OK hands up - who's stuggling???

[claire1976]

After what seems like 40 days and 40 nights of non stop rain I'm really struggling with getting any riding done.
As a result of this I got on my normally placid 14yr old TB mare today who behaved like a complete devil - a little bit of wind was her excuse to be a sh1t. My sisters 3 yr old recently broken cob showed her up good and proper!
Its just so hard with work and dark nights and constant rain to get out often enough. Those of you with TB's probably know that most of them without regular work get a bit 'funny'.
Anyway - no point to my post except to possibly hear that I'm not the only one praying for an early spring and struggling to cope at the moment!!

 

[conniegirl]

pony hasnt been ridden since the end of september, will think about bringing him back into work after xmas if the weather cooperates. Thankfully he is a hardy native who is on 24 hour turnout and doesnt go silly if not exercised

 

[Jemayni]

Mine are still getting the ridden work as we have an indoor, but I they are on restricted turn out and it is killing me (nearlly literally) Sky nearlly put me under a bus yesterday because of a piece of plastic in the hedge, which caused him to lauch into the air and into the path of the oncoming vehicle. And it took me 25 mins to catch Chance in torrential rain this afternoon, caught him twice but he galloped off with leadrope attached twice, (once across field, once up the muck heap)

 

[WelshRareBit]

I havent ridden for about a month - what with work/weather etc nothing to worry about though, Im going to start again next week

x

 

[Gwenneh]

I haven't ridden since July, for various reasons. *withdrawl*

 

[Super_Kat]

Bugger all turnout, covered/indoor school.........lovely

Nice clean horses and somewhere dry to ride

 

[Jemayni]

lol - love it.

No it is pretty cool, having an indoor!

 

[regalrendezvous]

I'm the oppostite...i'm praying FOR rain. We are all struggling in australia as it hasn't rained properly for years. Horses are being PTS because of lack of feed. In some states paddocks are just dust.

I'm lucky i am in sydney as we get some rain so we have access to feed. But other states are in a really bad way there is just no feed.

It's a pity we can't get some of your rain!!! There are kids in central australia who have NEVER seen rain and they are 7+. It's very sad.

 

[tormor]

thats the one good thing about here

 

[filly190]

My horses have a holiday from Nov - Feb. I dont think it does them any harm and trying to ride in this weather which would for me be just a weekends is a nightmare. They go all spooky etc and so for the past three winters, we have all had time out which I and them appreicate.

 

[fizz-tally]

thats really really sad

i ride during the day, try to anyway,living in scotland we get lots & lots of rain

 

[Mel85]

Not sure that I've been totally enjoying it, but my horses are still in full work! No turn out, outdoor arena, not the best floodlights, but don't think about it and get on with it! That's how I keep going! Mind you - I was wondering what I was doing last weekend at a xc comp on top of hill in horizontal rain and gale force wind (blew saddle off twice while I was trying to tack up!!!). Thought for a minute that I might have lost my marbles!! Hey ho - spring is just around the corner...well, ish!

 

[madgirl]

nowhere dry to ride but all weather floodlit otdoor school
turnout is crap!!

 

[claire1976]

Well, there is such a thing as too much rain, since I no longer have grazing I just have 2 acres of mud. Horses are still out though with plenty of hay so they're not starving. I'm just fed up all ready and winter has only just begun!! I'm soooo jealous of all of you with indoor schools, since I have my own land I can't spare the space for a school.
There's no way I could give my mare a 'holiday' - she needs work to keep her fit otherwise I fear her old hock injury and copd will cause her more problems. I feel better if I can get out on her even if its only weekends.

 

[YorksG]

Not able to ride for last two weeks, twelve hours turn out each day, hoping they are fit enough for the saddle club christmas ride next Sunday, if the weather is fit to go. If it rains next Sunday my sings and my horses wings will not survive ( we are going as a christmas fairy horse and a christmas fairy)

 

[henryhorn]

We're lucky in that our arena is rideable even after heavy rain, but today CCJ stayed dry on her first lesson at 8am, got wetter on the next at 10am then soaked on the 11am..Spare more sympathy for her trainer who taught lessons at 8/9/10/11/12 then half hour break and off to neighbouring PC for three more sessions..
We kept her going with hot coffee and chocolate, stuffed lunch into her within hr 15 min break, but she must have been absolutey frozen..
We have a horse in to school and it's hopeless, you ride a day, miss a day etc which doesn't help at all. It's unfair to expect them to work every day in torrential rain so sCCJ has been diving out between showers to try and work all three. We abandoned our indoor school because we couldn't get the surface right without loads of cash but on days like this it would be wonderful to be able to use it..
I think all you can do is keep the feed to mostly fibre nd get into trot up a hill to take the edge off them when you can ride!

