how long do you spend with your horse each night?

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charliecrisps

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Tonight I looked around my yard and thought I must spend more time pottering on doing stuff for the yard as well as on the actual horses... im clearly getting slovenly in my old age...and easy to be lazy and not bother sweeping up when i have no-one here to judge me i guess.. lol

So I thought id ask out of interest how much time do you spend up the yard each day on average & how much do you put into essential horse things (mucking out/grooming (could be subjective that one) etc) vs chores not quite so vital....
 
Depends on work, childcare etc. When little man is at school I spend all morning at the yard, potter about, muck out, groom, fill haynets etc etc. More often than not will ride too. During school holidays, or if work is manic (self employed) it is much harder to find time though, and it can sometimes be a case of just half an hour at each end of the day to make sure everything is done, and that all his needs are met. I do always sweep up though as on a DIY livery yard ;)
 
Approx 2 hours a day with 45 mins on stable chores and the rest on getting her in, grooming, faffing and then riding. Can be longer if it's the weekend, can be much shorter if it's chores only when weather is really bad.
 
Not long enough! If I don't take my three year old up with me in the mornings before nursery to get things done then I have 2 and a half hours while he is in nursery to do EVERYTHING! So if they are stabled overnight (only stabled if weather is awful) I try and take my son up so I can muck out in the morning, then I can exercise my two when he is in nursery. If I don't have the energy to go up in the morning (luckily a friend turns them out!) then I have to use the 2 and a half hours to muck out and feed.

He has been away all week staying with a family member to give me a rest (I'm not too well just now) so I have been able to get all sorts of things done that I never usually would, like cleaning tack/grooming brushes and giving the beds a proper muck out as I deep litter to save me time and energy! Not to mention giving the horses a proper groom and much needed attention!
 
At the moment probs about 30 mins. Where I am it's isolated at the bottom of a long track and I finish Work when it's pitch black and there's no one else there, so literally in muck out hay nets water back in lock up and back home! We don't even have any electric!

Moving yards on Sunday though! Will he A LOT better!!!
 
Currently about 1 hour mon-fri, a bit more at weekends. im on assisted DIY which helps! & not currently competing so riding is just for pure pleasure at the mo :) its not nearly as much as I'd like but with full time stressful job, a toddler & an OH who needs more looking after than the horse I just about get everything fitted in each evening. Thankfully I've only one horse stabled & in work as other 2 are currently out 24/7
 
Depends on what I'm working. I tend to go in the morning to feed and muck out, do waters and nets, will ride if in work slightly later on. So that is around 1 hour 30 ish then I go back after work to skip out swap rugs, give a brush to get mud off. Top up waters and feed so another 30 mins ish. If I am off then I spend longer faffing. I tend to have a habit of starting pulling his mane in middle of mucking out, or brushing him when I know I don't have to be done for a certain time.
 
Oh too long, if I'm not working, all day pottering about and a lot of manic sweeping usually... yard is at home, it's too easy to slink off outside and before you know it hours have past.

Last week I went to check on my boy and ended up pulling his mane and grooming him for an hour.

My house needs attention yes :p
 
Not long enough at the moment. I have time to quickly check both, change poultice and check water. I have less time when I'm job hunting, than when I have a job!! Depressing :( I miss spending hours with him.
 
Not nearly as long as I'd like :(- especially on a work day!
Finish work at 5.30 and get the bus to the stables for 6.20ish- bus home is at 7, and if I miss it I have to wait nearly 2 hours for the next one! Not so bad on a summer eve cos I can ride out or in the school, but currently school is bogged out and it's too dark to go out.
So I do a very quick muck out, feed and haynets already done, get him in, give him a quick brush and feed him. Then run down to the bus stop.
Make up for it on day off though, spend about 6 hrs with him even if I'm not riding :)
REALLY cannot wait to drive lol!!
 
Mine all live out and time at night is governed by work and daylight hours during the summer and temperature during the winter, but as long as possible But I can quite happily occupy a whole weekend riding and/or competing or just mucking around with horses.
 
charliecrisps said:
Tonight I looked around my yard and thought I must spend more time pottering on doing stuff for the yard as well as on the actual horses... im clearly getting slovenly in my old age...and easy to be lazy and not bother sweeping up when i have no-one here to judge me i guess.. lol

So I thought id ask out of interest how much time do you spend up the yard each day on average & how much do you put into essential horse things (mucking out/grooming (could be subjective that one) etc) vs chores not quite so vital....
Click to expand...

