Those who don't overly enjoy/want to go hacking (trail riding), why not?

[Scarlett 001]

I've read a some posts where a few people say they don't overly enjoy hacking (trail riding). I don't seek to get out hacking. I prefer and gravitate towards arena riding and schooling. Why? Near my stables, there are not great places to hack, insects are abundant in the few months when it is really possible to get out and hack (both Skeeter and me *hate* insects), I've never done much hacking so perhaps there is a hesitation at the unknown, and I do have concerns about all the things that could go wrong with a horse and rider who are not so used to hacking (particularly the horse spooking at things). Besides, I *love* arena riding and schooling, and Skeeter enjoys it too! :)

So for those who aren't into hacking, care to share your reasons? I am kind of curious.

[Bay Mare]

I just don't enjoy it and find it boring. We have lovely countryside where Saff is kept and I SHOULD love going out and admiring the scenery but I don't. I guess that I'm very goal orientated so I prefer schooling, in hand and groundwork. I pay someone to hack her out because it's pointless when I don't enjoy it.

[Belle1]

I would hack if we had decent off road hacking and quiet roads. We don't.
The hacking in our area is at best boring and at worst dangerous. The road to our yard looks like a nice quiet country lane, but people drive along it like total pr@ts. It is single track with passing places, overgrown hedges and bends so you can't see what is coming, but people still drive so fast along it. The last time I hacked Belle out before I sold her I had to literally ride her into a hedge to get off the road, thank heavens she trusted me enough to do so as otherwise we'd have been killed by the lunatic who was not going to slow down even though the road is only wide enough for one car.
I have a couple of near misses on that road each month in my car.

I have come in for a lot of criticism over the last couple of years on another forum because I don't hack :(

[Stella2]

All of the above for me! I don't find it that interesting, I've often found it dangerious. My mare isn't a fan either and tends to be spooky :rolleyes: I enjoy schooling and so does Flora (although my other mare Softee who is for sale prefers getting out and about to being in the school).

Isn't it irritating that within the wider horsey community, not wishing to hack isn't accepted as a reasonable choice to make and so people 'give us stick'? :rolleyes:

[eventerbabe]

i used to hate hacking. on my old yard the only safe hacks were round the fields which got very, very boring. so we tended to stick in the school. But since moving and having access to hours of off road forrest hacks neddy and i have become happy hackers. mentally, my horse doesn't like being restricted to schooling. he likes getting out and about seeing new things. it's nice for him to have a change of scene, plus we pass the back of a neighbouring livery yard and he spies on all the posh show horses there :D more often than not these days we'll cut our schooling sessions short and end up going out for a hack instead.

But as i said, i never used to hack and was always critisised by fellow liveries. If you don't enjoy it don't hack. My friend and RI never hacked her spooky show hack. After being bullied into taking her out for a hack with the YO, horse spooked and ended up in the front end of a car with two shattered front legs. She should have stuck to her guns. If schooling or jumping is what you enjoy, don't change your ways to suit others.

[BeachRiding]

Well, I don't go more than once a week, simply because I don't have anyone to ride with!

[Pink's lady]

But do those who never hack think it's FAIR to the horse to make them do nothing other than school work? I hack most of the time because the schools only grass and not always suitable to ride in, but I'd still hack regularly if it was to give them variety. It's different if you CAN'T hack cos it's not safe, but is it fair to delibertaly choose never to hack?

Point in case is a high-flying rider I've known (not the same as liked ;)) for years. She's got fabulous hacking around her but her horses have only ever been out twice in the entire time I've known her. All she ever ever does is dressage schooling (horse is worked on the bit from the second she gets on too :() and never goes out, even though her horses are perfect hacking (known then from before she had them). Those twice she went out the poor horse was still forced to work in a slightly over-bent outline too :( Bet her horses would love the variety to go out and about and relax.

[horse__obsessed]

I agree with what you're saying Pinks Lady so long as the horse enjoys hacking.

I personally love hacking, but if people don't want to do it thats fine.
Belle1, I think being critisized (sp?) because you dont hack is really unfair, especially when so many people also get critisized for only hacking. :rolleyes:
Its your choice what you do, enjoy yourself doing what you enjoy people!

[Belle1]

But do those who never hack think it's FAIR to the horse to make them do nothing other than school work? I hack most of the time because the schools only grass and not always suitable to ride in, but I'd still hack regularly if it was to give them variety. It's different if you CAN'T hack cos it's not safe, but is it fair to delibertaly choose never to hack?

If anybody's schooling lacks variety then they might need to use their brains a bit more. There are no end of things you can do in the school and certainly no need for horses or riders to get bored. In fact I think schooling provides much more variety than riding down the road.

