How many days off a week

it depends on the horse. i've one young one that goes best being worked as much as possible, so she gets two days off max when competing. And my main older established horse goes best with three/four days off a week. I played around with it over the last year, and thats what works best for those two. I find it interesting that some horses thrive on nearly being drilled and worked hard, and some others don't. My main one really only does two hacks a week, one schooling on it and one fitness, then maybe a dressage lesson. and then the only times he jumps or does xc is really at comps. but it works for him!
 
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Completely depends. Some weeks he has 3, even 4 days off if I am busy. I wouldn’t do that unless he was very fit though, which he is. Other weeks he works for 10 days straight etc.
 
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Rarely more than one - unless I have a very troublesome week! That said, I don't drill, I only hack at home.
 
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I always think it's so interesting to try and work out schedules of what works for each horse, mentally and physically.

With the established ones i figure they kind of know their job at this stage, so unless an issue comes up (like needing gridwork to improve a bascule or something) its generally just a case of keeping them fit and muscled enough.

With ones just starting out , I find its more a case of troubleshooting issues that come up when competing, and at the same time keeping them overall education tapping along with clinics etc.

I think it's the most fascinating part of training to work out psychologically what each horse needs from a training plan.
 
paddi22 said:
I always think it's so interesting to try and work out schedules of what works for each horse, mentally and physically.

With the established ones i figure they kind of know their job at this stage, so unless an issue comes up (like needing gridwork to improve a bascule or something) its generally just a case of keeping them fit and muscled enough.

With ones just starting out , I find its more a case of troubleshooting issues that come up when competing, and at the same time keeping them overall education tapping along with clinics etc.

I think it's the most fascinating part of training to work out psychologically what each horse needs from a training plan.
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Indeed!! Boggle is strange as despite being very busy minded and hot, he is the same however long he’s had off. I can leave him for two weeks and hop back on- no different. He’d be the kind of horse you’d expect to need a good lounge beforehand!
 
Michen said:
Indeed!! Boggle is strange as despite being very busy minded and hot, he is the same however long he’s had off. I can leave him for two weeks and hop back on- no different. He’d be the kind of horse you’d expect to need a good lounge beforehand!
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god bless those types!!
 
Two of mine are ponies, the other is QH - they need regular work, or they end up distinctly rotund!

That said, it is low pressure work psychologically!
 
paddi22 said:
I always think it's so interesting to try and work out schedules of what works for each horse, mentally and physically.

With the established ones i figure they kind of know their job at this stage, so unless an issue comes up (like needing gridwork to improve a bascule or something) its generally just a case of keeping them fit and muscled enough.

With ones just starting out , I find its more a case of troubleshooting issues that come up when competing, and at the same time keeping them overall education tapping along with clinics etc.

I think it's the most fascinating part of training to work out psychologically what each horse needs from a training plan.
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Yes definitely! Little mare is an interesting one, because she would quite merrily be up for work every day and lots of it (i have to make the conscious decision to stop and get off her or we'd just go on and on), but I think that she actually does the bulk of her learning and processing on her days off....she has 3 days off a week at the moment so it will be interesting to see how she develops.

Big horse psychologically does best with 3 or 4 days off a week, but physically ideally only a maximum of 1. Hence why he's not a great competition horse - a lot of his required physical exercise has to be super low pressure bimbling or his brain melts, bless him.
 
DabDab said:
Yes definitely! Little mare is an interesting one, because she would quite merrily be up for work every day and lots of it (i have to make the conscious decision to stop and get off her or we'd just go on and on), but I think that she actually does the bulk of her learning and processing on her days off....she has 3 days off a week at the moment so it will be interesting to see how she develops.

Big horse psychologically does best with 3 or 4 days off a week, but physically ideally only a maximum of 1. Hence why he's not a great competition horse - a lot of his required physical exercise has to be super low pressure bimbling or his brain melts, bless him.
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yes its a weird one. and someone asked 'how do you know?' before and i genuinely didn't lnow how to explain it? Like do you just get a feeling of what they need?
 
Mine only gets worked 4 day s a week- 2 schooling sessions, two hacks. He is 18 next month and knows his job really well (competes novice/elementary dressage) so it’s just a case of keeping him fit and supple without putting unnecessary wear and tear on his body. Seems to be working for him, he feels great at the moment and has had some really good scores.
 
The showjumpers (except the 4-year-olds) work 6 days a week, either at home or competing. On the weeks they compete they have their day off the day after an outing. Workload is a mixture of hacking, schooling, lunging, and 30-minute treadmill sessions, depending on the individual horse. Some also jump at home once a week but others just do a gridwork session once a week and only jump properly at shows.
The 4-year-olds work 5 days a week including shows.
The polo ponies work 6 days a week regardless of tournaments.
 
paddi22 said:
yes its a weird one. and someone asked 'how do you know?' before and i genuinely didn't lnow how to explain it? Like do you just get a feeling of what they need?
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Accidental experimentation in my case ;)

My little competition horse has 3 days off most weeks. Sometimes in those days we'll go for a walk round the byways, literally a walk with me leading her as she doesn't enjoy hacking 😂

She works hard on her working days and is so willing I would risk overtraining her otherwise. It doesn't matter if she only does 3 days tbh, it frustrates me because I now have nothing else to ride but like DDs horse she does a bit of learning between ridden sessions.

