How often does your horse have a day off? Am i a terrible mother??

S

Switchthehorse

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 June 2009
Messages
516
Location
Nottingham
darcyandme.wordpress.com
Ok, so I am sitting here feeling THE guilt as I am contemplating riding tonight (schooling schooling) and it will be the 8th day in a row said nag has been worked. We have hacked, jumped, lunged, pottered round the block and schooled... so she has had a varied life.

She is pretty fit and perky so isn't dead on her feet or anything like that - clearly if she was shattered I wouldn't even be contemplating it.

The reason (tragic) is forecast is horrific for tomorrow so makes sense we both get a day off on a miserable day when I KNOW we will only argue, tonight without horrific weather we might just get on ok.

She normally has one day off every 5 or 6 days. Am wondering how often everyone elses horse has a day off and if you think I should be reported to WHW and am a terrible mother???
 
Nope, doesn't make a terrible owner.

If you have varied the work, over the last week and he is fit enough. Then I would school tonight and give him a day off tomorrow :)
 
I'm sure riding her tonight will be fine :) It's not as if she's had a really tough week, and as I am very much a fair weather rider I don't blame you for wanting to avoid bad weather!
 
Mine have a day off when it suits me.

Asking them to listen to me and work for 1hr or so out of their day is hardly a huge ask, they are work horses, don't worry about it.
 
My horse works 7 days a week. I find if he has days off it takes me half an hour to get any sense out of him the next day. He does have an easy day on a sunday i just lunge him for 15 minutes in a pessoa and turn him out, but we do a bit of everything hacking schooling jumping and one lesson a week. Hes fit as a fiddle and usually im more knackerd when i get off than he is
 
My girl has 2 days off a week, the days she have off are whichever days suit me. I was thinking about not giving her any days off as she is a bit of a tit the day after her day off and I generally get in a fight with her but I wasn't sure if that was too mean?!
I think so long as your horse is fit enough then 8 days of work isn't too bad, I've ridden horses for 8 or 9 days in a row if theyre running in races on a Monday or Tuesday :)
 
I ride my horse as and when work and weather allow. I am a fair weather rider, I am lucky I have a little horse who doesn't have to go out every day (unlike my last 2 TBs). Also the riding where I live is not exactly inspiring!!!!! :( :(
 
mine has the weekend off every other weekend usually (and if I'm ridiculously busy the odd day here and there, when it suits really) - his had a bit of an easy couple of weeks as not been able to ride but still been long lined and and lunged - back to ridding on 48 hours - not that I am counting :rolleyes:
 
Do you work 7 days a week, I try to feel I am being fair with mine, I may ride him 4 days on the go sometimes, and then give him a couple of days off, mostly it's Sat Sun ride, Mon Tue off, Wed and "poss" Thursday ride, then Frid off, if I did a 15 miler I like to give him the next day off, it depends how much work is involved, my hacks are never less than 1.5 hours, we jumped last night but only spent about 3/4 of an hour, he didn't even get a sweat on even though we did plenty of cantering as we were in a xcounty field, someones hack may only be 1/2 hour, others 2 hours min, basically only you know your horse it's fitness etc etc, I tend to think for a healthy well looked after horse, they don't really get physically tired unless your being silly, they get more mentally tired from doing the same thing, I'm thinking you already know the answer to your own question, gut instinct.
 
He spends 23hrs a day slobbing around in the field, so I never feel bad if he doesn't get a day off. But we have heaps of fun and I'm way more entertaining than his field mate, so he seems happy. If he feels tired or I am too tired to ride well then I change the plan.
 
At the moment my mare is ridden twice a week! Not good as I am trying to build up her back end! I have college right after work 2 days a week and then avoiding rain in the evenings is my issue!! I would say, no probs at all. Think about the riding school ponies who get 1 day off a week and the 3 weeks seperated through-out the year (my old yard plan!) and they got ridden, depending on the pony, 3 hours max a day. So, 8 days in a row of mixed work seems fine to me! Hardly being a bad mummy! I'd ride mine lots more if the weather was good on my evenings off!!
 
Last edited:
Mine used to go up to two weeks between having a day off. It never harmed him and he was super fit and well, we used to school mon, tue, wed then hack and jump the rest of the week with one of them being a quiet one and the others being fast work. He was the most forward and up for work that he has ever been on that routine and he lost loads of weight (he needed to).

Now he gets wednesday and thursday off as I'm down at uni so I make the most of the days he is worked and will quite often school in the morning and hack in the evening when I can.
 
Mine are worked seven days a week unless they go to a show and have the following day off. They are turned out every day. They hack, jump, school, pole work and lunge. Sometimes I work them twice a day. Just two shorter sessions. They are very fit and happy to work.
On a Friday they will have an easier session with just a 20 min lunge.
 
My old pony never had a day off unless I was ill or it was the day after a show! He lived and was ridden to the age of 40 (including showing/jumping/lessons/hacking!).

My current girl though spends most of her life on holiday due to my work commitments.
 
In the bad old days (i.e. 70s), it never occurred to anyone to give a horse a day off unless they'd been hunting or had done a big show. Or were riding school horse. Someone earlier said, are you (person) expected to work 7 days a week? But most horses are ridden for about an hour and that's it! That's hardly working 8/10+ hours a day.
I think I'd rather poll out for a bit of a hack for part of the day or a bit of school/jump than be stuck in same old field/stable 24 hours a day.
 
In the Winter, I try to ride mine 5-6 days a week to keep him fit for hunting. But during the Summer, when he is living out we hack out (and do the occasional schooling session) about 4 times a week. :)
 
re- do you work 7 days a week
yes it's called looking after a horse
(never mind the day job, and if you're self employed that's every day too)

my TB was worked every day until he was retired from competition
as he approaches 26 he's still ridden approx 4 times a week as it keeps all his 'systems' ticking over
if he isn't worked he sulks (and stiffens up)

its FAR better to work a horse daily than to drag it out once in a blue moon when the weather is nice and hammer it round the woods

unless of course you want blown tendons!

BUT yes the work must be varied

people tend to forget horses have brains, and brains require stimulation

unless we're talking dire PC types jumping their ponies to the point of exhaustion...
i've come across lots of problems with underworked horses and none with horses worked most days
 
No, not terrible at all. They are only ridden for an hour or two a day. I don't think they need days off (but do need holidays). Mine is ridden about 4 times per week due to very busy lifestyle and I wish I could ride him more - heyho.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top