How to find the balance between schooling/hacking?

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins

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Oct 10, 2004
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I have been doing so well with Bens schooling but sometimes it all goes to pot. This week I rode over the fields on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We did walk, trot and canter but just big circles and straight lines really - no schooling as such, we just had fun.

On Wednesday I was really late and fancied a blast so we did some canter work in a forward seat in the arena for about 25 minutes. He was great - very forward and listened to me.

Last night I thought that we had better do some proper schooling, but he had other ideas. He wouldn't relax, kept spooking at stupid things (ie a chair) and was generally very snorty. It was windy and the jumps were making noises as the wind blew through them and this was making me nervous. We didn't really make much progress and I ended up getting off with the view that tomorrow is another day.

So what is the best schooling/hacking balance. It seems that if I don't school Ben for a couple of days, he develops a 'sod off' attitude to the arena, but if I school consistently for a few days on a row he is much better and we see improvements. However, when I stay in the arena for too many days on a row I find that I get much more nervous when I next go hacking!

Does anyone else find this or is it just me?
 
I tend to currently do 2 days schooling, 4 days hacking and 1 day off. We much prefer to hack tbh, we can vary the routes and company alot so every hack is different.

I am not a nervous hacker, but i tend to miss it if i do too much schooling. Moet gets really bored in the school, and the max i can do in the school a week is perhaps 3 sessions. She is better if each ride is different, so i try not to school on consecutive days etc.
 
I do about 2/3rds hacking to 1/3 working in the arena, including working on Ziggy's jump phobia.

It doesn't seem to make much difference to him how much of either we do, the preference is mine. He definitely goes better if his work is regular though.
 
I school 4 times a week - but not in a block, normally 2 & 2. I occasionally do 3 sessions in a row and normally my horse is better on the second or 3rd day.

I hack once or twice a week but my horse is so spooky at the moment I don't look forward to it as much as I used to.
 
MP Chanter can be the same as Ben so I mix and match I like to hack twice a week and school 4 times the great thing in the summer is that I can hack in the evening to break it up. I also break it up with jumping sessions.

Mostly it is how I am feeling but sometimes I start to school and realise that he is not in the right mood so we just leave the school and hack instead.
 
Over the years I have stopped focussing on what I "should" be doing with Storm and what both of us actually enjoy and want to do! I know that we've both had enough of the arena at times - and when this happens we either do something like a short hack - or just "play" instead of being serious about schooling. OH somtimes sets us up a little obstacle course - built with things like poles - jumpwings, empty water containers etc - anything really that makes her think about where she's putting her feet - and also helpful in the fight against bordeom / spookdom!
I think we all put pressure on ourselves to perform and make ourselves behave in a formal schooling manner sometimes - when perhaps we should just admit defeat (perhaps that is the wrong expression) and go for something a little more lighthearted. Don't know if this is something you could try with Ben? Perhaps setting up something interesting to just play about with in the school?
 
Trewsers said:
Perhaps setting up something interesting to just play about with in the school?
Click to expand...

We do lots of things to play around, but the more time he has away from schooling, the harder he is to get back into it. To get his best work, I have to make him work for about 3 nights on a row and on the third night he goes amazingly well. The problem is that I don’t really want to school for 3 nights in a row, but I do want the results that 3 nights of schooling brings. I expect him to be better in the school tonight if I worked him properly – only problem is that I fancy doing some little jumps instead.

I think that I really need to define my goals and have more of a plan. I really wish I could have had my lesson last Saturday (when he lost his shoe) as I now have to wait another 2 weeks before my RI could fit me in. Maybe I should school him more in the field, but that kind of defeats the object of riding out the fields.
 
I guess you could experiment with schooling every other day, rather than a few days on then a few days off. I understand the dilemma though; I'd rather choose according to my mood than have a fixed routine.

Could you maybe incorporate 10mins of schooling on your non-schooling days? Pick one thing to work on - something he already know how to do well - and ask for 10mins focused work. This will help you practise gaining his attention, and also give him the idea that he should focus in when you ask him, wherever and wherever that my be. He might be non-plussed the first few times but if you persevere then it should help.

You could take 10 minutes out of a jumping session to work on lengthening and shortening the canter, or ask for shoulder in left and right along a lane, or simple changes on a hill instead of cantering straight up. All those things will help his flatwork and encourage him to listen to you, rather than reacting to his circumstances.
 
The necessary balance between schooling and hacking depends on what suits the individual horse. Some horses prefer hacking, some prefer schooling, some are easygoing about both and don't seem to mind if they do more of one than the other. Some horses thrive on a varied exercise regime, while others have a more specific comfort zone. My boss's showjumpers, despite being competition horses, actually do more hacking than schooling - she does the schooling required for the level they're competing at, and then a little bit extra to help them progress, but only 1 to 2 sessions a week in the school, whereas most of them will hack out 3 to 5 times a week. All of them get itchy feet when they haven't hacked out for a while. But one of our liveries competes in dressage, and her horse is a dressage horse through and through! - in the school she's a relaxed, hard-working, focused horse with a very good attention span, out hacking she's anxious and spooky and it's not a pleasant experience for her or her owner. Her owner used to say that she worried the horse did too much schooling and not enough hacking, but has now come to the conclusion that that is HER assessment and the horse doesn't seem to think it's a problem!
 
I find with Izzy that he thrives on variety and as long as we do plenty of different things he works well and tries hard at whatever I ask.

I know if we do too much school work he hates it and just refuses to do as I ask. He won't do anything really bad but will walk into the fence and just stop, scrape my leg on the fence, walk into the mounting block - anything to show his displeasure.

Generally we have lessons twice a week, 1 jump, 1 flat and I will school one other time. Rest of the time is hacking, trec, endurance and cross country.
 
I am very lucky in that both my boys are the type who i can pick up after months off (like over winter) and they will work as well as then as when in regular work. I go with my mood, the horses mood and often if i get in the school and we are both bored then i'll head out for a hack. I tend to do more hacking with toby. He's a schoolmaster and i don't really need to teach him anything more right now. Whereas kez is still progressing with his training and i feel more like we have things to work on.
 
I'm just sorting this out with my new pony, Vinnie. He really likes variety and I wish I could give him more of it.

He likes trails but I need to trailer him out to do more of that. He gets bored in the arena doing slow work. He'd prefer to rip around the arena :happy: So I'll let him go fast part of the time, set up a jump or something to make it more fun. We ride on the road alone or with others. About 3 weeks ago he started balking when going down the road. May be he was telling me that he's tired of doing the same thing?? Anyhow, he needs lots of variety :tongue:
 
Depends what you want to do? I want to hack so that's all I do. I can do what I'd call 'schooling hacks' that would seem anything but to those that properly school in a school.

All I want is for us to be able to have a fun and safe hack, nothing fancy. If standards start to slip, i do a few working/schooling hacks to get Joy back up to standard again. For those that compete or ride seriously, this wouldn't work for them.
 
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