Eventing/BS a grass kept horse?

[siennamiller]

I am really struggling financially, and thinking I may have to sell, but am wondering about moving her to a friends field. She is currently living out most of the time at he moment, but obv I have a stable if I need it? There is no school though, and no point spending out on school hire what I save on the livery, so would have to only hack (hacking is good), and maybe have the odd lesson.
Anyone else do this?
Thanks

 

[forelegs]

As long as you can keep the horse fit enough I can't see why you couldn't manage this.
You can school whilst hacking - the difficulty would be jumping practice, but if you could occasionally hire/borrow a school and have a jumping session or lesson, that might be enough.
Is the horse experienced BS/BE? I probably wouldn't do this with one that needed lots of practice, but for a more experienced horse that just needed a 'refresher' before competing, I think it would be workable.

 

[Golden_Match_II]

Tam wasn't on grass all year round but was in summer - however I couldn't school her because she was a psycho in our little 20x30 arena. I had a lesson every other week and hacked lots, and we competed up to BE Novice and BS 1m15 It's possible!

 

[siennamiller]

No, we did two (first ever for both of us) BE 80 last year, our dressage needs work, Sj I would do with her anyway, and xc she is great.
Our canter is pretty pants, and have been working on it, but was thinking could do hill work, and maybe find somewhere to school when it is a bit drier ( could even school in my garden, enough room for that/ Sj, just not enough to put horse.

 

[star]

My horse lives out 24/7 and events successfully at BE100. I do have a school but he would manage without it as he's quite experienced now.

 

[gunnergundog]

Years ago I evented one very buzzy horse up to intermediate one day whilst kept at grass. However, I did have a school. Guess it depends on the level you wish to event at, the level at which the horse is currently working at and the nature of the horse.

 

[siennamiller]

We scored 35 at be 80 in the dressage, and she could have done much better, but realised after the test that the bit had rubbed her slightly, so she was a bit tense, so I guess you could say her level is 80/90?

 

[Orangehorse]

I had a nutcase mare, a TB x Cleveland Bay, and when I went away on holiday I sent her to a pretty well known and succesful event rider for livery for a couple of weeks and asked him to keep her going ready for a ODE I had entered.
His advice was to keep her out and ride her from the field (and don't give hard feed?????). Well, for the level we were doing anyway which was PC/RC classes.

I think you would be surprised how little some "professionals" feed their horses, especially at the lower levels. Every horse is an individual, so some need more feed than others. As for eventing from the field, why not? You can go to lessons somewhere - local riding club maybe using a school, and you can doing schooling exercises out hacking. Not ideal I know and I also know that standards are very high, but I think you can make it work if you really want to.

 

[kassieg]

I event my mare and she lives out all summer 24/7 although comes in on nights of events but doesn't have to just generally have an early time so its easier.

I have just moved to my own yard (yayy) & don't have a school and actually i am finding that schooling in my schooling paddock is actually really good, my mare has improved so much on grass over the month I have been there I actually think it will really help with dressaging on grass.
Definitely can work if you want it to

 

[Llee94]

I keep my mare out 24/7 from march till November and she comes in during the evenings during the winter, more to rest the field than for her benefit.
I don't have a school but am lucky enough to have a large flat field that I can use for my canter work, dressage and show jumping practice. Plus most dressage and sj in eventing are held on grass anyway so I find it really good to practice on grass rather than a surface. I have regular lessons as I find it very beneficial to have somebody shout at me, but I do a majority of my schooling at home on my own or my mum will pop out to give me some help with poles if jumping.
During the winter, I will practice schooling while out hacking. You can do all sorts like medium and collected trot, lateral work, transitions, halts, rein back etc and I practice my canter work and transitions on bridle ways. The only thing you can't really practice are circles and serpentines unless you can get into a large suitable area.
I compete my mare in BS up to 1.15m and BE Novice level and I am aiming her at her first 1* and moving up to intermediate this year. If I have a later time, I will always leave her out the night before a competition as she is so much more chilled that way. So yes, it is entirely possible to compete a horse that is kept at grass.

 

[Lyle]

You sure can! I evented up to 2* without any facilities bar a small paddock. It's not easy, it sucks when it's wet weather, but my horse was always fit. I'm not going to lie, our dressage did suffer! I had a jumping lesson every week without fail, competed on the weekends, and occasionally begged neighbours to use their school. the hardest part was training up the youngsters, they really do need circles to help with balance. If you're not 100% hell-bent on winning, and are happy to enjoy comps for what they are, it's certainly do-able!

 

[siennamiller]

Great, lots of positive replies. Let's hope I can put her in the field, and it doesn't fall thru...

 

[glamourpuss]

I know an eventer who has an Olympic medal who has as many of their horses out 24/7 as they can through the summer & do most of their schooling & jumping on grass!

 

[wench]

My horse is out all year round, barring the odd night in a stable. However I have access to a school. Wouldn't be able to compete if we didn't have one on the yard

 

[Maesfen]

If you can ensure the horse will be fit enough to compete off grass then go for it but it's a waste of time if you can't get them fit enough however much schooling you do.

 

[TGM]

Daughter's horse did his first BE event season without a school at home, managing three top 5 placings at BE100 level that year. However, we were able to borrow a school for lessons and did make full use of PC training sessions as well, while hunting over the winter helped ensure good fitness levels. We have got a school now, and I must say life is much easier, but it is doable without. Are you able to ride during daylight hours in the winter, as this can be one drawback if you haven't got a school with some form of lighting.

 

[ljohnsonsj]

I BS'ed my horses last summer and they was living out. One of the horses i had last yr i only rode once a week and just rode and lead him out with another to keep him fit. I never jumped him at home and he was competing/placing into 115s

 

[siennamiller]

Yes, I can ride in the afternoon most days, fitness is the easy part, we go up to the downs once a week which is great for galloping and hill work.

 

[NZJenny]

Most horses in NZ would be kept and trained off a paddock - we just don't do stables & yards here.

We school in our paddocks and some people also have their own jumps mostly made from 44 gallon drums and whatever poles you can find. You can buy jumps, but they are quite expensive - besides Kiwis are very inventive!

In the last 10 years or so a couple of equestrian centres have started up in my area. You can pay to hire their arenas (jumping and dressage) and now you can do the same at one of the pony club/show grounds which gives good access to their cross country jumps. I pay an annual fee to use dressage arenas that are about a 30 minute drive away. Hacking is easy where I am, but that isn't always the case now with roads getting so much busier close to town and I do know lot's of people who have to travel a bit to find decent and safe riding.

People here tend to have their own transport, rather than their own facilities which seems to me to be the biggest difference.

 

[PorkChop]

I evented mine off grass and no school - though I did have regular lessons on a surface - you absolutely can do it

 

[BBP]

All our horses in NZ lived out 24/7 winter and summer, they competed at 3* eventing and we had 2 Grand Prix sj' s as well on the same routine. We did have a school but no hacking so all canter work was done around a big hill field. We had brand new stables and didn't use them once the whole time I was there!

 

[MagicMelon]

I have always competed mine off grass, they live out 24/7 and I have no school, just ride in the field. I competed my last horse up to CIC* BE amd 1.20m BS easily. Would make life a hell of a lot easier if I had a school but Ive never had one (cant afford one!) so hey ho!

I have stables but leave the doors open permanently so the horses come and go as they please. The only times I keep them in overnight is because I have a grey (WHITE!) horse so have to wash night before and keep in if its an early start next day.