 

[pottamus]

I am not too bad...I have my own field so he has loads of turnout whatever the weather, but comes in at night for some hay to give his stomach a break from the grass. Work has been getting a bit hectic, so fitting in riding has been tricky but I get out at least 4 days a week. Only really stopped by ice or snow...as I have no school so everything is road work.

 

[SarahRoads]

10 days till the Winter Solstice - at least the nights will stop getting darker.....well thats the theory isnt it??

 

[tashyisaudrey]

oh don't go there. Our yard is turning into therapy centre. Mud bath for turnout, and outdoor swimming pool for schooling.

 

[RachelB]

I'm lucky that my horse gets turnout if at all possible, as I'm now on uni holidays and my 'partner' at the yard who I share duties with doesn't work, so one or other of us is usually about to sort the horses. Going back up in an hour or so to check on them as it's periodically tipping it down here. As for riding, most of us are lunging in the floodlit outdoor once or twice a day in the rain and wind. Last night I was schooling in the wind, rain and dark - the electric kept tripping and when it stopped turning off, one end of the school's floodlights wouldn't turn back on. Luckily I have a pretty much bombproof horse! Will be hacking later unless it's torrential, I haven't hacked for about two weeks (not properly anyway).
And the worst bit is that it's meant to be warm and wet on Xmas day!

 

[Parkranger]

the cold generally seems to be affecting all our horses.....and yes, lack of exercise is a bit like taking my life in my hands! getting in alot of long reining in our outdoor school so atleast he's doing something! x

 

[claire1976]

Glad I'm not the only on suffering then!!! It just seems a never ending battle of mud wrestling and dealing with fizzy horses that I can't ride as its dark at 4pm. At least the nights start drawing out again soon so hope to get back into a proper routine again. Its a bit embarrassing when a 3 yr old behaves better than my 14 yr old who is supposed to be setting an example!!

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Ah i posted about this a couple days ago, its awful isnt it, im literally waiting by the window on my jods ready to jump up to the yard the minute it stops raining or blowing gail force winds!!
I ride my horse about 5days a week, but last week he had 2days off in a row because the weather was so bad
Its worse when i have clients horses because the clients keep having to cancel when its wet and i dont get my money

lol

 

[Twiglet]

Mine's had a month off work, and walked round farm on Saturday like a little angel. UNtil we got to the last hill and he realised he wasn't going out of walk before he was home: cue massive buck and bolt, full out gallop (has been off work with injury) with me screaming 'if you're bloody lame I'm going to kill you!!'.......

 

[claire1976]

LOL!!! Horses can be complete b*****s when it suits them - the wind kept me awake all night last night as I was worrying about them being out - but they all seemed fine this morning. Its just so crap at the moment and I don't remember last year being this bad. I'd rather have it freezing cold than wet and windy.

 

[Kelly1982]

My horse had all of last week off due to power failure down the yard so i started riding again on Saturday but now our sand school is a swimming pool up one end so we only have half the school to work in and if someone else is riding or lunging its a nightmare!!!

We still have plenty of turnout though so they can still stretch their legs but i am finding it hard keeping up with the grooming more than the riding LOL

 

[jemmeg]

Well I just dress for the weather and get on with it business as usual. I still ride in wind and rain the only thing I wont ride in are very icy conditions.

 

[Tempi]

in all honesty yes it is really hard work, but im coping with working and then riding my two in the dark, and often the rain. if the weather is really bad then they have a day off, but ive managed (so far) to make it so they only have one day off a week. However i have to keep them fit as Bloss is competing most weekends and im desperatly trying to build up Archies fitness, so i guess determination is driving me on!!

 

[the watcher]

I have reached total exhaustion, this is the first winter ever that I have had to stable horses, at other yards I have had 24 hour turnout throughout the winter. As a consequence mine are getting quite lively through being in stables overnight - although they seem to like being in.

Can't wait for the days to start getting longer so I don't have to drag the mad monsters in in the dark (it would be nice if the mud dried up too!)

 

[brightmount]

Mud fever has started to rear its ugly head on our yard, even though they all come in at night. Mine don't have it yet.

I've been a bit complacent about it, as my mare has black legs, but I realised she's only been out for one winter since we had her, and that was quite a dry one. Last year she was on box rest all winter. And now we have 2 horses and the other one has two white socks, so maybe I have to be on my guard for mud fever this winter