Roads/Arena

[Taffieboy1]

When I started with my first horse 20+ years ago I would be out hacking alone everywhere possible from an hour up to 3 hours 5/6 days a week, of course roads and drivers were so different in that time period. It's such a shame that it's how it is these days, at my yard is 40 horse an at least 50% of them if not more never hack out, just ride in the arena 3 or 4 days a week for 30-45 minutes, and if asked why they actually say hacking is to dangerous these days and to many accidents and near misses ect, so sad it has come to this. Do any of you guys no longer hack out due to same reasons? Would the pony/horse not become somewhat shut down-switched off from circles circles circles 3 or 4 days a week, think I personally would.

 

[HunkyDory]

I think it is more difficult if the yard doesn't have direct access to off road hacking and there is road work needed to get to it. In an ideal world, I would like to think that if I couldn't hack out because I had to ride a mile or so on the roads and didn't trust it, then I would try and do some ride-outs where people meet up for that purpose and transport their horses. Sharing a horse box with someone, keeping the cost down. I don't think I would keep a horse if I could only ever school it and never hack out. They are so different when riding out, especially with other horses. You can feel their excitement and I think it is good for their physical and mental health to have that variety.

 

[lamlyn2012]

I've had my own horses for over 30 years and in that time the roads have got far too busy and the cars have got faster. Some tractors are now huge compared to the size they used to be. I no longer hack on roads but do have a couple of permits for horse only off road riding. It does mean travelling but I would rather do that than put my self and horse at risk.
There is also local forestry riding not too far away but pick my times to go there to avoid mountain bikers and out of control dogs. (Not saying all bikers/dog walkers are an issue but some definitly are).
I do think it's hard for horse riders but I would never own a horse just to ride in circles in a manege. I think manege work is quite demanding and puts strain on joints. Also , imo, horses need stimulation and a variety of terrain for their well being.
Would be lovely if more farmers would provide field margins for horse riders on a permit basis.
I had a short stay on a livery yard a couple of years ago due to house move and was amazed at how many people just rode in the school even though there was lovely off road riding.

 

[kamili]

I've stopped hacking too cos of the roads. I'd rather travel to somewhere that has off road hacking.
People are just rude, dangerous and nasty on some of the roads. on too many occasions to list I have been verbally abused, driven at speed at, had horns blown at me and all sorts over the last 10 years.

I always wear high viz and pull in wherever I can, and have passed the BHS road test too. One occasion I was signalling someone attempting to overtake at speed to slow down because there was a car coming the opposite direction. I had pulled in as much as I could onto a grass verge and my horse was spooking at the speed of this one. She proceeded to pull up and scream dogs abuse at me saying I was a liability and horses have no right to be on the road. whatsover. Despite there being a sign saying caution horses not ten meters down the road which she had already passed. I was shaking with the shock of it all afterwards as I was convinced she was going to drive into me and my horse at speed.

On the flip side I have met some really lovely people that pull in, and patiently wait and give me a wave and a smile as I go past.
Unfortunatly I just think its too dangerous to hack anymore so I won't.

 

[Shay]

You can keep a horse engaged and happy without hacking - but it takes some effort. And ideally transport so you can get out and about a bit.

Hacking on the roads in some places is more dangerous now - and I don't think that is just perception or better data gathering. The roads are just more busy generally and perhaps drivers less familiar - or less tolerant?- with horses on roads than we were two / three decades ago.

I do think there is also an increased perception of danger because of the internet and social media etc. Before we would only know of the incidents which actually happened to us or those we knew personally. Now you can log in and see body cam footage of horrific driving etc and hear each others stories from pretty much anywhere.

We do still hack -on road and off road. But with caution and probably with a bit of luck. Horses have been killed on 2 road crossings near us - in both cases the local riders and the county council installed safer horse crossings - but nothing is 100% safe. But then we also hunt and event. That isn't safe either!

 

[Red-1]

I do still hack out, but have curtailed my distance. I have been doing an hour round the village 3 X a week - it is either small single track lanes with dead ends or a 30mph village main street - so traffic is manageable (mostly!). A couple of times a month I will box out to have a more adventurous ride (beach, pit stack, country park, hire XC type course but use it for a jolly).

I do think horses can be fine with no hacking as long as they have a large field with pals. This would be depending on their workload - such as an event horse would need some fitness that was not in circles. Horses on individual turnout in small paddocks need more than an arena, IMO, to keep healthy mentally and physically.

I changed my box to a little 3.5 as the diesel in the bigger one to go adventure hacking was a killer!

 

[emilyjeff]

I love hacking!!

Guess I'm lucky that our yard is in a quiet village and a few mins ride through the village takes us to plenty of off-road routes.

Having said that I do think the roads are more dangerous, and drivers less considerate than they were when I was riding out as a kid. Earlier I was trying to think of some longer rides to do this summer, maybe to a pub or something, but I came to the conclusion that there's only one route I could think of that doesn't involve going on busy roads.

The horse I am riding is very sensible with traffic and not bothered by tractors etc, I might feel differently on a different horse but I could never just do arena work it would drive me mad not going out and about!

 

[eventer and proud]

I don't have an arena just a faltish field. I tend to school him twice a week and hack out the rest of the time or take him to the gallops, we have a international dressage rider near us and he hacks all the time.

 

[Beth206]

We have a few busy roads we have to navigate to get to the country park where we ride. Fortunately most drivers are great, I have more of an issue with noises - I was out riding with a friend at the beginning of the year and a shop was closing their roller shutters which spooked my horse and she bolted down the road. Luckily all the drivers stopped and waited for us to stop but it unsettled me for a while to the point where I didn't want to hack out any more. Over time my mare has calmed down and we now hack once or twice a week for around an hour but I still feel nervous before we go.

My mare is only 4 and I think it's important I try to expose her to as many things as possible as safely I can. We now go riding either early morning or late evening and this really suits her. Plus she is schooled in our field 2-3 times a week but her going is so much better when we hack out.

I would love to get out and about with a trailer but I can't afford one at the minute but hopefully one day

 

[Cortez]

I haven't hacked out on the roads for more than 20 years, it's far, far too dangerous. We do toddle around the fields and up our quite long driveway as a warm up, but sadly I think the road is not the place for horses any longer. It is perfectly possible to work horses in an arena without them becoming "stale" - that is down to the skill and ingenuity of the rider, but it is good to do other things as well.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

When we had our first horse, we could canter on the grass verges at the side of the main road. We don't keep horses there now but I do still drive there occasionally, the verge is completely overgrown, with litter strewn along it - totally inaccessible even in an emergency. There is a !of of fast traffic now, in those days, except at rush hour, there were only buses x3 per hour, tractors and tractor-transporters, with a very few cars, I really would not want to hack along there now.

We do hack out but we live in a quiet village, although we do have massive tractors and a bus every hour, with a mix of roads and off road riding.