PROPER working riders

B

Bertie10

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Hi
I love the little regular article in H&H about working riders (Dressage section) and always turn to it first. As someone who works full time, with a 18 month year old boy, 2 horses & no help, I love to read how other people do it, especially if they are out competing & doing well.
But, recently, I've felt really disapointed with the article & that the people featured are not always proper working riders, for example, having a groom, hired help for mucking out or your horse on full livery & help to keep him/her fit. (Sorry to offend).
I'm not sure if anyone else agrees, but the point of my ramble is;
how do other working riders fit it all in? How do people balance their family/horses/full time jobs etc etc. What suffers as a result?
How do you manage?

Just got me thinking that we all make huge sacrifices for our horses, especially in terms of time, and interesting to know how we all do it.

B x
 
I'm a proper working rider competing at BE Ihave no groom for shows and drive myself. I also have to commute 3 hours a day for my job.

I manage by having my horse on full Livery :p
 
i don't sleep :D
i am currently looking for a loaner for one of my horses to free up more time for the one that i compete. i try to work him 5 days a week but sometimes it is less if i'm busy at work...if i'm mad busy i will lunge rather than school as is much quicker. i also only have lessons 1x a month as can't afford any more and also struggle to fit it all in. i have to say though that my house is a mess and i don't have much of a social life...but then i am a teacher so i try and catch up with my friends in the school holidays. it helps that i have a very understanding OH too!

i too agree that PROPER working riders are ones who do everything themselves. not trying to take anything away from people with grooms or who have full livery but that does free up a lot of time...
 
I do it by working shifts. I dont sleep enough, but it means I can get up at 7am, MO, ride etc. Do other things around the house. Work from 2pm to midnight. Come home, sleep a little, up again the next morning and so on. When I'm working nights, I hardly sleep more that 3hrs twice a day.

My OH helps when I work days and does the evenings if I'm at work, - I did make him into a horsey husband, as he wasn't like this when I met him!
 
I have 2 part time jobs, 2 children, 3 horses and a very annoying NONE understanding OH who was currently not working untill this monday YAY!!
My TB is on a livery yard, but i do everything apart from morning feed and turn out, 1 pony at my land and the other somewhere else! the other ponies (not on yard) are still babies so there just out 24/7 enjoying there baby years :)
 
I'm not sure if I count as a proper working rider (I'm a full time A level student) but basically to keep horses on "proper DIY" I have to get up early and have less free time in the evenings and weekends. It's hard work but it's rewarding to know your doing it all for yourself.

But you can manage more easily with a bit of help, I bring other peoples horses in for them and change their rugs and feed them so that their owners don't have to come down in the mornings because they live further from the yard than I do. I think that's ok and your still a proper working rider. But it does annoy me the people that think they are but actually have other people doing their mucking out or have grooms.

No offence to these people because if that's what's best for their horses then that's fair enough, the welfare of horses has to come before your ability to be a "proper working rider"

:)
 
We work 12hr shifts, 4 on 4off days and nights. Dayshift in winter means up at 5am, decide wether our 4 are staying in or not, fill haynets if not out, check water, off to work for 7 30, home at 8pm feed, muck out and fill haynets check waters, feed ourselves and bed.
Nightshifts, we turn out at 8am, or do haynets etc, I'm normally up by 1pm and muck out, fill haynets etc, if out I poo pick in the fields, then try to grab an hour before 5pm when they come in, get fed and settled for the night, then off to work for 7 30 pm.
First day off we catch up with grooming and any poo picking that got missed.
I LOVE THE SUMMER.
 
I used to do the two competition horses at DIY livery and full time career job, involved a lot of early mornings and late evenings and being tired and very stressed by the end of winter. Must admit went to full livery for one and DIY for the other and now wonder how I ever used to manage it all.
 
At the moment I work shifts which means I can ride in the light and get the shopping done etc. Soon i'll be working 9-6 or 8-5. Pony is out on grass in the summer I admit to having time off and she does too, she has a month off and gets ridden only 3-4 times a week. In winter I hunt so it's early morning or late evening and fitness work. Weekends she needs to hack so my social life is non existent!
 
