What is your favourite season to hack out in? And why?

AmieeT

AmieeT

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This morning got me thinking. It was very autumnal where I am, bright sunshine, but quite chilly. The kind of morning where you can layer up to be warm and there are no flies around!

I love autumn and winter hacking, because when it's cold you just layer up. I love the chilly air and seeing my (and my horses) breaths!

Don't get me wrong, I do love summer- but at the height of summer where you are wearing minimal layers but still overheating, and have to wear a hat too- and even then only really being able to go out before or after the*hottest*part of the day it just doesn't compare for me. And then of course, there are the flies!!!

What does everybody else think?

Ax
 
Autumn is my fave time of year for everything! I do love summer but this year has been so hot I've barely wanted to ride. Now it's started to cool down I'm much happier! Plus autumn is prettier :)
 
I'm with you on autumn. During the summer it can be quite windy here, but if we are lucky we can get some lovely still weather in the autumn. I also love a frosty winter's day - but not before about 11:00 am!
 
Autumn and winter , I think autumn is beautiful , nt to hot not too cold , and winter always reminds me of when when after a year gap of riding my sister and mine new pnies were delivered in December I was 11 and she was 9 we had an amazing winter xx
 
I love the spring. Those first sunny days tell me winter's over and the horse is always lively and happy to be out. Summer is probably my least favourite as my horse hates the flies and I get too hot and sticky. However, anytime it's a dry day and there isn't a howling wind is fine by me!
 
Autumn/winter for me :) one of my absolute favourite things in life is hacking on a crisp but sunny morning. I love seeing my horses breath & being all wrapped up :)
 
I love an Autumn hack on a beautiful, bright day when you feel all snuggly in your layers but not so cold that you can't feel your fingers. I love all the colours of the leaves and the crispness in the air, and the feeling of your horse stepping out underneath you, feeling a little fresh.

I also love an early spring hack when it's starting to warm up a little and you can see all the little crocuses popping up their little heads.
 
Don't much like hacking or riding at all in high summer because of the flying beasties. Much prefer the cooler seasons.
 
Ooh some very descriptive posts on here - looking forward to Autumn now! Those lovely hacks where I'm not too cold, its not too icy, or too wet, or too hot and fly-infested and we can bimble along, just me and my boy, taking in the countryside. Living the dream!
 
I love Autumn best - there's nothing more beautiful then seeing all the golden colours of the trees and the crunchy leaves underfoot. No pesky flies either.
During Summer I get up really early so I can ride out for 4.30-5am - it's still warm but not so many flies and never a soul about either - I love solitude :)
Spring is not good for me - I suffer with hayfever :(
Winter..... meh.. don't get me started :D
 
Autumn or Spring, whichever is drier underfoot (or should that be underhoof). Hate the fly time of year they drive both of us crackers (although I do like the long evenings), winter is ok if it is just cold but not so keen on driving rain and biting winds!
 
Winter :) This is the one thing I miss more than anything since being horseless. I used to love getting wrapped up and heading off for a few hours. One of the best was early one snowy morning, heading off for a short hack (our stables was on a bus route so the roads where clear) its was so quiet and one of the best rides I had on my old boy.
 
Just a quick thought, autumn is lovely but the hedges and trees turning red and gold along the roads and the sun being low in the sky can make you and your horse nearly invisible. please remember to wear hi-vis to keep you and your horse safe!
 
Winter and sometimes late autumn/early spring.


Basically, any day that I wake up a stupid o'clock, there is frost on the ground, some mist hanging around, it's bitterly cold, but the sun is shining.

Getting to the yard before the sun comes up, doing the first duties and then sliding my arms inside a horses rug, right down over the shoulders to give them a great big cuddle and warm myself up in a way nothing else beats. Being all wrapped up like fine bone china for a transatlantic journey in so many layers I can hardly move, scarf covering half of my face so that my breath warms up my nose and chin. Getting on, pulling a nice thick newmarket blanket over my legs and looking down at my horse to see huge puffs of "dragon smoke" coming from the nostrils, ears pricked, enjoying being out just as much as me. Listening to the early morning song of the birds as they flit in and out of the hedges looking for any stray insect or juicy berry to sustain their fluffed up little bodies.

Just me, my horse and my own little world. Can't beat it and now I have a new horse coming this weekend....I genuinely can't wait. :)
 
Definitely now! Plenty of stubble fields still, not too cold, not too hot and no flies
It has been beautiful all week early morning with the sun shining!
 
My favourite ever hack was as a kid, Christmas day, on a borrowed horse (we only had 1 between 3, then). Weather was bright and cold, with my mum and sister, hardly anyone else about.

