by Sweetie, age 12

Hacking is great in the winter — even in the rain! Hacking can be great for your schooling too. Here are some tips to prepare for a hack and exercises to try on the trail.

You Will Need:

• A mobile phone
• A watch
• A map
• To tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to return

Schooling exercises to try on your hack:

• How still can your pony stand, even when there are other horses around him trotting? It may just be good manners, but a fidgety pony can lose you marks in a dressage test, too. Ask your pony to halt, and not stamp or paw the ground, for a few seconds every now and again on a hack.
• I have been told before, very wrongly, that when you are hacking you just sit there. Just because you’re not schooling doesn’t mean you don’t need a good position. Without it you can’t give effective aids. So sit up, heels down!
• Hill work is great for your pony’s fitness. If you do hill work regularly, your pony will be able to cope in intense schooling sessions and big shows.
• Whilst you’re hacking, teach your pony to be more responsive. Ask for transitions and don’t let him canter in the same place all the time. He must go when you say go, and stop when you say stop. This is important in dressage.
• When you are on a wide path, try leg yielding with your pony. Or what about shoulder-in? It’s more fun than training in a school, so your pony will be more likely to learn it. Plus, it will be easy when you try doing it in the school.
• Opening gates on hacks is a test of obedience and control. You can teach your pony basic lateral movements whilst opening a gate, too!
• When you have a long path to trot along, try extending and collecting your pony’s stride. You will need to do this is more advanced dressage tests, and before a jump in show jumping to jump correctly.

So instead of staying in the indoor school this witer, get out there and go hacking, and watch you and your pony improve!