Who hacks out?

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dressedkez

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Who really and honestly hacks their horse out on a daily basis - and goes for decent rides - and maybe schools thier horses when out on hacks? For instance if you had a newly backed horse - how much would you hack it out, and how much time would you spend in a school as a percentage of the work you do overall?
 
I'm not hacking daily at the moment but did last spring and summer.

I did a bit less this year as I was trying to get some schooling in too.
 
I only hack really! The school we use is a couple of miles away if I do any schooling - all our babies get backed in the yard, long reined round the village, then straight out hacking witha quiet horse for a few days then out on their own to cope with the big wide world. Then I'll school them lightly in the big flat field, but still mainly just hack them till they're established walk/trot/canter. By the time we get round to schooling, they have the basics established, seen the 'world' and just a case of fine-tuning! :)
 
eh? most people I know, including myself, hack very regularly, many on a daily basis. Youngsters I get basic control and riding away done in the confines of the field, then out into the big wide world.
 
No school and tiny paddocks so hacking or nothing. We borrow a local school once or twice a month for lessons. You can do lots of schooling on tracks and roads although circles are a bit more challenging :-)
 
I do but currently living in an area which comes bottom of the bridleway league table, in that, there aren't any, so hacking has become boring and high risk.
Think a move is needed.
 
The majority of my horse's workload is hacking - both he and I get bored easily in the school. He is a hunter so it is important that he is hacked out regularly across varying terrain and so that we can do lots of hill work to keep him fit. I don't really school as such when out hacking (unless you count leg yielding towards scary objects!) :rolleyes:

With a just-backed youngster I would be looking at getting it out everyday for approximately twenty minutes in walk to start with (any more will be too physically and mentally demanding for a young horse) - preferably with an older, experienced horse but also varying this with hacking out alone so that the horse learns from an early age that it is normal practise to hack out with others and by himself. Building up their mileage and experiences out hacking is very important with young horses - they can never see enough IMO and the more they see, the better!
 
horserider said:
I do but currently living in an area which comes bottom of the bridleway league table, in that, there aren't any, so hacking has become boring and high risk.
Think a move is needed.
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Our 'first hacking route', is over a motorway bridge, down alongside an A-road, up a field next to the M4, then finally up on the ridgeway.


Gets the babies bombproof from day 1 [possibly 2]. :p
 
I school more than I hack but in the summer I usually hack out at least twice a week (weather permitting). If we get really nice weather I can hack nearly every day.

In the winter I try to hack out one day at the weekend just to break up all the schooling.
 
I hack everyday, except of course for her days off. Have ridden in the school once since march when I purchased her. My old mare was never ridden in a school, she hated it. We used to hack miles, anything upto 30 and knew every bridleway in the area and out of it!! I am at the moment just keeping my mare ticking over through the winter, although we usually hack for and hour and a half. Just not doing any faster work as it's so wet everywhere. As soon as the good weather comes back we will continue our explorations!!
I don't compete, have no interest in jumping or dressage and so for me, hacking is my enjoyment, and my mare loves it too!!
 
It's all I do as no school and fields are sopping. Have a lesson once a week elsewhere and try to practice what we did in that lesson for the rest of the week while on hacks.
 
So glad to hear your hacking out tales - me I think that is the standard for starting all horses - but been slightly worried about the growth of sand pit schooling. I once prepred a horse for its first dressgae test from the hacking out, and we came first............amazing !
 
dressedkez said:
Who really and honestly hacks their horse out on a daily basis - and goes for decent rides - and maybe schools thier horses when out on hacks? For instance if you had a newly backed horse - how much would you hack it out, and how much time would you spend in a school as a percentage of the work you do overall?
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I hack only pretty much old horse hated school work ..but I liked hacking.

Green wobbly horse I rode only once week for an hour. Increased to twice over few weeks. Most education in school and out seeing traffic on foot etc..but education done slowly/gently. Out in company of good steady reliable type. Never ever had any issues good as gold.

Old boy A quick hack if pushed for time probably about 3 miles circuit bridleways /woods(30mins).Just so horse was squashed in case he forgot! He never forgot.

2.5 hours to 3 hours good long hack at weekends. Most average hacks were 1.5 hours long 3 times a week in winter.

Horse lived out 24/7. So pretty much went when I wanted but I did minimum 3 hacks a week.
 
dressedkez said:
So glad to hear your hacking out tales - me I think that is the standard for starting all horses - but been slightly worried about the growth of sand pit schooling. I once prepred a horse for its first dressgae test from the hacking out, and we came first............amazing !
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I can relate :p

The stallion in the cob thread from earlier...he'd been in the school a small handful of times the first week he was backed, but then, until the day before his first dressage test I took him to, he'd gone through his test once 2 days before before [and had his 'proper' canters in the school then also]. All the rest, was just hacking.

He came 5th! And wasn't affected by the show atmosphere at all...no-one would have thought he was a newly backed ex-stud, as I sat there on the buckle most the day; right next to a fun fayre with all the rides going, and chidren etc, dog show going, as well as all the other horses warming up around him etc. :D
 
I hack 99% of the time, and do most of my schooling on hacks. We are at the top of the scale for hacking, you don't have to ever touch a main road if you don't want, its all small lanes and tracks. Although most of them look like rivers at the moment!
 