I am a little OCD about the yard/Kal, so every morning:

- Take his bandages off, groom/run hands over/change rugs
- Full muck out, re-lay bed/add clean straw, refill nets/water buckets and soak feed
- Full sweep of yard and clean out walker (if used)

Every evening:

- Bring in, hose legs, apply cream/clean up cuts and nicks as appropriate, groom, bandage and change rugs
- Put to bed with dinner - lean on stable door watching happy horse munching contentedly ;)
- Sweep up yard, turn off lights, go home

Morning routine can take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, depending on whether he has been ridden. Evening routine is usually half an hour - but can be longer if I have left his bed up to air (I do that about once a week). Yesterday morning I was much later leaving because I stayed to help YO's daughter catch the two naughty shetlands and Kal's companion pony for the farrier. The evening before, I stayed behind to help fellow livery organize the hay barn in preparation for a delivery from the farmer the next morning.

There are always other jobs to be done . . . today, for instance, I will be applying leather conditioner to all the new clobber Z bought for Kal . . . tomorrow, I will probably clean his dressage saddle/bridle.

Not sure if that answers your question?

P
 
1 hour in the morning- includes feed rug change, boys fleece bandages off, have been peroxiding seedy toe too, turn out (short walk away), make feeds for later and next morning, water, hay and muck out. still don't have electric in the barn so it is by head torch in the week and not the best job! evening, bring in mine and my friends 2. feeds, brush and bandage boys legs and extra rug on girl if getting cold, all done in about 45 minutes. so about 2 hours a day. can't ride at the moment as too dark in the week, and too wet today! in the spring i will replace mucking out time with riding as they will go back to living out and i have daylight to ride before and after work :D
at the weekend i can easily spend at least 2 hours in the morning- doing a thorough muck out and wet- as deep litter, and other bits and bobs. lovely not rushing. although this morning it was torrential rain so got everything done, including feeding and turning out 2 more horses, in 1 hour.
 
I can get essentials done in 30 mins on skipping out day, 45 mins on muck out day (alternates). Then I spend at least another 30min - 2 hours generally faffing and horse sniffing (was caught by the farrier yesterday having a very long hugging/sniffing session - I think I gave him a complete fright as he was not aware I was there as me and the lovely girl were hugging for a LONG time in a quiet stable) - I do a lot of horse sniffing actually....
 
Battytwoll said:
I can get essentials done in 30 mins on skipping out day, 45 mins on muck out day (alternates). Then I spend at least another 30min - 2 hours generally faffing and horse sniffing (was caught by the farrier yesterday having a very long hugging/sniffing session - I think I gave him a complete fright as he was not aware I was there as me and the lovely girl were hugging for a LONG time in a quiet stable) - I do a lot of horse sniffing actually....
Click to expand...
Horse sniffing, OH YES. lmao.
 
My fella would say too long, on normal days I'm always there with the baby strapped to my back seeing to my boy twice a day for about an hour a time and as soon as I get a break from the kids I'm up there and pottering about, chatting to my horsey buddies and if on the rare occasion I have caught the boy and have him in I'm always pampering him, riding and generally having some "no kids or work time", this morning for example I was up there for 3 hours just grooming, treating mud fever, helping the yard owners with there chores all in the driving rain and cold, then back again this arvo for a lovely ride,just because I love being there, especially kid free!!..........my god I didnt realise how sad I asctually am till I just read that back pahahaha!! :D
 
Not long enough. I get bogged down with chores and stuff, a lot of sweeping, I think it's my fault, I seem to be so inefficient it takes me ages to do stuff
 
Never enough hours to keep on top of it all and it just makes me feel guilty. I think I will dedicate half hour a day on top of usual chores to sweep, clean tack etc... To do this, I think I may have to start getting some kind of meals on wheels service in to save time cooking dinner, but nevermind... The partner will have to make do with it... teehee
 
Depends on what I am doing. I am on Part Livery at the moment, so only have to make the one journey each day (to do the afternoon/evening routine) except on my two DIY days where I go up twice. If I am not at work, I can easily spend - 4/5 hours at the yard grooming, riding (sometimes both of them), skipping out, chatting, etc. On my DIY days, I muck out before work so get to the yard for 7am, feed, fill his haynet and water bucket and muck him out and leave just before 8 - luckily I only work 5 mins up the road! And after work, if I'm not riding then I usually spend about half an hour at the yard, skipping out, topping up haynet and water and feeding again. :)
 
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