Give my young horse winter off?

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cheekychico1

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Hello :-)
i have a 4year old, hes a tb x kwpn. He was backed last year and turned away from october to march. This year hes been very good and taken everything in his stride. he's been doing some dressage and been scoring over 60%, hes been competing in showjumping up to 75cm and been jumping double clear and even qualified for trailblazers! hes also been xc schooling and went to pony club camp.
He is doing his last competition of the year this weekend which is arena eventing. I have been thinking about turning him away for around 6 weeks this winter as i dont have the facilities to keep him going, i only have a field to ride in and it will be to wet and boggy, or rock hard to ride in. so if he stays in work over winter,it will just be weekends hacking around the block, which could get quite boring. do you think it will be a good idea to turn him away for 6 weeks and bring him back in work at the end of january? or do you think its better to keep him ticking over? he's not a fizzy horse so giving him time off wouldnt drive him insane. he has still quite a bit of filling out to do and i thought if i left him, time off would help this?
what do you do with your young horses over winter?
thanks
ive also attached some pics of him :)
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Give him the time off. he's done well for you so far & will have many more years to give. he's still growing & learning about life so give him time to unwind.
 
Forgot to say, my horses are no longer young but well into their teens now. When they were young they used to get all of Jan & Feb off & most of Dec as well. It's no fun with rain, cold, dark & only a field or roads to ride on.
 
I don't think it ever harms a young horse to be given time off and over Christmas when the weather is rotten always seems to me to be a good time.
 
I have a young ex racer. He is very talented & as such I worry that I might get tempted to push on too fast. I've just given him a full month off. He's absolutely loved it & come back feeling super sweet & keen :)
My plan is work him for 6-8 weeks, give him another short break (probably only 2 weeks) then carry on with him aiming for BE.
 
My 3 coming 4 yr olds are now all backed and will be gently hacked around a couple of times a week till feb. time, they will then start more school work (they are aimed at young horse classes though) tbh mine are all fairly well established and go at all paces in the school in a forwards fashion. No outline or any sort of collection yet as this will come as they get stronger. I am in the camp of ride when you have a chance and weather allows, your horse won't suffer for it!
 
glamourpuss said:
I have a young ex racer. He is very talented & as such I worry that I might get tempted to push on too fast. I've just given him a full month off. He's absolutely loved it & come back feeling super sweet & keen :)
My plan is work him for 6-8 weeks, give him another short break (probably only 2 weeks) then carry on with him aiming for BE.
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although mine isnt an ex racer,he sounds exactly like yours! im hoping my boy will come back very keen as well given 6 weeks off :) im also aiming for BE!
 
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