POLL; Arena Riding

Real thing or cheat?

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    0
T

Tia

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Just been reading a few posts and there appear to be a lot of different opinions on this, so thought I'd do a poll to see what people think.

Obviously as with any threads like this you can of course vote anonymously.
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OK; I used to adore hacking my boy out everywhere. But then I had a major accident (in a school as it happens!), and being rather nervous, and also because our yard fronts a very busy and fast road that has to be crossed, I have stopped hacking.
I don't believe that riding a horse in the school all the time is necessarily bad. However, I think it is beneficial for a horse to hack - from the point of view of getting an education and more stimulation. I hope at some point to get out hacking again because I used to love it and I believe my horse did.
I have come across people that always ride in the school, and often they are people who are scared of riding outside the menage confines.
 
I don't think it is good for my mental state to always ride in an arena- I'd go mad! I get so bored in the arena so luckily for my horse i tend to do more hacking than schooling.
 
Like all things - depends on the circumstances! The horse that I have now hasn't been in arena for about a year - she purely hacks out. She enjoys hacking and is a pleasure to hack, but finds schooling boring. We also have the benefit of some lovely hacking around this area.

However, I have been in a situation where the horse I had at the time did mainly arena work. At the time we were liveried on a very busy narrow country lane with no verges and to hack out there was like Russian roulette. However, we did try to vary things by using the fields in summer and boxing him up and taking him out places.
 
I could not ride my horse in an arena everyday, 1. I'd get bored 2. I should think the horse would too!

TBH I do think that people that always ride in an arena are scared of hacking, etc. Although in the winter and owners working full time, they might not have a choice.

My horses love being ridden in different places everyday, and I know for a fact my WB would go mental if I rode her in an arena everyday. Plus I think it is very good for them.
 
When the eves are light I try to hack out twice in the week, but now it's dark all the time it's the school every day. I do lessons & comps in the week to break it up a bit & either compete or hack out at weekends.

When I get my surface in a couple of weeks, I might get some poles & do some polework to break the monotony.
 
Actually arena riding is very popular over here, so I was interested in opinions of it over there. I know what I voted, I am pretty sure I know what you will vote for but that is not what I am interested in. I am interested in people's perceptions; not that I have to explain myself to anyone on here why I may make a thread, however you deserve an explanation since you became so excitable when someone disagreed with you in the previous thread.
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I said no opinion on the 1st one as its up to the owner to decide if the horse is happy working in an arena all the time, im sure if they weren't happy they would play up!!
2nd- no opinion as i dont have the access to an arena LOL!!!
3rd- I dont think people are scared of hacking out if they use an area all the time, as i hate schooling and some people might hate hacking!!

What ever floats your boat!!!
 
I'm not sure its good for a horse physically to always be ridden on a surface, particularly with limited/no turnout. some arguably cope with it mentally.

most people I know who dont hack are too scared to-not saying its wrong to be scared.

for some reason alot of dressage riders dont seem to be able to cope with grass or open spaces though? whats that all about?
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I have to ride in the school over winter, as our hacking tracks are closed to stop them getting poached. (our yard has off road hacking tracks) Neither me or my horse enjoys schooling, but it's a means to an end! In the summer, we hardly ever go in the school. I think it's good for horses to get out and about, but I can understand peoples' reluctance to do so with the lack of bridle paths and the horrendous roads nowadays.
 
i dont bl**dy have an arena or access to one...so at a max probs once a week for a lesson...would love to have my own and hopefully i will one day but probably wouldnt go in it more than 3/4 times a week out of 5/6 days...most probably in prctise wouldnt use it that much!
 
I don't have a problem with riding a horse every day in an arena - some horses do enjoy it, not that everyone will believe that. I do think it is beneficial to include other activites but some horses just don't enjoy it. So long as they get some form of turnout, I don't see the problem providing the horse is of the right disposition.

Tia is a (wannabe!) eventer and she needs to see the world, else she'd blow up at the sight of water etc but she loves it and i think really appreciates her time out of the yard. My YO only rides in the school and at competitions. R - doesn't enjoy hacking but I'd hardly say he is deprived. He is currently out of work and is hating it. He really adores strutting his stuff infront of whoever is watching and goes out and wins affil. elementary and has just started medium so there we are, would you say he is deprived? http://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/library/images/main/667.jpg

Maybe some people do seek comfort in the fences of an arena but I have to say that I find alot more purpose when schooling then I do pottering around on a loose rein and I enjoy the challenge.

There isn't really a right or wrong answer here, tbh
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Was talking to someone about this the other day. She always rides in the arena because she finds hacking boring (too many trees) but takes her horse out to dressage comps. The others who exclusively rive in the arena are young children whose parents do not feel it is safe for them to go out.
 
I think most horses (mine included) would get bored of just schooling. Hacking is good for fitness and their minds.

However if hacking isn't right for someone or their horse, they shouldn't feel as if they have to do it to be a good owner/rider!

