Who never hacks out and why ?

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Muddywellies

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I don't enjoy hacking out anymore (and wont hack anymore) - spooky horse - inconsiderate walkers/cyclinsts/drivers etc etc. I feel very very guilty though, as I know it is v good for the horse to get out, so I am racked with guilt most of the time. Is there anyone else that doesn't hack out, and if so, why ? Is it really detrimental to the horse to not hack out ?
 
If you'd have asked this 4 weeks ago , I would have said me .

I hate hacking out . We live on a main road plus having a very green 4yo it was abit un-nerving .

She went lame and the vet said the only thing that was going to help was hacking her out at walk . So I have
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She goes out 4 times a week ( I still hate it but its something I have to do ! )

eta - her behaviour to be ridden has really improved since she has started to hack out and see new scenery .
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My friend never hacks her WB because it came over from Holland only having been ridden in a school and she is too nervous to try it. I don't think the horse cares too much as it goes out in the field each day.

I think it is a shame to only work in circles in a school, but we probably worry too much about whether our horses are happy, they only want to eat, drink and have companions, they don't worry about the same things we do.
 
I don't hack out on the roads any more - too much traffic and too many idiots for my liking. I'm very lucky, at my yard we have off road hacking round the fields. Sadly this closes in winter so the fields don't get too cut up, so I'm confined to schooling which I loathe with a passion!

If you don't enjoy it, then there's no point in hacking out. Does your horse enjoy it?
 
Yes, he does enjoy it, but stupid things set him off, which makes me nervous, so I then make him a bag of nerves and so it goes on. This is why i feel so guilty, as I know he'd love to be hacking out.
 
I dont hack out as the dual carriageway has motorway speed tracffic on it. We have a path beside to ride horses on but your right is traffic at 70mph and to your right is a very steep drop. My old horse used to go out but not the baby. I may start hacking out in the spring by going out early at weekends.
We dont have any quiet roads.
 
Those of you that dont hack out... just wondered if you compete??

Hacking helps them deal with different situations and cope with change, whilst exercising them in a more relaxed environment (if horse is happy to hack!)

If i didnt hack and just schooled and went to competitions, i think the competition environment would be a little too much (well for mine anyway)

If they box and travel well then maybe try boxing up and hacking in a forest, beach or moor. Somewhere they wont encounter the scarey things.

I will also add that the more you hack (as long as you keep it a calm experience) the better they will become. If you have a youngster afraid of traffic, then get out with an older horse to get it used to it all. It wont get any easier as they get older. xx
 
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Yes, he does enjoy it, but stupid things set him off, which makes me nervous, so I then make him a bag of nerves and so it goes on. This is why i feel so guilty, as I know he'd love to be hacking out.

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Would you trust someone else to hack him out for you? Don't know if you know of anyone suitable, but might be worth a go? Or maybe go out with a sensible companion, if you have one handy. My horse is spooky and makes me nervous sometimes, so I got my hubby to walk with us for the first few times - it really helped.
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I used to only hack out - my horse was a 'happy hacker' and we would go out for hours at a time. However, my current horse is a totally different temperament - on edge most of the time and a little unpredictable, so i have lost all confidence hacking out so avoid it at all costs. I have a total mental block, and simply won't do it. When he is spooking, or unsure about something, i let him down badly as I am not there for him, which makes the situation ten times worse. So for this reason, we school, and compete a little. I would love to be confident (like i used to be) and not worry when he spooks, so i could take him out without worrying, but as I get older, my nerves get worse and mental block gets bigger. Also, why, every time I open a horse mag, are there regular horror stories about acidents/incidents whilst people have been out hacking ? ? ?
 
Hacking on the roads terrifies me and I spend most of winter feeling horribly guilty that my poor pony doesn't get out more. I recently asked someone else to take him out which was good, and I'm determined to get to the point where I can make it out round the village on my own without bursting into tears, but I am a long way from being able to do that at the moment
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Me
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My mare was hit by a car and has since been a nightmare on the roads. With a lot of work she might be ok again but it's too dangerous (for me and other road users) to try and get to this point.
 
I don't hack out as we live by a main road. I would love to live somewhere where I could hack round farm tracks but I will never hack out on a road, way too risky. I was once hacking on a road and my mare slipped and fell right over. She hadn't spooked or anything like that she was just walking down a small slope and slid over, it was pretty scary, and I'm just glad and lucky that she and I were ok.
 
