How do you fit your horse in?

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RachelB

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I'm just writing down my daily routine for one part-stabled horse, to answer one of the Your Horse win a horse competiton questions. I am left wondering though, how on earth anyone fits in a horse on DIY with a full-time job?! According to my calculations I should be going home at stupid o'clock in the night, having ridden for an hour after work. I never remember staying too late at the yard when I rode after work last year (I work until 6pm)! Am I being ridiculously generous with my timing of each activity, or do people generally get home as late as I think they do? When do you get home on an average night after work? (What time do you finish work? Do you ride after work or before?)
Next question is a breakdown of costs, if I'm having a heart attack over the routine question I am not going to be in this life much longer when I work out how much it actually costs!
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I have a full time job - I get to start an hour later than most as I have less for lunch
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so 10am-5pm BUT I have to commute 1 1/2 hours each way! So basically I leave for work at 8.30 and come home at 6.30. I currently have 5 horses...! 3 who are in work - one who's doing BSJA most weekends, another doing unaffil SJ most weekends and a 3yo pony who Ive just backed. I keep all mine at home so am in sole charge of them.

Ive only been in the job a month now, and just had a big floodlight fitted in one of my paddocks so I can ride in the evenings, just 1 or maybe lunge 2. So they each wont be ridden daily by any means but it'll have to do until the mornings are lighter at which time I can work one before I go to work (which'll mean getting up at 6am-ish).

It is busy but with horses I guess you make the time! 2 of mine will be eventing from April onwards so I certainly have to get working them to get them fit enough. I dont mind though as the evenings are getting lighter. I am however, forever looking out for a job nearer home so I can cut down on the 3 hour daily commute which would make such a difference!
 
I work 2 different shifts so if I work 7-3 I am there from 3.30 onwards til tea time or if I work 2-10 I am there 9.30 til about 11.30 in mornings instead. Not the best routine but nevermind!
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When I was on DIY, I'd get t the yard about 7 in the morning, chuck horse in field, muck out leaving bed up and if time do haynets. I'd leave the yard about 7.30ish and be at work just before 8. I'd finish work at 4, get horse in, groom and tack up (half an hour), ride for 40 mins-1 hour, put bed down, fill nets if not done that morning, leave the yard about half six or 7 and be home by about 7 to half past.

I now have mine on part livery - so they do everything except groom and ride. I *try* and leave work at 4.30, walk home (20 mins) get changed, in car for five ish, fight way through ruish hour traffic to get to yard between 6 and half past, groom and tack up, ride till half seven, put horse to bed, leave yard at 8, home and half eight. If I leave work late, that all gets shifted back too - sometimes I don't get home till half nine or ten. Conversely though if a site visit takes me past the yard, I will stop off and ride then make the time up at home, so it works for me!
 
I found it easy to fit one in, two was ok in the summer I did make myself ill i the winter when they were in mucking out 2 twice a day and riding two gets a bit much after an full day at work but I managed, I don't know what to do with myself now I don't have one - I'm getting my fix tho, have mucked out 3 and ridden 2 today so I'm withdrawing gradually!

Generally at DIY yards if you have horse thats good to handle you can swap jobs with others ie they turn out if you bring in etc.
 
Magic_Magpie - flipping heck I don't know how you haven't had a coronary by now!!
Baileysno1 - that's how we do it at my yard, we pair up with another livery and share our two horses' duties between us so we don't have to be there every evening for example, as long as we share the work equally. It works really well.
I think the trouble is, time only works in practise and however much you try to jot it down on paper, it just won't look right! Same with money I think (am just working out how much one horse costs, about to pass out because I can't believe I can afford one but I have done!)
Never mind, I'll just have to hope the competition judges are dazzled by my answers to all the other questions and don't take much notice of my proposed daily routine! I had better get shortlisted after all this!!
 
