DIY-ers, how often do you 'do' your horse?

Girlracer

Girlracer

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I've just moved yards from a private yard with just me and my mum to a slightly busier livery yard. Major is my first horse that isn't one my mum has bought and mainly looked after and i got him in September.

Since moving and having a bit of independence i've got into a (IMO) good routine with him, and am loving it. I see him in the morning, no later than 9.30 on days i don't work, and around 6 when i do. If i'm working he gets flung on the walker whilst i muck out, then i lunge him at night. When i don't work he goes on the walker then i ride in the morning, he gets turned out then comes in at night. I don't think this is to over the top, although i appreciate some people are busier than i currently am (in my line of work it's very busy in the summer, then i have no money all winter ;)) i do love keeping everything neat and tidy, and having a routine with him and i find it helps keep him chilled and happy.

However i never quite realised how bizzare some peoples view is on looking after their horses? There's one at the yard and i've seen it's owners once since i got there and from what other liverys say everyone else often feels sorry for him and have to hay and water him. And he only gets mucked out at the weekend, IMO i wouldn't want to keep a horse this way, surely this isn't 'normal' or am i just to over the top with my horse?
 
I go to do mine twice a day everyday (apart from Sharer's two days when I only go once). Like you I go before work, getting there a shade before 6am, to turn them both out and muck out and get everything done for the evening. I'm home before 7 and leave for work at 7.45am. I then go up again after work (8/8.30pm finish) to bring in and put to bed.

At the moment my sharer is out of action so I am lunging before work as well. We don't have the luxury of a walker!

The latest I am on the yard is 9am and that is rare, usually by 8.30am. Others on the yard wil not arrive until after 11am. You learn to live and let live.
 
Normally twice a day, 7 days a week. Weekdays I go up at 5.30am, then again at 5.30pm. Weekends it's 7.30 am and whatever time in the evening (usually there all afternoon!)

At the moment I'm still broken so can't get there by myself, so someone else feeds them morning and night, and I get taken up mid day to do muck outs etc
 
Twice a day, always. If I don't it's because I've asked my mum or friend to do him in the morning or evening.
At the moment I go up at 7.30 in the morning and then 3.30 in the afternoon. In the summer its different as he lives out at night and in during the day so I tend to go up later in the morning and later at night unless it's boiling in which case I get up uber early to ride before it's too hot.
All horses at my yard are looked after twice a day apart from the native ponies that live out, their owners come up once a day :)
 
Twice a day. 6:30am before work to muck out and turn out, then back down after work at 4pm to bed down and ride. I either school for 30 mins or hack for an hour with this doubled at weekends when I have more daylight! The horse next to me is owned by a 15 year old girl who seems to have a schedule all of her own which means that she turns up when she wants to ride and other days may or may not text a random person on the yard to get them to do her horse. I've tried telling people to charge her if they end up doing her horse as there is a full livery facility of an extra £5 a day, but one girl is too weak to stand up to her and say no. It's not worth the arguing so I've learnt to leave them all to it.
 
Well see I'm one of the types who can go for weeks without seeing other liveries. I'm always up there twice a day (except at the moment as I have a lass doing them mornings a few days a week), but I tend to just turf them out in the morning and muck out when I come back in the evening before bringing in. I go up late (normally after 9pm) as it means they're out more than they're in, and as there's two of them they don't worry about being out last. I tend to work late so it works for us. Some liveries up there don't believe I exist, I think ;) I'm not very sociable so that suits me fine too... I'm up there during the day at weekends, but tend to be hacking / riding, I don't spend a lot of time hanging about chatting.
 
twice a day by myself and my husband - my husband does mornings and is never at yard later than 8.30am at weekends, 7 am throught week.
I like to bring in when dusk is approaching so plan my days to fit round this - obviously leaving out longer as spring approaches unless i am riding or lunging x
 
once a day as I have a native pony living out and as I work an hour and half away from the yard.

however most of the people with living out horses and ponies don't come every day as they rely on others to check their horses.
 
Mine is on DIY when I'm back from Uni in summer. I see him once a day, purely because if I'm working an early shift I have to leave my house at 7 to avoid London traffic and make sure I'm at work by 8.30. My work is 30 mins (without traffic) and 45-60 mins with traffic from my house, and my stables are 25 mins (without traffic) in the opposite direction, so to save time and petrol money I pay a small amount to have him fed and turned out. I then have an hours journey from work (in traffic) to my stables in the afternoon when I do all my duties/ride.
 
I have three, all on diy. Two are in at night and one lives out.

I get to yard between 6.30 and 8 am, depending on work, feed yard (feeds all ready the night before) as I'm usually first there, skip out my mare while she is eating, turn out mare with filly who lives out, quick glance at filly to check she is ok, go back for gelding, turn him out and put two feeds in field for him (second breakfast, as he won't eat much in his stable in the mornings) and his field mate.

Back to yard, finish mares stable, tip out water and put hay in. Muck out gelding, tip out water and put hay in. Put water and sugarbeet in feeds ready for evening and following morning, put in yard owners feed room.

Go to work.

