ridining twice a day- do you?? would you??

charlie76

charlie76

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I have decided that my horse needs to be a bit fitter and I am working him twice a day, lunge or hack one session, jump or flat second session-one before work and one after.
Does anyone else ride/work twice a day?
Does anyone think it could be detrimental to the horse and if so why??
Just curious as my horse seems to go much better in his second session.
 
I dont think so, as long as the horse is still getting enough grazing time it shouldnt be a problem. People hack out for hours, I am sure your sessions probably amount to the same length just split over 2. :)
 
I would and have done - it does no harm to riding school horses after all. I would probably recommend ensuring that there is variety in the work to keep him interested if possible.
 
My trainer will work her GP horse twice a day, once in the morning and one in the afternoon. He is healthy and well fed, so it's not a problem. He needs to be super fit in order to do the level of work she wants.
 
I do. I give him loads of variety between hacking, schooling, jumping, lunging, loose schooling, long reining, le trec obstacles, trick training, spanish walk etc in hand type stuff, liberty work, bareback...whatever I can think of.

As with yours i thought he could do with being a bit fitter and losing a few lbs, but i lose focus doing long sessions, so I do lots of short ones. I also think his field and field mate are a bit boring, and he seems to enjoy playing games and doing stuff with me instead. We have got a much better relationship too.
 
Sounds perfectly sensible to me, Charlie, so long as you ensure workload is increased relatively gradually and you keep an eye on feed/weight. A lot of horses benefit from being worked twice a day - providing it is well planned and there is plenty of variety, it helps keep them interested and, as you intend, fit!
 
Think it'll do a lotta good in fact: mine was at equestrian college and did three "sessions" a day (not all of which were riding, some would have been lunging or stable management/theory etc); and IMO he was all the better for it.

Its not just the riding that benefits them, its the "hands-on" as well, so even if you are doing groundwork for the second session that's still gonna benefit as far as building the bond with the horse is concerned, plus fitness.

So go for it - wish I had the energey!
 
At PC camp ponies do 2 hour sessions a day, with a 'light work day' in the middle of the week. None ever seem to suffer ill effects (although we often up some ponies' feed after the first few days...) and relish the work.

What you're doing sounds like a good plan and your horse sounds like he's benefiting from it.
 
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