I'm so jealous, and so is my horse! I hack once a week max in winter- on busy enough roads, maybe twice a week in summer. Horse is ridden about 5/6 times per week so majority of work is in school :( I actually really enjoy it but I'm sure it gets tedious for my horse and I feel guilty. No such thing as a bridle path here in NI :(
 
Me before I put my horse on full livery. We always kept our hunters at home and didn't have school so no alternative!

Would much rather hack than ride in the school!! Mind you I'm not much into dressage, although horse can do a decent prelim/pre novice test.
 
dressedkez said:
Who really and honestly hacks their horse out on a daily basis - and goes for decent rides - and maybe schools thier horses when out on hacks? For instance if you had a newly backed horse - how much would you hack it out, and how much time would you spend in a school as a percentage of the work you do overall?
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Bens had a week off waiting for the dentist to come and he is losing two caps at the moment... But normally he hacks out about four times a week, schooling is lightweight on these hacks but enough for him at his age... He is 3 1/2 he is starting one 20 mins session in the school which includes his warm up and cool down period... He is sometimes lunged before his short rides, or on my lazy days, or for instance today as he is getting narky not doing anything, so I lunged him off his head collar just so he felt he had done some big boy work... He was much more relaxed after that... Silly boy doesn't enjoy his time off:rolleyes:

Once the teeth are ok and he can have a bit in his mouth again, we will be back to 4/5 sessions a week, as I said mostly hacking, with the odd bits of lateral/long and low and continuing to strengthen his body up... I call a good schooling session on a hack... Him walking out of yard without an issue, keeping his head from sticking in the air in excitement-so remaining calm and listening to me, impulsive walk, steady and smooth trot, a few transitions, and the odd steady short canter.... Remaining calm, listening to me, responding to me. That's normally the most we do currently... Well were doing and will carry on doing.
 
Im a firm believer in hacking as a tool and try and hack as much as possible. In the winter it's harder as I work FT but last year I got up early and went out for 20 mins. I spent the first 18 months mainly hacking with my youngster and it made such a difference.
 
I hack out 4 times a week usually, with 2 lessons a week - 1 flat and 1 jumping. On weekends our hacks are between 2-5 hours long. In winter only manage shorter hacks in the week 1- 2 hours as have to squeeze them in during long lunches, late starts etc.

In the summer I will often have a lesson in the morning and then hack out in the evening for a couple of hours. Best way to keep my horse fit and keep the weight off.

We are lucky with our hacking though.
 
I ride 6 days a week, one of those days is hunting then out of the remaining 5 I hack 3 or 4. Ideally I would hack every day but with the short winter days I do have to ride in the arena under floodlights sometimes. Roll on summer when I can hack every day :)
 
I hack out as often as I can - pony was 6 in the summer and hardly schooled. He'd done 2 seasons of hunting but little formal schooling. He would school every day because he's very compliant but he'd go stale quickly. He loves hacking and schools much better out on a hack so I do as much of it as possible. When I first got him as a 5yo he was knackered within about 45 mins of hacking (with schooling), now he'll do a good couple of hours. It's more difficult in winter for obvious reasons but I do try to hack him 3-4x per week (the other days he'll do an arena session, maybe loose jumping on another or long reining/ lunging).

When I first got him he didn't understand the concept of half halts so I taught those out hacking - it's ideal when you have to slow down and stop at junctions. I started bits of baby lateral work out hacking too. I use turn on the forehand and haunches for turning, he's learning rein back for opening bridleway gates and I've been doing little bits of leg yield and shoulder fore. I originally started it in the arena but he didn't get it at all so used every opportunity out hacking for it instead (as I say, opening gates, turning down roads etc). Now he does really nice baby lateral work in the arena but he learnt it much better out hacking first.
 
During the summer I never went in the school, mostly hacked out everyday! Winter is proving a bit of a nightmare though as it is always dark and all the tracks are completely water logged so bit of a disaster. Not too happy about it as don't enjoy riding in the school very much!
 
HardySoul1 said:
No school and tiny paddocks so hacking or nothing. We borrow a local school once or twice a month for lessons. You can do lots of schooling on tracks and roads although circles are a bit more challenging :-)
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We even have a circlular sand track in some rough moorland locally.
We also have no school, although we have a choice of local ones for hire within hacking distance and use one of our fields when weather conditions allow but most of our schooling is done on hacks. It puts it inot context for both horse and rider - leg-yielding round parked cars, for example.
 
Hack three times a week, school three times a week IF the school isn't water logged in which case we hack 6 times a week.

I do school out on the hacks - it's all part and parcel of his education, although what I do depends on weather again and terrain. To them, because they're not in the school, you can tell they think they're on a bit of a holiday but in some ways they work harder than ever out and about.
 
its light dependant. Can't hack out in the winter during the week so more schooling, hack more in the summer but still school as well. Pretty much hacked all through this summer as I had a youngster and for me, he had to learn to hack safely and think forward before we did too much in the school.
 
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