Who hacks out and who doesn't - why?

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missyme10

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Hey all,

I'm just curious to know who hacks out and who doesn't and why?

There are a few at my yard that never ever hack out, they only work in the school and to be honest I just dont understand it as I hate schooling, I much prefer to hack out as I find it so much more enjoyable, especially on a day when the suns out.
I know hacking comes with confidence, but I consider myself a novice and recently went through a major confidence crisis, so I'm not a really confident rider, but I still shoot out of that school at every opportunity.

I think it helps that my boy is 100% sound hacking and he thoroughly enjoys it. I only hack in company though, as he's 4 years old and was only backed in the spring and he's a little nervous on his own, although I have started going out for short walks this week on our own.

So what about the rest of you ?
For those that dont hack, why not ?

Also are others like me, ie loath schooling and find it boring ?
 
I don't have a school at my yard, I can hire one locally (more expense) so I only really hack! I hack with my mare 4-5 times a week on our own mostly and if we are lucky have some company which we both enjoy! It's great for horses mental stimulation and u can school a little out hacking if you like :)
 
I love hacking, and like you, get a bit bored schooling. Where I keep the boys, we have a lovely outdoor school and loads of fantastic hacking. I use the school when I have to.

Where I keep Dolly, haven't got a school, but there is one down the road I can use if I get the urge. Again, loads of hacking. Mine all hack alone or in company.
 
Chestnut mare said:
I don't have a school at my yard, I can hire one locally (more expense) so I only really hack! I hack with my mare 4-5 times a week on our own mostly and if we are lucky have some company which we both enjoy! It's great for horses mental stimulation and u can school a little out hacking if you like :)
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Totally agree about the mental stimulation, both for horse and rider, and I agree you can school out and about, we have huge stubble fields all around our yard, they are part of the farm so we can ride right through them and there's nothing I can't do in one of those stubble fields that I can do in a school :D
 
I love hacking. My horse is kept in an AONB and it is a pleasure to ride and admire the scenery plus, she seems to enjoy it. She trogs along with her ears forward and isn't fazed by much traffic wise. I like to hack out at least twice a week.
She is 5 but I haven't had a bad/scary hack (or schooling session) on her yet, she's a little star :).
 
I really enjoy hacking but I'd get bored if that was all I did. I like the variety of hacking, schooling and jumping as well as the odd trip out to compete.
I probably don't do any of it very well, but I enjoy it all!
 
I get bored of schooling *and* bored of hacking, so I do a bit of both!

I have to hack out as my horse is such a good doer, he needs hours of exercise in the summer to stop him from continually expanding. Hacking is more fun in the summer (but I hate it when it's too hot and there are flies everywhere!) and generally better in company, that said if I can get off road, there is just nothing better than cantering across the countryside, just you and your horse!

Equally, getting something right when schooling is a great feeling too but my horse gets bored of schooling if we do it too often. As long as I find lots of different things to do in the school (flat schooling, jumping, poles, in hand work, lunging, long reining, groundwork) then it doesn't have to be boring. But a mix of hacking and schooling is best.
 
christi said:
i love hacking , its all i do, have 18,000 acres of it , so it would be a shame to stay in an arena .
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Wow lucky you.

We do a bit of both, mainly to keep my horses sanity but I hate hacking on my own, not because my horse is naughty but because of what we potentially meet on the Bridleways. I used to love going out for hours but now its often spoiled by snarling dogs, lads on motorbikes, manic bike riders. I dont know why its so different nowadays :(
 
I have one horse I don't hack, he is one who came to me with a bolting issue and despite improving loads riding in the field he's not quite ready for that next step of hacking out. But hopefully with time will be able to .
All my others hack, I don't have a school so all schooling is done out hacking and they stay much sweeter because of it. Almost reversing the idea that a hack is a treat, going in the school is a treat! lol
 
i love hacking, it's what i do 98% of the time. my pony is a been there, done it all type, but he's still a good fun, fast ride. he's no different alone or with company, altho possibly hots up a bit more with certain field mates. we usually go out for about an hour and half 3 or 4 times a week. we hve some good blasts and also some walking hacks as he needs reminding its not all about galloping around!! once in a blue moon i will do a bit in our schooling paddock and a few small pops over little jumps or lunging when i'm in the mood. i wish i had an indoor school tbh, as altho not a fair weather rider, it would be so nice to hve that luxury as i would do more schooling and jumping then. but hey ho, i consider myself lucky to hve a pony full stop!
 
H gets ridden 8 or 9 times a week, and on the days that he's ridden twice we hack early in the morning (to watch the sunrise, swoon, how romantic :o ) and school in the afternoon.
To be honest though, if I didn't have to keep H at the peak of fitness, mental and physical, I wouldn't do it as often!
There are just too many things you cant control out in the big wide world; wild horses, foxes, scary birds that jump out in your face, heavy traffic, riders on utterly out of control beasts :o
 
We don't have a school, and schooling isn't mine or my horses favourite activity anyway. We hack, and when I and the horse were younger, we'd go out for quite a few hours, we have fantastic off road hacking, through National Trust and SW Lakes woodlands, I can go out for an hour on the roads and not meet a single vehicle, I do know we are blessed!
 
