Do horses need a day off?

L

Loubiepoo

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My horse gets worked - schooled, lunged or hacked out around 6 times a week and competed (dressage) at the weekends. This week I could do with working him at through till thursday and then giving him friday off, this will mean that he will have been worked about 10days in a row though (all be it 1 of these days was lunging and 2 days hacking). Do horses really need a day off? Opinions please
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do they buggery.

They work (unless in hard work) for a maximum of about 2 hours a day, and its out brain that says give them a break, They would and do work quiet happily for 7 days a week.

However after a hard comp (eventing) i would give them the day off for a gentle rest.

Lou x
 
I think it depends how much work they are doing.

My pony gets ridden every day unless I have gone Xc schooling or something similar Then she gets a day

I usually Hack her for 1-2 hours a day, or sometimes I do 30mins to an hour hard schooling

If my horse was working hard every day i would defiantly be giving her a day off each week
 
I think that generally a horse in work doesn't need a "physical" day off as such (except, as Nailed said, the day after a hard compeition). If they are in training and being schooled a great deal then giving them a mental break by simply hacking out is definitely of benefit.
 
I think the 'day-off' thing might come from when horses worked for their living - pulling trams, ploughing etc. and they did much longer stints of work than we give them.
 
Not sure if they need it but my boy gets it, as much for me really as I have other commitments. After a competition I like to give him a break mentally. I get two days off each week so can't see why he shouldn't get a break too
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mine gets ridden everytime i have the time to ride him usually everyday and sometimes twice a day but when he is on twice a day that is usually only getting him fit and then he will do some kind of schooling in the morning jumping/dressage for up to an hour and then a slow relaxing hack in the afternoon just so he doesnt associate being ridden as a boring thing.
also he usually gets a day off after a comp. but if it was only dressage then he gets ridden the next day but after an ODE he always gets 1 or 2 days off as he has not got the most sane brain (hehe it rhymed!!) so needs to forget all about the excitement!!!
 
I dont think they need it and it wouldnt do them any harm, but I think its good to let them chill out for a bit - even if that means just taking them for a hack, but we let ours chill in their fields.

Think it makes them happier ponios all round, but I'm probably just a softie. Our mare gets stressed if you do too much school work though so she benefits from it xxx
 
My horses get a day of after competition or xc schooling etc. i won't work them hard everyday though at at least once a week they get just a 20-30min hack in walk
 
My boys always get 1 day off a week, it's not a set day as such, it's usually a day after a competition, a strenuous lesson or a long hack. although sometimes if i think im too busy too ride i give them that day off or sometimes i am really tired and stressy so i give them that day off, cos my horse knows when i've had a stressful day!!

And sometimes if the weathers really bad (torrential rain, snow, gales, ice, etc.) i give them that day off and ride the next day instead.

I think they need a day to just chill out and be a horse!
 
My girl gets one day off a week as well, not so much because she needs it but because I do!!

The day after a comp we normally go for a wander around the block for an hour on a long rein just to chill out
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i have always and will always give my horses 1 day off in 7 so from monday to the following sunday they will have one day off but i might not always bee the same day each week. i think its only fair none of us would like to work 7 days a week
 
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