Lessons whilst hacking??? have you? would you?

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Kezzabell2

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Just wondering whether anyone has ever had a lesson whilst hacking?

I've not had a lesson since last June, when my horse went lame! he was then off until October and is now back in work but he's really not loving going in the school! it would be a total waste of money to try and have lessons at the moment!

I'm thinking about seeing whether my instructor would ride out with me and make sure I'm working him properly whilst he's out!

He's currently tight behind and I'm doing loads of work to get him stretching down on the lunge, which he's starting to do really well, but want to make sure that I'm continuing that whilst riding too!
 
I have done. My loan pony was being nappy & I lacked confidence. My instructor brought her horse to us & rode out. She worked us hard, we had to go in front the whole way, do all the gates & NOT ALLOW napping. It was a valuable lesson in my book & at a reduced rate was very welcomed.
 
I did most of my learning out hacking with a friend who had a suitably novice friendly horse. I wouldn't recommend learning from scratch that way because when I began to have actual lessons in the school I realise how many bad habits I had developed without ever learning the "correct" way, so now I am trying my best to learn properly, even whilst hacking. I have a couple of friends I ride with regularly and they're both very good at helping me out and reminding me of important aspects of riding like not slumping forward etc

However, I think for someone who is an established rider already it's probably really useful to get out of the school!
 
skint1 said:
I did most of my learning out hacking with a friend who had a suitably novice friendly horse. I wouldn't recommend learning from scratch that way because when I began to have actual lessons in the school I realise how many bad habits I had developed without ever learning the "correct" way, so now I am trying my best to learn properly, even whilst hacking. I have a couple of friends I ride with regularly and they're both very good at helping me out and reminding me of important aspects of riding like not slumping forward etc

However, I think for someone who is an established rider already it's probably really useful to get out of the school!
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Bless you, I actually know how you feel! I had proper lessons when I was younger but 15 years ago I got my mare and she hated schooling, she would just canter on the spot, so I ended up spending most of our time just hacking! she was very hard work and I thought if I could ride her, I could ride anything!

Started having lessons on my youngster a year and a half ago! and its literally like learning how to ride all over again! I thought I could ride but turns out there is so much I didn't need when hacking an established horse, that I need for riding a youngster! I felt like we were really getting somewhere until he went lame in June, he started refusing to canter about a week before he went lame! then started pinning his ears back when I asked him to trot, then went lame! so since then he's not enjoyed schooling! he's perfectly happy to hack but I thinking the school must remind him of pain!

defo will see if my instructor will come out with me! luckily she has 2 posh dressage horses at my yard, so is already there, just need to make sure I'm around when she is there to ride :)
 
Interesting. I have never had a lesson while out hacking but I have recently had a couple of people offer to pay me to take them out hacking, almost to teach them to how to hack confidently.

I haven't taken them up on the offer of money as I know them and lots of people helped me 'learn' to hack when I was just starting out. But it has made me wonder if there are people who are nervous/novice hackers who would pay to be escorted/guided on hacks with a confident rider on a sensible, reliable horse.

I have absolutely no horsey qualifications whatsoever but have hacked my boy all over the South Downs, cattle mustering on Dartmoor, do endurance, hunt, beach riding and lots of other stuff. My horse is excellent out hacking and we are often asked to escort people on fun rides, long hacks and help people learn to canter out. I am going to have a look at the insurance implications and investigate whether it might be doable. Obviously not giving up the day job, but would be quite nice to get paid to exercise my lad out on interesting hacks.
 
I honest think lots of people could benefit from hacking lessons not least so they could learn to enjoy hacking (I'm constantly amazed that the number of rider who don't enjoy hacking or are too scared to do it). Even the highest level performance horse do it after all.

There are also people like me who enjoy fast active riding hacks and don't like schooling who find hacking lessons much more in tune with they way they want to ride.
 
I've done it, and it was definitely worth it. I think the bigger question is whether the instructor is comfortable/has experience teaching while hacking. It does take a slightly different approach to school and teach on a hack, and if the instructor doesn't have any experience you might end up not learning very much.
 