I work 9-4 mon to fri
I used to have a great routine, up at 6:30am, at yard for 7:00
Home for 8:00. Used to get everything done so at night all i had to do was fetch in and feed, or ride of course.
Over the winter though it has gone to pot, i get to the yard for around 7:30, and have most of my chores to do in the evening. Max is a weekend horse over the winter, as there are no lights in the school yet
Now the lighter mornings are here i feel a bit more motivated, so may get back into the old routine again, leaving more time for riding after work
 
I have my full time job 9-6 and then I go straight to the yard with OH to do our horses, everything else has to be fitted around that. Most nights we don't get in until 9-10pm, especially if we both ride. Going out with friends etc doesnt happen unless its a Sat night and we can get horses done early - we probably could go out on a weeknight but I think we would both rather be at the yard so we tend to not bother...

Our lives revolve around the horses, even work is just a means of paying for the beasts... I don't think I would want it any other way....
 
I work fulltime, but its flexitime, so put out and muck out etc in the morning (6:30ish), it only takes 30mins or so to get everything done.... get to work early and only take half hour lunch, so I can then leave at 4:30 (or take a long lunches to ride in winter cos we have no lights)... I'm at the stables by 5 and only usually ride tuesday and thursday (and saturday and sunday).. that way he never has more than one day off in a row, but I dont get totally exhausted!! I do haynets, feeds and skip out paddock etc in the evenings....

I'm usually home by 7pm at the latest (mainly cos I stand round and gossip so much!!)..

But I'm only 10mins from the stables and 5mins in the opposite direction to work...

Its do - able!! Good luck!
 
I work f/t in the City & am usually studying for something as well. I fit it in by not making work for myself / being lazy / whatever you want to call it!!

The horses live at home & are out 24/7 which helps A LOT. In the morning I check that they're both alive (Jenny is 35), dump breakfast & hay in front of them, check their water & scuttle off for the train. I wear tracksuit bottoms & riding coat over work clothes so I stay cleanish & don't have to get changed.

I get home at 6.30, catch Adrian, give Jenny her dinner while I'm riding & ride in the school for 45 mins. O/h gets the floodlight out for me & puts it away again. Then I rug A up again & dump him out with his dinner.

I pick out feet daily but only groom the girth area if it's dirty. I'm not a big fan of grooming! I also don't muck out as the horses are out.

I once worked out how much it costs to run a horse for a month, including bd/bsja most weekends, lessons, diesel, lorry tax & insurance etc etc & without the mortgage it was pretty close to £700. And that's without the lorry failing its mot, new saddle, new rugs & all the usual disasters. Then I tried to forget I'd added it up & now try not to think about it...
 
Yeah, I wouldnt want to imagine how much horses cost us TBH! If I did, Id likely faint. Especially when you factor in BSJA and BE fees as well. I guess, it could be made quite cheap though if you didnt compete and you had a horse who didnt need much feed etc.!

I agree with Catembi, leaving horses out 24/7 is SOOOOO useful! I could never keep mine in (luckily they hate it anyway!), although my little old shetland comes in at night but luckily she's on rubber matting and takes literally 5 mins to muck out
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I have 2 horses which I do on DIY livery. As I work full time and am studying for an OU degree, time management for me is essential. In the week this means getting up just after 5 am, quick breakfast and drive to stables for about 6.10 am. I feed both, and fill their haybars with bags of haylage (which I fill the night before to save time), skip out dung and wet patches, change rugs, refill buckets, sweep up, get changed and leave yard by 7.15 am. Only 15-20 min drive to work.

I work flexi time so usually in the office by 7.30-7.40 am, work until 4.00 pm-4.45 pm. Get to yard, change, ride younger horse, groom them both, rug up, feed, skip out or more thorough skip out, fill up haybars, make up feeds for next am, refill haylage bags.

My older cob is now retired and my younger horse is not ridden between mid Nov to end of Feb. In the winter I'm usually finished by 6.30-7 pm but in the summer, they are out 24/7 so I have more time for riding. I leave the weekends for house work, shopping, tidying manes and tails, clipping, competing, lessons, tack cleaning. As I build up my flexi hours I can have 2 days off extra a month on top of my 30 annual leave days (its taken me 10 years to work there to have this).

Time management comes with a bit of thought, planning and experience. Simple really!
 
I have three on DIY, one broodmare, one weanling and my competition/riding horse. I work full time in advertising/marketing and my job can get stressful.

