A question for those who work full time and have horses...

Hi Hayley
don't despair, you're probably just in an adjustment period. You may not be able to give the time to your horses that you used to before you worked full time, but the time you do spend with them will be quality time.
I work full time and my escape is my horses, it keeps me sane. Don't try to be superwoman, and don't be afraid to ask for help with them.

We are not all rich enough or lucky enough to be with or working with our horses every day, but my work pays for my house and horses.

My advice would be don't make any rash decisions during this adjustment period, tiredness can be induced by stress, because you don't know what to do first when you have a busy life.

I'm sure when your into a routine things will settle down.

All the best.
 
First thing you need to is breathe! Spookypony has the right ideas! Stay calm and prepare!

I am in a similar situation Work 9-5 and spend over 3 hours a day commuting! Leave house at 7am, work, get to yard at 7pm, home for 9pm ish! Its long day.

I knew it would be diofficult with too and i'm lucky enough to have a v helpful OH who mucks out for me most days a week.

Two horses are on assisted DIY so I dont need to go there in the morning. I plan my riding religiously. Infact I plan about 3-4 weeks ahead. I decided to keep one in competition and brign the other one on slowly(young hourse) and that way if I couldnt ride her, it isn't the end of the world.

I try to only be at theyar between 7 amd 9pm so that I have a fixed time and work faster!

It seems to be really working for me with the rigid planning of every day.

Best of luck with the new job :)
 
In summer my horse is out 24/7 which is a lot easier and luckily I have flexible working hours to a degree (start between 8am and 10am). Me and my mate share the care of our horses as they are turned out together. Yard is 15-40 minute drive from home depending on the time of day!

Summer Routine:

I do the mornings; bring in, ride my boy, feed and change rugs on both ponies, leave rug and feed ready for pm (when mate will do them), get to work for 9am. If I don't ride, I pooh pick the field. I try to ride 3 days during the week. I ride both days at the weekend.

Winter routine:

Make all haynets and feeds for the week and pooh pick at the weekend. Again, I do the mornings but with additional chores of mucking out, water buckets, cleaning boots (!), more rugs to take on and off etc plus increased traffic on the roads, I usually get into work about 9:45.

I would love to have the option of full livery but I can't afford it and I don't really like the idea of someone else looking after my horse more than feeding and bringing in.

I work long hours and in the winter especially can get very tired - with housework and a sick Dad to visit, sometimes it feels like I don't have time to myself without falling asleep! Sometimes I wish I could have just a couple of days off from visiting the yard but then I have a cuddle with him or a good ride or occassionally both and I realise I wouldn't really have it any other way!! :D

This time last year he was just coming off 6 months of on and off box rest which, with mucking twice a day etc, really took it's toll! You do get used to it though and it will become 'the norm' quicker than you think!
 
I have two on DIY and spend a good couple of hours a day getting to the yard then to work then back again. I work full time and often end up stuck late.

I just assumed everyone was doing this! It's a bit of a grind in winter but having grown up with horses all my life I knew that anyway. I couldn't just not see them on weekdays (which isn't a slant on those who's are on full livery, just that it wouldn't suit me) so I mostly suck it up. I don't get to ride as much as I like I suppose but that is the only negative. I feel much happier knowing there care is in my hands. I couldn't trust anyone else long term. I have the occasional morning off when a friend does them but I get antsy if I can't check them at least once a day myself. Which is why my poor OH never gets holidays!

Now I don't feel so bad for being tired all the time in winter at least:D

OP I am sure you will get used to it. Starting any new job is exhausting. I find it one of the most draining things in life. Once you get in to the swing of it I'm sure it'll become much, much easier. I am the laziest person in the world and I manage it so it can't be that bad!! :D
 
I work flexi-time, so can start anywhere between 8-10.30 am and finish between 4.30-7pm. Although having said that, we are a small-ish office, so our flexi time is sometimes dependant on what is going on. I work between 40-50 hours a week, including overtime.