I'm sure you have permission from farmers to ride on their stubble but just a quick note, many arable farmers now do "direct drilling" so the stubble field that you think may be fine to ride over, may have been sown with the next crop already and riding over it causes a lot of damage.
FfionWinnie said:
Yes why not. I do all my schooling on hacks. You might find a stubble field to ride in as well.
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I often hack out with one of my trainers, she doesn't charge me but I do find it really useful. Mr B is great in traffic and not at all spooky, so she likes to take youngsters out with him as he's a good influence. However, he can get a bit keen to get home and with her help, we've pretty much cracked it. I find she gives me the confidence to try things and not back off when he starts to get a bit silly, which is just what was needed.
 
I hacked out with my trainer when my horse was a baby - i'd started hacking him out on my own but he'd spun a few times and tried to buck me off and i'd lost a bit of confidence. I rode our older horse and the trainer rode the baby and discussed ways to keep his attention and how to survive if he had a 'moment'. It was very useful - i could probably do with a refresher when i bring him back into work, except I don't have the older horse any more so have nothing to ride!
 
oldie48 said:
I'm sure you have permission from farmers to ride on their stubble but just a quick note, many arable farmers now do "direct drilling" so the stubble field that you think may be fine to ride over, may have been sown with the next crop already and riding over it causes a lot of damage.
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Absolutely no arable farmers in my area do DD as in Scotland min till does not work very well at all. The plough is king in Scotland.

Usually the fields would be ploughed last year and left to weather all winter however the wet weather has its advantages in this instance.
 
As a happy hacker, which is all I do (have no transport :( ) I have had "hacking lessons" with my trainer/confidence mentor, and find this way of learning & teaching invaluable as you actually get to deal with the issues on the ground as they happen and not in the school!

My cob was very nappy solo, and badly behaved in company - I was at a loss how to deal with him, when I had him first; and so my trainer boxed her horse and a spare horse & rider over to me, and we rode out together with another friend in a larger group, putting us in front, behind, and in the middle, and then re-arranging the line frequently in walk, trot, and then canter, so she could then see at first hand what the issues were, and I had the reassurance of knowing that I had an expert on hand in case anything untoward did occur. She challenged me, but didn't scare the living daylights out of me, which was just what was needed.

On another occasion, I went over to her yard as a friend had a horse for sale, and I rode it out with her string to try it out in all situations, i.e. traffic, going first/last/middle, plus riding away from the group, in all paces. It was invaluable.

My trainer is fantastic, she knows how to challenge my ability that little bit extra, but knows just how far to push me! With her help I now have a horse that will hack solo and I am so much more confident to deal with an issue should it arise, and also have the reassurance that if something needs a tweak then all it needs from me is a phone call......

Really recommend this type of instruction.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
As a happy hacker, which is all I do (have no transport :( ) I have had "hacking lessons" with my trainer/confidence mentor, and find this way of learning & teaching invaluable as you actually get to deal with the issues on the ground as they happen and not in the school!

My cob was very nappy solo, and badly behaved in company - I was at a loss how to deal with him, when I had him first; and so my trainer boxed her horse and a spare horse & rider over to me, and we rode out together with another friend in a larger group, putting us in front, behind, and in the middle, and then re-arranging the line frequently in walk, trot, and then canter, so she could then see at first hand what the issues were, and I had the reassurance of knowing that I had an expert on hand in case anything untoward did occur. She challenged me, but didn't scare the living daylights out of me, which was just what was needed.

On another occasion, I went over to her yard as a friend had a horse for sale, and I rode it out with her string to try it out in all situations, i.e. traffic, going first/last/middle, plus riding away from the group, in all paces. It was invaluable.

My trainer is fantastic, she knows how to challenge my ability that little bit extra, but knows just how far to push me! With her help I now have a horse that will hack solo and I am so much more confident to deal with an issue should it arise, and also have the reassurance that if something needs a tweak then all it needs from me is a phone call......

Really recommend this type of instruction.
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This!
 
Camilla's Aunty Em said:
I have done. My loan pony was being nappy & I lacked confidence. My instructor brought her horse to us & rode out. She worked us hard, we had to go in front the whole way, do all the gates & NOT ALLOW napping. It was a valuable lesson in my book & at a reduced rate was very welcomed.
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This^^ as I had a napper and this was the way forward.
 
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