how does everyone do xmas day and their horses

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wildcard

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im just curious how everyone does xmas day and their horses as most people will eat around 3ish i imagine, but in our house weve always eaten slightly earlier so we can go back down the yard to bring in and feed about 4.30ish.. ive often thought about bringing in early say 2ish before dinner but dont like the thought fo them been stood in all afternoon and night?? just curious how everyone else does the 'BIG DAY'
 
I put out very early and bring in around 2ish. i give him plenty hay and water. and leave a net outside already filled. the yard owner will put his feed in for me and give the other hay net. hes been out for his normal hours and aslong as he is stuffing his face he is happy.
 
We turnout in morning muck out and then bring in about 1. We eat about half 4 5. We then go out and check, top up hay, feed and water later.
 
Not a lot of change for me, to be honest, my children have grown up and flown the nest and my lot live out so it's just an average day really. Except I poo-pick in the morning rather than the afternoon. We go back around 4ish to feed and hay them again and then eat our turkey dinner around 5, off of trays if the good telly is starting :o

Boxing day is family visiting day for us.
 
Our 3 will be turned out about 7 and mucked out, we will eat lunch about 1ish as normal, and bring them in at 4pm just before dark.... There will be 9 of us at my house for xmas day so it will just be a case of 1 of us bring the 3 of them in, stables feeds etc ready x
 
well this christmas I am visiting at mum and dads house with all the family so thats a 4 hour round trip so i will be up at 5am go to the yard turn both horses out muck out etc then get them in prob around midnight! so long day for all of us! wish the family would come to me!
 
I just do a normal non riding day. The yard manager turns him out in the morning, I have lunch about 12.30 or 1pm at the in laws, then I leave about 2pm or so, go to muck out etc. bring in horse about 3pm (which is fairly usual for him) then go to see my mother. Get home about 5pm and feel glad that christmas is over with for another year.:eek:
 
I give extra hay & loads of clean bedding, we go up at 9, turn out, do jobs quickly so all done for night. We have xmas dinner at 3 or so, horses usually stay out till 6/7 anyway, so just go back up & bring in quickly at 5 or so after dinner.
 
we never eat till late usually 6-7 often later and with more hands around at home horses used to get done quite quickly both chores and riding. Bonus of being from a large family most of whom ride or at least still know how to muck out, rug and feed :D

We're lacking any at home now but this year I'm helping out at a friends yard down the road from my folks so they can have their first xmas with the new baby :D Have to say can't wait
 
Ride if time if not throw hay at them give them a Christmas carrot then back inside eat my lunch bout 2 then they get their dinner about 6/7 on the evening. Beauty of having horses at home they get to join in too x
 
YO has kindly given me the use of a 12 acre field for winter this year, so my two are living out 24/7 this year. No poo picking or mucking out :D We will go up in the morning around 8.30am to check them and then I will go back up again about 4pm to feed and do final checks for the night.
 
it is just another day :)

If I get a wriggle on it takes me about an hour at either end of the day, but as we don't do the Christmas meal thing and don't eat until 7 anyway the horses make no difference whatsoever.

Baby goats on the other hand have to be fed up to 5 times a day depending on age. When there can be up to 40 in the barn that's where my day goes.
 
All yard horses come in before 5pm every day in winter anyway so if I left him out he'd be stressing on his own christmas day. We don't eat till later so would either have to bring in very early or leave him out on his own in the dark/stressed till late. Not ideal. Most people don't turn out on xmas day either. Find it's easier if they're in.

I'll be down early, possibly ride, turn out in the paddock for an hour or so while I do all my chores, then back down in the evening.
 
I'll get up early because I am still a child at Christmas :)

Spend the morning with hubby, go to the yard and walk the dog there and hay check my two (they live out) but will leave the poo picking for the next day! Go to my in laws for dinner then walk dog at the yard again so can have a quick check then off to my parents for the evening :)
 
My horses are not ridden over christmas as I just don't have time.
My OHs will have hunted Christmas eve so will get a walking hack Christmas morning and will hunt boxing day .
They go out first thing OH hacks while I do the yard with my groom we then catch the turned out out ones I give OHs tack a quick clean then they eat haylage all day and I see to them after the Christmas meal.
 