I have a horse on assisted DIY livery & I definitely make use of the assistance - which helps! If I'm on earlies, then I will have my horse fed/turned out & I'll go down after work to bring in and do all jobs & ride. If I'm working late, then I'll ride & turn out/do jobs in the morning and have him brought in/fed/put to bed in the afternoon. Also, I put him on full livery once or twice a week on average - and that helps massively - sometimes it is at weekends, so I can have a bit of a break and do other non-horsey stuff & other times it is in the week, so I can go down and just groom/ride or not go down at all.

I pay someone at the yard to poo-pick on my days in the week too (as we share poo-picking with the other horse owners who are in the same field) - again, it makes my life so much easier to not have to spend my time just doing chores & I feel like I can spend time with my horse. I must admit though, I do like doing it myself when I can - but I'd kill myself trying with a full time job and other commitments!

I also, specifically brought a low-maintenance horse this time around. My previous horse needed lots of 'special care' and that was time consuming - my current horse is a good-doer, hardy native pony that doesn't need much in the way of extra care, which again helps massively.

Also - I tend to do anything that can be done at the weekend, to save time in the week. I make up hay nets on a Sunday - so they can just be grabbed in the week and put up, I make feeds up & leave them in bags - so either myself or YM just needs to stick them in a feed bowl.

And also - don't beat yourself up, sometimes my horse gets exercised five or six times a week, other times it might just be twice, some days I don't have time for a full groom so he goes to bed with a bit of mud still on him ... he is quite happy either way :)
 
TRAVEL TIME
Am I right in thinking that it's a 50min round trip to your horses (twice a day), and on top of that a 1.5hr round trip from your house to work? Long-term, that kind of time used up travelling isn't sustainable, just in terms of petrol prices if nothing else! You're spending 3hrs 10min on travelling alone in each day - no wonder you're exhausted! Either you, or the horses need to move, or you need to be able to go up only once a day.

REDUCING THE CHORES
Living out 24/7 means you only have to go up once a day if there's someone to keep an eye out/chuck some feed/hay at them, there's no mucking out and you can either poo pick at the weekend or rotate fields/harrow. Your horses stay fitter during the week, and with enough rugs even a TB can winter out without dropping weight at all.

If you must stable, deep litter or have rubber matting. Both reduce your mucking out time to 5 mins or so. In addition, make haynets once a day or have a tub trug to put it in. That and put them to bed in their turnout rugs during the week. Add an extra layer if needed in the winter, but those rugs are breathable, and waterproof, and they'll honestly be fine.

REDUCING THE WEEKDAY RIDING
4 days' riding per week will keep a horse reasonably fit and able to compete. Ride both on Sat, and both on Sun, then have at least one day off during the week, and alternate them so you've only got one to ride in the evening.

FIND A SHARER/GROOM
Either to share the riding and chores, or someone you can pay to give you a 'true' day off, where you don't go down to the horses at all. I have my OH for that, bless him. Trust me, you need that time - to sleep if nothing else!
 
I have found it difficult in the past despite being on a livery yard, but have got round it by
1 - moving horse near to work, but sacrificing being on a proper yard to do it.
2 - having him live out for the summer - BRILLIANT!!!!
3 - accepting that I can't ride during the week in the winter as it's too dark, but realising horse is MUCH happier with full day winter turnout and no riding instead of an hour's turnout and an hour's riding at the livery yard.
4 - not beating myself up over what I can and can't do, accepting that I'll never get to a good enough standard at dressage but I can still have lots of fun.
5 - pairing up with full-time working friend so we both don't have to do EVERY early morning in winter. And we can both go on holiday as long as it's not at the same time.
 
Well mine don't live out - they are stabled during the day in summer, and at night in winter. I have two on DIY & my broodie lives out elsewhere

I work an 80 hour fortnight - supposedly 3 12 1/2 days one week and 4 12 1/2hr days the other. Some of those will be nights. In reality, I've been working 120hr plus fortnights.

