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mandyl

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i ride mickley 6days with one day off. usually lunge one day for 20 mins ride one day in school 45 minutes and then hack out between 1hr and 1hr30 mostly walk and trot. firstly people at the yard are going round saying hes too thin and now they are saying i work him to hard cry
i give him one day off and hes the sort of horse that thrives on the work he enjoys being ridden and gets bored if just left in the field but now im upset again cry i just want to do the best i can for him. hes a ex racer <font color="blue"> </font>
 

Just ignor the people at the yard, they are just being bitchy.
Ex-racers are never gonna been round and need working.
Unfortunaly this is what livery yard are like. If you didnt excersice him so much, they would be saying he's not worked enough and is getting bored!
Just do your own thing and ignore them silly bitches. Your better than them! x
 
Your routine sounds absolutely fine to me; perfectly suitable for an ex-racer, they need plenty of work and variety to keep them interested. And he is never likely to be fat either being the sort/breed he is. Just ignore the people at the yard, you know what's best for your horse and they clearly don't have a clue what they're talking about!
 
Do you think he is too thin? Ex-racers are lean machines anyway. As long as you are feeding him according to his work level and he is not dropping any weight, I would ignore them. Most horses are underworked which is why they develop behavioural problems - especially TBs. I would guess he thrives on work and his workload seems interesting and varied. Unfortunately, bitchy comments go with the territory of being at a livery yard.
 
My share horse gets roughly 2-4 days off in a year. He's worked for between 20 minutes lungeing, to a full-blown 2 1/2 hour hack with lots of trotting, to competing BD doing two tests and two lots of warming-up. He's certainly not neglected or worked too hard, he loves it and is a very happy sort of horse.
I've always ridden my horses six days a week, and by the sound of what you're doing I'd say I work mine harder as well. At least you're out there making the most of your horse, while your "friends" at the yard will be very sorry for not having ridden more if their horses suddenly cannot be ridden for whatever reason. Just ignore them. If your horse is happy and healthy, what you're doing is fine.
 
TB are supposed to be lean. my girl, ex racer also, in winter she looks like a hat rack normally but she eats loads! i find it hard to keep the weight on. i like you only ride 6 days a week but find TB's need plenty of work to keep the mind busy! or they just get into mischeif!
 
thats it exactly his mind needs working he loves it and if not ridden is just spooky and fresh. thanks for the support guys
 
He looks in great health to me, I would ignore these people's comments they probably have fat ponies on the verge of laminitis!
 
Looks fine to me regarding weight - and that workload is nothing for a normal, healthy horse.
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Looks absolutely fine, nice glossy coat what more do they want. There are some really thin thoroughbreds and other types of horse at the yard I just left and those horses did no work, but then they had no grass and are still feeding hay out no, hence I left. They tried to tell me I was breaking in my youngster wrong, when not one of them had ever broken a youngster themselves and hardly ever ride. Its livery yards for you. I'm on a lovely one now.
 
thing is mickley, (i posted about this on fri) a public livery yard, whether your diy full or whatever, some one will always have something to say about the way you do things! some people do not see that you are doing the best for your horse in YOUR opinion. at the end of the day the horse is yours and people should just be greatful that your looking after it in an acceptable manner so tell them to keep their noses out.
 
Miss Delia was a similar build and worked far less than yours.

Old other TB worked about the same and was far fatter.

All horses are different and I would rather see a lean mean machine than a blob.

I get the opposite problem - Clydies and gypsy cob are meant to be stocky muscled with apple bums and people say mine are fat - they are not, they are perfect for their breed according to my vet who is a very experienced equine vet.
 
Your horse looks very well and rounded for a TB. If they say anything to you just tell them to butt out. At least your horse is not obese, he is fit and well and is less likely to have a heart attack or laminitis from being too fat. They must be very sad people with little in their lives for them to find what you are doing with your horse so interesting. You find most bitching happens through jealousy. You can rise above this and ignore them. What does the YO/YM think of your horse has he/she said anything. Maybe have a word with YO/YM they can soon put their foot down about the bitching. Although if YO/YM is also causing trouble then I would advise you to move yards.

Good Luck and don't let the Ba*!"*!s get you down.
 
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