To those who hack alone...

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HaffiesRock

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Do you do fast work while out alone?

I am short of hacking buddies where I am liveried. There are only 2 liveries on my yard, one is happy to come out for an hour but prefers walk and trot. The other came out for the first time tonight, but her horse was quite nervy and we had a situation, so for the time being not a real option for a fast hack. My other 2 options are about 2 miles away so i have to meet up with them. One likes long hacks but only at walk trot, the other has an ex racer and we have brilliant long fast hacks, but my Haffy struggles to keep up with the TB in any gait so its not always a comfortable ride!

Anyway, I do hack alone around the village and my pony is proving to be very safe and sensible, not spooky and with great breaks. So tomorrow Im going to take him on the medium length hack where there is ample opportunity to canter and gallop as we are both in need of letting off some steam! I will tell people where I am going and when I am due back, will have my full hi viz on and mobile phone in my pocket. Is there anything else I can do to make it as safe as possible?

Who else does fast work alone?

Thanks
 
I have always done fast work alone out hacking. I've now got the track my iPhone app so hubby has access to that just in case!
 
Yup, if the opportunity arises but like you say let people know when and where etc :)

Make sure phone is on me and not on the horse and both of us wear HiViz in case we part company (though I always do this not only when doing fast work :) )
 
With my previous horse (loan) I used to be very silly! I'd go out early evening, when there was no one at the yard, so no one knew where I'd gone (or even that I HAD gone out!!) and we bombed around all over the place!

I have a different horse now who won't go out alone! So the ride depends very much on the company we have - some fast, some not so!

I would like to be able to go out alone and we ARE working on it! If/when we do I intend to do at least a bit of a canter! ;) But we won't be going anywhere and not letting someone know!
 
It pays to have a dog tag attached to both bridle and saddle with vital phone no's on and one for yourself with your name and a contact no. on just in case you are found in a heap somewhere! I hack in forestry on my own and with my spooky welsh cob I'm never quite sure if I'll be walking home! Check your phone has signal and plenty of battery power.
 
I will let my horses go much faster when we are alone as don't have to worry about anyone else. When i'm in company I prefer her to be well mannered so won't let her choose the pace and will stick to controlled working canter rather than gallop and get into a racing situation. Sometimes it's nice to go alone so you can let them go. Always make sure I have my mobile with me in case of accidents.
 
I have a tag on my saddle that says: Rider Emma 07********* Emergency contact Steve 07********* Do you think that is sufficient? There isnt much room to write much else! Should I have one on my bridle and on me do you think?

I havent been for a good canter or gallop for weeks as the company i've been in hasnt allowed, so im going it alone for some fun fun fun! x
 
I find fast work in company a bit nerve wracking depending on the horse! My old share horse would tank off which wasn't as bad when we were alone and was scary when in company, last horse on loan I did try with but he was very unbalanced and bucked so was staying in walk and trot until the unplanned sending him back! New horse is quite ploddy (I hope, that's what I want for now!) And hopefully being in company will be fun not scary, and alone will be a bit of work but fun also! Looking forward to having a saddle, shame it takes aaages and involves roads to get to good hacking here... Shame you're not near me! HAFFY PARTY!
 
I recommend these to everyone but they are fab! - http://www.unicornleather.co.uk/'NEW'-Horse-Identity-System.php
I have one attached to my saddle and inside is all my contact info, 2 emergency contacts, vets details, horse details, yard address etc incase we ever (when we ever...) part company and she vanishes over the horizon. It's really put my mind at ease, its small enough not to be annoying or get in the way but it's very visible to people will instantly know what it is, and after my mum losing her horse on the moorland after he threw her off and ran home, I know how scary it is to not know where they've gone - so hopefully with this someone would give me a call and I could come and get her!

I always make sure there's hi viz on both me and the horse, just incase we end up going home separately ;) So she wears an exercise sheet, leg bands & i'm working on getting a neckband so she can be seen from all angles.

I haven't taken my mare out alone much as she didn't do it before she came to me & can be a bit of a nightmare by herself, but I'm working on it as it's something i'd like us to be able to do so that in summer we can go adventuring instead of being stuck in the menage - I only have someone to ride with at the weekend. However we do tend to split up on hacks, so that I can do faster work across fields and my hacking buddy can go the slower route. I'd prefer to be alone to do faster work so that I can go by my horse's fitness / speed rather than having to worry about whether we're leaving others behind and looking rude - she's not one for hanging about!

