Out hacking... is this inconsiderate, or am I a grump?

W

wench

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 December 2005
Messages
10,260
Visit site
Just wondered what other people's thoughts are.

Out hacking this evening, horse can be rather lively, but started out nice and relaxed, then suddenly started jogging around and getting wound up. I really wasnt sure what had upset her, turned out that there was a horse behind us, cantering up to us.

By this point my horse was really quite wound up, and I took a totally different route than the one I had planned to go in the opposite direction to the other horse.

Finally get my horse settled back down to a certain extent, for the other horse rider to appear in the same field as me and proceeding to gallop around three edges of the field (obviously not downt the side I was on). It wasnt a very large field, and my horse wanted to go and join in the fun.

The other rider should have seen me both times, considering the fields are open, I was decked out in hi vis, and it wasnt sunny. Is it rude just to canter around with other horses in view, or am I just a grump?
 
Hard one really, everyone wants to get the most out of their rides...?but?

If I was riding and I could see that what I was doing was upsetting someone's horse I would tend to stop what I was doing. I wouldn't want to cause an accident. I think it comes under the same banner as riding to the level of the least experienced rider when on a hack.

She might have thought she was far enough away, who knows........
 
OMG! So rude!

It would have been carnage if it had happened to myself and the Big Brown One. I have always followed the un-written rule of nothing faster than walk if passing or near another horse out hacking.

That can be so dangerous in some cases.
 
It wouldn't bother me at all. In fact I would use it as a schooling opportunity to improve my horse's behaviour if it found it disturbing.

I was out with my horses (ride and lead, both 6yr olds one only been in proper work for a month, that's the one I was riding).

Came up in walk behind two horses, one rider got really sniffy when we were 50yard plus behind and said the horse was young and not used to horses behind it so could we pass.

My horses are impeccably well behaved and really, if you wanted your horse to learn to have horses behind it ever in it's life, that would have been a good time.

Instead we had to manoeuvre past it on a narrow muddy track with their stupid dog running about our legs and their horses refusing to stand still.

The dog then proceeded to run behind us out of sight of them, and they had to continually shout it back.

I found the whole incident highly amusing and reckoned my young horses were probably a lot younger than it, yet behaved beautifully.

The more you expect from a horse, the more you get, in my experience. I expect mine to ignore other horses and whatever the other horse is doing, and they do.
 
Last edited:
I think cantering up behind someone is very rude in itself. Continuing when the horse you're approaching (which, after all, is in clear view right in front of you!) is becoming upset is beyond rude.

I would, though, see if you can find a trusty helper to practice hacking with, overtaking each other, cantering away and towards, playing follow the leader and swapping roles, trotting and cantering side by side, until it all becomes normal. If you can treat it all as good fun and build up slowly to avoid explosions then your horse will settle for you, I'm sure.

The other rider was out of order. Unfortunately, though, you can't often control the people who do silly, rude or thoughtless things around your horse. But hopefully you can train your horse to be cool with it.

Have a thoroughly justified fume to yourself, then plan some fun and games :)
 
Cantering up close behind, and beside someone is inconsiderate.

Cantering in the field, but not passing you, is fine as far as I am concerned. I would.
 
Cantering up behind a strange horse is pig ignorant and can be downright dangerous. Many of the horses we hack are babies who've been backed weeks rather than months and the results of a strange horse coming up behind them at speed is a bit of 'education' we don't want them to have yet!

Sadly, there are some ignorant, selfish and thoughtless horse riders around to go with the car drivers, cyclists etc etc. You don't mention your horse's age, but it may be you need to think about teaching him to tolerate idiots and ignore them. It's not hard - you just need a sensible friend with a sensible horse.
 
I think everyone needs to be considerate of others but equally everyone needs to take responsibility for their own horse and as FW says, use it as an opportunity to school. OP didn't say the other rider cantered right up behind her only that they were cantering towards her. I agree cantering right up behind someone is more than rude, it's dangerous, but maybe the other rider slowed down at what she thought was a safe distance.
 
I think it's rude & inconsiderate. As riders we do need to appreciate that all horses are different, and some get her up more easily than others. If you're used to riding a very sensible horse that doesn't get bothered by others then its easy to forget that some horses just naturally do - its not necessarily anything to do with his well schooled your horse is - as a youngster my lad was cut late, kept on his own from being separated from his Mum till 5 years old (when I got him), and therefore never socialised. At 23 he's still extremely dominant and excitable/ anxious around other horses, this is despite being very well schooled, and kept in a quiet small herd environment. So you just need appreciation that other people's horses may be a bit more complex than your own.
 
