Those who remember the 1981 freeze..getting horses going again

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ironhorse

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OK I've finally accepted that I'm not going to be able to ride my horse for a while and keeping fingers crossed that she can keep going out for a few hours each day.
But when we finally get a thaw, I'm wondering how difficult it will be to get going again? Will have to wait for our arena to thaw as my horse isn't great in traffic and definitely won't be hacking after a long lay off! We do have access to an indoor school once a week when the roads are better, but is it worth hiring it when the horse is unfit?
Can anyone who remembers the 1981 freeze ( I was at school and didn't have my own horse then!) comment on how long it took to get back to 'normal'.
Had planned to go to a 2 day show on 12/14 Feb but have pretty much ruled it out. What is everyone else thinking?
 
Basically it takes the amount of time they were off again to get back to the same fitness.

Having said that if it was more than 6-8 weeks they were off fo you can get back to a reasonable level in that time. Takes a fair bit longer to be completely galloping fit from scratch though.

also depends on age, how fit they were before, if they have been stood in or turned out, were recovering from injuries before etc...
 
i was born in 1981 and my mum keeps mentioning the big freeze they had that year. i have ridden twice in the past 3 or 4 weeks. I just keep thinking well most poeple are in the same boat and as long as were fit enough to start competing in may when the RC shows start, I dont mind that she has time off, just annoying getting my fat lazy cob fit again, not to mention myself (gonna be alot of aching inner thigh muscles i think!)
 
Yes, I remember '81 - and '62/63 which was far worse.
What is actually stopping you from going for a gentle hack once conditions allow you to do so?? Then build up the work whilst hacking out.
Only sheet ice or really deep frost can stop anyone from exercising.
What do you think we used to do many years ago when no-one had an indoor school - leave them all incarcerated for a couple of months??!!
 
I was working in a riding school in Tooting, South London in 1981. Like most inner city stables we had no turnout and no school on site. We had great fun, greased the horses feet up, all the bus routes were gritted and the side roads had thick snow that we could canter on. As long as we wrapped up warm we were safe and had some brilliant hacks!
 
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