are you all working your horses?

diggerbez

diggerbez

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firstly, marry christmas everyone! hope santa brought you what you wanted :)

what i wanted to know was if you are all working your horses in this awful weather? riding at the yard for me is a no-go- arena under snow and rock solid underneath and can't hack- roads are all icy/ snowy. however, do have the option of going to trainers (20 mins drive) to use her indoor. however, i really can't be bothered- all just seems a bit pointless until i can ride properly everyday at home? since the start of december, or whenever the white stuff started, he's probably been ridden about 7 or 8 times. he's out in the field every day so isn't bored and is getting a leg stretch. i'm inclined to just wait the weather out but then i start feeling like i 'should' be making an effort...what do you think? :confused:
 
I havent ridden for 10 days and wasnt riding much before that. I bought a 5yr old a month ago and have ridden him approx 6 times! The roads are sheet ice, i havent got a school and the local school is frozen solid.
My boys are going out for about 4 hours a day and i will just sit tight till the thaw comes. I cant see the point in trying to ride if i cant do it consistently.
This weather is total crap!! I am sick to death of it.:mad:
 
Nope.

D1 had a go on Grey Mare a few days ago, before this second cold snap, and she was, um, shall we say 'fresh and a bit full of herself and the joys of Winter :o :D', so I suggested that D1 not ride again until there is a chance of some continuity!

The others are chilling (s'cuse the pun) in the field and thinking that the summer holidays have come early :rolleyes:


Merry Christmas to you and yours m'duck :D
 
Scunnered, we are in week 5 of not being able to ride, roads still snowy and icy, can't get the trailer out for safety reasons. Horse was going fabulously and starting his BSJA for the winter and it has all gone to pot. Fed fed fed up! :(
 
We gave up weeks ago. We had terrible frosts in November, the arena was frozen solid and the fields tracks dangerous due to the frozen ruts, our roads are way to busy to ride on. We managed to get them back into work for 5 days before the first snow came but we have now given up until it goes. Last winter I gave B a month off at the end of the season and then regretted is as he ended up having the best part of 2 months off over winter as well and getting him fit and the weight off was a complete nightmare so this year he had a couple of weeks of light hacking and was then back into full work. I am hoping he will not be as unfit now and I am managing to keep him weight down more this year. I Do hope they will all get back into some sort of work this week as it is finally forecast to go above zero but I am not holding my breath! I couldn't get my lorry off the yard if I wanted, there is a steep slope in and out of the yard and the yard itself is a sheet of compacted snow turned into a virtual ice rink so even if I could afford to hire an indoor its not an option :( I am not tempting fate by planning our season yet, I did that last year and due to the late snow we missed the first 3 months of the season so I will just wait and see what the new year brings and how fit B is once the season starts.
 
We are in week 4 of being confined to barracks. Cant turn out as it involves a treck down a bloody great hill which is icey and dangerous. We cant get out our horse out of the yard either as we are on a slope and the water runs down it and freezes despite our best efforts. Our arena is frozen solid, we we make do with a tiny paddock turning our horses out for a short while each day. Both of mine of are very fed up, our mare in particular is gettting very uptight about it. My old boy is just fed up. I have heard that we may be getting a slight thaw tomorrow and if so, cant wait to chuck them both out for a while.
 
We have a large indoor arena and the area around the yard has some fairly heavy traffic so road rides and sticking inside for now. Occasionally have been venturing into the woods and tracks at walk.

I need to re clip so (am SOOOOO embarrassed by fluff) then will think about BS, all we have planned is a training session to try to win a bursary in the near week.
 
see i feel guilty now because i can easily get my trailer off yard (is also a dairy so they have had to make it safe for the milk tanker)...i just don't see the point until i can get some more continuity with his work. supposed to have a dressage lesson on weds but seems rather pointless in the grand scheme of things :(
he's naturally quite a 'fit' type so don't think he'll take much bringing back into work and he's not at all fat so don't need to worry about that...
 
i was.

until today, managed to lunge in the indoor for 10 minutes (shes not going out much), sitting on board for 5 minutes and then declairing i cant be botherd :D purely as im geting no-where

we cant do consistent because the indoor is tiny, and my horse is 4 and needs space atm...and gets incredibly bored so id rather lunge her/sit on her now and again/long rein through the snow :D...

put her out for an hour after bring "ridden" though :D
 
Nope, horse has had unintentional holiday!
He has had 5 weeks off - ridden twice in this time!

But is raining here at the moment, and positively tropical at 1.5*C! Beginning of the thaw :D
 
only_me said:
Nope, horse has had unintentional holiday!
He has had 5 weeks off - ridden twice in this time!

But is raining here at the moment, and positively tropical at 1.5*C! Beginning of the thaw :D
Click to expand...

lucky you. according to the met office we're getting more snow tonight. i don't know how much more i can take...seriously thinking of putting horse on full livery somewhere with an indoor arena!
 
I feel exactly the same diggerbez. Not managed to ride since I got back from uni. I could probably walk around the arena but he's getting turned out everyday so is getting his leg stretch. So I dont really see a point, ive only got 3 weeks here anyway so even if I just do some gentle hacking and schooling after the thaw that will be enough as he's nowhere near fit enough to do much more. I have never seen him so fat though!! It used to be a real struggle to keep weight on him in winter but he seems to have turned into a greedy guts now he's a bit older. So i think he's perfectly happy, if a bit bored, so not too bothered about the impromptu holiday :D
 
My lot not been ridden for five weeks due to conditions, but at least are getting turned out 9am-4.30pm in their big field so not stuck in their stables. My geldings are happy munching away and mooching around, but my mare is desperate to do something and getting really narky, refusing to go into stable, destroying everything she can find, etc.