I get up at 4.50 and am at the yard for 05.30 - I then ride my mare, turn out muck out and bed down, leaving at 7.30ish to get to work for 8 (or 9 depending on the bl**dy traffic
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) I then work until 6pm (sometimes 7) then go and bring horses in and feed etc. Usually get home at 8/8.30pm. Thus in the winter I have no social life during the week
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Sometimes I go in to work a bit later - sometimes I finish early, but during the winter that is my usual routine. This is the first year I have had 3 on DIY and I do not recommend it! When summer comes my life is a lot easier.
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As for cost - it is £460 pcm for my three DIY but that includes straw and haylage. I spend probably about £100/month on feed, then another £100 on lessons/competing etc. Plus BSJA fees. God I feel sick thinking about it all
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I work full-time from 8am - 5pm so I am at the horse in the morning for about 6.15am and do most of the jobs so I just have to bring him in at night and put his rug on. I usually stop on my way home from work to do this as I can do it in my work clothes!
Horse doesn't get ridden in the week, only at weekends until its light enough!
I don't have time for anything else in my life though! I don't have children as I can't imagine having to sort out kids as well as horses - I don't know how people with horses on DIY, kids AND a full time job manage?
 
thanks for this post Silmarillion...hope you are doing ok...did you manage to get out hunting in the end..?
I didnt ride in the week at all when I worked full time....
I would give my horses their brekkie and hay on the way to work - or let them out if they had been in for the night...carried my tape roll and wet wipes with me in case I encountered horse cuddles or mud problems...would often get into work with a bit of hay on my coat or in my hair!!
I would then on my way home from work pick up the hubby and go down with my torch and muck out the stables -( we dont have any electricity in my field), hubby doing the water for me and then I would catch, feed and bed down before leaving 1.2 hr later - we got into a pretty good routine...I would deep litter the stables in the week as well....which saved alot of time...
At the weekend I would give the stables a good clean out, brush my horses down, school them in the field and hack them out as well....
it has always worked really well for me...
Now im at uni...I dont stable them - I just leave the stable door open for them to get in and out and clean out the straw/shavings at the weekends, I ride in the afternoons once I have finished work and I ride/school them at weekends.
 
I spend 2 hours am and 2 hrs pm on horses on DIY.
IN bwteen work 9 to 5.30 -
Direct to work from yard and yard to work, so can be at yard until 8.30 am and get there soon after 6
Home soon after 8, out agian 6.30 am.

Some jobs left to weekends, ( we have 4 on DIY, two in work)
 
I get to the stables about 7am and put on overalls and wellies..... feed, muckout and wash feed buckets (can't stand leaving them dirty). Get to school for a spot of child wrestling (I'm a reception class teacher) around 8am.

I try to leave school around 4.30 wherever possible (or earlier - child wrestling all dayis hard work
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Stables at 4.30 - 5pm, ride for 40mins to 1hr, skip out, feed, make up the next day's haynets and breakfast. Usually home by 6.30 - 7pm.

I love Summer when Star lives out.
 
Herringbone - I found a horse to take (friend's) but she's too unfit to take really, and I'm now signed up for riding club camp in April which is £200 so can't afford to take a hireling! Never mind, hopefully I will win this competition and have a horse of my own by next season!
It's so interesting to hear how everyone fits it all in, I'm amazed how dedicated some people can be!
 
I agree if you put all the jobs on paper you wonder ow you fit it in, but some can overlap. Fill a haynet while the water bucket is filling and horse is eating for example. I used to leave home at 6am and in the summer I would ride in the mornings and evenings. In the winter I would be at work for 8am and leave at 4pm so I could ride after work. I always did everything before work so I could just get on, but was lucky to have daily T/O throughout the winter. I used to get home aroung 7. I amwondering how I will do it now though as new job is further away and 9-5
 
I'm lucky that my horses are kept at home so I don't have to travel but even so it's an early start as I work full time. I get up at 5.30 to feed, water and muck out 4 and check the one who lives out 24/7 before leaving for work at 6.45. I work 8-4.30 an hour and a quarter drive away so I'm usually home for 5.30-5.45 depending on traffic. Then two nights a week I take 2 horses to the local indoor arena which means I'm not in before 9 otherwise I'm usually done by 6.30-7 to give me a bit of an evening to relax. I have no idea how people who keep their horses at livery manage it. I'm so grateful we can keep ours at home.

