Giving horse time off

[candrews]

I am considering giving my irish draught/tb x jan and feb off. I am struggling with the weather and everytime i get on her after a few days off, she acts like a bit of a nutter! She is very fit and I can't wear her out so thought I could leave her till March when weather better then start from scratch with a slightly less fit horse. She is quite old (16 ish) - will not working her do any harm?

 

[spaniel]

A lot will depend on how you intend to manage/keep her over the time off. Will she be turned away/roughed off or do you have to keep her in over the winter.

Some horses really do enjoy working and miss it for a while but properly dealt with, this amount of holiday is usually appreciated!

Bear in mind though that you will still have your work cut out to re fitten and get on again in the spring!

You need to weigh up whether this is just you not wanting to cope with the winter regime and if thats the case it may be better to have a rethink about either this particular horse or the livery arrangements you have at the moment. Its not just a case of rugging her up and leaving her in a field.

 

[candrews]

Thanks for this. I keep her at home and have plenty of grazing at the moment. She is kept in at night and I (until now) ride most days and if I don't ride then I give her a thorough groom instead to make sure i spend time with her.

She does not have any horse company with her but there are horses across the field from her which she can see but can't interact with although being on her own has never seemed to bother her.

I thought I would lunge her for 20 mins before getting back on her in March and try and get the bucks out of her system before climbing back on although agree it might be a bit hair raising. I think she does like to work but I could do with a break and I wonder whether she could too particularly as I work her quite hard through summer with fun rides and competition - I have just never gone down the time off route before but with this horse riding once a week really isn't an option.

Does this help you to advise me further?

 

[spaniel]

You are lucky to have her so close by. If she is happy to stay in at night it may be better to keep her in a routine and just knock the riding on the head for a while. If there was company for her to be turned away it would be different but alone in a field for that long isnt really fair even though she can see others. A hay and grass diet should be fine and you can always pop her on the lunge a couple of times a week should you have time.

When you get her back in to work proper make sure you start off on the lunge a few times before getting back on and it would be wise to get your saddle fit checked as well. Then commence a fittening program over 6 weeks.

 

[claireross]

Go for it...my horse has a summer holiday when I do and works really nicely afterwards and seems to benefit from the break. I can't see the point in lunging etc to keep them super fit unless you intend on working them hard at weekends etc. I am only riding around 3 times a week, but as the most i'm asking for is an 1-2 hours gentle hacking i can't see a problem.

 

[SusieJane]

I give mine time off (for good behaviour!) ~ Its lovely to go back after a month off ~ I enjoy my riding again, and they don't seem fed up of the schooling.