How much effort do you put in?

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moneypit1

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I just want to jump locally with Fly and do ok. You know, get a clear round, get in the jump off, nothing specatacular. I am a great believer in you only get out what you put in! I often don't feel like riding. The weather is foul, ive done a 45 hr week etc.....and yet I feel bad If I don't get out on Fly 5 days out of 7. He is not a horse I can pick up and put down (if you know wht I mean). BUT... it is hard. I have no arena, I have to hack out and school on the road (unless I have my bi-weekly lesson - weather permitting). What about you, how committed are you?
 
At this time of year NOT VERY
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lol!!I go down every day but i just dont have the motivation to ride!!Sure will change if we ever see a bit of sunshine!!Due to the crap weather all year i really havnt been able to get going!!Dont see the point in trying to cram it in at the mo with xmas looming ever closer!!Hopefully nxt year will bring some nicer weather!!!
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(we can live in hope!!)
 
I am lucky if I get to ride once a week at the mo. I can only ride at weekends as I have no floodlit school and I work fulltime. Luckily Jerry is a horse that can be just ridden occasionally. I do go to the yard twice a day though!
 
I've juggled my work to work longer days tuesday and thursday, so i can leave earlier on mon, wed and fri to ride. also make sure I groom, handle and work with my youngster every day or she becomes difficult! Takes a lot of effort - and sometimes really don't feel like it. Esp at 6am every morning!
 
I've just moved yard to a yard with a school, and previously being at a yard with basically no facilities. I have to rely on parents atm to get me to the yard and they say max of 4 times a week in winter, so I had a lesson on Weds then I will ride both days at the weekend. And I don't think the horse minds, as she is never pleased to see me
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I would say I am pretty committed. I do dads ponys 3 days on 1 day off, Pip 4 days on one day off and ginga 2 days on one day off, rain or shine or storm! I obviuosly always muck out and stuff and that take a while with there being 7.
 
How would he be if you kept him "ticking over" during the winter and increased the work as the weather improves ?
At the end of the day (a long one in the winter after work !) horses are supposed to be fun !
 
I'm only riding at the weekends, and that's just started up after her having a few weeks off completely. When girlie was younger I'd try and lunge her twice in the dark evenings and would then school/have a lesson/hack at the weekends.

She enjoys a break in the winter and so do I.

Of course I still go down twice a day to feed and hay and handle the youngster
 
I am very driven and work hard. I strive for perfection. I would say that what you put in definitely matters, but you need to THINK about your riding, assess things on a regular basis, to make sure you are not putting tonnes of effort in, only to find you have been putting all that effort into doing the wrong thing (because you never took time to reflect).

Also, because I am so perfectionist, I keep putting off taking my horse to dressage. Sometimes you just have to go and do it, get the experience, even though you haven't put the hrs in. The fine tuning can come later in time.
 
I live about 45 miles from where I work and keep my horse. I leave my house at 6.30 every morning and get back about 8.30pm. I ride every day after work (apart from 1 day off) and work all day saturday at the yard to help with the livery costs. On my day off on Sunday I'm usually competing and if I'm not doing that then I will go for a longer hack. I can honestly say I'm knackered- But she's so worth it!
 
I try really hard to get T ridden at least 5 times a week. I have no arena (a pond for a field) and have to rely on hacking out or finding evening SJ competitions. At the mo I am really struggling to get the morning rides in as it just doesn't get light early enough. I start work at 8.30 so when it doesn't get light until 7.45 there is no chance. I have taken to not feeling so guilty about not riding if it is p$$$ing it down as neither of us enjoy it any way. The thing is he loves going out and will stand in the field watching me in the morning as if to say aren't we going to do anything fun today. After a day off he is often obnoxious too - 'serves you right mother for not takeing me out yesterday!' I have found evening sj every other week which gives him a good debounce - then we have lessons or compete or go for a long ride at the weekend.
 
In normal circumstances (off sick due to RTA) I work shifts and on DIY, I will go up in the morning before a late shift and ride/lesson/lunge, muck out etc. After an early shift, I'll go home get some dinner then get to the yard at about 3pm and do the above.

On the weekends I'm off i'll compete or find a competition in the week. Sometimes both days if I'm on a long stretch at work.

At the moment, I've just got back into doing all my jobs at the yard and my instructor and friend is riding for me to keep Ralph ticking over and hopefully, I can get back on board in Jan and back to normal, six months without riding is a killer and I'm even going to ride in the rain, my instructor did yesterday and I think I owe him that......bless
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Funny, I was thinking about this earlier this week. At this time of year I think you have to be realistic as to what you can do.
With the recent weather, the dark nights, the fact that our school floods and the amount of work I have on I've decided to stop putting pressure on myself to ride.
Last week has been frantic at work and I've only ridden twice. My horse does benefit from regular work but its also hard work to get him to go well and if I'm shattered before we start I know we won't get far.
He's coming back from an injury so we won't do anything other than a bit of prelim dressage before spring which means fitness isn't an issue for us at the moment. I now accept that if the weather is too bad or I'm too tired it doesn't really matter. The main thing is that when I do manage to ride that I enjoy it.
 
If I have an aim competition-wise then I do commit to it. Like during the eventing season I'll make every effort to try and keep the horse fit / get the practice in etc.
But right now during the winter I do get lazy! But I think it's purely because I don't have any surface to ride on, I have a paddock which right now, is either mud or frozen solid! So even when I do ride I can't do much above a walk very often! I still compete BSJA every weekend though but only because the horse I take to that lives out 24/7 and generally keeps himself pretty fit!
 
Only ride once or twice a week but horses are seen to daily, the weather is just sooo crap and i dont have anything to race this year so i cant be bothered because have no reason to train!
 
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