I'm really lucky that my Mum only works a full day one day a week and the rest of the time finishes at lunch time so she's around to feed the horses early afternoon now they're in full time. Otherwise the feeding is left to my Dad who is a farmer who hates horses!

Despite the long days I will never give up my horses as they are part of my life.

Regarding costs I really don't want to know how much I spend. Luckily I don't have to pay for livery, the farm pays for straw and Mum for the hard feed and diesel
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I spend enough on the farrier, competition fees and any equipment. I'm dreading moving out of my parent's home and having to pay a mortgage aswell
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ok I'm on full livery now - haha! When I was on part I used to finish work at 5pm, get to the stables at 5.30pm, I would muck out, do haynets, feed, groom, and ride for 45mins - usually left at 7.30pm. 2 nights a week I work till 7.30pm so I either went up in the morning, leaving at 5.30am and getting back at 7.15am, or went in the evening and was there from 7.30pm till 9-ish - I would often lunge on those days to save time.
 
I don't find it that difficult with one. I'm on assisted DIY which means someone else puts hay over the door for me in the mornings - unless I'm working at the yard in which case I do it myself). In the evenings, I usually get to the yard for about 5:30 ish, muck out etc then ride for about 45mins... can easily be home for 7 as long as I don't hang around gossiping(but where would be the fun in that?)

I think two, stabled 24/7 would be a struggle in winter, the girls in this situation get a fair amount of parental support.
 
I work anytime from 8 til 6 monday til friday so I split my day into 3 parts:

Morning - exercise the one staying in and TO the other, then muckout one staying in
Lunchtime - muckout other one, skip out one staying in, make up feeds for evening, skip out TO pen
Evening - exercise if poss, skip out one staying in, feed

Works out I spend abt 3 hrs per day at the yard weekdays then as much time as poss at weekends.
 
I work 12 hour shifts from 7pm - 7am - 3 nights one week and 4 the next week. I deliberately asked for permanent nights so I could fit the horse in. In truth I am too tired to ride after work so here's how my work days go:

Go straight to the yard after work so arrive about 7.30am ish. Feed my horse then chuck her out and muck her out. I get her stable ready for the evening and then get home for about 9am-ish. Fall into bed and I'm up by 3 (sometimes earlier) I then go up to the horse and if I feel like riding or lunging I will but most of the time I bring her in, feed her and get her ready for the night. I try and be home for 5pm-ish to have a shower and catch up on a bit of sleep before heading back into work fofr 7pm. But at least it's only for 3 or 4 nights so I really enjoy my days off and can spend longer with her
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I sometimes wonder how I manage to fit my horse in and TBH it probably wouldn't be possible without her being on part-livery so she is mucked out, turned out and fed for me. After work I exercise and groom her. I have 1-2 nights a week where I don't finish work until 8pm (having started at 8.30am!) - the yard is about 20min drive from work and I go straight there, groom and ride for 40 minutes or so. If I'm jumping I have to lug all the jumps out and put them away again afterwards so it is often after 10pm before I get home and have my evening meal! I have 1-2x 6.30 finishes and so on those days I do get home at a bit more reasonable time - about 9ish. 2 out 3 weeks I get 1x 4pm finish which is bliss. I also work 1 out of 3 weekends and so can only compete on the weekends I am not working unless there is a very late class on a Sunday that I can get to as I only work the morning on the Sunday. Sometimes I hate my job because of the hours but its having Jenny to ride that keeps me sane so there's no way I would ever compromise on my riding time I just have to put up with eating/bathing/housekeeping at very odd times!
 
By working nights
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I work 8pm-8am, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. I get changed at work, drive straight to the yard, do all jobs and ride. Get home at about 11am, sleep till 4pm, pick mum up from work and get to the yard for 5pm, finish Dibbs off and home for 6pm.

Then I have a long evening either doing nothing
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, seeing friends or OH and sleep from 11pm - 8am, take mum to work then it's basically same routine.
 
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