When you spend as much time on horseback as our #Hack1000Miles community, there are bound to be some laugh out loud moments. We asked for their favourite hacking stories and here is what they said.
1 Rescuing a badger cub
“We came across a baby badger who had rolled down the verge in front of us. Watching my friend get off and run to get a plastic post box, then catch the badger and return it to its family at the top of the slope. It was hilarious,” recalls Paula Needham.
2 ‘My girth was loose’
“While hacking with my friend Jo, she noticed that my girth was loose. I ride in a Total Contact saddle so I didn’t think it mattered too much. Then we went into a muddy area and as the pony sank so did I, right off the side with a little thud and much laughing,” confesses Sian Nelson.
3 ‘Three bra gate’
“Definitely what has now become the infamous “three bra gate.” I nearly wet myself giggling. There are quite often pants scattered about too – the locals have some interesting hobbies,” says Becky Clare.
4 (Nearly) unfortunate timing…
“We hacked past a young couple who had clearly been having fun in their parked car and were quite surprised to see us,” says Jackie Williams.
5 A soggy bottom
“I fell off in a ford crossing point once,” admits Hannah Leslie.
6 Who you calling pig?
“We had to get past a pig and I mouthed ‘pig, pig’ while pointing it out to an oncoming Sainsbury’s van. The driver was very patient but he did ask my friend if I just called him a pig,” recalls Astrid Gatenby.
7 Riding blind
“I was hacking my ex racer with a friend who has an ex-hunt master horse when a nice canter turned into a gallop with no brakes. We were heading towards a large ditch filled with water, which both horses cleared, and when we managed to pull up I looked behind me to see my poor friend was completely blind because her hat had slid down over her eyes and hooked on her nose. Absolute hysterical laughter followed,” smiles Sarah Jayne.
8 Loves to roll — too much!
“My granddaughter’s naughty hairy pony took to rolling while out hacking. We learnt out lesson and this year he is clipped out,” says Lea Skyes.
9 Untimely dismount
“We were riding along the road with a friend when her pony put the brakes on in front. I encouraged my pony to go but she charged up a steep slope beside the road and then turned so she was facing down.
“I felt my saddle slip and then she put her head down so I slid out of the saddle, down her neck and onto my knees on the narrow road.
“My friend sat on her pony laughing and I was sat on the road laughing; my pony was somewhere behind me, still standing at the top of the bank,” says Carrie Thomson.
