Competition horses and holidays

[racebuddy]

How many people give thier comeption horses a bit of a winter holiday and over xmas

Mine thrives on the work so has
Breaks through the year

He was kept fairly quiet over the summer due to wheather being to
Hot so was looking forward to
Winter however yard shut due to strangles so having a enforced break 😩😩

 

[milliepops]

Mine are dressage horses so we have a summer and winter season. We'll have a little break from competing this month but they stay in full work, I love this time of year for cracking on a bit with the training.

One of mine has had a very busy year, they both had 2 weeks off in the autumn when I got married but the they are better in regular work, neither benefit from breaks of more than a few days.

 

[TelH]

I show M+M ponies. There are a few indoor shows on within a reasonable distance, I could probably show twice a month through the winter if I wanted to. However, I always give them time off and just let them be hairy ponies for a while. They will come back into work at some point in January and be ready to go for the spring shows.

 

[Shay]

We had competition SJ ponies for some time. We have breaks at least every 12 weeks - the aim was for every 8. SJ'rs keep going year round so it is essential to build in decent breaks - even if they thrive on work. If they are keen they may only need one week, if they are a bit more sour they might need 4 or 6 weeks. The important thing is to be guided by the animal.

 

[Ahrena]

My eventer had 2 weeks off at the end of the season. Planned to crack on after that but she went lame so dealing with that instead now!

 

[Polos Mum]

Many eventer have a couple of months off at the end of Oct then start building up again from xmas ready for March events.
My retired one I kept in broadly the same routing (Jan and 1/2 feb of) and he always came back from a break better for it. I think the rest helps fix little niggles and gives their brain a break. First 2-3 days he was silly but then relaxed and enjoyed it. He had 24/7 turnout whenever the weather allowed and never more than 12 hours in at one time so he wasn't stuck in a stable for 2 months !!

 

[scats]

My jumping pony used to have a 2-week holiday after the last championships of the summer season (usually end of October), then we’d have a fairly quiet November and early December and then pick back up again to be ready for the New Year.

The showing ones only did the summer season so they’d not have much in the way of a holiday, but would often have a quiet November- Feb.

These dressage ones have what I like to refer to as December downtime.