittedly is a long time ago, all horses hacked, they hacked to shows, to meets and to get fit for comps, hacking was an integral part of owning a horse, no matter what you did with it. IMO, it is those riders who lack the confidence to hack who have started this attitude that if you don't compete, your horse is not so good as theirs. Interestingly many of those that do compete, even without hacking, do so at a very low level. That is entirely up to them but it certainly does not give them the right to look down on others.
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In my younger days they did too, which I'd like to think wasn't all that long ago :p
I think the 'happy hacker' phrase (along with slightly condescending tone) has appeared in the last 15 or so years, and I think you're spot on with the reasons why.
 
Micropony said:
There will always be people who think that a horse's right to be cared for with consideration for its health and comfort is in direct proportion to its financial value and/or how competitively successful it is.
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Ugh, I hate people like this.
There was a family on a previous livery yard who thought like this. 'Favourite' horse (i.e. most successful competition horse) got clean bedding. A week later this bedding would be moved to the stable of 2nd favourite horse. A week after this the bedding was put into the stable of least favourite horse. The bedding in question was wood pellets and they never used enough so it was always stinking and soaking wet. And they wondered why they had a thrush problem that they couldn't shift <eyeroll>.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
In my young day, which admittedly is a long time ago, all horses hacked, they hacked to shows, to meets and to get fit for comps, hacking was an integral part of owning a horse, no matter what you did with it. IMO, it is those riders who lack the confidence to hack who have started this attitude that if you don't compete, your horse is not so good as theirs. Interestingly many of those that do compete, even without hacking, do so at a very low level. That is entirely up to them but it certainly does not give them the right to look down on others.
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^^
yep agree totally
 
There are a lot more dangers out in the big wide world hacking than there will ever be going round an arena, and the chances of things going pear shaped are way greater in my opinion. I am sure there are a fair few riders and horses who never leave the arena who may be able to do great things in the ring, (unlike me, a mere 'happy hacker') yet they would struggle to hold it together when an articulated lorry passes at speed or when gunfire goes off suddenly in the next field (yes that happened to me). Being able to hold it together in an unexpected situation out in the open is a great skill. A horse which really trusts and listens to it's rider in a scary situation can be the difference between an unsettling spook from which one recovers and a more serious injury to either rider or horse. Hacking requires so much more skill on many different levels than it is given credit for. Plus, I want my horse to be happy, healthy and comfortable because I know that if she isn't, then the chances of something going wrong when I am out hacking alone in the wilderness have just gone up significantly.
 
I'm another who is "just a happy hacker".

Our horses are truly fantastic, they cope with everything and anything that's out there ranging from bin bags bowling up the road in the breeze, to having to squeeze into the hedge in narrow lanes to avoid mammoth combine harvesters, not to mention quad bikes, hissing brakes, and helicopters flying overhead, and that's just for starters! The sweet wrapper flying under their feet is the most terrifying thing EVER!!

And as riders, we have to be on the ball, in a milli-second, everything can change, suddenly you can be propelled into the middle of a scenario that's happening all around you, and you have to have nerves of steel, be able to think and act fast, but above all keep your cool and remain calm, for the sake of your horse.

With the traffic on the roads nowadays, and the ijuts you get out there, "happy hacking" really is a huge ask for any horse and rider combination and I think we all need to realise it!

Where I hack, we have to cross over a major road-bridge regularly, with motorbikes and juggernauts whizzing just feet below us, whilst at the same time stuff from a regional airport (including the Red Arrows who fly over frequently!!) is all around. We've had low-flying noisy helicopters on our local common, plus military training all around us!! And our lovely horses take it all in their stride......... most of the time!!

OP perhaps you'd like to invite your sarcastic "friend" to come out with you hacking some time and see for themselves?? Donno where you are in the country but if they ever come down to my niche of Sunny Devon then there's an open invite to come out for a hack with us sometime and experience the delights for theirselves.................
 
Hacking. You plan a route, but everything can be thrown up at you. Traffic, dogs, pheasants, the weather, the general public.

A good hacking horse is worth its weight in diamonds.

Keep going as you are OP, perhaps invite them out to join you one day!
 
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