Would you ever be content with a horse that could not hack alone?

[PeterNatt]

I am a great believer that regular hacking is good for the horses mind and body.
If a horse has suffered an injury which has resulted in time off from work then in many cases gently hacking it out initially is a good way of assisting it's recovery. Obviously a horse that will happily hack out by itself is a little treasure as one does not have to have someone else to accompany one.

A horse that does not hack alone has clearly been denied part of it's basic education. Teaching a horse the finer arts of dressage is all very well but if this at the expense of not being taught to hack out by itself then it has missed part of it's basic education.

 

[PapaFrita]

I think a lot of TBs off the track have this problem and in fact PF used to be quite nervous and nappy on her own. We've worked through her probs and she's fine now. I don't hack so much now, so I don't think it would bother me although I would probably try and sort out any major issues.

 

[dwi]

I bought Daisy knowing that she wouldn't hack out alone with her owner but the owner was a very weak and nervous rider so it didn't bother me. Once she had settled in with me and the yard and knew the hacking routes well I decided to start taking her on her own. First off my husband walked out with us for her to follow. She wore a dually halter and he carried a lunge line so her clipped that onto the halter and led her if she napped. Once she could walk without being clipped on he would leave us for short sections of the hack and rejoin us, gradually making the time away longer and longer. On our first hack completely on our own she was really awkward but I stuck it out with much kicking, smacking and growling and we got there. She still calls when she is on her own but is quite content to go off the yard for a nice long ride.

I felt that it was good for safety and competing as much as anything else. I couldn't take her x country if she would only ever ride following another horse and if there is an accident out on a hack I might well need to ride to get help.

 

[Starbucks]

I wouldn't not buy a horse because it didn't hack out alone, but I would much prefer it if they did!

 

[MistletoeMegan]

Yes I'd be content - hacking bores me to tears, at least if I have someone with me to talk to then it is less of an ordeal, and if my horse gives me an excuse to *have* to have someone with me, then that's fine

 

[christi]

i live in the middle of nowhere with no other horses around. so my horse needs to hack out alone . so in my case No.

 

[Ziggy_]

i wouldn't care, partly because theres always someone at my yard to hack out with and partly because were on a main road and i think its too dangerous on a spooky TB. i never hack alone as i worry about what would happen to her if we parted company and she bolted for home.

 

[DreamerII]

As a few people have said it depends what the horse was purchased for! If you're not planning on hacking alone then it wouldn't be so much of a problem, but it is something I would still want to overcome eventually!!

When I first took Dreamer on loan he wouldn't even walk off the yard on his own. Since November I have persevered and have got him to the point now where he will walk round the back of our fields on his own (about a 15 min walk) and will even have a little trot/canter away from home. I haven't tried to go any further yet because the weather hasn't been nice we have a bird-scarer-gas-gun thingamy that goes off up near one of our bridle tracks, but once that has gone I may well attempt the big field on my own!

We have mastered walking in front now though, and we even managed to have a little canter the other week with my friend on her cob behind us....something which we wouldn't have managed before!!