They did it! Meet the 2025-26 Hack 1000 Miles finishers

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Every mile tells a story. For the riders who completed #Hack1000Miles in just one year, the challenge became a journey of perseverance, partnership and unforgettable days in the saddle.

Here is the final Wall of Fame to mark the end of this hacking year. All of the incredible riders pictured have successfully hacked 1,000 miles over the past 12 months. Find out more about them below…

Riding Sorrem Slim – Lindsey Mariner

This is the first year that Lindsey has tipped the 1000-mile marker, riding out four times a week on her Haflinger x Quarter Horse, Sorren. Lindsey has had the 14-year-old since he was four and they enjoy taking part in all the activities put on by their local riding society, Vectis Equestrian Club on the Isle of Wight. The pair managed 600 miles in the challenge a few years ago and Lindsey decided to really tot up the miles this year to help Sorren stay slim.

She says: “Sorren was getting a little chunky and his chiropractor said I needed to keep his weight down, so we’ve been trying to get out much more this year. I like to ride out with friends when I can, do pleasure rides and at weekends I go for long rides with my husband Richard on his bike.”

Miles for the love if it – Rosie Martin

After endurance rider Rosie managed to hit 1000 miles in five months, she stopped counting officially but accumulated another thousand-plus on Larry the cob and Darty her Arabian.

“I love to ride and hack every day when I’m able,” says Rosie, who likes to box her horses up and them out for rides on Salisbury Plain, to the beach at Berrow in Somerset and into the Mendips.

“Larry and I enjoy pleasure rides and with Darty I do lots of endurance miles, including two-day 80-mile rides. In the winter it’s just as likely to be a 30-minute ride after work and then — if it’s not horizontal rain — three or four hours at the weekend. It’s a level that keep my horses happy and nice and calm. It’s funny, if we don’t get to go out, they get spooky.”

This cob can — and he did – Alison Roberts

Alison has been a #Hack1000Miles challenger for the past five years and has hit the target three times with Dan the Irish cob.

“I’m a happy hacker. I retired early and now ride every day and although Dan is 18, he’s still going strong,” she says. “I started the challenge to try to keep the weight off Dan and we cover between three and eight miles a day. We also took part in a few pleasure rides — the longest of which was 12-and-a-half miles — so it proves that you can get the numbers up if you ride a lot.”

Alison and Dan had to do most of the miles alone, as her hacking buddy has just had a baby, but she enjoys boxing up and exploring new places.

“Where I am in Spalding, South Lincolnshire, has virtually no bridleways and 90% of our miles have been on the roads, so there’s been lots of walking as trotting everywhere would be too hard on Dan’s legs,” adds Alison.

Celebrating a hat-trick – Claire Wall

It’s a hattrick for Claire, with the 2025 challenge marking her third time in a row hitting 1000 miles. She did nearly all the miles on 12-year-old Thoroughbred x trotter Bailey.

“He really belongs to my daughter, but as she’s away at university I’ve been riding him for the past couple of years,” says Claire, who lives in Worcestershire. Bailey has Type 1 Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM1) and needs regular exercise to stop him “tying up” , so a challenge like #Hack1000Miles is perfect for the pair.

“In the first year we took part he could hardly have a day off for fear of an attack, but with all the riding he’s so much better and can have two days off a week — but not together,” says Claire.

Some of the miles were also done on the rider’s ex-racer, Molly Mai.

Claire said it took her longer to accumulate the miles this year as she has a new-found love of dressage and schooling took up a lot of her hacking time. And although she’s sure to rack-up the miles next year, she hasn’t committed to counting yet.

“I’ve had a ceremonial deleting of my app. I’ve much more appreciation of how long my rides are and I don’t think I need to track anymore,” she smiles.

‘I could do 1000 miles with my eyes closed!’ – Heather Emery

Not content with riding just 1000 miles, Heather managed to complete the challenge on two different horses under two different names and achieve an additional 534 and 509 on two further horses under two more names!

“Riding is all I do, and I could do 1000 miles with my eyes closed,” explains Heather. “So, I didn’t think it was fair to count all my miles on the four horses together.” Since retiring, Heather likes to hack out twice a day and has three horses currently, having sold the fourth part way through the year. She completed 1000 miles each on nine-year-old gypsy cob Pagan and 19-year-old Irish Sports horse Kit Kat, with 13hh cob Wizard adding another 500 miles.

“Taking part in #Hack1000Miles really does focus the mind, as you need to hit 20 miles every week to achieve it. I generally ride 10 miles every day, but if I have two to ride, I take each on my six-mile trot around the block. Hacking out is my thing really!”

Three horses, one finish line – Lynda Addison

Hitting 1000 miles was quite an achievement for Lynda this year, as she was forced to swap horses twice. “I did the first 500 miles on Lady, who I completed with last year, but she had to have her hocks injected and I realised it was getting a bit much for her, so she went out on loan and I bought Martha the cob.

“However, I’m 64 and Martha grew too wide for me and it was hurting my hip. We did 300 miles together before I sold her on and bought Malibu, whom I did the last 200 miles on.”

Lynda and 16.1hh Irish Sports Horse Malibu will take part in the challenge again next year.

“I plan to do it all on her this time,” she laughs.

Lynda rides every day and likes to achieve six or seven miles each time, but has no bridleways near her so it’s all on the roads. “I’m in South Lincolnshire and my nearest bridleway is about a five-mile hack away and goes for about 100 metres. It’s pretty rubbish.”

Addicted to the miles – Joanna Lunn

This is Joanna’s second time achieving 1000 miles and she says she’s become “addicted to it!”

“I ride most days and do about 100 miles a month. Being part of the #Hack1000Miles challenge really makes me want to get out there and do it.”

Joanna is able to ride straight out onto a bridleway at home in Hampshire and “can do 20 miles on the South Downs without crossing a road”.

She rides New Forest pony Skippy, who was bought off the Forest for her daughter to ride and then sell on, but 17 years later, at age 21, he’s still part of the family.

“We used to do endurance together, but now we just hack out for between five and 10 miles at walk and trot with the occasional canter,” adds Joanna.

Just in time – Pip Mead

Pip and Archie completed their third successful #hack1000miles after “just missing out last year”.

Pip said: “What a complete superstar this lad is. I love him to pieces. He now gets a month’s holiday while I start lambing!”

Age is just a number – Liz Roskell

Liz and her horse managed to complete their #Hack1000Miles towards the end of March when clocking up a final 6.2 mile hack.

“It was great riding and fabulous weather to end the challenge,” said Liz. “We started eight years ago and we’re still going strong at 24! “

Who else made it?

At the time of going to press, #Hack1000Miles Koren Marner had also achieved 1000 miles and topped the leaderboard on 1,224 miles, but we were unable to get in touch with her. Karan Tett had also galloped through the finish flags, while a further five riders were closing in on the finish line with less than 50 miles to go. They were Zoe Morton and Krissie Jones. Also in the 900s were Helen Chester, Louise Clark and Christine Sutton. Did they make it to 1000 miles before April 1? We hope so!