We go down at 8am, turnout, muck out & bed down. This has to be done before 10am. Yard owners bring everyone's in at tea time. It works for everyone as we don't have to venture out again & the yard owners don't have people coming & going all day.
 
We normally visit family so travel up North Xmas day and return boxing night. I usually ask a friend (livery) to do my horse and pay her £40.
 
The same as normal - all turned out at 5am and don't come back in until 5pm as usual. We'll have Christmas lunch and then I'll have to go out a bit early to wash hunters ready for Boxing Day.

Christmas is just another day really. I wouldn't dream of putting them into their boxes three or four hours early and then not bothering to even skip out again. I would be livid if someone did that to my horses. My lot and my liveries may have to stay out a bit later than usual if Christmas lunch ends up being late, but I'd rather bring them in in the pitch black a few hours late than have them standing in for longer than is necessary.
ETA- everything has the day off on Christmas day so that we do get to have a bit of a day.
 
In the past my family have always had to fit in around the horses.

This year I'm lucky enough to have them sorted for me, but I shall still be going up in the morning.
 
7.30 (latest this year :( ) feed, muck out etc, do haynets...

pony is in due to bad mud fever

YO feeds PM :) which is mega helpful else its a good 45 min drive from where i will be


plus im working 11-6 :(

i actually hate christmas :D lol!!
 
is really interesting to see how everyone manages christmas, seems is just another day for most including me!! were currently having the debate about time to have dinner as morning and day is with my parents followed by evening with inlaws and horses somewhere inbetween... but not everyone likes to eat either early or late and dont like to expect people to work around me!! horses are on DIY so no one to do either end of the day and if im honest i love seeing them x mas day to bring their dinner sad i know lol.. ahh well will see how the day flows, id happy have slight lie in 8am.. go do the neddies then sit in my pj's eating nibbles and watching rubbish tv until time to bring in and then finally get sat down with a nice glass of vino ahhhh eyes closed dreaming right now :)
 
Ours are all out 24/7. None fed. And are checked by several people. So it will just be a case of when lunch is done and presents, legging it before mum cottons on to us going... that or just waiting til Boxing Day as booked out full day for them :)
If on a yard they'd be closer (wouldn't be paying and driving! so would be down with them like last year and before)
 
we are moving them on christmas day this year :o so we will go up at about 7.30 to turn out... take all their bedding out sort out the rest of the stuff that can definatly go then, bring them back in for 12 is groom, tack and hack to the new yard, let them settle down (leaving them in) go back to old yard and remove all electric fencing and bring any stuff left behind but isnt essential, go back up the new yard skip out, hay and water (getting brother to turn the oven on) then go home and have a shower to have dinner at about 8pm and then back up on boxing day to put all electric fencing up and then turnout and sort the rest of the stuff out :o... has to be christmas day as we havent got any other days off together to move them :(

we arent doing presents so dont have to worry about that :)
 
Me and another girl do 21 school horses on xmas day, all go out then muck out, hay, straw, sweep yards, muck heap and the owner brings them back in later on. Down from 7.30 - 10 then home where my breakfast and bucks fizz will be waiting :-D
 
We have our Christmas dinner at night. Horses day doesn't vary and then we can enjoy our dinner in peace. Have done this for years and it makes things very easy.
 
our YO makes us all xmas breakfast on the yard, so we go over in the morning to turn out and muck out etc at about 8:30-9:00, have breakfast and then go back home and we usually have lunch at 2ish and bring in at 4:30/5ish
 
I go and do morning feeds and hays on the yard so yo can have early morning Xmas with her kiddy. Weather permitting we are gonna sneak into the town centre for a.gallop on common land. THen muck out, turn out and
yo does mine pm in return for morning feeds.
 
I feed at about 6.30 and muck out (only 1 in at the moment) fill water, feeds, hay nets ready for afternoon. Bring in at about 4.30, feed other 4 and put out hay for the night. All at home with me so same as usual really only they are fed about half hour earlier in the morning. When my son was small I would do everything before he got up so that I was in the house with him all morning with his new toys. That was easy because I usually had to wake him at 9 o clock! He gets up earlier now than he did when he was little.
 
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