In the evening, I get mare and gelding in, always one at a time, as mare hates gelding, which is a pain. Sometimes my friend has already got them in for me. Groom, ride gelding, work on getting mares udder handled as she's due to foal soon, Feed filly, give her hay and check her over. Occassionally get her in to groom her. Fill haynets ready for next day.
 
I am down at 6am during the week. I turn out and muck out mine and my daughters pony so beds are left up for the day. However I go down on my own as it is easier than getting a teenager out of bed! We are then down again at between 4 and 5 to ride and finish stables. At the weekends we get down at 8.30 - 9.00 at weekends as hate being down late! We then ride and muck out and bring in at apron 5pm. I love seeing our girls twice a day!
 
i am at the yard by 8am at the latest everyday, feed,muck out ,ride and turn out. back at 4.30 at the moment to get in feed,rug so i can skip out field before it gets dark. horse is out 24/7 in summer but still do twice a day. :)
 
Varies as I work shifts -

Days off/ working days - Twice a day, (AM) before work I'll go down, feed, change water, skip out and rug change. YO then turns him out during day/ brings in. (PM) after work, full muck out, feed, change water, rug change, ride/ lunge.

Working lates - Once a day, (AM) full muck out, feed, change water, turnout. Then my mum sorts him in PM with feed, water and skip out :D

Sounds chaotic but it works and runs quick smoothly. Couldn't go a day without seeing him as I'd only worry.
 
twice a day..

at weekends - im th eonly one there before 10.30 generally lol!!.....

when i work - he YO puts her out for me anyhow :).... but i still go twice a day - to muck out and then back again later to bring in

stupid but i cant stand leaving her bed just before i bring her in :o
 
Twice a day! In the morning never later then 8 and in the evening no later then 5 but he will normally get done sooner then that.

There are plenty of people at my yard who never see their horse and tbh unless the horse is neglected I don't really care, if that's how they want to keep their horse then I'll just remind myself not to get them to look after mine when I'm on holiday. :p
 
Always twice a day, once in the morning before eldest goes to school to put him out in his field and then once in the afternoon to muck out, muck puck the field and then bring him in and feed, on Monday, Wednesday and the weekend he gets ridden after mucking out as eldest is in afterschool clubs :). Twice is perfect amount of times any less than that your not really looking after your horse it's looking after itself!
 
similer to another poster above.
work shifts so on a late shift, im up there in morning and ride and get everything ready for mum to put away. and on an all day shift, i dont :( mum does it all but i only have 2 shifts like that twice every 2 weeks.
 
i only go once a day but that's because it's assisted livery so they are turned out in the mornings for me, i go down around 1pm ish and spend a few hours there doing the chores, riding/exercising/playing and nattering! get home about 9pm ready for bed!

i was on a DIY yard and would go down at 9.15am after dropping kids off at school and then do the chores, ride turnout and then go back down about 8.30pm to fetch in and sort out the rugs.

i used to rent my own place and they lived out (unless needing to be stabled) but the barn opened up into the field so they always had shelter, i'd go down in summer about mid morning and go home again about 6pm, in winter i'd go down in the morning to feed and check rugs and then again in the evening.
 
My mare is on assisted DIY (only type of DIY available at the yard) but most days I still go up twice a day unless I have to leave straight for work after dropping my little boy off at childcare or am home after 7.30pm from work and then I do the opposite end of the day. I have always kept my horse on DIY and always gone up twice a day but my husband now has a very busy job with long days so having the option of her being done at one end of the day has definitely worked out well for us.
 
Once today as I share tasks with another girl - I feed and turn hers out in the morning, I do my muck out and get the stables ready for the evening and she brings them in and feeds him at night, so no reason for me to go again as we both know what the other needs doing. Most days I go twice just because I like to check that they still have four legs and some days I will go three times. My mare is coming back from rehab at weekend and is a total stresser, so I will be turning her out in the morning, going at lunch to check she is ok and again in the evening. I used to do late night checks as well, but I then realised that all I was doing was disturbing their sleep - they looked totally peed off when I put the lights on!
 
I go down to mine twice a day. In the morning I let him out for a roll in the sandschool, whilst I muck him out and do his hay and breakfast. If I ride I hang round for an hour to let his food digest. I also take his rug off for the day, and groom his loose hair our.
In the evening I poo pick his stable, give him some more hay and his dinner and then rug him up for the night.

Sometimes I ride in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, it varies. :P
 
Twice a day everyday as I'm only 7 mins from yard. When I first got him 7 years ago I was doing very long hours at work for the first year I had him so he had to be on part livery but I would still go up in the evenings.
 
Twice a day 4/5 days per week - morning around 5.30am muck out and turn out and all others chores, evening arund 5.30/6pm to ride, feed and hay

I have a sharer who looks afer him 2/3 times per week who also goes up twice on her days
 
I expect my diy liveries to come up a minium of 2 x a day in the winter and 1 x a day in the summer - this is now in their contracts but canl offer 'assistance' if they cannot come up.

I had a livery who in the summer regularily did not attend to her horse daily, leaving the other clients who shared the field to assume responsibility - I eventually asked her to leave as it was causing a bad atmospehere and obviuosly unfair on the others.
 
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