I lover hacking but prefer to go on my own as then I can set the pace as to how I feel. Besides mare can be a bit of a nightmare in company as she has to lead! We are however trying to rectify that.
There are people at the yard who daren't hack out because all they've ever done with their horse is ride around the arena (I would say school but some of them don't know what schooling is). Some of them daren't even hack out with horses that have been hacked out before they were bought by them.
 
I do both. now the darker nights are here i ride 2/3 times a week in the school - combo of jumping + fw (or fields if i get there early) + hack @ the w/end with a friend across the way. in the summer i mite ride in the field more than school + the odd late night hack.

I appreciate some people not enjoying hacking but I prefer to do a bit of everything with my (spooky) mare as then its not as exciting when we do something a little different!
 
I would go as far as to say I hate hacking. As a 13 year old I was hit by a car whilst riding (Fully decked in hi vis - ex sheet, tabard hat cover leg bands) basically I was a Christmas tree when a car collided with my horses back leg.. Nasty accident and fractured skull ensued and I avoid riding on the roads at all (bar the 15o yds of single track road I have to cross to the bridle path... I have the good fortune of 300 acres to hack across at my parents farm and live next to an estate who;s owner is very horse friendly but I still prefer the arena as I enjoy schooling more than any other activity with my ponies.

Blitz
 
I would hack my boy once a week. I love love love schooling but i think if i would have done that everyday he would have went sour. He was a stubborn nappy brute alone but tbh i found it very amusing so we had fun filled hacks to say the least :D
 
We dont really go out hacking. :( Partly cos there is a dual carriageway to walk along for about a mile in one direction and a very busy fast windy dark road for about 500m in the other direction. With a black horse and ignorant drivers its just not safe.

However, my bf lives in the middle of the moors and we get transport soon so we ll be able to go out more often. :D

I do manage to 'hack' around our fields but its always the same route thats laid out so after 2 years of walking the same route it gets pretty boring and the route only takes 15 mins max :( (at a plod)
 
I hack about 4 times a week and school twice a week.
I hack alone or in company and i love both. TBH i have the perfect horse, she is a lovely tb x wb and she hacks alone and in company. Will leave company if i ask her to and she is no different in company or alone or if you ride every day or once a week. She is forward oing and spooky but safe as houses.
My first pony was a sod in company, he would be too strong, silly and was hard work but perfect alone. Second horse wouldnt hack alone (sometimes wouldnt hack in company...serious napper!)
So its wonderful to enjoy being able to do both now. I like hacking alone early in the morning before work at this time of the year its crisp with fog in the valleys and we just enjoy eachothers company!
In the summer we enjoy riding with friends after work.
I love the challenge of hacking and the unknown of what you will meet and how your horse will react!.....the giant pumpkins at the end of our road this week have been fun and games :-D
 
We hack all of the time...well me and my old gal, the kids only hack if I go with them at the weekends.

We have to go along a motorway service lane, onto a main road where lorries buses etc go to the motorways and NEC, then 100 meters down a dual carriageway, across it to the village, down the high street about half a mile to a farm enterance to get to a nice bridlepath where we can ride for hours off road...or I can ride around our farm for about two hours hack. All my ponies are 100% bombproof and also helicopter and passenger plane proof.....we have it all lol

I like to do schooling but my 37 year old gets narked and much prefers a nice canter and a plod around the village so hacking is how she stays happy.

*edited to say we are always hi-viz'ed up and have flashing arm and leg bands even in bright daylight*
 
My horse was really nappy when I got him and I COULDN'T hack out - aside from that I was terrified!
We schooled every day. Our dressage scores were pants and his canter was truly poo!!! Since I moved to a farm we no longer have a school and HAVE to hack. Our dressage scores have improved by 10%. Hacking is now our favourite, with a bit of jumping in our field and maybe a couple of sessions schooling in the field b4 a comp.
 
Well from the responses so far it appears that most do hack and of those that do, they prefer it to schooling.

And for those that dont, there is a reason like an accident or having a horse that's to risky to hack out.

I think its a shame for those that would like to hack but can't for one reason or another.
I particularly like hacking when the sun is setting on a clear night in the summer, its wonderful and is probably one of my favourite rides to date on my lad.

Be a long while before I get a summers evening to do that again lol x
 
More than half of the work I do with my boys is hacking. I absolutely love it and would choose to go on a hack rather than in the school any day! In fact, during the summer sometimes I have to force myself to do some schooling for a change. I think it is great education for young horses and hacking is also good for a horse's mental well being.
 
Love hacking, with both of mine - can't beat a bit of a gallop :P I prefer it when the ground's good, though I love summer evening sunset hacks too :) I love skulking round the fields by moonlight too :D I prefer to school on hacks, but I do school in the arena too, and jump and compete to keep the variety in there too :)
 
I love schooling, but I hack out both days at weekend and evenings in summer as I think it's really good for the horses to have a bit of mental stimulation and not be ridden in such a restricted, forced way all the time....
 
I do hack out, maybe once a week, and only because i have to! I find it so boring, i know you can do various schooling exercises out hacking but it's just not the same for me. On a spooky 4 year old theres just too many things that can go wrong out there, especially as i have to ride out on my own most of the time. I'm quite happy to school for hours a day though, i can quite happily be found schooling 3 or 4 friends horses for an hour at a time over the weekends :-)
 
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