Does anyone else feel guilty at this time of year???

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AutumnRose

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For how much less they manage to ride?? B is getting ridden 4 or 5 times a week at the moment which includes a competition at the weekend normally with either a hack or a jump lesson on the other weekend day. In the week he either gets two schooling sessions or 2 schools and a lunge if i have time.

I do feel guilty for not doing more but it's such hard work in the dark and i think he's fit enough for his work at the moment. I'm trying to conserve energy for when i need to step up the workload in mid-January for the beginning of the season and it's still pitch black
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Just wondered if anyone else shared my pain at the moment!!!

P.S. Thanks for all the vibes for B's pulled muscle last week, a week off seems to have done the trick and he was back to normal this weekend. Riding after a week off in gale force wind on Saturday wasn't the brightest idea though....
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i only don't ride if the weather either very wet or very windy (or both!) on those days i don't feel guilty because i don't feel my boys would particularly enjoy being ridden anyway!
 
I feel terrible. Our field are currently flooded and Maggie has been in since Thursday. She goes on the walker and is worked every day, but only get to hack out one day at the weekend (much too dark by the time we can get to the yard during the week) as she is often competing the other day. I hate it. :-(
 
I'm lucky in that B goes out in field everyday from about 7am until it gets dark, whatever the weather!!!

I don't know why i feel guilty, he'd be perfectly happy being a happy hacker and plodding out for a ride once a week i should think!!!
 
I'm feeling a bit guilty too. Due to the foul weather the horses have had 3 or 4 days in recently. Their field is so soft and squishy.

They still have got plenty of exercise though.

Please let it stop raining soon. I've just been on metcheck again, and Tues and Fri are the only reasonable looking days this week.

Fiona
 
no, mine are in the field with good rugs shelter and hay! worked as req , walker, hacking hunting etc. They are as happy as pigs in ****, or horses in mud! They are waterproof, dont shrink and come out to do a job!
 
I don't think horses like to be ridden this time of year as much anyway, so you're probably doing them a favour! I only do enough to keep them going to do a few final shows before they go out completely on hols for a few weeks. Well rugged up, of course!
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Nah, I've just bunged ours in the field with a (literal) tonne of hay and some big rugs. Riding is very intermittent to say the least. One day, I *will* have a yard with an indoor - then I'll actually ride instead of peering at the sky and saying 'tut tut it looks like rain'...
 
Yep, huge guilt trip atm, Ted's been off for 10 days now due to 'lack of communication' from farrier...say no more! Seems remarkably happy tho, larking about in mud up to his belly. Tomorrow all should be fixed tho, so no more excuses!! Can i just say yours looks remarkably like mine - blue and white - grandsire Honeypot Stardom - any relation??
 
tedsmum - i have no idea on his breeding although i'd love to find out. He's Irish and came over through a dealer who imports/exports all the time. Wouldn't know where to start in tracing him though!!!
 
i dont feel guilty mainly because we dont currently have floodlights so during the week riding is impossible (mum rides him twice) and i get wednesday afternoons off, so he's still being ridden 5 times a week
 
They look like two peas in a pod!! Prob absolutely no help to you but mine was bred in Taunton and I believe has 2 brothers eventing at Intro/PN level. He's by a Sports Horse stallion called Croxlea Dodger, and I think the Croxlea stud is based in the South West.
 
I think they most certainly enjoy a break over winter!!! Mr p is getting ridden 3 times a wk max and i think he loves it.Schooling must be soooo boring for them all yr round!!! Plus its getting cold and very wet and im more than happy to give my beasty a cuddle and his grub then run back home in the warm!!
Hurry up spring,im missing jumpies!!!
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Oh good, i'm glad lots of other ponies are having an easy time at the moment!!!

Tedsmum - All i can find on Google about Honeypot Stardom is that he's Irish!!! Do you know anything more about him? I'd love to try and investigate B's background. Can i see a pic of your boy? PM me if you'd prefer
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I feel guilty period atm as I only get to see her weekends, never mind the riding... Knowing what your workload is like I am impressed you manage to do that much with Blue, you must run on Duracel!

Riding wise, I feel guilty about the lack of work I do - I have put schooling on hold for the moment as I was finding at weekends we were missing the opportunity to just chill and enjoy simply riding and neither of us particularly enjoy schooling. At the same time though I end up feeling guilty that yet more time goes by where we potter about but make no real progression with schooling work. Its a no win situation!

Roll on Christmas - 2 weeks off, nights start drawing out and nolonger living 100 miles away mon-fri!
 
Ah Jen you already know about my coffee/wine diet....that's the only way i survive!!!! Am soooooooooo looking forward to the Christmas break!!! Having said that i'm dreading the New Year as i know my B placement (although not confirmed) will be atleast double the distance from where i go at the moment and in opposite direction to yard. Am in slight denial about how i'm going to ride enough to get him fit for March but i'll give it a go!!!
 
Atleast you know where your next placement is!

