Ice and mornings, what can you do?

[Horsekaren]

Two times this week I have gone to work my horse, stepped out my door and its icy hfffffff!
I wouldn't dare ride on ice, today I tried to lunge my boy only at walk in the school as the school was a bit icy, im not sure if this was a really silly decision. The school is gravel and had a thin frosty layer on it and was a bit slippy.
I only planned to do walk and stand transitions and a few poles which we did and he was great. My horse then got excited when he see another horse going out and proceeded to bronk and canter on the lunge line to my horror as I absolutely didn't even want him to trot in case he fell let alone get all excited... luckily it was short lived, back to walk and stand transitions for a few more mins then turned out.

After that waffle what I really want to know is what do you do with your horses when riding/ lunging and free schooling isn't ideal... ie when its icy, I want to get him thinking and challenge him but I don't want any risk of accidents...


I have been busy this week so my boy has had 5 days off hence why I needed to do something with him this morning even if it was just walking.

Or am I just being overly cautious :/

 

[Cortez]

Nothing wrong with being sensible, obviously, but if your horse isn't slipping and it's not rock hard then it's probably OK to work on surfaces (including grass). Concrete and tarmac however are another kettle of fish.

 

[milliepops]

Nothing wrong with being sensible, obviously, but if your horse isn't slipping and it's not rock hard then it's probably OK to work on surfaces (including grass). Concrete and tarmac however are another kettle of fish.

this. Our school surface is mainly carpet and only really frosts on the top, the underneath is always OK. I usually work on the track more if the top layer is a bit slippy so that we wear a thawed strip to work on but tbh I don't have a problem really

I've been on yards where the sand has frozen solid and that was more of a challenge, the key then IME is to make sure it is graded regularly so that at least it's a flat surface without divots and then you can do all your walk work, circles sideways etc and again, often you can wear the track enough to make it rideable

 

[SEL]

Today wasn't too bad in our school. I warmed up in walk for 10 mins which gave me a chance to walk over the bits in the shade to see how bad they were. One corner wasn't great so we didn't work in it.

It was much worse last week when we had heavy rain over the weekend and then a hard frost. I stuck to lunging in walk and trot because it was very slippery in places.

I hate riding in ice. Had a horrible experience a few years ago watching a friend's horse fall over on top of her right in front of me. One of those situations where you can see it happening but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Both ok luckily, but it shook us all up.

 

[Yardbird]

If it is icy I turn my horse out and go home and do some of the jobs I havent got round to when too busy riding my horse.(Or waste time here).

 

[AdorableAlice]

I have never seen a school with a gravel surface, how does that work ?

 

[Cortez]

I have never seen a school with a gravel surface, how does that work ?

Quite well; it's just big sand.....

 

[Tiddlypom]

Gravel for a surface? We've got a pea gravel drive, it's ok to ride the horses on it in walk when accessing the road, but I sure as heck wouldn't care to school on it.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Quite well; it's just big sand.....

I will get back in my box.

 

[JFTDWS]

I will get back in my box.

No room, I'm in there already... Surely gravel would be quite unpleasant if a horse slipped or fell on it. Or a human, but I care less about those.

 

[AdorableAlice]

No room, I'm in there already... Surely gravel would be quite unpleasant if a horse slipped or fell on it. Or a human, but I care less about those.

It is MY box and I was in it first from yesterday after the stabling is cruel thread. There is no doubt I have been getting the horse keeping thingy wrong for the past 40 years. Ask me nicely and I will shove up and make room for you to share my box. I have nice clementines to share and a box of smarties, blue ones for Ted only.

 

[JFTDWS]

It is MY box and I was in it first from yesterday after the stabling is cruel thread. There is no doubt I have been getting the horse keeping thingy wrong for the past 40 years. Ask me nicely and I will shove up and make room for you to share my box. I have nice clementines to share and a box of smarties, blue ones for Ted only.

Yes, you're a disgrace to horse keeping, that's why I've annexed your box... At least you're consistent though - you keep your horses in a box, but at least you're prepared to live the same way yourself

I'm afraid my muddy, shoeless, field kept pony has stolen your clementines too. He's a big believer in there being no food so sweet as stolen food. Fortunately for Ted, he hasn't touched the smarties!

 

[9tails]

I've found that horses are four wheel drive and will only slip on smooth surfaces like tarmac or concrete when icy. I've not had an issue with schooling even when there's frost on the school. Ours is sand and rubber. That said, I don't lunge or freeschool, I prefer to sit atop as it's warmer.

 

[Achinghips]

Over stabling that resulted in stable vices was cited as cruel, not stabling. What the heck did you read?

 

[Chinchilla]

Over stabling that resulted in stable vices was cited as cruel, not stabling. What the heck did you read?

I think what they read was all the people going 'stables are prisons'.
I found that thread way funnier than I should have done tbh. So many people getting overly offended over nothing...
Any room in that box, AdorableAlice, just for a little one?

 

[AdorableAlice]

I've found that horses are four wheel drive and will only slip on smooth surfaces like tarmac or concrete when icy. I've not had an issue with schooling even when there's frost on the school. Ours is sand and rubber. That said, I don't lunge or freeschool, I prefer to sit atop as it's warmer.

It is not warmer when they are 17h, the air is thinner at that altitude and one can get nosebleed and if you are on a gravel surface bum burn is a given if you come adrift.

 

[Cortez]

I will get back in my box.

How big is your box? Is it large enough for you to turn around and lie down comfortably? Are you let out for exercise or kept in 24/7?

 

[AdorableAlice]

How big is your box? Is it large enough for you to turn around and lie down comfortably? Are you let out for exercise or kept in 24/7?

My box is huge Cortez, so large I can buck and kick in it, dig it up and chuck the bed over the door. If I pee in my box it drains away too, it has a nice earth floor under my big fluffy bed. I do go out but if it is raining I often prefer to watch daytime telly. A dumpy old bird rocks up each end of the day and tidies up after me, puts me in clean jim jams or my mac. She does my meals to, food isn't too bad and regular, sometimes she takes me out and expects me to win a bit of tatty old ribbon. She is a strange bint but I humour her, makes for an easy life.

 

[npage123]

In my previous yard there was one section of stables that opened up onto concrete. Whenever there were icy weather, the yard owner allowed us to do the mucking out straight out onto the concrete and thereby creating a safe muckpath for each of the horses, up to the point where we reached the 'safety zones' of the covered barn stable area, indoor school, start of walkway to turn-out areas etc.

It saved so much time on mucking out, to simply dump the muck from the wheelbarrow to just in front of the stables. When it came to clearing up time, it was easy-peasy filing up the wheelbarrows with the muck by using show-shovels and brooms, but it was hard work and took a few trips. But I'd do this any time again if it ensures a save walkway for my horse.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Those yellow bins that are kindly put at the roadside have a very useful product inside them. I have been known to borrow, never pinch, a bag of it to ensure a safe path from yard to gate.

 

[Peter7917]

Gravel? Are you sure that's what it is?

Imagine falling off at speed onto gravel. Ouch!