Definition of a hacking horse

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horse91

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Dec 24, 2005
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I know that a horse can be used for showjumping, dressage, AND hacking. but lets say that you want a horse JUST for hacking. Is it wrong for the horse to be untrained? I dont think so.

My friend has a mare, and he only uses her for hacking, nothing else. The only thing she understands is the clicking noise means 'more active, faster'. pressure on reins means slower. she is very soft on the mouth and very sensetive to leg aids.

He asked me last night if it was wrong for his horse to be like that. I asked him if he was going to be using her for anything other than hacking and he said no, not in a million years. and even if he did want anything other than hacking, he would get a second horse. I told him that since he doesnt need it for anything other than hacking, then shes fine and doesnt need any professional learning.

right guys?
 
I wouldn't agree, if I didn't school Storm properly she wouldn't be safe to hack on - others may disagree with me, but I wouldn't entertain hacking out on a horse that hadn't done any schooling. In my opinion you need to have a horse listening to you in the school and respecting you - otherwise when you get out hacking its just a free for all!!! We have access to lovely hacking across countryside, but there is some road work involved, so my horse needs to pay attention to me and I need to feel safe.
 
I would say so, i guess the horse doesnt need to know how to do pirouettes or anything but they should have basic schooling - certainly have brakes and should listen to its rider.

Jenny xx
 
I think its down to individual horses and people.
If the horse is perfect to stop, steer and go then theres no reason why it needs schooling to happily and safely hack.
If however, there are any behavioural issues then schooling would help and would be vital to make hacking safe but thats not to say you can't school while you hack.
 
Well if you really are a 'pure hack' i would at least school whilst im hacking. I can see any horse that doesnt school becoming a monster if you dont school them once a week.

Jenny xx
 
I disagree. I think you should be allowed to just hack your horse without schooling it, I school and hack the horseI ride. But I have been on horses that are just used for hacking and I don't find them any different. Although I feel schooling would help create a better bond between horse and owner.
 
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If the horse goes off leg aids and is easy to stop I dont see why the horse would need to have anymore schooling if its hacking out successfully.
My horse doesnt work 'in an outline', shes not a dressage horse or even has alot of schooling, but shes a fantasticc hack and we are trying our hand at endurance.
 
TLL67 said:
I disagree, I only use my horse for hacking, but he is still well schooled, I do make the effort to school @ least once a week, but also school out on hacks.
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The original post by horse91 made it sound as tho the horse wouldn't have done any schooling at all - I was trying to say that I think its a mistake to think you can just "hack out" on a horse that hasn't done any schooling. There has to be certain things it has learnt. I guess its an individual thing.
 
But surly if the horse is hacking out it will learn more about what it needs to (like roads, traffic, spooky things) rather than going around the school? If the horse already does what its owner wants (like gos, turns and stops) then what more do you want? I taught my horse to turn go and stop outside the 'school' (more of a field for me)
 
I mainly use Falcon for hacking round the livery yard he's on but he can turn on the forehand, reverse, go sideways, halt from trot (haven't tried from canter), leg yield etc. It makes him more handy when we have to shut gates, open gates and other 'things' I give him to do. He also 'pops' over the obstacles to jump which are dotted around the fields. He's also good in the school. The roads where I keep him are just too busy; wouldn't dream of going on them. I know its' riders' rights to be able to go on the roads but it's not worth risking my life or his. Yeah, I could take him on the road (and exercise these rights) but there's no point. He doesn't get bored, we always find something new and different for him to see or do - like walking through a gateway strewn with paper (which is picked up afterwards), through the woods with Mike hiding behind a tree and then walking out in front of him. (Falcon thinx he has something to eat for him)! Jumps put in unusual places, things like that. Then it all ends with him getting big hugs from me and a feed.
 
