Can a horse be a "morning person "?

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lrw0250

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At the risk of anthropomorphising, has anyone come a across a horse who is a definite morning or night person? Just musing this morning as have noticed that my loan pony is easier to catch, lead and generally handle early in the morning than the evening - not that she is particularly difficult anytime but seems less grumpy first thing in the morning!
 
I have one gelding who prefers to work in the morning and another who prefers to work in the afternoon - although the latter will also get very grumpy if evening work means missing his usual feed time.

I don't think it is anthropomorphic in this case - but its based on age. Both are stabled at night. The younger one is fresher in the morning and keen to get on with life. The older one prefers a more gentle start and to work of any nighttime stiffness mooching about in the field. That said both will be very much up for hunting or anything else exciting regardless of time of day!
 
mine like to be ridden first thing , 5,6,7 am and are happy to stay out for hours or all day but if you take them out of the field in the afternoon for a hack they are quite grumpy and lazy and definitely let me know they are not impressed!
 
Mine didn't do mornings - had to stop booking early farrier appointments as if he was sleeping when I went to get him (lived out) it took me ages to get him up and then he was like the anti christ with the farrier.

Anything after 10am was ok :)
 
Agree with Shay above.

Mine is really good in the morning as opposed to last thing at night. If I am really late and end up working him at 8pm he is always much more sluggish in comparison. BUT he is stabled at night so I think he is just a bit more fresh in the mornings.

f he is ridden over morning or evening feed times he gets stroppy... I can relate.
 
Both of mine are far happier to be worked in the morning, one is happy to wait till after she has been worked for breakfast, that said, she is ex-race so I wonder whether her routine at a young age has never left her? Trying to work either of them in the evening is a headache, not too bad this time of year but both hate being ridden at dusk in the autumn/spring. That said, I far prefer to ride in the mornings anyway so it's probably a good thing!
 
Like Sukistokes2 says, it may just be a routine thing. My horse doesnt like it if I ride him in the morning now (gonna make competitions fun!) because he is used to being ridden at night or the afternoon. It confuses him if I ride him in the morning, that or at the moment, he doesnt seem to sleep at all at night in the field, so he sleeps in the morning or early afternoon. If I take him in before his nap, he is absolutely exhausted and I get nothing from him.
 
My sister's is not a morning person. At the moment they're out at night and I bring them in for about an hour in the morning to get their breakfasts. 9 times out of 10 when I go to turn them back out he's lying down, and has to be persuaded to get up to go back out! One day last week he just glared at me then very deliberately stretched flat out on his side ...

Meanwhile Jazz is practically begging to get back out to the field!
 
I wouldn't say mine's particularly either......but everyday he likes to have a little lay down and a snooze between 11.30 and 12! Can set your watch by him! And if he's having a lie down you can go over but he won't want to get up!
 
Mine can be very grumpy in the mornings, but only in winter when he's in overnight so I think it's more that he wants to go out rather than the time of day. He's generally much easier to deal with straight from the field, whether that's when he comes in of a winter evening or if he's out 24/7 in the summer.

In winter, if I'm planning on riding in the morning I give him a good brush in the evening if he's not too wet (he's rugged but legs etc still wet) so that I can just give him a quick flick over in the morning - easier for all involved.
 
Mine is definetly not! But I think she has adapted to my habits. If I go to ride her before 930am she is always laying down lol infact the only times I get her in early is if we are going somewhere funride, hunting etc. The fact that I am there early (after Ive got her up literally) she starts shivering and doing cowpats. Obviously associates earlies with going somewhere /excitement
 
My horse is not a fan of mornings at all now - he just wants to go straight to the field. On weekends mornings work better for me but I've given up trying to force the issue, and just spend time with him in an evening instead! I think a big part of it is his routine; during the week he'd be off out first in a morning, on a weekend I had been disrupting this.
 
Bilbo isn't an early bird, but then neither am I! I usually go riding after work so afternoon/evening if I am going to ride at all and the same for poop-scooping. I might find on the odd occasion I will be poop-scooping before work (if I have an evening engagement) I check on him in the morning on the way to work, but at the moment he is living out and not needing anything extra from me in the morning. So just a quick check to make sure he is alright and check his water is ok and then off to work.

On my day's off I am usually there late morning/early afternoon as I like to get the housework done first thing (housework and washing e.t.c!) so I don't have it all to go back to and I can enjoy the time spent with my horse :)
 
Jay gets into a routine.

At one point he was used to being ridden at any time of day or night (up to midnight anyway), or from 5am. These days I am no longer working shifts, so he is generally turned out in the morning, and ridden in the afternoon.

When he had no routine, he was pretty good whatever. Now he has a routine he dislikes doing anything in the morning other than be turned out!
 
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