A wwyd? Regarding exercising my pony

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HaffiesRock

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I have only had my boy since August and we got to know each other did ground work and then spent September and October hacking out daily until the clocks changed, then we just hacked weekends, but haven’t done anything for almost 4 weeks now due to the conditions. My plan was to do endurance rides starting January and then jumping and showing when the season starts. As he has already had 4 weeks off and I am busy in the run up to Christmas, I decided to leave him out being a horse until the New Year when I will bring him back into weekend work (scrapping the endurance idea for now) BUT, I have a poorly foot and I have been told I need an operation on it so am waiting on a date for surgery (which I know could be aggggeeeeessssss yet) but in the meantime it’s painful so I doubt I’ll be able to do with him what I want.

He is a 10 year old Haflinger and prone to being VERY fat so needs exercising as much as possible. Work also helps with his general mood and manners! He has issues being mounted (everything checked and fine) and when worked regularly is much better to mount. Just riding occasional weekends will be difficult with the mounting issue and my dodgy foot :/

So my questions are:

Do I find someone to exercise him for me regularly starting after Christmas and I just hack him if and when I can?

Do I just hack him as and when I can at the weekends and start lunging when the conditions allow? (No facilities at yard only an unlit field) Will this cause problems as he won’t be massively fit but the weekend hacks will be steady because of my foot.

Do I just stick with lunging work at the weekends when I can and the evening once it gets lighter?

Ideally I want him worked and worked hard to keep his weight down and give him something to do, but at the same time I am not so sure how I feel about someone else riding him. I can’t really do in hand work as I can’t walk very far without pain.

Any input of what you would do would be much appreciated. x
 
I have problems with my lungs and often get pneumonia in the winter which makes it hard for me to ride and keep my horses fit. When I was first ill I found it very hard to let others ride my horses as they were harder for me to ride and had changed a bit from other people riding. I've also tried not having them exercised but then found it harder to get them fit again when I wasn't very fit myself. With several years of trial and error I've come to the conclusion it is better for my horses weight and health to be ridden by others when I can't and then I just need some fine tuning to get them listening to me again rather than having overweight horses that take months to get the weight off and get fit.
It does all depend on the horse and how you feel about it but if you find the right person to help it can work out well and you should find yourself back to where you were alot quicker than if he has the time off.
That said my horses are having this winter off but they are older now and living out so weight isn't so much of an issue and I'm not planning to compete this spring.
Good luck with your op.
 
I'd get someone to ride him for you TBH.

OR put him out on loan until you can deal with him.

Obviously you'll need to be very picky and filter out a lot of unsuitable people and/or novices, but there ARE people out there who are experienced, maybe they've had their own horses in the past but can't now, and who'd jump at the chance of something to ride.

I'd be inclined to try an advert at your local feedmerchants/tack shop, and see what this produces, and ask around as well.

Good luck.
 
Sorry to hear about your predicament.
Im having a slight issue exercising mine atm due to tons of work for 6rh form and revision for Jan exams.
I planned to school through winter but no faccilities making it difficult.
Is there a riding school or yard nearby that will let u hire their school or round pen?
Do u have a knowlegdable friend who u would trust to lunge or a friend willing to ride hime for u?
If not then i would advertise for a rider, even if its only at he weekend.
Do u have turnout so he can excercise himself?
 
Could you make a circuit in his field so that his grazing is restricted and he has to keep moving?

What area are you in?
 
Thanks for all your replies. There are 2 yards nearby with schools for hire but id have to walk him down a main road in the dark to get there so not really an option.

He is out 24/7 on a big hill field so he is moving around but the mud then ice are preventing him doing more than tentitively sliding! Cant section any off either.

Yard is very small and no one there to ride him or anywhere to lunge him really as its either muddy or frozen solid! Only friend I have who id trust to ride him works longer hours than I do!

I could never put him on loan either so thats not an option. Id rather struggle and ride him in pain than do that :eek:

I've advertised locally so hopefully someone out there will be a great match for him and want to enjoy him as much as I do! And hopefully do some poo picking in return... :p xx
 
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