All our horses and every single one we've ever had has HAD to hack out and that's that basically. We have great hacking but also have to ride on the roads to get to it. We do not have a school (although i would like one) so use other people's when we can for schooling. However, I could not imagine ONLY being able to ride in a school - where is the fun of having a horse if that's all you can do with it?? Defeats the object in my opinion.

Our horses live out all summer in a large field and are in at night in winter. They compete a fair bit throughout the year but I just think hacking is a totally different stimulus for a horse and teaches them manners and about all the different things they will meet. In general our horses are very relaxed about everything but they still have their 'moments' as all horses do but you just get on with it.

What's the point in worrying about something that hasn't and might never happen? You can't live life that way.

I believe how a horse behaves on a road is mostly down to the rider really and their confidence, they HAVE to have faith in you as a rider.

I am looking to potentially get a younger horse at some point as mine nears retirement age and I can tell you the youngster will be out on the roads as soon as possible!
 
I don't hack out for a couple of reasons unfortunately
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1) There is rarely anyone to ride out with and my mare is a little timid alone.
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2) The main reason: my mare has typical TB feet and when I first got her my farrier said 'ease up on your roadwork'. I only went on the roads about twice before he said that!! I trust my farrier and between us we've worked hard to get her feet into good condition (3 years!!) , I'm not prepared to ruin that for the sake of it, I even limit my competing in the summer to places where I know I will either be on a surface or the ground is v.v good.

Silvershadow81 - I agree with all the comments you made. I do compete and find that she does find it overwhelming although she is improving. I also would love to box her out of our area to somewhere where we can hack but unfortunatley this is something that for me is easier said than done. We do have access to the beach but the time constraints coupled with the dog walkers who have no control over their animals and the adults with out of control children mean that its not really a safe option (for me and my horse or them!!
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I only hack, we have no school to use. We have very quiet roads, and lots of off road, but I used to keep him in a much busier area, and regularly hacked on 60mph roads and on dual carriageway slip roads, over dual carriageway bridges etc. I didn't much enjoy the 'busy' bits, but me horse is fab in traffic, we always wear hi viz, and those roads got me to the great ye-ha galloping woods and tracks.

When our youngster is backed, I expect most of her education to take place on the roads.
 
We don't hack out from home. Our horses are totally fine with all sorts of traffic but the road around us are litterd with bits of cars in ditches, mostly single car ''accidents'' where drivers have been doing 60mph on roads fit for 30.
There have also been road rage incidents with drivers being aggressive towards horses. Several spots have flowers on posts or tree where drivers have been killed.

We can box up to hack, and horses are fine even on biggest coynty show sites as theya re not frightened, and , hopefully, on nost showgroudn, you don't have idiots speeding towards you deliberately, shouting abuse- even well in single file on well hi vized.

yard has everyhitng else we need, so boxing up or going on holiday with the horses for off road riding is our solution.
 
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What's the point in worrying about something that hasn't and might never happen? You can't live life that way.

I believe how a horse behaves on a road is mostly down to the rider really and their confidence, they HAVE to have faith in you as a rider.


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Totally agree. Hacking is a very valuable part of their education.

Hacking for me consists of a main road, (with lots of station traffic) over a railway bridge- very high up, non traffic one, over a level crossing- main line to London so usually have to wit for trains to speed by and a bridge across the M11.

I have also taken my friends mare out, a baby from Germany who had never left an arena. She is very happy out and suprisingly takes it all in her stride. Agree that if theyve had a bad experience your going to have to work harder, but youngsters uaually are much better then people think thay are going to be- hence its all in the riders mind!

I have had my hairy moments, but you need to be there for your horse and reassure them, this helps to strengthen your relationship, the next time they go out they are then more confident. I think because of this i could ride my horse anywhere and she trusts me completly.... this in turn helps with everything else we do.
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Blue went out everyday hacking as a youngster.

I rarely find the time to hack him out now though, we only have roadwork some of which are busy roads.

Also its too dark for me to hack him after work and my weekend plans with him usually consist of a show one day and lesson the other!
 
