5+ horses routine?

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VixieTrix

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:)Sorry this has been done before; if you have say more than 5 horses what sort of routine do you keep?? and how do you get everything done like small jobs and riding??? sorry i'm nosy :o :) and thinking about taking on another :rolleyes:
 
I don't own five, but do look after five so hopefully can help a little! I get to the yard early each morning, feed, turnout and then muck them all out. Occassionally if I know I will have a really busy day or won't finish work until late I will get there particualrly early and ride one before work. I then go to work for most of the day although I am fortunate that I am self employed so have quite flexible hours and sometimes have time to come back and ride/do jobs in the daytime, otherwise I just come back in the evening/late afternoon after work (I try to finish work early if I can!) then ride, some nights I ride both others I might ride one then do some poo-picking, yard tidying etc! At the weekend I have a bit more time so ride for longer, make sure the yard is all up to scratch etc. If I had five to ride I would try to ride 2-3 a day then give those the next day off and ride the ones I hadn't had time for the day before, or save time by lunging once or twice a week then do more at the weekend. Hope this makes sense! If you wanted five at full competition fitness it might be difficult but if say some were young or old and didn't need riding as much then this should work out quite well.
 
I did 6 through the winter, but nothing in work.

I have one rule - never walk anywhere with your hands empty, my yard is laid out so it flows well. ie, a trip with the barrow to the skip is adjacent to the hay yard and the empty barrow comes back with full haynets.

Sounds crazy but it works.
 
I've got four
They live out most the time which helps
They come in and out in pairs.
I often pony to hack out so two get done at a time
It's a struggle sometimes but one is in her twenties so she only hacks two to three times week
Others all comp horses and get one to four days off per month....
 
I look after 12 plus my 2, 4 horses (3 in work) 5 ponies (1 in work) and 5 minis.
Living out through summer, all the riding ones come in, get ridden, fed then chucked out. Stables mucked out, yard tidy, tack away. Lunch. I then spend the afternoon grooming/ poo picking and doing yard type jobs. Try and make a point in giving one on one to the un rideable ones a couple of times a week each.
In winter, they all live in, so feed horses and minis, put ponies on walker, muck out and get ready for night, I then rug and turn out from walker. Turn minis out. Big horses on walker and ride. Then turned out. Late lunch. Tidy yard, all ready for evenings and then I bring in rug change etc. And little jobs and then feed!
Winters hard!!

Get into your routine, and you will be fine :)
 
I have 6 in at the minute - my 2 dressage horses and 4 projects to bring on and sell, so they are all in full work :rolleyes:
I try to be as efficient as possible, if I can do something in one trip instead of two I will. This is best when working in pairs, so I'll lead in together, if rugged take both off and take to hang up saving a trip, bring both sets of tack out, tack one up, leave the other tied up or stabled. Ride the first one, untack but leave tack in a safe place and put them in a box, ride the other, then I can untack and take both sets back at once. Take the back to the field together and catch the next two.

I have to say, although tacking up/grooming is harder when I'm having to use a chair or scooter, I get places faster and can carry more stuff :eek::p
 
A couple of summers ago I used to look after my 4 and do 3/4 others, used to muck them all out first, then ride my two that were being ridden (sometimes 3 depending how brave i felt) or i used to take a friend with me to ride with me, and i then rode 2 of the others then fed and haylaged :)
 
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