I tend to aim for less intense, more frequent working days with greener horses.
 
Generally 2 days off a week and I try not to work her more than 3 days in a row.
This week she was feeling tired (I've been pushing her a bit harder lately) and worked really hard in our lesson so she had 3 days off, including 2 in a row (Thurs and fri) she was a joy to ride last night so it was definitely the right call.
We manage her as if she's metabolic so I have to keep her work up as she might explode if not, but I do try and make sure it is varied work.
 
In winter- 2 to 3, although I have no shame in admitting Im a fair weather rider in winter, so I have been known to give her a run of a week or two off if the weather is awful (like a couple of weeks ago!)

In summer, 1 to 2. That said, we school only once, maybe twice a week in the manège. Then we do fitness work in one of our big fields, or go out hacking around the farm tracks.
I am sometimes limited by my health aswell, which is a pain, but riding when my kidneys are bad only leads to it getting worse, so I try to be sensible (ish!).
 
Rarely more than 1. Often he might go 10-14 days without a day off. But if those days in work he will have quiet days, hacked primarily on the buckle.
 
One, normally. He might sometimes go 10 days or so without a break but generally gets a Monday or Thursday off depending on my schedule.

We have one jumping session, two dressage, one hack pretty much every week and then the other two rides are normally made up of any combination of show/school/little grids/working on the grass exercise track/lunging over poles or ridden polework
 
As few as possible other than 1 day off per 1 day away which is my rule to myself. Unfortunately I work a bit much and am often too tired to work him so he often gets 2 days off a week. He’s best worked every day contact and relaxation wise but never naughty.
 
Mine gets (usually) 2 days off a week. She needs the work to stay fit enough. I have noticed that she learns more if given time to process info, so some days are just fitness, with no questions being asked (other than to stay in front of my leg).
 
I’m temporarily going to 2 days off a week not 3 after an ‘interesting’ ride today- I think he has spring fever! It’s tough with an older horse with issues to get the right balance between keeping them fit and active, but not putting too much wear and tear on their joints. And staying in one piece!
 
Mydas has 2 days off a week, he does a dressage lesson, 1-2 schooling sessions or one of those may be jumping then his owner hacks him twice a week. He tends to shut down if he thinks hes schooling too often so we try and break it up for him
 
It depends entirely on the horse. Rose is a quick learner but a bit on the lazy side so I want to limit her schooling so she doesn't get sour but still build up her muscles. Currently she's doing a couple of schooling sessions (includes lessons) a pole work session and ideally a couple of hacks each week and getting two days off. Competitions slot in and I'd try to hack before a comp and give a day off after but it rarely goes to plan. I'm aiming on doing more interesting hacks once I feel I really know and trust her and perhaps a little bit of very low level jumping just for fun and variety (eek did I just type that!). I just feel she's the sort that needs to be kept on side to get the best dressage out of her. Bisto on the other hand was better with lots of schooling as long as it was mixed up with lots for him to do and think about and his main aim on hacks (which we did twice a week) was to get home so all our hacks were quite exciting!
 
In the competition season (long distance rides) he will only get ridden 3 times a week, quality over quantity for me. I like to give plenty of rest and recovery after traveling and his rides.
I do think too many people don’t give enough time off when competing.
 
My gelding use to only get 2 days off a week but now hes been diagnosed with arthritic neck he gets worked and always a day off after to recover.

Follysmum said:
In the competition season (long distance rides) he will only get ridden 3 times a week, quality over quantity for me. I like to give plenty of rest and recovery after traveling and his rides.
I do think too many people don’t give enough time off when competing.
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I agree, we were only taking on the yard about this the other day. Horse and Hound have a article on it and how important rest days are. I had friends who use to do a ODE then a funride the next day. Not a small funride, a 16 mile one. The horse was absolutely pooped.
 
I tend to do mostly hacking with my competition horse, during the season we'll do probably 3-4 hacks per week, most of which will be long walking hacks with some trotting up and down the glorious hills we are blessed with in abundance, and one canter a week and then a jump or flat lesson every fortnight and fit all of that around competitions whenever they come in. After a competition I would normally give 1-3 days off depending on how strenuous it was. Or sometimes I feel that a quick 20 minute plod around the block is best the next day.
Over winter we would do more like 5-6 shorter hacks every week which is important to me because the horses are in more and need the exercise.
I don't have anything written in stone and I will change her routine if I feel it's necessary as and when.
Sounds like my horse has an active routine when compared to others but I decide to give her a week or two off on holiday very regularly where she doesn't leave the field. It's nice because she is always the same however long she's had off and it works for us.
 
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Wow mine has the life of riley, we wander round the fields a few times a week, have a long canter if the ground is ok, if not we just mooch. We go in the school once or twice a week maximum for about 20 mins that's it, she is schooled to a good level so I can take her out to compete having only hacked for weeks and she always performs well, the routine works well for us but I know it wouldn't work for everyone. At this moment shes had the last 5 days off!
 
Mine generally have 2 days off a week, sometimes three if I have evening plans. If they've been hunting/competing they might have two long field days after depending on how strenuous it was.
 
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