The more you expect from a horse, the more you get, in my experience. I expect mine to ignore other horses and whatever the other horse is doing, and they do.
Click to expand...

This. I spent a lot of time teaching my youngster not to worry when horses came up behind him or left him when he was a youngster and it has really paid off.

I went out hacking with a friend who wanted to do some fast work round a field, after we went round at a walk & trot, she wanted to do her fast work. I knew we wouldn't be able to keep up, so I said I'd turn around and meet her 1/2 way and canter behind her. Well she got there much quicker than I did and as she came up, she shouted that she couldn't stop. So we stood there, waited for her to pass and off we went nice and calmly.

I do think she should have told you she was behind you, that would have been polite, but you can't completely change your hack (ie going round a field) in case you upset someone.

I don't think enough people teach their horses to be patient anymore.
 
FfionWinnie said:
It wouldn't bother me at all. In fact I would use it as a schooling opportunity to improve my horse's behaviour if it found it disturbing.
Click to expand...

I completely understand this, but when I'm out hacking I don't want to have to worry about my pony getting upset because someone's coming up behind us. We ride out on the forest, and a couple of times have had herds of ponies start to follow us then turn off after a minute when hacking, and since my pony is pretty spooky and until recently I was fairly nervous on him (for entirely different reasons), the combination of him panicking about who was behind and wanting to follow them - he was run on the forest until about 6 months ago when we started backing him - stressed me out. A lot.
If someone, at any speed, had come up behind us and kept following, I would have asked them to pass us at that time. Obviously I would have only asked where it was possible, not on a narrow path etc, but would still have wanted the other rider(s) to go ahead as I would have felt more comfortable. Now, not so much, as I'm at the stage where I do see that it's good for him, but you don't know the rider or the horse in your story, she may have had good reason to want you ahead.
However, in the warm-up to our first dressage test, last month, he didn't care where the other horses were, because he knows the arena is for working and hacking is for hacking (apart from leg-yielding practice!).
 
I have forfeited a canter before because there was another horse going slower up the field in front of me. Its a bit annoying (not annoyed at the other rider, just the general cussedness of the universe) and a bit disappointing, but I don't know how someone else's horse (or indeed someone else!) is going to react. It would be lovely if everyone would take it as a training opportunity, but if a rider is nervous or a horse is a bit strong or fresh then it isn't safe or a very considerate thing to do, and if you don't know them you don't know how confident or competent they are. There are other times you can canter, it's not the end of the world to wait til the other rider leaves the field and then have a shorter canter.
 
Always call out and say hello, if coming up behind someone. Check all is ok before continuing. If on the other side of field, would most probably do my own thing, but keep an eye on other person. Depends on distance I suppose.
 
I think they didn't do anything wrong - unless they came right up to you cantering. If you could never do more than walk if you could see another horse at any distance in some busy riding areas it would be dull old hacks.
 
alice.j said:
I completely understand this, but when I'm out hacking I don't want to have to worry about my pony getting upset because someone's coming up behind us. We ride out on the forest, and a couple of times have had herds of ponies start to follow us then turn off after a minute when hacking, and since my pony is pretty spooky and until recently I was fairly nervous on him (for entirely different reasons), the combination of him panicking about who was behind and wanting to follow them - he was run on the forest until about 6 months ago when we started backing him - stressed me out. A lot.
If someone, at any speed, had come up behind us and kept following, I would have asked them to pass us at that time. Obviously I would have only asked where it was possible, not on a narrow path etc, but would still have wanted the other rider(s) to go ahead as I would have felt more comfortable. Now, not so much, as I'm at the stage where I do see that it's good for him, but you don't know the rider or the horse in your story, she may have had good reason to want you ahead.
However, in the warm-up to our first dressage test, last month, he didn't care where the other horses were, because he knows the arena is for working and hacking is for hacking (apart from leg-yielding practice!).
Click to expand...

We were walking. Our ponies are fit and have active walks so we had caught up with them because they were dithering about. What should I have done, stood about to let them get back ahead?

We were still well behind when the riders stopped (hence we caught up more). Had they kept walking we would have kept the same distance behind them. Seriously, do you think someone walking their horse 50yards or more behind any horse should be cause for a problem? We never see other horses out hacking but my horses didn't react stupidly about them being in front of us.

If your horse can't cope with what it will meet out and about, it shouldn't be out and about. End of story.

I don't care if it's young, mine have all been young, they aren't put in situations they aren't ready for or I cannot control.

You also have to be ready for people who have no consideration for your horse and it's foibles.

What if my horses were scared of dogs, what on earth would have happened then?! They couldn't control their horses or their dog. Therefore, they shouldn't have been out where they were with any of them.
 
