hacking noms

Crikey! The Doll and I have a few well known stopping points for a munch and some rides I will go on past them and she won't do anymore than spin an eye in the direction she would rather be taking to have a nibble. Other rides when I am just having a pootle along I let her have a stop at almost all of them - they are chosen for their magnificent views for me as well as the availability of lush grass for her.

Thinking about it with almost every horse I have ever owned we have had munch breaks (back in the day fag break for me ;) ) and not one of them would ever, ever snatch away to get the grass, ridden or in hand. Possibly because I have always until recently ridden out often a few hours or more, so a break is just that, a very welcome little break. No biggy, no drama and not ever had one try to snatch away in the show ring either. I think it probably boils down a lot to your basic in hand training initially and the manners you ask for when ridden - please note asking for 'manners' not regimented and absolute obedience on every single step of that ride. I am riding out with my living breathing best mate - not a machine out of War Horse.

Who is this Mark Rashid anyway??? Is he a robot and are his horse's those same shut down and dead eyed ones I saw at a Parelli demo a couple of years back?
 
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Reactions: orbvalley
Does nobody worry about spraying and 'theft'? The reason I feel reluctant to let Raf eat at meets (although I do because his welfare overrides any other concern) is because we're on someone else's grazing land and technically eating their grazing/potential hay. I thought maybe it was considered very rude to take advantage of the landowner's generosity in allowing us to ride over their land, without eating their assets as well :oops: Verges worry me in case the council or local farmer has recently been along and sprayed weed killer or something. I presume that they haven't if the plants look healthy and there is no strange chemical smell, so I might let him snack, but it still worries me!
 
I hack on communal land/forest so there's no theft involved and they don't spray weedkiller there , either because we're too far out in the sticks or because they're kind and leave the wildlife to control it
 
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It's bad etiquette to allow your horse to graze private land out hunting, but the verges would be public property.
I guess it depends on where you are. The verges are cut around here and not sprayed because they leave the bloody ragwort. They only actually tend to cut the centre of the verges to leave the wild flowers and attract the butterflies.
 
No spraying of verges at all around here - and certainly not theft if you don't count gateways onto the lanes, verges and obscure bits of wasteland here and there. Don't hunt and never will again so the issue of correct etiquette isn't a thing I have to struggle with thankfully :)
 
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Reactions: newforest
I encourage my horse to graze when I'm out as my long term goal with her is to do endurance and its so important to keep their guts moving along. Sometimes it's a pain because she wants to stop every 2 minutes and gives me the mare glare if I move her on!!
 
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