[acw295]

I love hacking with other people, but I'm not mad about hacking alone. I also equally enjoy schooling, but am not a huge fan of jumping anymore. I do hack alone though as have no choice, and I do jump occasionally too.

I think people should do what they enjoy and not feel bad about it or care what other people think. But I do also strongly think that we shouldn't not do something just because of nerves (not to be confused with safety - if it isn't safe you shouldn't do it, whatever it is). I am nervous at jumping but I do sometimes push myself to do some, likewise with hacking alone. I do believe in facing your fears, not avoiding them - even if it is hard sometimes and is one baby step forwards and two giant steps back!

[l7oopys]

I always go out for loads of hacks! I meet up with my froend and we talk the whole way catching up on all the goss!!!

[*Sez*]

I do enjoy hacking, and I have fab hacking around me, but since my accident in April, I don't like to because I feel that I always have to be on my guard in case my horse runs away with me. I hack out when my dad is away and take Jake instead, because he wouldn't run away for long if the hounds of hell were chasing him :D .

[Tootsie4U]

If I only had to think about me and the horse, I may enjoy it enough to do it regularly.

But around here, 95% of 'off the farm riding' must be done on the roads. I just dont trust the drivers, loose dogs, children...

Im not afriad of the average spook but not many in my neighborhood tie their dogs and Im not a big fan of being chased down the roadway with a car heading my way whose already doing 20 mph over the speed limit!

[Stella2]

But do those who never hack think it's FAIR to the horse to make them do nothing other than school work? I hack most of the time because the schools only grass and not always suitable to ride in, but I'd still hack regularly if it was to give them variety. It's different if you CAN'T hack cos it's not safe, but is it fair to delibertaly choose never to hack?


You see, this is exactly the type of thing we hear all the time :rolleyes: Yes, its absolutely fair to our horses not to hack :rolleyes: Flora is out in the field fields 24/7, aside from coming in to be fed, groomed, tacked and ridden. We teach horses to cope with leaving their herd to go hacking because humans want to. Its not natural for them to travel out without the herd and that is why they are often spooky. Having a routine of doing some work in a school each day and spending the other 23 hours or so with the herd just 'being a horse' is a good life!

Let me ask you, is it fair to hack a horse when its such an unatural thing to ask them to do? I don't critisise people who hack, why do those of us who choose not to have to be regularly subject to this?

[Scarlett 001]

But around here, 95% of 'off the farm riding' must be done on the roads. I just dont trust the drivers, loose dogs, children...

Im not afriad of the average spook but not many in my neighborhood tie their dogs and Im not a big fan of being chased down the roadway with a car heading my way whose already doing 20 mph over the speed limit!

So true. Also, one thing UK people should know is that although there are loads of horses this side of the Atlantic, drivers don't see horses on the road as much as they do in the UK, and don't know anything much about what to do when they do run into a horse/rider. If you think there are unsafe drivers around horses in the UK and there can be risk, then quadruple or more that risk over here. There is minimal awareness of how to handle driving if horses are on the roads. This does worry me, and is a fear/concern I do not feel a need to conquer, as it is completely out of Skeeter and my hands.

I have to say that I don't think Skeeter finds arena work boring, or is missing out by not hacking. I think he has a pretty nice life and his lifestyle (riding and otherwise) is quite reasonable and fair. He gets to be outside with his herd so gets his "outdoors" time (plus it is without me on top of him), so I'd think some arena work would if anything be quite different. And I don't work him hard all the time, so it is not just one continuous physical/mental strain or anything like that (perhaps unlike the person who Pink Lady described) - it is lots of variety, joint achievement etc.

[Tootsie4U]

Just to add..

My riding paddock is adjacent to our road and seperated by a 15' grassy area (part of my lawn), Last night, while riding Fella, we were bombarded by one passing car who thought it funny to lay on his horn while he passed us, a couple out walking their dog which proceeded to run over to my fence and chase us along the fence line, and another car who as it drove by had its rear tail light fall off and bounce down the road about 8 times before landing in my lawn. Now if I wasnt just merely schooling in an enclosed paddock, I miay have been launched to the moon on each occassion by stupid common folk :p who haven't a clue how to behave around a horse and rider.

THat said, I dont expect it their responsibility to know. If I want to ride my horse, *I* Need to be prepared for these things. Therefore, I need to make sure my horse is trained well enough and that we take the appropriate precautions. My safety is my responsibility.

[Scarlett 001]

Aside: Tootsie - did you update your other post? How is the swelling today - has it got better? If you get time to update that post, it'd be good to know if there has been improvement.

Edited to add: I just saw your update! Good news.