No_Angel said:
But surly if the horse is hacking out it will learn more about what it needs to (like roads, traffic, spooky things) rather than going around the school? If the horse already does what its owner wants (like gos, turns and stops) then what more do you want? I taught my horse to turn go and stop outside the 'school' (more of a field for me)
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Yes, I agree that out hacking the horse will be exposed to more things - but its no good if you can't handle a spook and have no balance, surely, balance is learnt in the school both on lessons and in practice on your own? Perhaps I am getting crossed wires with this thread (lol doesn't take much:D ) but I have always had it drilled into me that you cannot simply have a horse and do nothing but hack and expect everything to be hunky dory. All the teachers I've had have said you need to work with the horse in the school at some point both from a point of view for your own riding style and for teaching the horse things. Storm must be a super difficult horse - either that or I'm just not that good a rider - but I wouldn't have entertained just hacking without schooling.:p Even when I take them home to my own land, I will still school - even in a make shift set up - and will still have the odd lesson, even tho I mainly love hacking.
 
is it more the rider your thinking of? I got the impression that it was just the horse that wasnt schooled, not the rider and horse.
I learnt to ride in a riding school, so got my balance and learnt there, then when I got my own horses, I didnt have access to a school, so hacked around the countryside, i actually felt i learnt alot more about balance and actually learnt to ride more than in a riding school (could have been becuase I was 9 on an absolute loon of a pony who was only 5:eek: )
 
I agree with what others are saying on here. A horse does have to have at the very least, basic schooling before it can be anything approaching a safe hack. It's not impossible to school on a hack, I do it - but - Falcon works in the school twice a week with the YO's daughter and he's going very well. He is young and is gaining in confidence so there will be a time when he's going to question what is asked of him - it is then that the discipline of schooling will (hopefully) help out! Schooling also helps to supple a horse and teaches it to use itself properly in confined spaces. I dont condem riding in a school entirely. I just think it's more interesting for the horse and, certainly for me to be able to hack round the farm than ride circles, however necessary they are.
 
I stand by the fact that Bry would be a happy hacker any day of the week and she isn't that great to school.
I think as long as the horse performs the tasks in front of him then there is no reason to school the horse.
Thinking about it though the horse must already be 'schooled' to a low level to be able to perform such basic tasks anyway.
 
horse91 said:
I know that a horse can be used for showjumping, dressage, AND hacking. but lets say that you want a horse JUST for hacking. Is it wrong for the horse to be untrained? I dont think so.

My friend has a mare, and he only uses her for hacking, nothing else. The only thing she understands is the clicking noise means 'more active, faster'. pressure on reins means slower. she is very soft on the mouth and very sensetive to leg aids.

He asked me last night if it was wrong for his horse to be like that. I asked him if he was going to be using her for anything other than hacking and he said no, not in a million years. and even if he did want anything other than hacking, he would get a second horse. I told him that since he doesnt need it for anything other than hacking, then shes fine and doesnt need any professional learning.

right guys?
Click to expand...
I supposed it depends upon your definition of untrained...

If you think about what you might need to do on a hack, then the horse needs to be trained to do those things, but IMO that doesn't necessarily have to happen in a school.

If you want the horse to trot when asked, canter when asked, then slow down and stop when asked you need to train them to do that (which it sounds like your friend's horse is trained to do). If you want to turn when asked then you need to train them to do that (handy for avoiding trees, and turning corners :D ). If you want to jump a fallen log or two, then you need to train them to do that. If you want to open gates without getting off, you need to train them to do that. If you want to ride alongside traffic, you DEFINITELY need to get them accustomed to that. None of this will happen without training. :p

But anything you don't want to do, you don't need to train them to do :) You might not want to collect then lengthen the canter, or jump a double upright, or do a half-pass....

However - what if your friend wants to sell his mare at some point in the future? His mare might understand different commands to what other riders use, so she may need re-training to understand the commands that everyone else uses - either that or he'll have to teach a new owner the same commands he has been using! :)
 
well, he was trained to ride at a school for 3 years so he is pretty balanced. His horse is very obediant to him, he has been riding it for 6 months, it is now three and 10 months. She will turn when asked (steer). she will walk, trot, and canter when asked, and has good brakes (when asked). She has no vices and does not misbehave (under saddle or in-hand).