Be organised, take yard stuff to work, and go straight to the yard.

Have the horses on rubber matting

Feed from a haybar or the floor

Oh, and I compete too, and have one to back in October.

Either decide to get a grip & get on with it - all my friends are in the same position as me, and we have a giggle about needing 36hr days. Or decide to get rid & have the job.
 
You are not on your own...sadly the more commitments you have and the more you take on in life the faster the merri go round goes with no way to get off it!
I have only one horse but a whole raft of other commitments aswell as my full time job, so sadly I find more and more that I can only really do the 'essentials' and nibble away at everything else. I get up at 5am just so that I can ride my horse before work as doing it in the evening is a no go for me due to circumstances. My horse is very much loved and looked after but I only do the basics - feed, water, poo pick, muck out, scratch him when itchy, check his weight and feet (laminitis sufferer previously). The rest does not get done...he is never groomed from top to toe, I brush the saddle and bridle area clean to ride, his feet are picked out when he is ridden, he never gets pampered, groomed, washed or those other nice to haves...when I had time on my hands to spend doing them!!
I cram too many things into my life and am constantly looking at lists of things that need doing...housework rarely gets done and I go to bed knackered and wake up knackered!
I know this does not help you and in your situation you will find that you have to find short cuts and knock some things on the head in order to fit into your life what you want to do. But horses are a pleasure...even if a little rushed in my case...I could not be without my lad as he keeps me sane and allows me some time in peace when we plod around the roads at 6am...I would NEVER EVER choose work over my horse and you should not either...work is merely a means to earn money and afford the things outside of work that give you happiness and pleasure...simplistic I know...but true.
 
I have a full time job, 2 kids and 6 horses 3 off which are ridden. I get 5.30 am every morning now, 5 am in the winter. Drop the kids at the childminder at 7am be at work for 8am. Finish work at 5pm pick kids up and go to the yard which I normally finish at 7.30/8pm then time to cook dinner and put children to bed. You get use to it and I'm in bed early every night and never go out as I just wouldn't cope with the nxt day. Horses are my life and iv got use to it.
 
I have always worked full time and had horse/horses on DIY livery.. YOu get used to being tired. I am up at 0600 most mornings off to yard sort boys out home then work, finish work at 1830 go straight to yard to sort boys out for evening and get home at about 2030 or 2100, eat, shower & bed (sometimes run first then eat)... I have always done it so dont really know any different
 
Try to reduce commute time as much as possible eg by having horse as near to home or work as possible.
Depending on finances, part livery or some help. It will give you time to ride and do the nice stuff as to be honest haynets and mucking out aren't quality time with your horse.
Be organised. Plan.
And it will get better !
 
I have 4 horses, 4 dogs, 4 cats, chickens, a 9 yr old boy (16 yr old reasonably independent). My 21 yr old daughter has been home on and off for a few weeks at a time for the past 3 years whilst at uni. I work fulltime, 08.30 - 18.00 mainly from home.
SHe now has her 1st job and will be moving away taking her horse - sad to see both go, but it will cut down my workload - washing and horse!!! Hubby is a farrier and works terribly long hours, so whilst he helps at weekends with heavy stuff - feeding and mucking out are down to me.
I am up at 6.30am everyday and it's a struggle to get a meal ready for a reasonable time say before 8.00pm!!

It is a treadmill - I have a cleaner for 3 hrs a week and a gardener (not that you would notice judging by the garden!). Things slip and I often feel that I do everything inadequately as I am spread so thin, but I love having the animals and caring for them. I love being outdoors. I do hate my messy house at times, but the horses give you fab memories and love. They are a big commitment and you are tied, but it's worth it!
 
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It does take a while for the body to adjust to full time working without the horses. Give it a while! I would deffo turn them out and leave them to it for a while. And don't knock the thought of a sharer, I never thought I would be able to share my baby but I've had many successful sharers, great having days off and the extra income. :)
 
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