How long do you think horses should work each day?

[giggles mum]

Just wondering as people seem to have very different opinions on this. How long do you think riding school horses should have to work each day? and should there be restrictions eg only 1 hour in the school and the rest hacking or whatever?

Thanks x

 

[Weezy]

All of the horses I taught on/took rides on were capable of going all day, however I tried to limit them to 3 clients a day - for their sanity

 

[Skhosu]

I would say 2 hours on, an hour or so off (lunch?) and then maybe another 1-1.5hrs is enough.
Some ponies I know used to go from 10 til 8 on a saturday, plodding round and they were like the walking dead.

 

[Tierra]

How much I work mine for varies depending on how we're both feeling and what we're actually doing.

If he's done some exceptionally nice work and ive achieved everything that I wanted to, then I'll leave it at that. The most I usually school for at one time is about 45 minutes (has over run sometimes if Im having issues).

There have been occasions over summer when we're on the build up to something, that I'll cram in two lessons a day for a short period, but we keep them to 40 minutes per time.

We also had restricted turnout for a very brief time last year and consequently I was riding twice a day then just to give horsey something to think about.

 

[pagancluf]

3 hrs max a day surely! Especialy with someone goning thwap-thwap on their backs!!!

 

[serena2005]

when i was at a riding scholl, the horses went all day, unless something was wrong with them... saying that, us as the leaders we went all day too! very tiring walking round and round and round.

 

[henryhorn]

Mine used to do two or three hours in the week, often spaced out into morning/evening work, and often five hours on Sat and Sunday.
I tried to swap them about so they got a good long two hour break every day but really Giggles, the amount they work has to be what money it needs to feed and house them!
lessons are normally planned to give the horses a sly rest every now and then, which is why you see riders standing in a line and one person attempting something, it's not for the person's benefit, it's to allow the horses a rest.
If they are hard working lessons ie mostly trot and canter or jumping, then the horses need more rest, and more food, but most riding school owners regard their ponies as their tools of the trade, and look after them exceptionally well, if they don't their living suffers.
I'm assuming from your post you feel some school horses you know are overworked?

 

[sorona]

I think it is probably boredom rather than exhaustion that effects most riding school ponies. A lot of ponies go for yours and hours on a weekend, doing 3 hours int he morning and another 3 in the afternoon but for most of them it consists of a very lot of walking and standing around where as horses at a dressage/competition yard are expected to work far harder in a lesson and it would be unfair to expect them to work for any longer than 1 hour at a time with a 2 hour break in between for rest and food.
My daugther could quite happily go out on her pony all day and he loves it but she will do lods of walking as well as fast work and stop for a picnic and give him a rest but would never school him fo rmore than 1 hour or jump any more than 2 classes on him where I have known people to colt hunt their horses in the morning and then go straight to doing XC or SJ from there and do 2 to 3 classes!!

 

[eahotson]

Gree with Henryhorn. In a perfect world etc. they would probably only do about 2 hours a day but its not a perfect world and a lot of the cob/native types were bred to work long hours.In the trecking yard where I keep mine (not on working livery) they get thrashed during the summer which is when yard makes most of its money but have a far easier time during the winter.

 

[Erray]

I must be too soft. I try to limit mine to 3 hours a day. In the height of summer they occasionaly do 4 but then they get 4 months off in the winter and during quieter times very often get days off at a time. I have about 5 different treks and the ponies never look bored, though being mainly highlands they usually tell me when they've had enough, ie they just won't go. I definately work harder than they do, however they live out year round so are reasonably cheap to keep.

 

[teapot]

Maximum ours ever did was 3 and this used to be spaced out.

They occasionally did two in a row but were more than fit and were hacking out atleast 3 days a week