The outstanding characteristics of the show hack are his grace, elegance and perfect manners. Quality is most important. Besides all these attributes the top-class show hack has that magical characteristic which is called presence, an impression of superiority hard to define and which compels and holds the attention of judges and spectators alike when the horse enters the ring.

The hack's action must be more spectacular than that of a hunter or riding horse and so the trot should be long and low with the potential to extend and point the toe when asked. The canter provides perhaps the greatest test of a show hack and should be noted for its balance, smoothness and rhythm. This is the proverbial hack canter which champions appear to do naturally.

When judging conformation, the hack must be as near perfect as possible. In eight out of ten cases a true hack will be a pure thoroughbred, although he must not exceed 15hh for the small or 15.3hh for the large class. A good animal should have about 8 inches of bone below the knee and be clean of its limbs with absolutly no unsoundness.

The training of the show hack is vitally important, and will follow along the principles of dressage with the aim that he will carry his rider comfortably and quietly with free forward movement at all times. He must be 100% responsive to the rider's aids and be light on the hands. The hack will be required to walk freely on a loose rein, trot elegantly, strike off into collected canter extending as necessary, and come back quietly with no fuss to stand rock-still when asked. It will be clear that the more time and trouble one takes with the early training of the horse, the nearer perfect the end result is likely to be.

The hack is never asked to gallop in the ring and the individual show must not exceed one and a half minutes. The performance should include a walk, trot, strike off to canter with a simple change of leg, halt and rein-back. The horse will demonstrate his obedience and responsiveness to the aids but there should be no anticipation of the next movement on the part of the horse.

An expert rider will give a show which appears simple but is as technically perfect as possible. Should the horse make a mistake, the rider will cover it up with a fuss and throughout the display will appear so calm and nonchalant that it will seem to be entirely without effort.

The hack classes have been generating a great deal on interest in the last few years, and an abundance of enthusiasm is being shown by breeders, owners and riders of all ages, from children coming up from ponies to the more mature. It is encouraging that one may still be lucky enough to find a good animal unshown at a reasonable price, although obviously once a hack reaches the top of its class it can be very expensive to buy.