Trail riding my competition horses?

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So i have 2 performance warmbloods that i compete showjumping and a little dressage on. They are ridden 6 days a week and are both very fit. With the show season slowing down my mother is keen to start taking them on trail rides. So alas the last weekends she has taken great joy in decking my 16.2hh 6yo out in western gear and floating them to the nearest bush trails to ride.

For the first 30mins they jump up and down shying at everything and it takes them a while to settle, but eventually they calm down. We walk mostly, trotting and cantering occasionally along the flat bits and up hills. We ride around 10km.

I'm very careful to boot their legs up well and make sure all their tack fits good. My question is: Is doing this good for the fitness? Or do you think that it is a bit silly to take young warmbloods (6yo and 7yo) out on the trail? Is hacking/trail riding like this something i should be implementing regularly into their training program?
 
If its good enough for Carl Hester ;)
It might improve their 'sanity' and ability to cope with new things, you will be surprised, if you see a scary tree next on the trail, then the scary tree rustling by the side of the dressage warm up will be no problems!
Makes them more versatile if anything happens so they cant do high powered things any more - Obviously not the plan, but it cant do any harm I think!
If your worried you can be careful with the ground - think nice bouncy ground and avoid the rocky sections or deep mud.

Forgot to say - Hill work does wonders for fitness!
 
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I know plenty of people who hack their show horses, dressage horses, show jumpers and eventers. It's good for fitness - mental and physical rather than endless circles in an arena. In fact, several people I know compete at high level and don't even have a school to ride in and do all their schooling out hacking.
 
I'm assuming OP is not in the UK. . ..?

As above, lots of people hack competition horses. The only reservations I would have from your post though, are saddles and footing. It's not true that every western saddle fits every horse, although good quality ones are much more forgiving. If the trails are well maintained then great, have at it. If it's proper off road bushwhacking be aware that riding in rough country is a job unto itself and horses need to be conditioned to it.

Cross training is very useful though. A top US dressage trainer used to use some of her horses to skid logs in the winter!
 
my 7yo showjumper hacks regularly - all of our horses do.

It's good to have a break from schooling, both for the horse and for me - I get bored going round and round in circles, never mind the horse. :tongue3:
 
Pale Rider said:
Assuming this isn't a wind up, trail riding is excellent for your horses.
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Might be but I wouldn't assume it. After all, in lots of places people have to haul to do anything other than ride around their own property or local farms. All this riding on the road, bridleway access business is peculiarly UK/Western Europe.
 
TarrSteps said:
Might be but I wouldn't assume it. After all, in lots of places people have to haul to do anything other than ride around their own property or local farms. All this riding on the road, bridleway access business is peculiarly UK/Western Europe.
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But not for those of us in the New Forest!!! Not quite the space you might find in America but we can ride for hours barely having to cross a quiet New Forest road, we never road ride! Funnily enough I do hack my 16.3 warmblood in a western saddle on a loose rein held in one hand. The hardest part of going western stlye was and still is getting the saddle up on a 16.3! :)
 
burtie said:
But not for those of us in the New Forest!!! Not quite the space you might find in America but we can ride for hours barely having to cross a quiet New Forest road, we never road ride! Funnily enough I do hack my 16.3 warmblood in a western saddle on a loose rein held in one hand. The hardest part of going western stlye was and still is getting the saddle up on a 16.3! :)
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I'm not saying everyone here has to ride on the roads, I'm saying there are lots of places in the world that people do not. Public bridleways.and riding in suburban areas is very British/Western European. There are lots of even very rural areas in North America where hacking off property would require travel. My only point was that, outside of this hacking mad country, it wouldn't be unusual for a competition horse to do little or no 'proper' trail riding so it's not necessarily a silly question.
 
Yes, mine gets hacked pretty much every day, and he is a lot more willing to knuckle down and work (dressage) after a good blast round the fields. I agree that it's beneficial - if it's good enough for Carl!
 
Our polo ponies get hacked at least once a week in the season. I think it's so good for their heads, to get out there and do something different - and they seem to love it! Makes a nice change for them than doing boring set work round and round the track. I think horses thrive on a varied fitness schedule...and it's nice for the rider too!
 
Hacking is brilliant for young horses. I've found that my once backwards thinking nappy horse I bought in May has really turned around with a summers worth of hacking. His head is in a better place, he's matured and become more braver and individual plus he enjoys his work in and out the school setting much more and the napping is a thing of the past!

I've now started competing him and he's defiantly more elevated and also more confident in new settings.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! Makes me feel heaps more confident, I will try to trail ride them more often. I do often take my horses on small hacks, mainly just around the property, but this was the first time i had actually floated them somewhere and gone for a proper trail ride. But i do agree, it seems to put them in a good state of mind and defiantly helps with fitness :)
 
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