H&H Working Riders Feature. Can you do better?

[cp1980]

I looked tha the H&H feature on working riders (those who try to keep and compete with horses, whilst working in a full time job).

I generally thought that it would be quite common for people to have to work full time to keep a horse, but hey ho....

Anyway, some of the things seemed a bit unrealistic for the rest of us... such as spending 5 hours with your horses after working a 9 hour shift.

I wondered what normal working riders do? The ones who have families or social life beyond horses.

 

[catembi]

I work f/t in the City & ride for 45 mins a day, hacking out prob twice a week in summer. I compete most w/ends bd or bsja & do a lesson a week, alternating between sj & jumping.

I also play the piano, have just finished an MA & am about to start a PhD, am in the gym every day except Sat & help run a writers' group. I usually have a writing proj on the go as well. And we're renovating the house & yard.

It helps that the horses live at home. I also have an ultramobile pc so I can study or write while commuting & at lunch time, & o/h helps with the horses.

The trick is to turn a blind eye to what a s**t hole the house turns into...

 

[cp1980]

[ QUOTE ]


The trick is to turn a blind eye to what a s**t hole the house turns into...

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[only_me]

does doing your A levels count as a exhausting job?

im doing maths, biology, chemistry and history...

skip my horse out and feed in the morning before skool (between 7am and 7.30am) then get bus at 8am...

skool with lots of nagging, homeworks and teachers talking and you having to force yourself to listen, netball practice and matches, trying to read "advanced biology" whilst also trying to do maths and then having to try and understand chemistry -

did you know that thr reason that graphite is used as a lubricant is that it exists in layers of carbon and they are very strong covalent bonds, yet the next layer is also the same but yet it is also non - polarised and so then they must have weak forces, which are called van der waals... thats why graphite can slip easily!

sorry for the chem lesson! trying to learn it for test next week

anyway get home from school around 4, straight to yard, skip out, ride, give hayledge, groom, feed, tidy up, clean bit...
then go home and have dinner, do homework, then catch up with friends on computer/phone then bed!!

 

[dieseldog]

I haven't actually read the article, but I know that one of the riders featured is my friend, so it will be interesting to read.

I work full time, 7-3.30, my horse is done for me in the morning (I have 2 stables so all they need do is swap her stable over), I get to the farm about 4, ride, muck out etc home by about 6.30. Thats in the winter. In the summer its a lot quicker

I am also studying to be a Chartered Accountant so before exams I do actually revise for about 13 hours a day

Luckily my OH plays rugby so he disappears every tues and thursday night training and most of saturday, gives me loads of guilt free horse time

 

[custard]

I work a rolling 4 week shift at the moment including nights which hurt even more as I get older. OH works opposite shifts a lot so have guilt free horse time. Currently getting used to having got a 2nd neddy so house has looked like a dump for the past 5 weeks. Gave it a good doing over today tho. Shop on line a lot and have to be very organised.

 

[flyingfeet]

I work 9 - 6pm and until recently had also been studying for accountancy exams

I am lucky as in GMT I can work 10am until 7pm which gives me time to ride in the daylight. Other than that routine continues as normal as I got lights.

I do little in the morning - feed & chuck out, and muck out and ride in the evenings. Upside is no early starts, downside is that I cannot do anything else in the evenings!!

I have no social life, I rarely go anywhere unless competing and holidays are a distant memory.

 

[kerrylou123]

i work 8:30 until 4:30. My OH goes and turns out in the mornings, so thats one less thing for me to worry about, but when i finish wprk, i get to yard at about 5ish, muck out ride, bring in etc and am sually home by about 7/7:30, but i have 2 to do, and i'm still currently trying to work out a routine for the winter

 

[Paint it Lucky]

I work full time at the livery yard where my horse lives which is very convenient for me!

So I can't really answer the how many hours a day do I spend with him question as I am there all day! Though he is out in the field most of the time, I groom and ride him at lunch or after work, sometimes both. I get to work at 7.15am to turn him out and muck out before work then work from 7.30 until 5/6. I don't usually get home until 6.30 and am generally fairly knackered when i do get home, but at least everything is done by then so i can just chill out for the evening and sleep!

 

[Noodlejaffa]

I'm lucky enough to keep my three horses at home. Day starts at 5 am, head off to work 7am and usually at my desk by 8.30am. Back home by 6.30am, straight out to the horses and not in the house til 9.30pm. All my horses are stabled at night and out during the day.

I'm lucky enough to work flexi so during the winter I go in late so I can ride in daylight hours.

Weekends are normally dedicated entirely to horses and competing, with competitions normally a good 3 hours drive away (I event). Rest of the time spent cleaning things ready for next week's competition.

Occasionally I may cook a meal for my long suffering husband and clean the house if visitors are coming to stay!

 

[star]

i work more hours than any of those in that article! currently i do about an average of 62hours a week plus a night on call each week and included in that is a weekend a month too meaning no horses at all. luckily get 2 halfdays a week and one late start at 9.30 and one early finish at 6.30 - rest of the times i pay someone to do the horse for me. my new job is just 46 hours a week though for more money so will be a bit easier to do the horse around that as just 9-6.30 each day and the odd sat morning.

 

[druid]

In college for ~26 hours a week, work 14 hours a week, have maybe 10 hours of study/projects a week to do. Keep ridden horse at home (along with brother's mare) & yearling at full livery at stud. Ride 4 times a week-ish, have horses hunting fit....

 

[Blackhawk]

I work full time in an office job earning a pittance. My horse is on full livery, and I tend to spend 1-2 hours a day with him during the week after work.

I seem to be the only person who has ticked full livery though.

 

[Halfstep]

I work full time, 7.30-3.30 (ish, sometimes meeting keep me in later). I get up at 5.30, muck out and turn out, then ride in the evening. I can cope with one, but at one point I had three to do and it nearly killed me.

 

[Rachel_M]

I currently work 8-5. I would usually be able to get down to the yard for around 6. Spend around two hours there and then be back to clean house, walk and feed dogs, as well as make myself something to eat. The new horse will be on part livery, as I won't be able to get down in the mornings.

 

[BroadfordQueen]

i keep my horse at home. I go to school at 8:30 and get back at 4. i therefore have to wake up at 6am every morning so i have time to feed, muck out and get ready for school. My mum lets the horse out for me while im at school. When i get back i skip out and bring her in. Then at about 5 i usually ride, but she has a day or two off sometimes. After i have ridden i let her out for a few more hours, then she comes in at about 7:30pm with her feed. it all changes with the seasons though, obviously, but that is how things work at the moment. I usually compete at weekends.
obviously this routine makes it hard to fit schoolwork and a social life in, but thats the price to pay i guess

 

[mpicton101]

I work 6.30 - 6 monday to friday at my yard so my horse rolls into the routine of that! Its sometimes bloody hard work trying to find the time to ride him with all the other horses though, so living and working at my yard has some downfalls.

 

[Baileysno1]

Must admit I found the articla a bit strange most of the people I've met while my horses have been on DIY have similar routines or spend similar amounts of time / money with their horses, I rarely get home before 9pm if I'm riding 2.