Email this page
Print this Page
Happy Hacking
If your arena surface rides like the Sahara desert during the summer months or you just don’t have regular access to an arena, then don’t despair. Top dressage rider Carl Hester gives us some top tips for getting your horse out of the school and into the fields and woods, which can have far reaching benefits for both horse and rider and even help polish up your schooling too!
I love hacking my dressage horses, not only does it give us all a change of scene, but it’s a fantastic opportunity to further their educations whilst they are having fun and not within the realms of the arena fencing.
If you own a spooky horse, hacking is a great way for them to see the world and quite literally ‘get over it’! By riding your spooky horse forward and positively past the ‘monster’ in the hedgerow, you are enforcing good practice for when you ride in competitions and he suddenly sees something he doesn’t like. If you spot something in the distance, that you know your horse is going to spook at, be prepared, start to pick him up and concentrate on getting him connected between the hand and leg and marching forward. Depending on your horse’s temperament or age, it might be beneficial for the horse to stop and have a look, however if you own one of life’s ‘worriers’ then you are better off being in charge of the situation and riding him past whatever may frighten him. If he goes past with little or no reaction be sure to praise him as well, as if he had just done a fantastic transition in the school.
Take advantage of your horse’s willingness to go forward. This doesn’t mean jogging, but an active stepping out walk is great and if you can get him really stretching over his top line and down then think of the feeling (and just how high your score would be) if you could get this in a test environment!
If the ground is good I like to give them a trot and a bit of canter, which is good for their souls. Just as if you were schooling in the arena, think about rhythm, softness and straightness in all three gaits. If you are lucky enough to have a flat area of good ground that you can school in, then work on circles and shapes and map out an arena shape in your mind and work to it. Very often you will be surprised at how much horses rely on the arena fence and lean into it (a nightmare if your next competition is just ground markers) so this can be very telling!
If your horse is a bit stuffy, then choose a long open inviting stretch for a good long canter that you can build up into a good medium canter to get his attention and get his blood up. Practising riding medium canter into working canter not only helps the horse develop his hind leg muscles but also teaches him to listen and wait for the rider’s commands.
My horses are fed the Carl Hester Joint & Muscle supplement, which is great for keeping them supple and active, however there are plenty of good exercises that can benefit your horse’s way of going - including lateral work, which is easily done on tracks in walk and shoulder-in is especially useful for those horses that like to speed home just that bit too quickly! Remember to think about straightness and keeping the horse travelling forward as well as sideways. This again is a great exercise for spooky horses who tend to shy away from things, as it encourages greater control of the shoulders.
Practice halting and waiting when you’re out hacking – this is a good discipline exercise for all horses and with the energy you have got behind, you should be able to develop a good square halt that will help you pick up easy marks in a test.
Hacking out your dressage horse is a great chance for you both to spend quality time with each other without being ‘disciplined’ in every stride, so make sure you allow some ‘fun time’ in there and remember, dressage training doesn’t have to be confined to the arena – get out and about and enjoy the scenery while polishing up on your horse’s training!
 |
For website enquiries and online orders phone 
