Do you give your horse time off?

Yes I am a big believer in holidays .
I always rest horses who have hunted the season they get their shoes removed and the length of their break depends on how fat they get the fatties may start light work after six to eight weeks .
I do believe that horses who hunt a proper season need rest to recharge their batteries .
I aim but don't always achieve a three month shoe free period for each once a year although the horse may not be out of work that whole time .
I also give horses mini breaks if I think it helps them that might be three days or so .
I always like to vary horses work load so they might get three hard days training followed by a couple days led out from another horses or hacking on loose riens .
 
Only horses who had a hard season and were very fit; my hunter and previously my two serious eventers.
 
ycbm said:
Only horses who had a hard season and were very fit; my hunter and previously my two serious eventers.
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I only hack mine and occasionally work in the school but like to try and give her a week off every few months. I feel it might be like us at work for them, we all need a break occasionally. I try to let her have two days off in a row too although it probably makes no difference!
 
Mine gets a few days off after competing away from home (we do TREC and most events are spread over 2 days) or he may get the odd week or most of a week off here and there when I'm super busy at work / with other things or if I go away for the weekend somewhere. His last planned proper break was him having a week off after doing a 50 mile ride, partly because immediately after I went away for 5 days but he'd prob have had a similar amount of time off anyway. He tends to injure himself in some way a few times a year so has enforced breaks from that but although he hunts maybe a couple of times a month in winter and does the TREC in the summer plus hacking for 10-20 miles a week in between I don't really class him as being in hard enough work to need a "proper" break of several months off (He has a few issues that generally improve the more he does so long holidays aren't really his friend anyway). I can see the benefit of a decent holiday for horses working hard ie eventers and hunters going out several times a week all season though as their body probably does need the recharge time (plus they would tend to be kept stabled the majority of the time whilst in work in most yards I'd guess so the fieldtime is good for them mentally too whereas mine spends the vast majority of his time in the field anyway)
 
Kamikaze said:
I would give them time off if they were ever in work long enough before injuring themselves!
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That would be nice wouldn't it. We are actually on just over a year of being in work apart from the odd week here or there :-)
She gets a couple od days of every week but I don't plan for her to have a holiday. Aside from anything else my schedule varies considerably so she has some very light weeks and some heavier ones.
I also find that the riskiest time for injury to them is as they come back into work following a break.
 
Yeah, I need time off too!!!

My current mare has had loads of time off. She was broken at 3 and then had the winter off, then did a few months work and had another 6 months off because i was pregnant. She seems to have done quite well from her breaks. I've been working her quite hard towards an event as well which was on saturday but I've not ridden her since so she can have a little break. But will pick up again tomorrow.

I suppose they don't really NEED a break (unless in very hard work, hunters, race horses etc.) but i can't really be bothered to go riding all the time so i doubt they can!
 
Mine is competition fit and in fairly hard work 6 days a week. When I go away next month he'll have a week off. I tend to find a little break does him the world of good and am already excited about cracking on once I'm home.
 
My guys got turned away at the end of the hunting season - depends on the weather and grass growth, but this year they went out (a month earlier than last year) in April.

Kept one in work as he hadn't done much over winter, and he's now having a bit of an easy time - a couple of weeks with turnout and occasional hacks as I realised he was getting a bit fit for a hunter at this time of year! Got another one up which is going on the market next week and then the others will start to come in slowly over the next month.... lots of walk work, yeay!
 
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. :D

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.
 
I give mine 3 months off over the winter. I find he's a lot more enthusiastic for work when he comes back. Having his shoes off improves his hooves aswell.
 
I used to give my gelding a month off at the end of the event season - for both of us! I tend to be knackered by then after months of hard work training, fitness work and competing so I like it too. He used to come back super fresh and perky.

I don't think my mare benefits in the same way. Last year she didn't have a holiday as had an injury mid season which led to a few quiet months mid season so seemed pointless and year before was a self inflicted month off.

This year (fingers crossed for no injuries) I'm just going to give her two weeks off as I still want a break but like I said she just doesn't seem to benefit the same way as my gelding did, she's better with more consistent work.
 
I don't plan breaks but often when life catches up with me and I'm tired and losing motivation to ride, I just give myself permission to not to. So they often have 1 or 2 weeks breaks throughout the year. Mine live out 24/7 all year though so they don't lose any fitness fortunately and come back in to work happy and relaxed.
 
No, Fig doesn't benefit from blocks of work off. He will have 1-3 weeks of easier work/downtime but I don't give him more than 4 days off if I can avoid it and he's certainly very tricky to ride when I come back to ride after being away for any longer than that!
 
rara007 said:
A day off per day stayed away from home :)
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^^ this for me too.
Other than that, we might have spells where we don't compete, but would continue training. We did that over the winter, Kira did no shows from the autumn until new year so that we had a good chunk of time to learn some new stuff. She's a horror if not kept in work though.

Millie has had more than enough time off in the last 4 years, she has a better work/life balance than Kira anyway due to being old and creaky so no planned time off :p
 
Medium level dressage horse has a day or so off a week (less now she's on fat camp), I will plan some easier weeks in after the summer season, so stop schooling and do some fun stuff for her. She's too much of a good do'er to give lots of time off :o.

Five year old has had set blocks off, she was turned away after being backed at 3 for a few months and then has had breaks of a couple of weeks either through injury or just to let her grow ever since. To ride she is always very hot to bring back into work, but physically and mentally it was important for her to have breaks and not over-do it with her. Now she's five she feels much stronger so her work load has increased to 4/5 times a week and I'm not sure I'll give her blocks of time off now but just easier hacking weeks.

If they worked harder I'd give them more down time but for light/medium level work and good do'ers it's better to keep them ticking over (now Skylla isn't a baby anymore).


To add, although Skylla was always a bit hot about coming back into work, she always felt better for the break and more accepting of the human carrier role :lol:.
 
mine get a break from competing in the winter and shoes off. I think shoes off is a good idea and the lack of work is lack of light and not having an arena really! they still hack out 2-3x week though
 
No planned blocks of time off - he doesn't do enough to warrant it and tends to become slightly "feral" if not worked frequently. However, he gets time off when either my work or the weather demands. At this time of year, he can sometimes do seven days a week, mostly hacking. I'd rather work him all summer than restrict grass and he is a "good doer" so work keeps excess weight at bay.

However, this is partly because of our set-up. The horses are out 24/7 in the summer and have 12 hours or more turn out all winter so they have plenty of opportunity just to be horses and switch their brains and bodies off. If our regime was less relaxed, I might take a different view. We recently went away for three days and he had more work than usual. I had planned to take him for a half-hour hack the day after we returned to relieve any stiffness but torrential rain (roads like rivers) put paid to that so he did get a day off!

I don't feel my horse benefits from a break but I do think some horses do. Young horses need time out from learning and older horses sometimes need "mental" time off, even if physically OK.
 
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.
 
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