Anyone else NEED to work their horse every day?

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Footlights

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Reason I ask is that I upped my boys work load over the last couple of weeks which has made him easier to handle and generally just a nicer horse. As he had been working so hard and was nice and relaxed I took him out for a lovely half hour hack in hand last night (more of an amble) which I considered to be a day off for him.

Tonight when I got to the field he was on his toes, prancing about and pulling back when tied. I just about managed to get bridle and boots on him while he pranced about like a noob, took him into the field to lunge and he galloped, bucked, bronked and farted around for the first 15 minutes before settling down.

I feel mean not giving him 'a day off' but I honestly don't think his brain can handle it at the moment! Does anyone else NEED to work their horse every day?
 
Not me but a few friends have horses that do. Their horses get a decent hack in an outline as their 'relaxing day' instead of serious schooling etc
 
My old show jumper was like this, he would bronc you every time he had a day off. In the end I very rarely bothered giving him a none ridden day off but once a week would do a hour and half loose reined hack so he still got worked but would worry where his head was or bending ect. Worked well for him for many years.
 
I wouldn't say that I need or have to work my mare every day, but yes she is a lot easier and seems a lot more content if I do, in fact I complained this evening that she was being such a donkey.:rolleyes: I'm sure that's because she is worked every day.
 
Hippo definitely enjoys being worked every day - most days it's only an hour in the school, but she gets to jump once or twice a week, which she loves to do, and is also hacked out regularly. Last week, she got to go exploring with H for about two hours - only ambling along though! Far more relaxed over all.
 
I suppose it all depends on your definition of work as opposed to exercise. I like to exercise Bob the nota cob every day (though saying that ,he had today off as he had a flu jab, ). However when he has a proper work day he needs a few gentle days after. His last "work" day was a hack for three hours with a few thousand feet of hill work thrown in. :eek: But he gets plenty of time to recover and is well fed but even after a work day he needs exercise to stop him stiffening up. An awfull lot of horses simple dont get enough exercise and the "devil makes work for idle hooves":D
 
Yes!! My mare needs to do some form of exercise every day or she gets so full of herself and difficult to handle. She loves work (the opposite of my gelding), and as long as she does something she's happy and so much easier to be around. She waits by the gate bouncing up and down until I fetch her, she's so enthusiastic and really likes being kept busy - never met a horse like her before!

The geldings are much more easy going, can get away with riding them a few times a week and they're the same behaviour-wise every time, if they have 5-7 days off (holiday!) they will throw in a few more spooks / bucks but they're not as exercise obsessed as she is and stay the same to handle.
 
starryeyed said:
Yes!! My mare needs to do some form of exercise every day or she gets so full of herself and difficult to handle. She loves work (the opposite of my gelding), and as long as she does something she's happy and so much easier to be around. She waits by the gate bouncing up and down until I fetch her, she's so enthusiastic and really likes being kept busy - never met a horse like her before!

my new mare is just the same. althought she is a just turned 6yo tb. when she is turned out daily she is not too bad but defo still has to be ridden, she gets one relaxing day as riding a week as her day off, just a gentle hack or plod round the field just to keep her amused, i was told to keep her on box rest last week for 7 days as she had a bit of a sore back....well.....that lasted one day lol she was soo moody, pulls the funniest faces lol, but will not stand still and her manners go down hill. as soon as i let her out (after one day) she went galloping and farting across the field, so insted of making her stand in a boring stable 24/7 i restricted her to a little pen where she could still move but not do much more...but it worked a treat, better for her back to have a little movement and stay that way and be happy to restricting her for days, letting her out then her end up hurting herself all over again. ( sorry went a little off topic here lol )
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Yes! 5 yo KWPN gelding, nightmare after 2 days off, rideable after one but I'd rather just keep working him everyday then he's lovely and calm!
 
I try and do something with mine every day, he doesn't mind not working but if he has a day off his always a completely spooky idiot the next time he goes out. :)
 
If I'm on a yard where they are stabled at night in winter, then yes, some have tended to be silly if not ridden daily.
If they're out 24/7, running with a herd, then, no.
I can go on holiday, come back, slap a saddle on and find them chilled but focused.

However, the cob needs daily exercise to keep his weight down and he feels so much better if he's kept fit.
 
No - thankfully my older boy is the type that can be left for two weeks and still be fine (he needed more work when he was younger!) though its in his interests to have light exercise daily given he has arthritus. I fear my 2yo will be a daily boy - he is quite the bouncy little thing so Im hoping he chills a bit as he grows up!
 
Luckily...no...:D And even if I ride out every day it's not the 'work' some of you guys do... 5yr old TB can be left for a week then tacked up and pootle off on a quiet solo hack or schooled/lunged every day... He's really not bothered either way...