[Crazyhorse]

I never used to hack , but this was mainly due to the fact that I lacked confidence. Now, though, I absolutely love it and go out for a couple of hours a week. When the weather is like this it is fab. That said, I don't like the ride work I have to do and always worry something could happen. I'm sure many more people would hack if there was better access to bridle pathsas, lets face it, constant road work is not fun! I also school and have a lesson a week so enjoy the happy medium of the two. The more I hack the more I learn so it has boosted my confidence as well.

[Trewsers]

As a child my experience with horses was mainly hacking - but then that was a long time ago and the roads weren't as busy........(we're talking 26 years plus) So having come back to horses aged 34 all I wanted to do was hack, the idea of an indoor school was completely alien to me, I'd only ever seen a sandschool outdoors:rolleyes: However, I got brought down to earth with a large bump (quite literally) when I discovered that A: hacking isn't easy unless you have confidence and reasonable control over your horse and B: the yard I'd picked had absolutely NO hacking at all, unless of course you fancied dicing with death on a busy 60mph road.......:eek: Talk about shattered illusions........Had a couple of nasty near misses with Storm and so moved yards to where I have access to gorgeous fell hacking and quiet country roads - and fab schooling facilities. I am now completely converted to schooling (love it and used to hate it cos of the not so good school on last yard) and now love hacking equally. I couldn't do one or the other tho, I like variety:) and so does madam!

[Bronya]

I think it's horses for courses again. If you know you don't want to hack, you obviously don't buy a horse that hates schooling and loves hacking!

My girls love it because of the change of scenery, they usually go out together so aren't leaving their mini 'herd' at all, and when they do go out alone, love the 'mummy time' that they get all to themselves. In the winter we hack much less 'cause of the light, and they don't mind at all 'cause they can see why they're not going. If the only hacking is dangerous, no horse would want to anyway!

[Peace]

I love hacking, and get bored quickly in the school. But I've gotten to where I'm doing less and less of it, because in the six years since I've been going to my RS the area has gotten ever more developed and now there is no off-road hacking to speak of. I hate and despise hacking on the roads for the reasons Tootsie and Scarlett stated.

The loose dog thing is a pain. I generally bicycle my hacking area first so I can judge which dogs are ok and which to avoid. But the humans are far worse! I just don't get it - why do people feel a compulsion to try and spook one's horse? Especially when there are children riding in the group?:confused:

I'm designing my home facility so I'll have some off-road hacking even when there are crops in the fields. I really miss my hacks.:(

[amandal]

When I had my share horse I loved hacking, we went anywhere - he wasn't bothered by anything and I trusted him completely, despite a couple of very scary tanking incidents - I could rationalise them.

When I bought my own we hacked all over the place too, we were lucky in that the first 3 yards we were at required no roadwork - one, right next to a massive forest, 2 with farmland hacking. At one yard we were at my mare just got spookier and spookier, both in the school and out hacking, I came off her in the school quite seriously - the school had always been my safety zone - I had thought I was pretty stickable until this incident. I expected to have problems hacking but the school was where there were no problems and i was very affected when there was a major problem.

I think my confidence was so shaken by what happened and that it was in the school that I just got put off hacking, I initially gave up riding years ago after a bolting incident out hacking when I injured my back. I think the shock from that incident is now being felt again, compounding the issues we've had with bolting upon mounting and last year's accident. Consequently not only am I terrified of hacking my darling mare I'm having trouble riding her anywhere at the mo. :(

I had a lesson with someone earlier this year who said that riding horses wasn't natural so it didn't matter where we rode them, that if we were comfortable in the school stay in the school, we might get back to be able to hack again but only once we'd both learnt to trust each other again.

I keep trying to believe that but do feel guilty about not hacking out, so I'm taking her for in hand walks, helping our relationship, showing her that cows are not the evil devil creatures she believes and getting both of us a bit fitter.

I've had saddle problems with her this year but have borrowed a good fitting saddle to try and get back on board - hopefully she'll let me, because of pain and arthritis issues she might not, in which case it's get the vet out for full MOT and decision whether she can be ridden.

The problems with hacking are all in my head, but having people say to me that she's bored with just schooling makes it all worse because then I have external guilt to add to the situation and believe me I'm good at making myself feel guilty.

So we're currently doing a bit of in hand work and walking, a lot, if I can kick myself up the arse enough I will be getting on this weekend, we'll be walking in the school until I feel that I maybe can venture out onto the country lanes around the yard - if I had a field to ride in I do think that I'd have been out there sooner, I do not like riding on the road.

[Sarah-B]

Let me ask you, is it fair to hack a horse when its such an unatural thing to ask them to do?

If that's your view of hacking why do you ride at all? Schooling is far LESS natural than hacking - being made to go round and around a 60x40 area, "on the bit" because WE want them to be then to add a bit of "variety" a few circles, serpentines and lateral work is TERRIBLY unnatural.

