Do you give your horse time off?

[JFTDWS]

Mine works twice a day, 7 days a week, pretty much all summer, other than odd days here and there, usually after a weekend away. In winter, he gets a day or two off a week. He'll get a month or so solidly off this winter too.

The other one only works once a day, five days a week or so all year round. He'll have time off to give him a break from his shoes over winter too though.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Jeffs had a 7 year holiday.
Gray has had nearly 3 weeks of work in 2 years.
Rains has had pretty much a year off.

You get my drift. .. too many to work and not enough time!

If mine were in consistart work they would get a couple of months off during the worst of the winter. I am a showing person and in my world shows happen between April and October and that's it! I refuse to hear otherwise!

Racing happens in winter!

 

[jules9203]

It depends on the horse and my work schedule.
I used to give all my horses December off. It was dark when I went to work and got home. I didn't have the enthusiasm and they all seemed to come back keen.
The mare I'd retired was far better having a week off every few months. She always came back into work with a better attitude. When I bred a foal from her 2 yrs ago and the foal was weaned she was so naughty to lead that I brought her back into light work and she's much calmer.

 

[MagicMelon]

Yup. I have never been one to ride mine every single day, mainly because Ive never had a school to ride in so if the grass paddock is extremely wet/muddy or if its frozen solid then I wouldnt risk it. So mine aren't exactly worked religeously anyway, and mine all live out 24/7. But I would still always give mine a proper holiday every year - usually in the winter, December and January. So 2 months, possibly 3 if the winters really horrible. I think its good for them to just switch off completely, they always stay fresh and none of mine have never got stale competing / jumping as a result.

Unless I sell my lovely competition mare, I'll have to give her the winter off as I'm due to have my baby in early December. Still riding now and will continue but will likely stop once the weather starts to turn in October.

 

[miss_c]

Ordinarily mine get December off until schools break up, and then just hacking for the rest of December. I'm mental with work in the run-up to Christmas so it helps me as well! However in 2016 all that went out of the window so who knows what 2017 will bring.

 

[Kat]

Not really.

She is happier in work, she had just over a week off due to a minor injury recently and was very fed up. She doesn't hunt or compete every week, more like once a month to once a fortnight so she isn't in seriously hard work. She gets a couple of quiet hacking days each week so she has some down time. She is unshod all year round so doesn't need a break from shoes. The closest to a holiday she gets is when I go on holiday and she will just hack quietly at the weekend with my sister so that is almost a holiday.

 

[atouchwild]

When my TB was eventing I would give her a couple of months off from October-January-ish - she was still quite young and worked hard all season. She was just well rugged and thrown out, shoes off. Not one you could pick up and put down, she was either in work or not. She no longer events but has just had a foal so has had 3 years off! Now back in work along with 3 others. They do not really get planned holidays anymore, but if I feel they are a little tired or ready for a break they will get one. I have an 18 year old pony who is in full competition work and out most weekends, although does a variety of disciplines. At the end of last season she had a little break as I felt she needed it, given her age especially. Came back fighting.
They more get their holidays to fit around me to be honest, but I have to force myself to do it. Currently struggling with horsebox issues, some financial difficulty and will be moving yards in a couple of weeks. Have decided they can all have a few weeks break while they get moved and settled. I'm not very good if I don't have an aim or plan, which is normally competition related so with the horsebox and money situation, I can't plan to compete any time soon. Therefore motivation is low anyway. I feel guilty and anxious at the thought of not doing anything with them, in my head of course I think they will turn into feral lunatics that have never been schooled. In reality this is not the case. My sister bullies me into not putting pressure on them or myself, which helps me massively!

 

[DD]

Yes!
- When it's too hot and the horseflies have declared war;
- When it's too cold and the ice has declared war;
- When finally I declare war and go on vacation.

Fortunately, my guy is a sensible type and lives 24/7 outside in huge fields, so any time off does nothing but good for him, and I can hop back on any time and ride gloriously into the sunset.

^^^^same as this

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Sometimes they have January off if weather is crappy

 

[FDLady]

Grumps is in work six days a week (unless life and work catches up with me and i just dont have time). If we compete away she usually gets the next day off to chill as well though sometimes we might go on a gentle walk hack instead around the village if the weathers too nice to waste.
This year has been very busy with competing and moving up the levels so once the championships are over she'll have a weeks holiday off in the rested field to just relax with the boys as a glorified lawnmower - Every August though i go away for 10 days so she (like all my previous horses) always has the time off, so looks like this year she'll have three weeks off and then it will be back to routine all through winter ready for next spring

 

[Annagain]

I never plan for them to have time off as they don't really work hard enough to warrant it but they sometimes go a week or two without being ridden just because life gets in the way. I'm lucky in that neither of them change with time off. A is still a thug and M is still a slug!

Having said that, M just had 4 weeks off as I was away and his owner had to ride her son's pony as son has lost confidence with him and his weight was becoming an issue. He's hacked a couple of times since I've been back and I rode him in the school for 20 minutes on Saturday. If I could have found a dressage competition to take him to there and then I would have. He was bouncing! His lengthening was the best I've ever had from him. I do very little in the school with him anyway as he does get stale in there and at 21 he knows his job without too much practice but a longer break has obviously done him the world of good.

 

[Beth206]

Tris is now long-reining 4-5 days a week - not for long, and he was looking rather plump, so the exercise is needed! (Plus it's improving my fitness too!)

He's had a break from me this week as I'm on holiday, and if we start consistently struggling with each other, I give him a few days off and start from scratch.

If my day has completely gone to pot and I can't simmer down / ditch the negative attitude, he gets a quick groom and a bit of a fuss - it's better that he has a day off from "work" rather than us having an argument over something silly.

I am with you on this Jinx - my mare is young and a VERY good doer so I like to keep her as active as possible but also have to appreciate she is still growing and can only work well for 30 minutes maximum before fighting.
On average we hack once or twice a week, school once a week and groundwork once a week. And that is if the weather permits as I don't have an arena and the horses are turned out 24/7 so if we plan to go riding in the morning and it has rained during the night and horses are wet, we don't go. Similarly if our field is too wet to ride on then we don't school. Also if I don't feel mentally up to riding after a long day, then I don't as my mare can also be head strong and we end up fighting.

In winter we only hack on the weekends as it's too dark after work and the field is too wet to do any schooling so she has a nice steady winter to mature. Again she is mostly turned out 24/7 and they have nice big fields so she keeps herself reasonably active.

 

[tashcat]

Mine have holidays when I do!

Other than that, occasionally I'll give them a few days off or my schedule may mean they have up to a week off, but otherwise no.

 

[AandK]

Throughout the year, he will inevitably have the odd week here and there due to weather/holidays/life, but the only time he has had any more than that has been due to injury. He is 20 now, so on a weekly basis gets ridden between 3-5 days a week. When he was younger, it was usually 5/6 days work a week, always with 2 days off after an ODE.

 

[Ellietotz]

Yes!
- When it's too hot and the horseflies have declared war;
- When it's too cold and the ice has declared war;
- When the saddle has declared war as well and I don't have the willpower to ride bareback that much;
- When finally I declare war and go on vacation.

Fortunately, my guy is a sensible type and lives 24/7 outside in huge fields, so any time off does nothing but good for him, and I can hop back on any time and ride gloriously into the sunset.

Haha this is great!