Hackney Horse Breed
The term comes from the word hackney, or haquenai, which in medieval times referred to a hired hose of poor quality.
Gradually the term came to refer to a general riding horse, as opposed to a horse bred for hunting. There were two types of hack, the park hack and the covert hack. The park hack was ridden out for pleasure (hence the term to hack, meaning to ride out) by fashionable, and it therefore had to have good looks, excellent manners and be an easy and comfortable ride. The covert hack was the horse that a gentleman rode to a foxhound meet while his groom took his hunter on at a more sedate pace. Again the covert hack had to be well mannered and a comfortable ride.
Today hack refers to a top quality riding horse for people who like to ride out and to look good. As well as having good manners and appearance, it must have aids, and have the ability to jump small fences. In Europe, a small Thoroughbred type with a dash of Arab is popular as a hack, whereas in the USA the Saddle-bred is favored.
Shows in different countries have different types of hack class. However, similar criteria are used to assess the quality of the horse. In the show-ring the hack s judge on conformation, presence, action, manners, training and quality of ride.