At least hacking the horse is roaming as he would do in the wild with a member of his herd *you*....

[Scarlett 001]

The problems with hacking are all in my head, but having people say to me that she's bored with just schooling makes it all worse because then I have external guilt to add to the situation and believe me I'm good at making myself feel guilty.

Don't you feel guilty about not hacking - I certainly feel ok not hacking. No one had better tell me Skeeter does not enjoy his non-hacking life and that not hacking is giving him a poor quality of life.

Think about it this way. We (horses, humans etc.) can't always get everything in life that is 100% (this is even supposing your horse really wanted to hack in the first place and not doing so was having a negative impact on her quality of life). Heck, I could feel disappointed in life that I don't live by an ocean, that I don't live in my favourite countries (France, Greece etc.), that I was not born to a millionaire. My cats could feel sad that they don't get tinned food all the time, but eat the dry stuff too. But we can all still be happy despite this. I don't think your horse is standing around daydreaming or missing hacking - especially if good turnout with room to run is a part of their daily life. We should measure the entire quality of their life, which includes more than just the time we spend hacking or arena riding - there are *many* aspects of their life that determine if a horse if happy.

[Bay Mare]

Saffy loves hacking, she goes out with the dogs and enjoys it thoroughly. That's why I pay someone to do it for me because I don't love it and certainly don't find it at all relaxing which no doubt would transmit to her anyway.

I get p'd off with people who just assume that you're scared because you don't like to hack out :rolleyes: It's perfectly acceptable to say that you don't enjoy schooling but the 8th Deadly Sin to say that you don't like hacking out.

For all of the arguments about horses *needing* to be hacked out I don't actually think that horses *need* to be worked at all if they have adequate and suffcient turnout.

I tried to take Saff for a wander round the fields one day after a schooling session, she stuck the anchors on and told me very clearly that what she actually wanted to do was to go back in the field with her buddies! I thought that it would be a *treat* for her. Horses don't think the same way that we do :)

[Stella2]

If that's your view of hacking why do you ride at all? Schooling is far LESS natural than hacking - being made to go round and around a 60x40 area, "on the bit" because WE want them to be then to add a bit of "variety" a few circles, serpentines and lateral work is TERRIBLY unnatural.

At least hacking the horse is roaming as he would do in the wild with a member of his herd *you*....

Thats not my view, it was intended as a thought provoking question in response to the all too common "is it fair to your horse not to hack"! Wouldn't it be good to simply stop judging each other in this way and live and let live?

Also, all of the movements in dressage are based on the natural movements made by horses at liberty with the exception of tempi changes!

[Scarlett 001]

For all of the arguments about horses *needing* to be hacked out I don't actually think that horses *need* to be worked at all if they have adequate and suffcient turnout.

Based on my limited experience, I agree with this. Schooling/hacking is such a short percentage of their total weekly life, that so much more comes into play in terms of their physical and mental health/stimulation.

On some recent thread, the issue came out that before I owned him, Skeeter became a bit of a bossy so-and-so and started acting up when he was sent out as a companion horse to recover from an injury. Eight months of life in a field got to him, and he was not his most relaxed/content. Honestly, I don't think it was the lack of *work* that made him act out a bit, but the lack of routine, extended human contact - he was raised on the track, and is quite a creature of routine and likes interactions when he comes in from the field. Hence, I think he is just thrilled as long as he is with me - long reining, arena work or hacking would all do the trick.

Someone on here who is into doing things quite naturally was quite sure her horse would enjoy the pleasant relaxation of hacks and they were important to include in addition to schooling. Then she discovered he was not really that into it, and really preferred arena work etc., and came to the conclusion that one shoe does not fit all and the hacking was not necessary for him. I recall that story quite clearly.

[Belle1]

So true. Also, one thing UK people should know is that although there are loads of horses this side of the Atlantic, drivers don't see horses on the road as much as they do in the UK, and don't know anything much about what to do when they do run into a horse/rider. If you think there are unsafe drivers around horses in the UK and there can be risk, then quadruple or more that risk over here. There is minimal awareness of how to handle driving if horses are on the roads. This does worry me, and is a fear/concern I do not feel a need to conquer, as it is completely out of Skeeter and my hands.

That would probably be why our roads here are so very bad then. Our yard is sandwiched between 2 big US airbases, so a large number of the drivers we meet are from the US. Despite being given tuition on how to drive in England (after a number of fatal RTA's) they really don't have a clue of how to drive around horses.

Today Tali was ridden for the 6th day running, so he was ridden in the school for the 6th day running. Was he bored? Well he didn't look it while we were pinging over canter poles :D