I do mostly hacking, and if I ride in the school I usually jump. I always feel pleased with myself if I make us do half an hour 'proper' schooling
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I personally don't think riding constantly in an arena can do horse or rider much good. Surely it's better for the horse to work on grass, in a school and on the road for all round benefit.

Ok circumstances dictate in the winter with dark nights, the weather, etc but isn't variety the spice of life?

Says I who hasn't done a thing with my horses for 3 weeks - tut tut.
 
I like to give my horse variety, sadly during the winter I can only hack at weekends but lunge, loose school, jump and do pole work during the week to keep her interested. I don't think that it is necessarily bad to only work in the school as long as you keep it varied (going round and round in circles in trot everyday will switch them off IMO).
I think it is a little unfair to say that people who mainly school are nervous of hacking, they may well be but there are lots of reasons not to ride out (e.g. no/bad hacking, busy roads, traffic-shy horse, dislike hacking, no-one to ride out with).
 
Very interesting results - and to be honest not actually what I expected on here; well yes the final results are what I expected, just didn't think that the results would be so dramatic!
 
I'm really not that excitable - each to their own for me, so long as the horse's welfare is attended to
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I do get fed-up of people being judgemental with others when they do things differently without a scap of good evidence for their position. I will no doubt have been responding to something like that when I seemed excitable!
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I don't think all horses need to hack for their peace of mind. I realise a lot of people believe they do and we probably each reach our opinions based on our own experiences. I just work in arenas with my mare. I acknowledge that this is because I have had a couple of nasty accidents and, as a result, I don't like hacking and it worries me. I haven't hacked now for a year. Fortunately, my beloved mare isn't a fan either (no doubt her views and mine are connected). She has hacked out plenty when she was a youngster, both with me and other riders I have arranged to take her out and about (she is 10 in 2008). She shows every sign of enjoying her work in the school and is a very happy, relaxed mare. We don't just work at home though, we travel to trainers at least once a week and do regular competitions.

I had another mare who really wasn't a fan of working in the school. Clearly it bored her and she became resisitent about it. She loved hacking and had a history (not with me) of loving hunting and XC. It was clear that we were not well matched, so I sold her after 9 months. I specifically looked for a XC home for her and she has been doing very well there. Horses for courses as they say.

Having said all that, I probably would resume some short hacks if I didn't have a nasty road to deal with outside the yard. I had an accident on the land last Christmas Eve, came off after a loose horse who had dumped its rider galloping into us. My mare panicked and went with the galloping horse across the road (blind bends and all). My blood ran cold as I heard hooves on the road. She got home safely and I haven't been able to bring myself to take her out since! We're both happy and safe doing what we are doing.
 
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We're both happy and safe doing what we are doing.

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And that's the main thing.

I'm not excitable at all and don't actually care what other people do with their horses so long as they are content. By don't "actually care" I mean I REALLY don't actually care.
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I've been in this livery business for way too long to get het up about the different ways people do things with their horses.
 
I get bored riding in the school after about 30 seconds (thats once around the outside
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). I do feel sorry for horses that are only ever schooled, just think it must be a bit boring! Most people I know that only school do so because they are scared to hack out (I'm not saying that everyone does this before someone disagrees with me!). I use the school as a holding pen when I need somewhere to put him for 10 mins, thats its only use for me lol
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
We're both happy and safe doing what we are doing.

[/ QUOTE ]
And that's the main thing.

I'm not excitable at all and don't actually care what other people do with their horses so long as they are content. By don't "actually care" I mean I REALLY don't actually care.
grin.gif


I've been in this livery business for way too long to get het up about the different ways people do things with their horses.

[/ QUOTE ]I'm with you there. I have only been in the livery business as a livery client, but I've learned to accept thet there are many ways of keeping a horse, some well, some not so well. However, when its the latter, unless its obvious crueltly, there is little to be gained from preaching to others.
 
I think it's best to give the horse variety if possible, but I did answer no opinion for the last q as there's lots of reasons why you might not be able to go out, fear, busy roads, very young horse etc.
 
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when isnt she !!!!!!!!! ha ha

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Gosh! You aren't one of those weird stalker type people are you? How in the world would you know about me, when you only joined a matter of a few days ago....
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Well, my boy isn't backed yet, but when he is I will have better and more experienced professional riders do the schooling and competing, while I just do the fun hacking out at home. I love hacking!

I think it is nice for a horse to get to hack out occasionally, but not absolutely essential. It really depends on the horse. I think that people who don't want to hack (for whatever reason, and I'm sure there are many reasons - not just fear) tend to make sure they have a horse who doesn't mind just working in a school.

I certainly wouldn't criticize anyone for not hacking out, or suggest that they are depriving their horse of something vital to its well-being. Nor would I criticize anyone for being afraid to hack out - it can be quite scary, and I can see how a bad experience might put people off.
 
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