Hacking for Horses in Training

So many horse trainers think that if they’re being paid to train a horse, they need to pursue problem-focused rides each and every time. Not true. If you’re working a horse five days a week, you can’t spend every ride targeting a problem or learning something new.

Horses need breaks. They need mental health days—just like their riders—and nonstop training just isn’t healthy.

Let’s say, for example, you’ve been hired as a dressage trainer to work on balance at the canter, counter-canter and flying lead changes. Your client wants you to work her horse five days a week, so you need to come up with a training schedule.

If you work on the horse’s canter for five straight days, the horse isn’t going to want to canter by the end of it. He’ll be so over-loaded and so bored that your horse training efforts will yield little fruit.

A better solution is hacking. Mix up the training days with the hacking days.

Benefits of Hacking

Hacking is one of the best things a rider can do for her horse (or her horse in training). A hack is a simple ride with no particular agenda in mind. It might involve going out on the trail or just piddling around the arena; what you do doesn’t really matter.

The purpose is to give the horse a psychological reprieve. It refreshes him and reminds him that he enjoys his hob—you know what they say about all work and no play.

Hacking improves communication between horse and rider, and ensures that neither one gets burned out on the hard stuff. It reinforces the concept that going for a ride is fun.

Never a Waste of Time

Just because you’re hacking doesn’t mean you’re not training. Every minute you spend on a horse’s back is a learning experience, and horse trainers should know that they can do worlds of good just by getting on their clients’ horses.

Take trail riding, for example. It appears to be a relaxing jaunt through woods and fields—and it is—but it also acclimates the horse to new surroundings and places him outside his comfort zone. It allows you to work on different things in a no-pressure environment.

Even if you stay in the arena, hacking can be educational. Maybe you’ll work on upward and downward transitions, moving from walk to trot to canter to trot to canter to walk—and so on and so forth. Or perhaps you can ride serpentines and figure eights, or maybe you’ll pop over a few fences just for kicks. It’s all beneficial for the horse.

Word to the Wise

Horse trainers who work with their clients’ horses on a daily (or almost daily)basis should consider hacking part of the arrangement, but don’t assume your client knows this. Put in your contract that training months that include more than three rides per week will include at least one day of hacking.

Explain to your client that you can’t work on collection or rollbacks or combination fences, or any other skill, every single day of the week. Make sure they realize that your training rides are always good for the horse, but that you’ll spend some of the time with other types of riding.

You might also like:

1. Training Horses:
   Your Place or Mine?
2. How to Set a
   Horse Training Schedule
3. How to Build Up Endurance for Horse Training
4. Do You Need a
   Horse Training Assistant?
5. How to Refuse a Horse for Training

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About the Author: Laura Jane Thompson is the Chief Equestrian Officer of Riding Instructor University and the Feature writer for the horses section at Suite101. She believes that any horse business can succeed provided its owner practices smart strategy.

Tagged as: hacking, horse trainer, horse training, horses in training