And we can't get lorry out to go anywhere either...
 
Normally I make the most of riding over the Xmas period but not this year. It was -13 this morning and I have only ridden 3 times this month (usually 5 times a week) I am not bothering to start again until there is a proper thaw in sight!
 
Mine hasn't been worked for 9 days, which won't have harmed him at all. He's just been going out for 4 hours per day and on the walker for 30 - 60 mins per day.

Supposed to thaw in the next few days :)
 
Nope, I only hack though and a bit of schooling. Even so we like to get out 5 or 6 days a week and have only managed a couple of days since the big freeze began. She is going out in a field though, most days and at least getting a leg stretch although, the muscle tone on her is definatley vanishing in front of my eyes.:rolleyes:
 
Mine were all in full cantering work until last Saturday, this week they have been out in the field most days for 2-4 hours, and the boys have done an hour a day on the walker. Manage to get Touchy and Sov out for a quick hack this morning.
I wouldn't worry, if you haven't got the inclination it makes everything less fun.
 
we are really lucky, the roads are gritted pm have been doing lots of road work i never normally trot on the road but ive made an exception for the moment. And ive been boxing to a school once a week for a lesson she had a week or so off but she doesnt really lose fitness. She has also been turned out everyday so im very lucky x
 
We are also in week 5 of being unable to ride as we keep having heavy drops of snow and the temperature has been around -10 each night, or colder. Horses going out into arena or small paddock for a little while each day and in the rest of the time with ad lib hay. They are all happy as larry but we are going stir crazy!
 
Yes luckily have an indoor school with covered walkways so no excuse here :) Not hacked out or galloped in forever though, and we're all getting rather bored of the 4 walls!
 
Like you I have decided unless they can be in full work and I can make some proper progress it isn't worth freezing myself to death so I may as well lunge them until the arena is defrosted entirely, But if the roads improve I may go for a lesson at an indoor.
 
Sarnie and Ash have kept ticking over by walking round fields and last couple of days managed to get out on roads skirting round ice. Have given Rosie time off as she has nice spin round at the moment which is certainly not safe for these conditions :mad:
 
merry xmas :)
yes mine is still ticking over ,he had a month off in oct then just got a fortnight of road work then another 2 weeks of road work + schooling done before the snow came,so with all the boring road work done i wasn't gonna let it all go to waste ;)

its -6 up here today so a bit warmer but still under a foot of snow so tacking up ,rug on top of saddle then a mile treck up the road with me on foot in front avoiding slippery bits to inddor school ,everyone thinks i'm mad but i do feel better being able to ride even though it is a right clart and can't afford to do it every day

i did nearly give up last week as the snow turned to ice so couldn't do anything for a day or 2 and when i did get him out it was a very exiting walk along road :)
 
No chance for me, haven't ridden now for over 4 weeks! Nor has anyone else in my area, the lanes we hack on are compact snow / ice and like many, no point till I can ride consistently, just really hope it's not too much longer now! I have all of Christmas off work and would love to be spending it riding... Needless to say I'm bored with it now, at least they can be turned out .....
 
Well....my ponies and I are doing the job exchange thing for a few weeks...I do all the work and they do all the eating!!!:)
Bryndu
 
Mine have been ridden once in the last month in between the snowy snaps but they are out 24/7 so they are keeping active. My other mare is away at a schooling yard and is costing me a fortune without being ridden as their arena is frozen and the lanes are too icy to get the lorry out to take them to an indoor :( I'm really fed up of this weather and hope it thaws soon.
 
Mine had 10 days off with first snow, then I was able to ride him properly for a week and a half then 2nd snow came! He's had 12 days off with this snow, it's just starting to thaw but more predicted tomorrow :(.
My horse has 5 hours out in the field every day but tbh he's getting bored now. He's brilliantly quiet in his stable and is being lovely to handle, a bit more spooky leading in and out but that's it. HOWEVER he is being a horror in the field! Hes so bored and full of energy, he has torn down the electric fencing and strewed it around the field, he's pulled apart the post and rail fencing in several areas and has been very lucky he hasn't injured himself.
So I have come to the conclusion he has to do something everyday, even if it's in hand work in walk! So tonight I took him in the snowy, frozen school with a bridle and lunge line and walked him around and about, backed him up, lead him over poles, backed him through a pole maze anything to try and focus his mind and get him concentrating! Even then it took 25 mins before he started to concentrate and stop spooking at birds flapping in the hedge and trying to leap or trot off while I was leading him around.
Tomorrow we are going to do the same thing but in the field :). If he settles I may hop on and do walk work in him, maybe short trots if the ground isn't too frozen and the snow fluffy (with wd40 in his feet) or lunge him in side reins at walk.
I've come to the conclusion it's better to try and do something controlled then let him get so bored he gets up to mischief in the field!
It's a pain though! I need to either chuck him out 24/7 and forget about him or I need to try and do something each day as I can't keep him in for 18 hours a day on 2 huge buckets of Alfa, sugar beet and ad lib haylage and not do anything as he is getting fidgety and bored :(.
 
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