How much work is too much?

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HayInMyWellies

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I'm looking at some different working livery options for my 16 year old new forest. He can get a bit too silly if not worked much, and so we need it mostly for winter. In winter i can't ride after school so only riding for 2/3 hours a week but in summer, and in school holidays, i'm riding 5/6 hours a week.

The yard only offer working livery or stables, which is too much. Howeverm they have said they want to use him for 10 hours a week. I think this is far too much but my parents and the yard seem to think that, with my work as well, 16 hours a week is fine... for a pony who can lack motivation in the school.

Is it too much? I think even 10 hours is pushing it a bit! Opinions please.

(Please note i don't really want a fight about pros and cons of working livery)

Thanks
 
To be honest it depends entirely on your pony. I keep my pony at livery at a riding school (hes not WL btw) - most of the horses and ponies are working livery & 10hrs is the minimum they do on a sat and sun - depends on how popular they are and most are older. The only worry I would have is your pony getting too fit and if unworked before you get may be much more 'perky' than you're used too.

Give it a try you can always cancel the agreement if it doesnt work out :-D
 
16 hours a week isn't very much. Unless it's 16 hours a week of high level schooling or jumping, I really doubt it's too much. Particularly if they spend some time hacking out / playing games. Success of working livery massively depends on the quality of the RS in my opinion.
 
back in the days when I had a life, I used to ride my haffy about 20 hours a week and ride him quite hard, he was fit as a flea and could have done more
 
What sort of work are they doing? What happens if he goes lame? Who maintains his tack? Who covers shoeing/vet costs int his period? As 10hrs a week is actually not that much for the school, but it depends what sort of riders are ridnig him?
 
It's not too much I don't think, but quality and honesty of the place is SO important, I.e. are they going to sneak more hours in, are they going to take over and interfere with your plans. It has been known for people to turn up to ride their horse at a scheduled time and its in a lesson.
 
Do RS really use ponies for at least 10 hours over a weekend? How many hours would they do a week? That seems a huge amount to me but then again I haven't been near a RS for a long time!
 
It depends totally what they will be doing with him.

I've been to RS that are primarily focussed on LR hacks - in which case as long as rider weights are not excessive for the pony, and clients are allowed neither sticks nor to saw on mouths, 5hrs/day (with breaks) would be fine.

If harder work you may want to consider how he can be built up to the total weekly amount gradually.

Also makes a difference if horse is turned out or stabled the rest of the time. If stabled for much of the day anyway I'd probably rather being worked more to keep legs from filling/mind alert.

If your issue is that, even though turned out, he has too much energy you could also look at his diet as well as his work load.
 
Wow that sounds an awfull lot me! What do you do with him youself? Do you trust the RS? What kind of people will they have on him? Do you really want to run the risk of novices ruining him by constantly yanking at hus mouth and nagging at his sides? I own an ex riding school horse and I dont think the damage it did to him will ever fully be reversed.
 
I don't think that's too much, as long as he's fit enough to cope, but if he's doing that many hours bear in mind he will inevitably be carrying a wide range of abilities. I would also ask for a break down of how those hours are broken up, and arrangements if, for example you want to keep him for your sole use some days -perhaps for competitions or on your birthday.
 
Err, it wasn't the OP who mentioned 5 hours / day. The OP said 10 hours / week which is a different kettle of fish entirely!
 
I would say that 10 hours for the rs was not too much. It does depend on the sort of work they do, but tbh I would be happy enough if that was the sort of thing I was interested in. I used to keep my mare on a rs on full livery. There ponies often did 4 hours plus a day, a mixture of hacking and school work. These ponies looked fab, and many of them had been on the rs for over 20 years. A good contract and the right rs is essential.
 
Native ponies were bred to work hard all day every day! When I was a teenager me and my pony would be doing minimum 2 hours a day as soon as it was light enough after school, and in summer we would take a picnic and go out all day every day! He was bursting fit, we could do a 2 hour hack to a pony club rally then 2 hour hack back.
 
Glad to see that people do not think it is too much.
Still do not really want it, i can understand my parents reasoning in why he has to stay there (last year he went mental, bolting and bronking without me even being onboard for a minute) and shattered my confidence, but i still do not like him doing so much, and being bored. The rs also often do not bother to turn him out after use which really gets me annoyed.
I am going to ask if i can help out for say 6 hours at the weekend and in return him only doing 4 hours which hopefully will keep him ticking over.

In return to a couple of questions, it is 10 hours a week. If it was 10 hours a weekend there is no chance he would be going at all.
Also, i don't think it was excess food at the time because he is out 24/7 and has two scoops safe and sound and a scoop of hi fi cubes split in to two, as well as hay if no/insufficient grass, as well as grass.
 
10 hours over the wek sounds fine but if he's lacking motivation in the school just now he'll be wrecked by the end of it! I have a pony who I got at 3yeaes old, they'd broken him and shoved him in a riding school and he's never truley got over it. He had loads of behavioural problems in regards to being in an arena and even now I only school him 2hours per week max.
 
Physically not too much work (assuming he's fit and well) but 10 hours (most of which will be on Sat and Sun mornings realsitically) going round and round and round doing the same lessons again and again will be very dull for him and if he's lacking motivation I'd imagine would quickly lead to naughty habits (running to gate, not leaving the group, refusing to trot, refusing not to canter etc.)
Can you do all of you 6 hours a week, during the week and out of the school so at least you break up his week with the type of work he's going.

If I did 2 hours a day evey day, hacking, schooling, jumping, lunging, competition once a week etc. I'm sure mine would be fine. If I did 4 one hour sessions in the school in the week then 5 hours sat and and 5 hours sun am in the school then he'd get naughty very quickly!

What will the RS actually do with him? all lessons in school or some hacking? how much at weekends vs the evenings? are all his lessons going to be beginners/ at the same level?
 
He is not used by them at weekends and i an trying to get it that way in school holidays. He is not used by novices so is ridden by staff or experienced clients, mostly on wt/wtc hacks, a few flat lessons, and a couple of jumping lessons. The few times he has had beginners, they fell off. One fell off twice in a lesson and another he bolted with, she fell in to a tree stump and was taken to hospital with a broken rib... So only for people who
 
With sensible riders, a range of work and the hours spread over the week he should be fine.

Get all of the above in writing / get your parents to get it in writing so if they change the rules on you, you can complain.

Maybe also work out a plan B so if it doesn't work out you know what the alternative will be.
 
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