Do I count? I'm a student... but a very hard working one! My lectures are 9-5 mon-fri, plus additional lectures in the evening (and of course all of the study on top!). My horses are also 3 hours away from uni... so my very lovely mother lunges / long reins / does everything mon eve - fri morn. Then I'm home for friday night, will then do horses over the weekend and early (5am!) monday morning before I go back to uni. But in the ''holidays'' (HA! I work all holiday!) I work shifts at the hospital and then evening at a bar so horses get done at 6 am, then 7am start work, till 3, then home, ride, do horses, in the bar (only occasionally smelling like a horse!!!) at 6.30 - 12 ish. Hard work, but totally worth it.
 
at the moment, im not at uni so its peaceful but as of september i will be up to do my three before uni so have to be at the yard for six to muck out two and turn out, as my highland will live out as he cant be stabled, then off to uni for half eight then back to the yard straight after and ride, finish stables if i ran out of time in the morning, and then put away, make feeds, and fill haynets for the next morning
 
i think im pretty lucky - i work full time, but am allowed to work from home a couple of days a week, or go home early and work from home. my boss's parents have lots of horses so he is very understanding about vet/farrier/osteo/horsebox/saddler appointments.

i have 3, one i on a 5 day part livery, one is on DIY and has a sharer who will muck out on 'her days' and pony is out 24x7 in the summer. i still dont leave the yard until half 9 some evenings though even though i live extremely close by.

I also have a very helpful OH who when its not hayfever season, will muck out, hold for vet, etc and assist at shows.
 
those Working Rider profiles are a total laugh.

90% of the riders featured work from home, keep the horses at home and have a husband/mum who mucks out for them.

the other 10% keep their horse at their trainer's yard, the trainer schools the horse and the Working Rider gets on once a fortnight at the show.
 
Yep do it all myself, go to field turnout from dry lot to grass, soak hay for the evening, this is a big job what ever your method, haul water over, poo pick everyday, fiddlle with strip grazing, go to work, either go home first or straight to the field, tack up and ride. I have two horses and either my sons or friemds ride out with me about 5x week.
I have a hubby and two teenager boys. I totally neglect the house, my boys do their own thing these days and pretty much take care of themselves however I do think we should spend more time together and hubby does the cooking and shopping:D. About every 3 days I feel totally exhausted and sleep for a very long time......to recharge.

I love being outdoors and would not change things however I plan to give the horses and myself 2 mths off in the winter, they are out 24/7 on about 15 acres so it will be a nice break with very little to do... thats the plan but I always make work somehow!
 
Hmmm, this thread is a bit presumptuous, mildly offensive and somewhat self-righteous IMHO! I do admire those of you who do it all DIY, work FT etc but some of us would genuinely find it impossible. As a consultant, working an 8 hour day would be a luxury and I often (usually, except with my current client) have to commute a decent distance. Today I had meetings abroad, left the house at 4.30 this morning and got back half an hour ago.

I would love to have horses on DIY but I don't think it would be fair on me or them (or my clients). My boy is on part livery so I can rest assured that he's well looked after if I can't make it to the yard. Sorry if that's not "proper"!
 
I think I count..., though I do get some help from D1 :)

Get up at five-fifteen. Get to yard by six-fifteen. Dizz in, ride, get changed, leave yard by seven-thirty (though often later, which makes getting to work on time interesting lol). Seventy-seven mile drive to work down the M1. I try and ride six times a week, including a lesson on Saturday morning. I try and go for a walk at lunchtime to help my fitness :). I do all the towing. Will hopefully be competing the Dizz by the end of the year :D. Daughters and hubby will help though, so I'm not totally on my own :D
 
I have two horses one for me and one for OH. OH works away during the week so I look after both horses on 'own' yard so DIY with no other help and no school. I work full time as a nurse and work shifts, usually four long days a week.
In the summer the horses are out 24/7 so I go up twice a day and check them and poo pick, ride on my day off. Then they get ridden at the weekend when OH is home. I don't know how people who compete and work full time manage, I get very tired (wouldn't change it though), would be easier if we had a school to ride in. Anyway I still love having the girls and going up there every day is very therapeutic and relaxing, a world away from nursing!
 
i have 3 horses on DIY
and i work on call in a stressful professional job, sometimes 48 hours a week
and i am part way through a 2 year post grad diploma too, for which you are meant to spend 7-8 hours a week on!
so i think i qualify as 'proper working' rider

one horse is 20 ex dressage horse and semi retired
one is 7 and in full competition out most weekends
and the other is 4 and just part way into backing!

winter is very hard- i often winter my older mare out down the lane as its easier for me work load wise and she loves it and it keeps her joints free. i go down before work (by 6.30 at the lastest) and go down after work 5.30-7.30pm. (so home around 8-8.30pm)

OH says i practically disappear during the week in the winter.

some summer the horses get thrown out asap and i go down once a day. YO checks them when she comes down twice a day.

i try to plan things way in advance and i have a set day to spend with OH in the week when i dont ride or have lessons etc- i just feed,brush,poo pick/muck out and come home!
 
Ive got 3 horses in rented field.
I work between 50-80 hour week
Work 40miles away from home.

How do I find the time? Havent got a clue!
Live on my own (OH keeps hinting though...) have dogs aswell.

I`m working at the moment, 2am in the morning, so to be honest, as others have said, it involves a serious lack of sleep and constantly having that jet lagged feeling that ALL shift workers get!

Summer isnt so bad but winter is hellish.........wine helps...lol
 
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