Riding Club horse - turning away

[SouthWestWhippet]

I've been thinking... my horse is your typical riding club horse i.e. I do a bit of everything on her. Therefore, she is kept pretty fit because she does the unaffiliated outdoor season all summer then the indoor season all winter. Plus she will do the odd hunter trial/fun ride/dressage rally etc and I would like to affiliated her and do some Intro eventing next season. Had I not fractured my spine, she would have been hunting a bit over Xmas as well. We would usually do 'something' (whether a rally or a competition or whatever) about three times a month plus she is ridden/worked everyday.

It occured to me that your average 'competition' horse does the season of their chosen discipline then gets a break... but many riding club horses move from different discipline to different discipline with the seasons.

Do people who own 'pleasure' horses give them a break and a holiday each year? If so, how long for and what are your reasons? Is it to help them chill out mentally or physically or both? Or is it to give yourself a break?

If you have competition horses, what is the benefit to them to turning them away? Does it prolong their competative life, or help them to relax??=

Loads of questions so thanks for any thoughts!

 

[MarthaRodman1]

Hi there, my horse was (before he was injured) very fit, worked 6 times a week and we went out competing every weekend, be it BSJA, dressage or XC. When the spring/summer comes around, I always used to try and just give him a week in the field, doing nothing! Mainly because he's worked hard for me all year, and like us, I believe that they need a holiday to! Sometimes depending on what I was doing he'd get 2 weeks off in the year.

Hope this helps!
MX

 

[Alibear]

On the rare occasion that I had a fit horse who had stayed that way for a long period of time I would give her two weeks off in the summer and winter, both she and I got a holiday and a bit of a rest.

Generally though injuries mean my horses get plenty of rest periods