The most energetic is probably grand daughter's 19yr old loan pony who does need to be ridden or lunged nearly every day... Keeps her feet on the floor and her weight right...:)
 
My boy was Havoverian x TB, 12 years old, yet still acted like a four year old!
Just one day of light work sent him crazy! Winter was very hard especially when it was wet, we often had bucking/bronking/rodeo sessions at the start of a schooling session. I used to lunge before we hacked out in winter, as he didnt like lorries and he hated it when the road was wet and the noise of tyres on a wet road.

I also couldnt feed him anything with barley in it, or anything like sugar beet, sent him even more crazy than he already was!
 
If my horse doesn't have some kind of work a day even if its a quick lunge she turns into a bronc horse when I try to ride her. She needs to keep her head in work mode I think or she doesn't focus.
 
This is a pleasantly refreshing thread! I'd rather ride a horse every day than shove it full of 'calmers' to 'ride' occasionally ;) These modern times.... :rolleyes:
 
Fortunately not in summer as fully turned out and kept semi-fit, also carries more weight. Just hack out every three days or so and odd pleasure rides (max 15miles) odd weekends so kept fit enough for this.

Winter when fully hunting fit however, a different story and she is worked daily for sanity.
The fitter she is, the more she NEEDS to work, I find.
 
Suziq77 said:
This is a pleasantly refreshing thread! I'd rather ride a horse every day than shove it full of 'calmers' to 'ride' occasionally ;) These modern times.... :rolleyes:
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Yes I agree :-)

Him needing to be exercised properly every day only started when they moved into the summer field with plenty of grass, so I am hoping it's just a spring/summer thing!

If this continues into Winter then I will need to move him to a livery yard with proper facilities as he is currently just in a field, which is great in the summer but may not suit us in the winter.
 
All I can say is thank goodness none of mine need working every day. Due to my own work, I simply wouldn't be able to cope with exercising all 3 that are in work. No, in summer they get exercised about 3 times a week - and in winter, at weekends only. And these are advanced and open level endurance horses too! (I'm a firm believer in quality, not quantity, of work). Still, I do have the advantage that mine all live out 24/7/365 though so always maintain a basic level of fitness (and sanity!).
 
Yeah my tb is like this. A couple of days ago I got him in from field, which took a while and couldn't tie him as he was pulling back. Luckily someone was about to hold him whilst I tacked up but he was a handful to ride! Doesn't help that he's got in with a couple of mares in season and despite trying everything keeps jumping in with them! We've decided to leave them together as they're very settled and mares are moving yards in a week! Had to make the decision not to ride until they've gone as I'm normally there on my own and just can't manage to get him tacked up on my own with him prattling about, darting around me! Will be fun to get on next week!! :(
 
My horse lives out 24/7 on about 8 acres with 4 other horses, so it's not like he is cooped up in a stable all day!!

Yeah my tb is like this. A couple of days ago I got him in from field, which took a while and couldn't tie him as he was pulling back. Luckily someone was about to hold him whilst I tacked up but he was a handful to ride! Doesn't help that he's got in with a couple of mares in season and despite trying everything keeps jumping in with them! We've decided to leave them together as they're very settled and mares are moving yards in a week! Had to make the decision not to ride until they've gone as I'm normally there on my own and just can't manage to get him tacked up on my own with him prattling about, darting around me! Will be fun to get on next week!!
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This sounds EXACTLY like my horse!!! Maybe they are related!!?? lol
 
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Footlights- they prob are!! He's such a quirky chap! If I remember rightly yours is an exracer, as is mine. He gets his knickers in a knot so easily!! Not helping with the mare situation as he's hell bent on getting back to his girlfriends!! How I didn't come off the other day is beyond me!! Hoping he'll settle down again next week, at least so I can tack him up on my own and get on!
 
Out of interest what is his breeding? My boy gets himself so worked up over nothing he literally won't stand still for a millisecond, making it impossible for me to do anything with him. Other days he is like a donkey, just stands there, and is an absolute angel. Some times I think I have two different horses!
 
His sire was zafonic and dam welsh daylight. Bred at juddmonte. Yeah sounds just like my boy! He's tricky to tie up tbh as with his previous owner was tied up to a ring and spooked, pulling a whole stable front on him, putting a farrier in intensive care for a few weeks! My boy had to be cut out from what iv heard! Nevertheless, he's tricky in plenty of other ways!!
 
I'm lucky to have two pretty sane horses. They're not bad to ride if they have 1 or 2 days off but if they don't get variety it sends them mental -- for example if I haven't jumped or hacked in a while they get excited doing that stuff.

The reason I ride everyday is more for my own pleasure; I feel the NEED to ride by mid-morning as it helps me relax by giving me something to concentrate on. A day without working on something to do with my horses is a day wasted for me!! x
 
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