The reason I asked was because I rode her yesterday and she was great. and he offered me to ride her whenever I want (because he is my neighbor). She is a 3 year old arab mare, 2 months pregnant by an arab stallion.

So, he only rides her once every 3-4 days because shes pregnant. When should he stop riding her? i think i heard at 5 months?

Anyways, i rode her yesterday and it was great, shes very alert and does her best to please.

thanks
 
Rosie does nothing except hack and her schooling has been limited to about 3 months three years ago when I had a weekly private lesson with her which i eventually had to discontinue as i just couldn't afford it any more. She was aged 14 when she began this and had had 3 years off work doing nothing. She has never had any proper schooling up till then and was pretty stiff in her back and had never learnt how to do anything.

So she would not qualify as a schooled horse but she is a perfect hack as she is bold, bombproof and totally unafraid of anything. She will walk, trot and canter and gallop in a straight line, without a buck, will halt from any pace and will leg yield. She does not pull or lean on the bit and can be ridden with a light contact.

She will go up and down the steepest of hills and over the roughest of ground and will pop over a log if she gets the chance. She would not jump round a showjumping course as she wouldn'#t be able to turn quickly enough but I have ridden her round a cross country course where we could have a breather between fences and trot and canter into each fence - she was fine. She will weave her way around the narrowest of tracks and in and out of trees, though will occasionally manage to connect mum's knee with a trunk - suspect this is deliberate.

Of course she could be hugely improved but she doesn't like school work that much and unless I had someone to teach me, I wouldn't like to school her totally alone in case I am not asking her properly.

If I am approaching a junction where I want her to halt for safety, I will do a couple of halts in advance of the junction using seat and voice so that she knows that I expect her to do it. Then she will halt on voice at the junction and wait till she is asked to go on.

She opens and closes gates (with a bit of an effort but manages to do so) but that is all the schooling as such she does. She is not allowed to slop along asleep and is alert and attentive, with her old ears constantly listening to what I am saying to her. She is ridden in a snaffle with no gadgets.

I would never say she is a schooled horse, but she understands the basic requirements of her job and cooperates. I have never had a moment's worry on her when out, she is extremely reliable.

So perhaps she proves that you don't have to be able to do a dressage test to be a rewarding hack - head her across the downs on the buckle and she will give you a nice ride, at whatever speed you want, so long as you ask her nicely and give her clear commands. I probably do school her without knowing it in that instinctively i will ask her to work nicely and listen to me but her level of training is not advanced.
 
Big Ears, I envy you Rosie then!!! She sounds great. I guess Storm will always need schooling - she is just that type of horse, she has a LOT of energy and I couldn't imagine not schooling her and just hacking out - maybe that might just be my lack of riding capability....:eek: That is why I assumed everybody needs to school - and not just hack, plus, most riders I've met school as well as hack.
 
What about all those people who don't have a school? (there are a lot of them). Their horses never see the inside of a school yet, like big ear's Rosie, are a lovey ride. They're safe, attentive, resposive and willing. To me that is a 'schooled' horse. Doesn't matter if they can't canter a 20m cirlce - what's the point if they're never going to need to.?;)

Brodie isn't schooled at all. As much as I'd love him to be a dressage horse, it's never going to happen. I don't have the facilities and he hates it with vengence:rolleyes:. But he's still a good hacking horse - he's light and responsive and easily controlled and would kick many horses ass's at Le Trec. ;) He's frightend of buses (long story) but that would never be solved with trundling round in circles. So whats the point of schooling him? - he destests it, I find it frustrating with him and he can easily and safely do the job he needs to. Everyone's happy.

Horsey91 - sounds like a lovely oppertunity for you to get some riding time.

At 3yrs old she's awfully young to be doing much work, so just hacking for now would be ideal for her. Also, if she's in foal she will be needing to take it easy. When you can keep riding them until varies with each horse but after about 7-8 months in you shouldn't be doing anything more than walk. Then she'll need at least a few months off after foaling and could slowly be brought back into work about weaning time (just walking). In Britain they would be off totally for most of the pregancny until after weaning but it'll be different over your way.
 
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