I would not canter up behind a strange horse but I would trot and shout to let them know we where there and expect them to sort them selves out so we could pass and get on with what we where doing .
I would not expect someone not to canter in a different part of a large field because I was there .
I would not be hacking alone on a horse so green or badly mannered I had to expect other riders to curtail their ride to accommodate me.
I don't need other riders to creep round me I have it in my mind that every horse I own has to well mannered enough to hunt even if it's not going to and I see all such encounters are training opportunities.
 
Enfys said:
Cantering up close behind, and beside someone is inconsiderate.

Cantering in the field, but not passing you, is fine as far as I am concerned. I would.
Click to expand...

^^this^^

It isn't reasonable to expect someone to not be there, just because you haven't fully trained your horse... you're getting upset that they were in the same field. Seriously? If your horse is upset by this, you need to get out in company more often until it isn't.
 
Have to agree that cantering right up behind you is rude but other people getting on with their ride fairly far away from you is not. Ridden horses should be able to cope with other horses cantering on the other side of a field - warming up at a show or going hunting could prove very interesting otherwise!
 
If it were me in your position, I don't think I'd care... The other rider didn't streak past and it sounds like even though she did canter up behind you, she stopped a fair distance away - and I'd never complain about a horse cantering around a field nothing to do with me and simply in sight... If we all demanded that, life would be very slow. Imagine living somewhere flat!

I'd also wonder just how obvious it was that your horse was being affected... It sounds like the "acting up" was a bit of a jig... That's not particularly dramatic and may not be that obvious to someone focused on their own horse.

I ride in an area with high levels of equestrian traffic and while I'd never canter up behind a horse, I did once trot a youngster (was his 2nd ride out) up a stretch and then spot someone's horse really losing it on the opposite side (napping and rearing) and of course stopped my horse immediately and waited. If the horse had been jogging I'm not sure I would have - I might not have even noticed. My boy behaved impeccably because I put effort into making him feel secure out and teaching him to lead the way or follow independently before ever hacking him out - but I was still focused on him and a horse trotting in my peripheral vision would not have raised any flags.

As others have said, I'd see it as a schooling experience and not get too hung up on it. It was perhaps a little thoughtless but it may not have been that obvious to the other person that it was even causing a problem.
 
I'd say rude. Especially if the other rider did not know you or your horse. I always make sure we walk when we see people (unless it's one of our friends and then we catch up in trot). You never know how the other horse is going to respond, or if the rider is nervous.

We've had people canter past us a few times, usually if they're coming towards us it's fine, but from behind it has a tendency to make the big guy a bit tense (I think he reckons the cantering horse is fleeing invisible bears!). Would it really spoil someone's hack to slow down a bit until the other horse was gone?
 
I'd say rude.

On my old pony it wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest, but I would still think it was rude.

On my boy now, he would have thrown a fit in the field, my responsibility yes, but incredibly inconsiderate of the other person. How did she know that you weren't out for your first lone hack on a youngster? Not something I would ever without first asking if it was ok.
 
I am assuming the field was pretty big (ours are all crops so big!) if the other rider was able to get up to a gallop along three sides of it? I'd always ask to pass somebody but daylight is getting to be a bit of a premium now to hang around too much (I'd always walk to pass anyone, horse, dog, walker :p) and it really does sound like the horse didn't get that close. F gets very wound up about other horses but often it's a relief because he is a lazy toad so a bit of sideways jogging is pleasant change.
 
A couple of months ago I was out on my horse and she shot forward. I brought her back to a walk but she was dancing. It was only when I looked back that I saw two horse cantering to us. Once they saw us, they slowed to a walk but the path was twisty so she'd heard them before I did.
I offered to allow them to pass because I was walking and they obviously wanted to go quickly. Once they were past, they trotted on and my horse started to prance and arch her back whenever they went out of sight. One of them asked if I wanted them to walk to which I replied yes.
I wish that I had offered to trot with them so that they could still keep their pace or that I had turned my horse and gone back the way until they were gone so that they could still have their pleasant ride.

I still feel bad that they had to reduce their pace because of me.
 
I wouldn't canter up behind someone, I would organise passing slowly with the other rider and get put some distance before cantering again.

However cantering round a field not on the side you are on is OK. If it is a field that riders use regularly to do faster work then it's to be expected and if I had an issue I would be careful and try and introduce my horse carefully to it so they got used it this.

One yard I was at we had some fields we could canter round the edge and a bridlepath going alongside one side. So the riders on the bridlepath had to be prepared for someone cantering in the field and the person in the field could come across horses cantering along the bridlepath. There were high hedges to you didn't see each other till you got very close.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top