We didn't go anywhere special, didn't do anything particularly exciting, I only rode that horse the one time...but it's been over 10 years and I still remember every moment.
 
_GG_ said:
Winter and sometimes late autumn/early spring.


Basically, any day that I wake up a stupid o'clock, there is frost on the ground, some mist hanging around, it's bitterly cold, but the sun is shining.

Getting to the yard before the sun comes up, doing the first duties and then sliding my arms inside a horses rug, right down over the shoulders to give them a great big cuddle and warm myself up in a way nothing else beats. Being all wrapped up like fine bone china for a transatlantic journey in so many layers I can hardly move, scarf covering half of my face so that my breath warms up my nose and chin. Getting on, pulling a nice thick newmarket blanket over my legs and looking down at my horse to see huge puffs of "dragon smoke" coming from the nostrils, ears pricked, enjoying being out just as much as me. Listening to the early morning song of the birds as they flit in and out of the hedges looking for any stray insect or juicy berry to sustain their fluffed up little bodies.

Just me, my horse and my own little world. Can't beat it and now I have a new horse coming this weekend....I genuinely can't wait. :)
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This is what it's all about!
 
Any dry day, really.
But I love Autumn hacks, even if it's a bit drizzly. I think it's because when I went to RS as a teenager, although I always booked a lesson, if the school was too muddy and the schooling field too wet and slippery, we would go out on a hack with lots of trotting on the road, riding on tracks, generally seemed more exhilarating than the usual lesson, perhaps because the whole group was moving at he same speed all the time.
Then I have some great memories of Autumn hacks on horses we used to have - like the frosty day The Pink Pair were trotting up the hill, the back one sneezed/blew, the front one jumped, so the back one did too. sis and I laughed so much we were helpless. On another Autumn hack, we were riding under the trees when conkers started falling all around us and knocking on our hats - this time The Pink Pair took no notice at all but sis and I were ducking out of the way all along the road.

Don't really expect Autumn to start until September though!
 
Cheshire Chestnut said:
Autumn defo - but it really doesn't last long enough. I remember thinking last year we got about two weeks of it before the wet, cold winter set in! :(
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We had the total opposite down in the south west. Autumn seemed to last forever down here, hardly any rain, no massive frosts...but then when winter did finally hit at Christmas and after...it decided to give everywhere a few years worth of rain in the space of a week!
 
Late spring, when the shooting season is over and the crops are far enough advanced for the gas guns to be turned off and the days are getting longer and summer holds so much promise. Time to plan the great long hacks that we then don't end up doing because of the flies, heat, hard ground, unexpected lameness...;)

However, like a cold winter's morning too unless the roads and tracks are icy. Autumn rides are nice but I absolutely hate seeing the evenings drawing in, as they already are, because I know it won't be long before after-work hacking is over.

Work is under way on a school though so at least I might still be able to ride in there this winter!
 
I love any day over 15 degrees but Spring is my favourite season I love the different greens the scent of summer in the air. Spring bulbs flowering and the new leaves bursting through. Love the smell of warm damp earth and the awakening of the birds and insects and of course the lengthening days and clear evenings.
I hate being cold and although autumn is beautiful in the colours and soft mists it is harbinger of the cold winter weather to follow I have never been too hot in my life but find it a real challenge to keep warm
 
Not sure reallly.....like them all.

Spring because we can get back on to tracks and wood paths that had been to wet, the budding trees, flowers, bluebells and the days are warmer, there are no flies.

summer I like because of the long days, shiny summer coats, happy horses out 24/7, less rain. I like riding late evening, blamy sunand a gentle breeze.....NO MUD!

Autumn because the ground is sofe again, canters through the woods, the colour of the leavex and less flies.

Winter I like (apart from mud...I am on clay!) Cold crisp mornings. Long road hacks building strength and muscle for the season. Riding with sister on Christmas morning.

I guess I just like hacking.............but high wind, rain, snow , lightning and slippy icey roads and you are on your own!
 
Summer.

Because I've fewer time consuming jobs that get in the way, and I can spend more time doing not as much.

autumn is ok but makes me feel a bit sad that my long, relatively hassle free days are drawing to an end.

Winter I flooking hate. Short days, dark... always flooking dark, fewer hours in which to get twice the work done, icey conditions which mean I can't ride safely anyway. Rain, mud, more rain. Wearing umpteen layers the whole time. The dark, did I mention the dark?

Early Spring is really just Winter-lite, at best. At worst it's just a seamless continuation of Winter. Late spring is ok, when the grass starts coming through and I can think Summer is nearly here.
 
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