I think riders need to exercise a little common sense here - if somebody does not feel confident to handle/control their horse on a public highway then it is unreasonable to endanger other road users by doing so. In an ideal world we would all educate our horses as to the joys of hacking by being accompanied by older more experienced horses/riders and they would take confidence from us and all would be fine.. but in reality some horses are just not safe on the road and if that is the case you have to weigh up your options and decide what your priorities are - if hacking is one of them then sell the horse and buy one that suits your purpose. My mare is not safe on the road and I bought her knowing this but her career is jumping not hacking so I wasn't too fussed. However, as she was only five years old at the time I thought I could probably overcome her fears anyway but after a collision with a car I realised that I was being unreasonable in persevering because I was putting other people at risk in order to fulfil my own needs/wishes. At the age of 12 she is still not reliable in traffic and never will be because she is a very 'sharp/fearful' horse but I moved her to a yard with off road hacking and we do also use quiet roads if we have company. I have never had a problem competing her as a result of our minimal hacking, she is superb in competition which is ultimately what I brought her for so I have no regrets. Every horse is different and if people are honest about their ability and are careful to buy an equine partner that suits their needs then there would be less accidents on the road. Telling people to just get out there and not worry about 'what could happen' is not necessarily a realistic approach.
 
My mare was from holland aswel, had only been imported 6 weeks before i bought her as a 4 yo. I hacked her out after having her 3 days and to get to the woods we have to ride up a road about 100metres. Bearing in mind she had never been hacked out before and i was with another very hyperactive welsh pony she was good as gold. In the space of 5 mins walking up the road a tractor, bus and motor bike sped past and she never batted an eyelid!!
 
I did not say it was right to take a horse that already had serious issues about hacking out to 'face the world' sure you have to be sensible but I think a lot of the problems have been instilled by something early on in the horses' education.

Nobody wants to endanger anyone else or themselves but it seems so many people seem to have horses (for 'pleasure' as opposed to serious competition) that they daren't ride out even if the horse itself has never actually given them any reason to think it would react badly to anything.

I therefore do not understand why some people seem to buy horses they are terrified of, it is not fair on the horse and can't be much fun for the rider either.
 
All those of you who have replied and said they never hack out can you please enlighten me as to what on earth is the point in having a horse. It can't be much fun constantly riding in circles round a school all the time.

I am very lucky and live with direct access to the mountains and consequently have no roadwork, however I did have to ride on lanes when I lived in Norfolk. If all I had to do was ride round a school I simply wouldn't bother to have a horse, don't see the point or am I missing something!!!
 
I think you need to remember that people enjoy different things - I like hacking and am rather upset that our yard has nearly no winter hacking - but I am upset for my horse more than for myself - I love schooling and would much rather "ride in circles" than hack out!
 
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All those of you who have replied and said they never hack out can you please enlighten me as to what on earth is the point in having a horse. It can't be much fun constantly riding in circles round a school all the time.


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Totally agree with you and Lady T. What is the point of having a horse if you cannot hack out? My horse and I enjoy fabulous hacking, but we still encounter heavy trucks and enormous farm machinery on the single track roads where I live in the Scottish Highland. And despite his steady appearance my heavy cob can be quite nervous. I have a friend who never hacks out and she spend her time going round and round schooling every day. She is permanently frustrated with his performance and the correctness of his movement, to such an extent that the whole business seems to be sheer misery!!!.
So tedious, and what is it all for if you aren't even competing on some regular basis. Constant schooling round and round in the arena is, I believe, detrimental to a horses' soundness too. Certainly a number of friends who only ride in a school seem to have endless problems with persitant and regular lameness events. My horse has never been unsound on his regime of hacking 5 times a week.
I do all my schooling out hacking, in stubble fields and along quiet tracks in the woods. And I get to feel the excitement of a gallop up a grassy woodland track, with a trusting keen horse beneath me.
Priceless.
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I dont hack, it scare me, I cant do it more than wont do it so I have a good friend who hacks for me as it is good for them, but i shake and go white the whole time they are out and i trust her completley.
 
I don't enjoy hacking as much as I used to, but still try to once a week, I think it's good for horses. I also box up regularly for off road hacking and PR's, etc, keeps him fresher for the 'going round in circle' bit
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I would hate not to hack out, in fact I am not sure I would carry on riding if the only option was to go round and round in circles in the school (apologies to those who enjoy it, its just not my bag). Although I do work my horses in the school to improve them and get satisfaction from their progress (or not sometimes!) I hack for enjoyment.

One of my horses is not good in traffic (my middle aged mare), but my youngster is utterly and completely bombproof and so she nannies my older horse
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when we go out. Unless I am with a sensible horse I cant hack her out
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