Good luck, let us know how you get on x
 
Thanks Starryeyed, ill definitely be getting one for me and my pony.

I am very much hoping the weather holds out now so I can get out on my adventure :O) xx
 
Yes, do all sorts alone!

I always tell either my Mum or BF (depending on where I'm staying that night!) and will text when I'm leaving/back at yard.

Lots of high viz for ponio and I, I now wear a body protector and phone attached to me and not ponio.

Ponio's saddle has a tag with emergency contact dertails.

As we pay for our off road riding, I have a hat band with unique ID and contact details too.
 
I bought some hi-viz luggage labels for me, sis and both horses. Typed names and contact details, and address on pieces of paper, then put them in the labels, human and horse ones, including ICE number. Horse ones on D rings of saddle, people ones on zip thing on jacket pockets.
Re fast hacking on your own, yes I do sometimes, not recently as it would feel as if the poor mare was water skiing!
 
Dog tags a lot cheaper and very hard wearing. Have had one in my saddles for 15 years and it's easily seen and still easily readable. Just ordered a couple more for their bridles :)
 
I have loads of the brightly coloured keyring type tags with the space to write in. Ill put one of those on my bridle. Thanks everyone xx
 
Yes.. tend to go faster on my own as I don't have to worry about anyone else getting in to trouble or horses racing! I also don't have to worry about making a fool of myself when attempting to jump logs etc :D

I am always on my own at the stables too and regularly jump 4ft in the menage on my own- i was jumping bareback over 3ft course on thursday! Always have my phone on me and text someone before I ride so they know if I am not replying then something may have happened :o
 
I used to on Archie!
After a good warm up, we'd gallop over about 6 fields there and the same back! He was such a good boy and didn't assume he got to gallop all the time, so was perfectly safe for novices too. Sometimes I'd mix it up a bit and walk a random field.
Not done a fast hack alone with Ned yet, I want him to learn that we walk everywhere if I say so, so we're sticking to walk and maybe a little trot at the moment :)
 
I'm not quite brave enough for really fast work but do canter my boy when out alone. My usual hacking companion prefers doing really fast work on her own as she knows her horse listens to her and will stop when asked it's other people (not so much me on my current horse) she worries about being able to stop. Very sensible in my opinion :)
 
Nothing better than going for a gallop on your own. I always hack out alone, don't like having to wait for people to catch up :p
 
SpottyFalula said:
I have a tag on my saddle that says: Rider Emma 07********* Emergency contact Steve 07********* Do you think that is sufficient? There isnt much room to write much else! Should I have one on my bridle and on me do you think?

I havent been for a good canter or gallop for weeks as the company i've been in hasnt allowed, so im going it alone for some fun fun fun! x
Click to expand...

Thats sounds good, I hacked alone always and preferred it. As I could do my own thing and detour etc.But yes always tried to give the route to OH. Its good to hack as you do meet the unexpected and I saw it as a test and anything adds variety and interest. You can still school out on a hack(my last boy hated menages ). But have fun, its the best way to see the countryside on back of horse, plus I could be really nosey!Enjoy.
 
yes, there are times a prfer to hack alone as i do a lot of my schooling out hacking and like monkeybum, i am another one that hunts, although my yard is a dedicated hunt/event yard so most other liveries do too but i do most of my fast interval training work alone.

always make sure all safety aspects as sensibly described on this thread have been adhered to incase of emergencies and don't take unnecessary risks. Only go as fast as you and your horse are comfortable with and on safe footing to minimise risks of falls.

there is so much more traffic on our roads, even rural ones than there was even 20 years ago, if you and your pony do part company and he has to cross a road if he attempts to gallop back to the yard alone, you MUST kit him out in high viz and use every safety measure possible.

Having said that, dont let the thought of hacking alone cripple you with fear. Enjoy your horse!
 
another who goes faster alone. Other horses struggle to keep up with my horse at walk!

Im not a huge fan of galloping in company, prefer to do it alone unless its in the fields next to our yard which has an incline making it easier to pull up :)
 
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