We have a good 6 weeks back at uni after xmas so although I'll still have a good 45 min commute it should be workable with and atleast I will be home in the evenings, although it could mean doing my schooling in a boggy field in the dark (school is a short hack up the road).

I agree that the coffee *inset tipple of choice* diet is complete survival!
 
We havent been given schools yet i just know mine is the furthest from uni at the moment and all the others are at least 45 mins away compared to my 15mins at the moment!!! We have a few weeks back in uni too which will be relaxing after school!
 
Nope don't feel too guilty. Mine gets worked about 4-5 times a week too when possible, but I dont beat myself up about it because she doesn't need to be super fit for anything at the moment
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No point in beating yourself up, we're only human
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As long as you're sensible and make sure you're keeping them fit for what they need to be doing, its not a problem. If you werent riding for weeks, and only hopping on for competitions, thats when you SHOULD feel guilty
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I used to feel guilty and get quite stressed ifi didn't manage to ride or lunge 6 days a week...but as the horses have gotten older and i've learned that they don't turn into wild crazed animals if they have a couple of days off in a row i've done less and less with them over the winter. We used to have an indoor school so there really was no excuse, but now we only have a floodlit school that tends to flood after heavy rain anyway, i will try to ride once or twice a week in the school during the week and lunge another day...and then usually hack out once or twice at the weekend or go to a show. Interestingly both horses tend to hav better results over the winter.....when they are doing less
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not guilty really- more frustrated!

we don't have a school let alone floodlights so Pilfer gets boxed up once a week to use a local school and hacked fri/sat/sun.

Millie is on holiday until christmas as she had a reasonably hard summer and also it is easier for me!
 
I don't think you should feel guilty Laura, 4/5 times a week is fine for the winter. That's about what I do too. We don't need to be galloping around xc courses at this time of year and the daylight dictates for me at the moment.

I can't school mine more than twice/three times a week max really as he just switches off. So I try to hack him out quickly (45 mins) mid week before work, school the other days in the week and compete/jump one weekend day and hack the other. I would love to lunge but we are not allowed on my yard
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I don't feel guilty at all that the Sprog's pony is having an easier time now - I think she deserves a lighter workload after the amount of work she has done this year! We don't have an arena, so winter riding is very limited after school. Sprog is managing two nights a week at the moment, when we leg it down the lanes to a friend's arena, have a speedy schooling session and then leg it back again covered in lights and hi viz! But probably going to be too dark next week to even do that.
 
I ride probably 3/4 times a week and feel no guilt as you can only do what you can with no facilities and a full time job. I have never had a problem with fitness and they go out all day which is effectively a horse walker as the grass has no nutrition. If my horse was in all day then I might feel guilty but as its out all day and in at night then I know its very happy.
 
Nar i don't feel guilty, my eventer going on holiday and gets into lots of field trouble!! and my hunter is very happy as it's his time to be fussed.

I'm a great beleiver in giving horse holidays and i plan it around this time of year for eventer and may, june for hunter. And it defo easys the workload
 
Nope, this is the time of year my boy has off on his annual break! He works hard all year doing BE and BSJA so he always has 2-3 months off over the winter. I'll start bringing him back into work end of Jan-ish time depending on the weather. Id probably not give him quite so much as 3 months off if I had a lit arena or something to ride in but trying to ride in the pitch black in a mud-bath or frozen paddock is not my idea of fun.
 
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I ride probably 3/4 times a week and feel no guilt as you can only do what you can with no facilities and a full time job. I have never had a problem with fitness and they go out all day which is effectively a horse walker as the grass has no nutrition. If my horse was in all day then I might feel guilty but as its out all day and in at night then I know its very happy.

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We have had to move to a yard with no school and with college/work Jack can only ride 3 times a week as too dark. My farrier said Duke was the most chilled he'd ever known him last week so he must be happy
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QR, I have hardly seen my horse let alone ridden him in the last two weeks and I feel so guilty.

I have a really bad chest infection that won't clear up (asthmatic so always get it worse). He is on full livery but I really miss him.

I don't have the energy to drive the 4 miles to the barn and off course I don't want to spread my bugs.

Hubby is finishing work too late to take me in the evening at the moment.

Shall have to see how the drug cocktail is working tomorrow.

Paddy
 
Nope, not at all. Mine's getting three/four days hacking a week and one/two days of gridwork - total of four or sometimes five days work in total. She's earned an easy time of it after a hectic six months competing and schooling. And all our hacks are just in walk.

Feels very odd though not to be riding six days a week.

And... I haven't schooled on the flat for over four weeks now! Only go in the school to do 10mins of gridwork each week.

Just keeping her ticking over until I up the work in Jan.

And I every reason not to find excuses as we have floodlit indoor and outdoor schools but I think the rest is doing her good. However once the fields become too wet for turnout and she's just in a pen during the day and stabled at night I will go back to riding her daily to stretch her legs although will keep the workload light. I'm lucky in that I'm in uni so can ride in the day and hack out during the week
 
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